Data are a crucial ingredient in any successful education system, but building and sustaining a data system are challenging tasks. Many countries around the world have spent significant resources but still struggle to accomplish a functioning Education Management Information System (EMIS). On the other hand, countries that have created successful systems are harnessing the power of data to improve education outcomes. Increasingly, EMISs are moving away from using data narrowly for counting students and schools. Instead, they use data to drive system-wide innovations, accountability, professionalization, and, most important, quality and learning. This broader use of data also benefits classroom instruction and support at schools. An effective data system ensures that education cycles, from preschool to tertiary, are aligned and that the education system is monitored so it can achieve its ultimate goal—producing graduates able to successfully transition into the labor market and contribute to the overall national economy. Data for Learning: Building a Smart Education Data System and its forthcoming companion volume shed light on challenges in building a data system and provide actionable direction on how to navigate the complex issues associated with education data for better learning outcomes and beyond. Data for Learning details the key ingredients of successful data systems, including tangible examples, common pitfalls, and good practices. It is a resource for policy makers working to craft the vision and strategic road map of an EMIS, as well as a handbook to assist teams and decision makers in avoiding common mistakes. It is designed to provide the “how-to†? and to guide countries at various stages of EMIS deployment. A forthcoming companion volume will focus on digging deeper into the practical applications of education data systems by various user groups in different settings.

Because content and language learning go hand in hand New content standards integrate content and language in ways prior standards have never done. That’s why it’s so critically important that teachers attend to both content and language development when introducing new subject matter, especially for English learners. Here’s your opportunity to get started tomorrow and every day thereafter: Alison Bailey and Margaret Heritage’s all-new Progressing Students’ Language Day by Day. What’s so utterly ground-breaking about this book is Bailey and Heritage’s Dynamic Language Learning Progression (DLLP) process: research-based tools for obtaining much deeper insight into a student’s language progress, then for identifying the most appropriate instructional steps to elevate language proficiency and content knowledge. Step by step, Bailey and Heritage describe how to Engage with students to advance their development of sophisticated, high-leverage language features for explaining content Use the DLLP approach to formative assessment, then plan your teaching in response to assessment evidence Examine words, sentences, and discourse --the three dimensions of language that are part of the DLLP process for cultivating language development Discover how leadership support and communities of practice (CoPs) can facilitate a successful and sustainable implementation of the DLLP process Listen more closely and uncover new ways to advance content learning with Progressing Students’ Language Day by Day directly by your side. “Alison Bailey and Margaret Heritage open our eyes to the often invisible and context-specific language demands embedded in content learning. Understanding the ubiq¬uitous and highly influential role of language in learning takes time and effort but leads to transformative practice. Progressing Students’ Language Learning Day by Day offers an insightful and concrete framework to begin this transformation.” — Paola Uccelli, Professor of Education, Harvard University

From Compliance to Learning: A System for Harnessing the Power of Data in the State of Maryland builds on a 2015 World Bank report that assessed Education Management Information Systems (EMISs) in the state of Maryland. That report uncovered a successful system, and this one expands on lessons learned and ways to apply them in practice. The goal of this study is to distill Maryland’s good practices in education data systems and share them in a way that is useful to education stakeholders interested in harnessing the power of data to strengthen learning outcomes. This study also examines the history of education data collection and use in the United States with a focus on Maryland, including a review of federal and state legislation that has helped to shape Maryland’s education data policies and systems. In the digital age, information is power. When information is effectively harnessed and aligned with student learning, it carries the potential to radically transform the delivery of education, as well as the sector as a whole. Increasingly, education systems are moving away from using education data narrowly for compliance purposes; instead, they are embracing data as a tool to drive systemwide innovation, professionalization, and, most importantly, learning. Whether to prioritize and optimize data and information systems around student learning is no longer an option; it is imperative for education systems that aim to excel and achieve strong learning outcomes. Over the past several decades, fundamental shifts have occurred in the way that education data are collected, managed, and used. Today real-time learning data inform classroom instruction; predictive analytics identify at-risk youth before they drop out of school; and data from preschool to workforce are linked to help guide education reforms. These represent just a few of the innovative ways that schools and other stakeholders across the United States are harnessing data to improve education. The state’s success in establishing an enabling environment for education data systems and data utilization has built a strong foundation. Maryland effectively aligned a complex, statewide data system to deliver value. Prioritization of integration and alignment was key. The state then launched a longitudinal data system center that would drive an adaptive education system with insights that track students from pre-kindergarten to entry in the workforce. Data across the state are high quality and follow strict rules to preserve privacy and enhance security. Maryland’s utilization of data also offers valuable lessons. The statewide data system supports policy makers and decision makers in planning and management, as well as teachers, students, and families in instruction and learning. Consistent across Maryland’s structuring and use of data systems were a strong vision and a road map to execute that vision. Maryland’s journey offers many lessons, not only for countries with advanced data systems but also for those in less developed stages. While the technology and information exist to achieve data for learning, harnessing data within the right information system and ensuring utilization are challenging endeavors. An array of factors must align—leadership, policies, processes, and resources, to name a few—to effectively harness data to support and drive strong learning outcomes.