IDC Parent Involvement Toolkit - Making the Most of Parent Involvement Data - Improving Quality and Enhancing Understanding

Oct 15, 2026

A practical toolkit from the IDEA Data Center (IDC) guides states on improving the quality of Indicator B8 parent involvement data. It explains why high-quality data matter and describes how states currently collect and report Indicator B8. The toolkit provides structured steps to plan data collection, improve representativeness and participation, strengthen response rates, and address data quality during collection. It also outlines how to prepare data for analysis, including creating data files, entering data, cleaning quantitative data, preparing qualitative data, and reflecting on representativeness issues.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages110

Reading Time4 h 37 min

AccessFree to download

Contents

Making the Most of Parent Involvement Data: Improving Quality and Enhancing Understanding

Introduction

What is Indicator B8?

Why is it important to improve the quality of Indicator B8 data?

What are states currently doing to collect and report on Indicator B8?

READY: How can my state improve the quality of its parent involvement data?

Consider the elements of data quality when planning data collection

Choose data collection methods that will produce high-quality and rich data

READY: How can my state ensure the data collected are representative?

Carefully select the group that will participate in data collection

Gather data on demographics and other important considerations related to representativeness

Choose or design data collection instruments with participation and representativeness in mind

Create data collection procedures and tools to facilitate participation and track responses

Carefully select the mechanism for getting parents to participate

RUN: How can my state maximize participation in its parent involvement data collection activities?

Be clear about who is sponsoring data collection

Formally invite potential responders to participate

Consider offering incentives

Monitor response rates

RUN: What steps should my state take to improve data quality during data collection?

Work to improve response rates

Conduct periodic checks for representativeness

Work to improve representativeness

REFLECT: How can we prepare our data for analysis?

Create a data file

Enter data

Clean your quantitative data

Prepare your qualitative data

Address issues with representativeness after data collection

REFLECT: How can we conduct high-quality data analyses?

Parent Involvement Toolkit Making the Most of Parent Involvement Data: Improving Quality and Enhancing Understanding Jill Lammert Hadley Moore Amy Bitterman September 2018 IDC Parent Involvement Toolkit Making the Most of Parent Involvement Data: Improving Quality and Enhancing Understanding FINAL 8-28-18 Authors: Jill Lammert Hadley Moore Amy Bitterman IDC The authors would like to acknowledge Tamara Nimkoff, Nancy O’Hara, Beth Harrison, Doug Williams, Hanyu Sun, Jennifer Schaaf, Linda Lynch, Haidee Bernstein, Debra Jennings, Jan Serak, and Carmen Sanchez, all of whom contributed to the development of this toolkit. The IDEA Data Center (IDC) created this document under U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs Grant No. H373Y130002 . Richelle Davis and Meredith Miceli serve as the project officers. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the positions or policies of the U.S. Department of Education. No official endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education of any product, commodity, service, or enterprise mentioned in this publication is intended or should be inferred. This product is public domain. Authorization to reproduce it in whole or in part is granted. For more information about the IDEA Data Center’s work and its partners, [see](see www.ideadata.org)[ ](see www.ideadata.org)[www.ideadata.org](see www.ideadata.org). Acknowledgments: The authors would like to acknowledge Tamara Nimkoff, Nancy O’Hara, Beth Harrison, Doug Williams, Hanyu Sun, Jennifer Schaaf, Linda Lynch, Haidee Bernstein, Debra Jennings, Jan Serak, and Carmen Sanchez, all of whom contributed to the development of this toolkit. Suggested Citation: Lammert, J., Moore, H., and Bitterman, A. (2018, August) . IDC Parent Involvement Toolkit—Making the Most of Parent Involvement Data: Improving Quality and Enhancing Understanding. IDEA Data Center. Rockville, MD: Westat Contents Making the Most of Parent Involvement Data: Improving Quality and Enhancing Understanding............................... 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................ 1 What is Indicator B8? ................................................................................................................................. 2 Why is it important to improve the quality of Indicator B8 data? ............................................................ 2 What are states currently doing to collect and report on Indicator B8?................................................... 3 READY: How can my state improve the quality of its parent involvement data? .................................................. 4 Consider the elements of data quality when planning data collection ..................................................... 4 Choose data collection methods that will produce high-quality and rich data ......................................... 5 READY: How can my state ensure the data collected are representative? ............................................................ 5 Carefully select the group that will participate in data collection............................................................. 6 Gather data on demographics and other important considerations related to representativeness ........ 7 Choose or design data collection instruments with participation and representativeness in mind......... 8 Create data collection procedures and tools to facilitate participation and track responses ................ 11 Carefully select the mechanism for getting parents to participate ......................................................... 13 RUN: How can my state maximize participation in its parent involvement data collection activities? ............... 16 Be clear about who is sponsoring data collection ...............................................

FAQs

What is Indicator B8, and why does the toolkit focus on its data quality?

Indicator B8 relates to parent involvement data. The toolkit explains why improving Indicator B8 data quality is important and what makes the data more accurate for understanding parent involvement.

How can a state improve the quality of parent involvement data during planning and collection?

The toolkit recommends considering data quality elements when planning, choosing data collection methods that generate high-quality, rich data, and designing instruments and procedures to support participation and track responses.

What should states do to maximize participation and strengthen data quality during data collection and analysis?

The toolkit advises sponsoring clarity, formally inviting responders, considering incentives, monitoring response rates, and performing periodic checks for representativeness. It also outlines preparation for analysis, including creating data files, entering data, cleaning quantitative data, preparing qualitative data, and addressing representativeness issues after collection.

Oct 15, 2026

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