Eeach, DQC tracks state legislation that governs the collection and use of education data. Since 2014, we’ve reviewed education data legislation in all 50 states and the District of Columbia—and shared our analysis in the form of key themes, promising areas of focus, and next steps for state legislators.

In 2022, data-related bills addressed two realities: 

• People need data. More than half of the bills included provisions that would make new or existing state data available to nonpolicymaker audiences including students, families, or the public. 
• To understand and address emerging issues, state leaders have new data needs and policy goals. Most commonly, legislators focused on understanding students’ K–12 learning experiences beyond academics and supporting post-high school transitions. 

Our findings focus on the three broad categories we saw in data-related legislation this year: encouraging practices, areas where legislators should proceed with caution, and provisions to avoid. 

Find the full details of DQC’s analysis in our latest resource Education Data Legislation Review: What Happened in 2022?

Read our companion blog post, which highlights a recent Colorado law that provides an example of encouraging practices we saw this year. Through this law, state leaders will invest substantial federal funds to create a public-facing, interactive data system that follows student progress from higher education into the workforce.