Improving Family and Community Engagement Through Sharing Data: Southeast Comprehensive Center Briefing Paper, November 2012

As data collection, analysis, and decision making expand on state and local levels, so does the expectation of effectively communicating data to the families of school children and their communities. Surveys indicate that people value receiving information on their schools (Owens & Peltier, 2002). They want to know how their schools are doing and are interested in receiving more detailed information (Owens & Peltier).

Data reporting can serve as a viable means of promoting family and community support and actions that increase student achievement. State educational agencies (SEAs) are increasingly expected to provide data to families and communities in ways that lead to enhanced understanding and action. Sharing data is an effective strategy that schools and districts can use to engage families and communities for school improvement (Data Quality Campaign, 2011; The Education Trust, 2004; Means, Padilla, Gallagher, & SRI International, 2010; Owens & Peltier, 2002; Taveras, Douwes, Johnson, Lee, & Caspe, 2010).

In this brief is a discussion of the procedure for identifying literature on the topic of sharing data, limitations regarding the literature review, the significance of family and community engagement, considerations and recommendations for sharing data with stakeholders, and related resources.