[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-584365-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-584365-en":131},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","purpose-drives-design-functions-of-a-statewide-longitudinal-data-system","Purpose Drives Design - Functions of a Statewide Longitudinal Data System","","Purpose Drives Design outlines how statewide longitudinal data systems (SLDS) should be intentionally shaped to serve distinct data-access functions. It explains three core functions: public reports and dashboards, research and analytics, and support for individuals, noting that different goals lead to different system designs. The document details how alignment between function and drivers—users, infrastructure, governance, legal frameworks, and investments—improves the usefulness of data for education and workforce decisions, illustrated with state examples from Kentucky and Maryland.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/purpose-drives-design-functions-of-a-statewide-longitudinal-data-system/584365/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/purpose-drives-design-functions-of-a-statewide-longitudinal-data-system/584365.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"WPS_1786070896","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-12","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",11,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What are the three broad functions of a statewide longitudinal data system (SLDS)?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"An SLDS can be designed for public reports and dashboards, research and analytics, and support for individuals. Each function targets different data access needs for different audiences.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"Why do two “good” SLDSs not necessarily look the same?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"Because they may be designed with different goals in mind. Policymaker priorities, governance, infrastructure, and staffing shape how the system functions.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"How does purpose alignment improve SLDS effectiveness?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"When a system’s function is aligned with user needs, required infrastructure, governance structure, and intended data use, it enables people to access the data needed to make education and workforce decisions.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},584365,1792209470,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,106,111,115,120,123,127],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":97,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":102,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":103,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":107,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":108,"show_sort_weight":109,"slug":110},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":112,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},8,30,"research-report",{"id":116,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":117,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":119},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":118,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":121,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":122},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":124,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":125,"show_sort_weight":124,"slug":126},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":128,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":129,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":130},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":132},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":133,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":134,"doc_module":4,"category_id":112,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":135,"file_id":136,"file_url":137,"file_type":138,"file_size":139,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":102,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},549768072016,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d","FEBRUARY 2026  \nPurpose Drives Design  \nFunctions of a Statewide Longitudinal Data System  \nOver the past two decades, nearly every state has built a statewide longitudinal data system (SLDS) that securely brings together individual-level P–20W data over time. These integrated data systems have enormous potential to be used to improve education and workforce outcomes. But not every system is designed to work in the same way or serve the same functions. Even two“good” SLDSs may not look the same because they can be designed with different goals in mind.  \nSLDSs can serve up to three broad functions: public reports and dashboards, research and analytics, and support for individuals. Right now, most SLDSs are designed to support public reports and dashboardsand/or enable research and analytics, while few are designed to enable direct support to individuals—such as students, job seekers, or families—through timely, personalized access to data.  \nAll three functions are essential and address different people’s data access needs. Each function requires different considerations for infrastructure, data governance, legal frameworks, and ongoing investments. For a state’s SLDS to effectively support any or all of the three functions, state policymakers should purposefully shape the design of the system with the users, required infrastructure, appropriate governance structure, and intended data use in mind. When a system’s function is aligned with these drivers, it can effectively enable access to the data that people need to make education and workforce decisions.  \nThe Data Quality Campaign’s vision illustrates how access to data enables people—individuals, the public, and policymakers—to make education and workforce decisions. This vision and the use cases it lays out can help data and policy leaders have conversations about their state’s data access goals as they build or modernize their data systems and determine which functions to prioritize accordingly. The function that a state chooses drives which use case leaders can implement. If a state chooses to not develop all three functions, it limits who can benefit from the system.  \nThree Functions of an SLDS  \nAn SLDS’s function isn’t innate—it’s the product of how policymakers design priorities, governance, infrastructure, and staffing for the system. The decisions that policymakers make about how these systems are designed affect everything from who can access the data to how useful the data really is for purposes beyond compliance reporting. State data systems can be designed for up to three functions:  \n| PUBLIC REPORTS & | RESEARCH & | SUPPORT FOR |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| DASHBOARDS | ANALYTICS | INDIVIDUALS |\n| | | |\n| Data visualizations, | Program evaluations, research | Tailored, secure dashboards |\n| dashboards, required reports | studies, outcome analyses | and reports that enable individual-level insights |\n\nPublic Reports and Dashboards  \nSystems designed to enable public reports and dashboards allow public users to explore learner and earner experiences and outcomes over time. These systems are designed to prioritize data transparency and accessibility and are typically used to populatedata visualization tools. They often receive data from state or local agencies annually, in a format aligned to accountability reporting requirements.  \nSTATE EXAMPLE Q  \nThe Kentucky Center for Statistics (KYSTATS) is the managing entity of Kentucky’s SLDS and is designed to provide transparent and consistent information to policymakers, state agencies, and the general public. KYSTATS’s purpose, outlined in its establishing legislation, is to collect data and generate “timely reports about student performance” that guide the improvement of education and training programs. KYSTATS routinely updates and makes publicly available more than 25 reports and tools about high school and postsecondary outcomes, adult education, early childhood workforce statistics, and labor market demands, among ","cbCaiokMVgJe43MZ","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiokMVgJe43MZ","pdf",356323,"English","# Three Functions of an SLDS\n## Public Reports and Dashboards\n## Research and Analytics\n## Support for Individuals","[{\"question\":\"What are the three broad functions of a statewide longitudinal data system (SLDS)?\",\"answer\":\"An SLDS can be designed for public reports and dashboards, research and analytics, and support for individuals. Each function targets different data access needs for different audiences.\"},{\"question\":\"Why do two “good” SLDSs not necessarily look the same?\",\"answer\":\"Because they may be designed with different goals in mind. Policymaker priorities, governance, infrastructure, and staffing shape how the system functions.\"},{\"question\":\"How does purpose alignment improve SLDS effectiveness?\",\"answer\":\"When a system’s function is aligned with user needs, required infrastructure, governance structure, and intended data use, it enables people to access the data needed to make education and workforce decisions.\"}]","Purpose Drives Design - Functions of a Statewide Longitudinal Data System | PDF",1792050800,15]