Leadership Letter
Leading with Data: Turning Information into Impact
By Kimberly Small, J.D.
In today’s educational landscape, school boards face complex challenges — tight budgets, evolving academic standards, and heightened community expectations.
The key to navigating these challenges effectively?
Data.
When used strategically, data becomes more than numbers on a spreadsheet; it becomes a compass for effective school board governance, guiding decisions that improve student outcomes and strengthen public trust. This approach aligns with the Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB) Foundational Principles of Effective Governance, particularly in clarifying district purpose and monitoring performance.
Why Data Matters for School Boards
School boards set the vision and policies that shape the future of their districts.
Decisions about curriculum, staffing, facilities, and finances all hinge on accurate, timely information. Data-driven governance ensures that these decisions are grounded in evidence, rather than assumptions. Boards that embrace data-informed practices can:
- Monitor Progress Toward Goals: IASB emphasizes that monitoring is a core board responsibility (Foundational Principle 5). Boards should identify key indicators, such as student achievement, attendance, and engagement, and review them regularly.
- Allocate Resources Wisely: Enrollment trends, staffing ratios, and budget comparisons help boards make informed choices about where to invest for maximum impact, supporting Principle 1, Clarifying District Purpose.
- Build Transparency and Trust: Sharing clear, actionable data with stakeholders fosters confidence in board decisions and strengthens community relationships, reflecting Principle 2, Connecting with the Community.
The Federal Role and Student Achievement
Federally supported research and federally mandated state assessment and accountability systems can provide wonderful data for improving student achievement. To assist in closing achievement gaps, since 2002 federal policy has required disaggregation of student data by student groups, enabling progress monitoring for those most in need of accelerated growth.
Federally funded evidence-based research and data analysis can help boards direct limited resources toward practices proven to generate the greatest impact for students locally. Programs like the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) provide nationally representative and longitudinally comparable data, giving school boards essential benchmarks for evaluating the performance of the students that they lead.
It is important to consider advocating for continued support of these systems, as they are crucial to evidence-based decision-making and align with IASB Foundational Principles 6, The Board Takes Responsibility for Itself; and 2, Connecting with the Community.
Best Practices for Leading with Data
- Focus on the Vital Few Metrics: Not all data is created equal. Consider a conversation with your superintendent about how the board can prioritize indicators that directly influence student success — such as math and reading growth and proficiency, graduation rates, and school climate — rather than being overwhelmed by dozens of reports (Principle 1).
- Develop Data Literacy: Understanding data is as important as having it. Board members should build skills to interpret trends, question comparability and validity, and communicate findings clearly (Principle 6).
- Combine Quantitative and Qualitative Insights: Numbers tell part of the story. Think about and discuss with the superintendent how your district can pair test scores and attendance data with student and teacher feedback and other key benchmarks of student success, such as indicators of college and career readiness, to ensure decisions reflect real classroom experiences and the growth and preparation of the whole student (Principle 2).
- Use Peer Comparisons for Context: Consider comparing your district’s data to similar districts in Illinois to provide your colleagues with perspective. This can help your board identify whether challenges are local or systemic (Principle 5).
- Leverage Technology for Efficiency: Modern dashboards and analytics tools can simplify data review, making it easier for boards to access and act on information — and also communicate it — without being on information overload (Principles 1, Connecting with Community; and 4, Delegating Authority).
Student Achievement: A Call to Action
Recent NAEP data shows that student achievement is in crisis, with scores for 12th graders at historic lows. The decline, which began before the pandemic, is most pronounced among the lowest-performing students. For school boards, this underscores the urgency of using data not just for compliance, but for transformation.
One of the biggest decisions board members make is the allocation of resources to ensure quality public education of the students within the districts they serve, i.e., holding themselves and each other accountable for improving achievement for all students. This can be done through leveraging federal and state data systems to identify gaps and target interventions. This commitment reflects Foundational Principle 6, The Board Taking Responsibility for Itself, and Principle 5, Monitoring Performance.
The Bottom Line
The school board members’ oath of office includes the concept of leading with data:
I shall strive to ensure a continuous assessment of student achievement and all conditions affecting the education of our children, in compliance with State law,
And
I shall assist in establishing a structure and an environment designed to ensure all students have the opportunity to obtain their maximum potential through a sound organizational framework.
Leading with data doesn’t mean replacing judgment with numbers. It means using evidence to enhance judgment, ensuring that every decision reflects both the board’s vision and the district’s reality. By embracing data-informed governance and advocating for robust accountability systems, Illinois school boards can lead with confidence, transparency, and a relentless focus on student success, fully aligned with the IASB’s Foundational Principles of Effective Governance.
Kimberly A. Small, J.D., is Executive Director of the Illinois Association of School Boards.