Data.gov
Data.gov is the U.S. government's official government-wide online data source. Created as part of President Obama's commitment to open government and democratizing information, Data.gov will open up the workings of government by making economic, healthcare, environmental, educational, and other government information available on a single website, allowing the public to access raw data and transform it in innovative ways.
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Data.gov website.
Data Quality Campaign: Using Data To Improve Student Achievement
The Data Quality Campaign is a national, collaborative effort to encourage and support state policymakers to improve the collection, availability and use of high-quality education data and to implement state longitudinal data systems to improve student achievement.
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Data Quality Campaign website.
Homeless Children and Youth in Public Schools
Homelessness: A Common Vocabulary Could Help Agencies Collaborate and Collect More Consistent Data
This June 2010 report by the
Government Accountability Office (GAO) addresses (1) the availability, completeness, and usefulness of federal data on homelessness, (2) the extent to which research identifies factors associated with experiencing homelessness, and (3) how differences in definitions and other factors impact the effectiveness of programs serving those experiencing homelessness. GAO reviewed laws, agency regulations, performance and planning documents, data, and literature on homelessness; and spoke with stakeholders, such as government officials and service providers, about potential barriers.
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Homelessness: A Common Vocabulary Could Help Agencies Collaborate and Collect More Consistent Data.
HUD Point-In-Time Count Implementation Tools
The Point-in-Time (PIT) count is an annual count of people experiencing homelessness on a single night in the last 10 days in January. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires its Continuum of Care (CoC) grantees to conduct an annual count of sheltered homeless persons. CoCs also must conduct a count of unsheltered homeless persons every other year (odd numbered years). Each count is planned, coordinated, and carried out locally by service providers and trained volunteers. This HUD webpage provides a variety of resources for planning and conducting the annual PIT count, including planning worksheets, survey tools, and data extrapolation tools.
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HUD Point-In-Time Count Implementation Tools webpage.
Interagency Data Disclosure: A Tip Sheet on Interagency Collaboration
This tip sheet, developed by the
U.S. Department of Education in coordination with the the
U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, will help state and local homeless education programs, housing and human service agencies, and organizations serving homeless families, children, and youth coordinate their services better by disclosing student data with each other. The tip sheet discusses the privacy rights and protections in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and focuses on the following areas of data sharing:
1.Disclosure of aggregate data
2.Disclosure of individual student data with consent
3.Disclosure of individual student data without consent under applicable exceptions outlined in federal law.
The tip sheet also highlights the work of several communities that have implemented effective data sharing and integration strategies to serve homeless families, children, and youth more effectively.
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Interagency Data Disclosure: A Tip Sheet on Interagency Collaboration.
Privacy and Data Sharing
This webpage from the U.S. Department of Education's
Privacy Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) focuses on the topic of data sharing under FERPA, including exploring best practices and legal requirements for protecting student privacy while sharing data between educational agencies, partner organizations, and other third parties
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Privacy and Data Sharing webpage.
Youth Count! Process Study
Youth Count! is a federal interagency initiative that aims to improve counts of unaccompanied homeless youth. Between December 2012 and January 2013, nine U.S. communities participated in the initiative by expanding their annual homeless Point-in-Time count efforts to increase coverage of homeless youth. This report details a process study of the initiative conducted by
Urban Institute to identify promising practices that could be adapted and taken to scale to produce credible and useful data nationwide.
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Youth Count! Process Study.