MAKING THE MOST OF THE DATA WE HAVE - A Five-Part Strategy for Challenging Times

Oct 15, 2026

A Five-Part Strategy for Challenging Times outlines how education leaders can use existing data more effectively amid federal funding disruptions and heightened expectations for data-informed decision-making. The approach addresses underutilized datasets, proposes refining—not rebuilding—reporting structures, strengthens cross-system collaboration to reduce data silos, emphasizes local contexts, and builds local capacity to sustain improvement. Practical actions and an FAQ-style reporting lens turn data insights into actionable decisions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages22

Reading Time55 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

The Five Strategies for Maximizing the Power of Existing Data

Strategy 1: Making Better Use of Existing Data

Making Existing Data More Actionable

The Call to Action, Strategy 1

Strategy 2: Refining—Not Rebuilding—Existing Reporting Structures

Purpose-Driven Reporting

Actions to Refine Reporting Structures

The Call to Action, Strategy 2

Strategy 3: Enhancing Cross-System Collaboration

Building a Culture of Collaboration

The Call to Action, Strategy 3

Strategy 4: Emphasizing Local Contexts

Actions That Emphasize Local Contexts

The Call to Action, Strategy 4

Strategy 5: Building Capacity for Local Data Use

Actions for Building Local Data Capacity

The Call to Action, Strategy 5

Reflections and Key Takeaways

The Five Strategies: Key Lessons and How They Intersect

Bringing It All Together

Final Recommendations

Final Thoughts

References

MAKING THE MOST OF THE DATA WE HAVE: A Five-Part Strategy for Challenging Times April 2025 Juan D’Brot National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment Dover, New Hampshire MAKING THE MOST OF THE DATA WE HAVE: A Five-Part Strategy for Challenging Times The National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment, Inc. (the Center for Assessment) is a New Hampshire based not-for-profit (501(c)(3)) corporation. Founded in September 1998, the Center’s mission is to improve student learning by partnering with educational leaders to advance effective practicesand policies in support of high-quality assessment and accountability systems. The Center for Assessment does this by providing services directly to states, school districts, and partner organizations to support state and district assessment and accountability systems. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY) . To view a copy of this license, visit [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) . SUGGESTED CITATION: D’Brot, Juan (2025). Making the Most of the Data We Have: A Five-Part Strategy for Challenging Times. Center for Assessment. PHOTO CREDIT: Cover photo by Allison Shelley for EDUimages PAGE 2 MAKING THE MOST OF THE DATA WE HAVE: A Five-Part Strategy for Challenging Times TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ..................................................................... 4 • The Five Strategies for Maximizing the Power of Existing Data ......................................................... 4 • Moving From Theory to Action ............................................ 5 STRATEGY 1: MAKING BETTER USE OF EXISTING DATA .......................................................... 5 • Making Existing Data More Actionable............................... 6 • The Call to Action, Strategy 1 ............................................... 7 STRATEGY 2: REFINING—NOT REBUILDING—EXISTING REPORTING STRUCTURES...................................... 7 • The Problem: A Roadmap Without Directions .................. 7 • Another Problem: Reports That Overwhelm Us ...............8 • Purpose-Driven Reporting ................................................... 8 • Actions to Refine Reporting Structures .............................. 8 • Structuring Reports for Action: An FAQ Approach..........10 • The Call to Action, Strategy 2 ............................................. 10 STRATEGY 3: ENHANCING CROSS-SYSTEM COLLABORATION ................................................................. 11 • The Problem: Data Silos Restrict Insights and Action..... 11 • Building a Culture of Collaboration .................................. 11 • The Call to Action, Strategy 3 ............................................. 13 STRATEGY 4: EMPHASIZING LOCAL CONTEXTS.................. 13 • The Problem: Data That Lacks Local Relevance ..............13 • Actions That Emphasize Local Contexts........................... 14 • The Call to Action, Strategy 4 ............................................. 15 STRATEGY 5: BUILDING CAPACITY FOR LOCAL DATA USE ......................................................... 15 • The Problem: Data Without Context or Support.............16 • Actions for Building Local Data Capacity.......................... 16 • The Call to Action, Strategy 5 ............................................. 17 REFLECTIONS AND KEY TAKEAWAYS .................................. 18 • The Five Strategies: Key Lessons and How They Intersect ............................................................. 18 • Bringing It All Together: A More Effective and Sustainable Data Ecosystem ...................................... 19 • Final Recommendations: Moving from Reflection to Action ................................................... 19 • Final Tho

FAQs

What problem does the paper address for education leaders?

It addresses the challenge of using existing education data effectively despite resource constraints and disruptions that threaten evaluation capacity and access to large datasets.

What does Strategy 2 emphasize about reporting structures?

It emphasizes refining existing reporting structures rather than rebuilding them, focusing on purpose-driven reporting and concrete actions that make reports usable.

How do the strategies support local improvement using data?

The framework highlights local contexts (Strategy 4) and builds local capacity for data use (Strategy 5), helping districts and schools turn insights into sustained action rather than mere compliance.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Taylor Morgan