What is a Longitudinal Data System? ..................................................

Longitudinal Data Systems typically encompass all data for a particular school district or, as is becoming recently more common, a particular state.  There is no ‘template’ or ‘standard’ for the types of data contained in these interfaces, but most often they include educational data such as: 

• Student demographic data – e.g. attendance records; gender; ethnicity and grade level
• Student performance data – e.g. course grades; proficiencies on standardized, norm-referenced and criterion referenced tests and grade point averages
• District-wide or school-wide program data – e.g. programs offered, enrollments and effectiveness measures
• Teacher demographic data – e.g. number of years teaching; certification status and gender

Data are typically entered into an online or paperless system using unique identifiers, so that individuals (students, teachers, programs) can be tracked longitudinally to illustrate changes over time.  Cohort tracking and disaggregation, which involves dismantling or separating the aggregate information to examine the performances of specific subgroups of students, also require unique identifiers. 

Some data systems also include a library of standards-based instructional resources available to teachers who are ready to implement data-based instruction in their classrooms.