Review
"...Paying close attention to data on school management, organization, inputs, practices and performances is essential. Gathering, analyzing, and sharing rich data about how our schools and students are faring can be especially enlightening. Meaningful oversight based on solid data is even more important at a time when many schools are in the process of trying to implement new ideas and put in place new curricular approaches....We think that the ideas and processes underlying At Your Fingertips are worthy of serious consideration." --
Anne L. Bryant, Executive Director, National School Boards Association "
At Your Fingertips looks like a wonderful resource for any school to have. In an age of accountability, it offers wonderful tips on procedures to follow and to make sure you include all of the audiences that need to be a part of the process." --
Thomas A. Fitzgerald, Lower School Principal, Colorado Academy "It's time to stop playing school. With
At Your Fingertips, more educators and policymakers will be able to address head-on the fundamental problems that need to be addressed to raise student achievement." --
Ramon C. Cortines, Executive Director, PEW Network on School Reform, and former Chancellor, New York City Public Schools "Schools that have autonomy to make decisions and have a clear mission tend to be more effective institutions than those that don't. But, until now, school leaders have not had a useful tool to systematically consider key data in their decision making.
At Your Fingertips demonstrates that data can be much more than numbers or statistics in a database." --
Paul Hill, Professor, University of Washington "Understanding and using data for making good decisions is an extremely important and very neglected staff development need of school employees.
At Your Fingertips has great potential for providing school employees with practical knowledge for better using data for decisionmaking and for presenting information to parents, students, administrators and others." --
Bob Chase, President, National Education Association
About the Author
Karen Levesque is a senior research associate at MPR Associates where she directs a broad range of data analysis studies for the National Center for Education Statistics. A graduate of Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, she has extensive experience conducting research and policy studies about education practices and the use of data in both secondary schools and institutions of higher education. Recently, Ms. Levesque participated in a study that examined the preliminary effects of performance measures and standards at the state and local level and found that although the states generally responded enthusiastically to developing performance measurement systems, this enthusiasm rarely translated into local use of data. In part, as a result of this investigation, Ms. Levesque assembled a team of MPR researchers to develop a workbook for schools on using data for continuous improvement -
At Your Fingertips: Using Everyday Data to Improve Schools.
