Kickoff Convening for Data Dashboard Project Measuring Student Success

On April 8-9, NGA convened participating states and territories in Charleston, South Carolina for a kickoff convening in support of the Policy Academy to Advance Data Dashboards Measuring Student and System Success. The convening established a shared foundation for cross-state collaboration and marked the start of an 18-month effort to help governors develop sustainable, public-facing dashboards that reflect a more holistic definition of student success and workforce readiness.

Inspired by Colorado Governor Jared Polis' 2024-2025 NGA Chair's initiative Let's Get Ready!, NGA officially launched the Policy Academy in January. The project is being led by Governors' offices and other representatives from a bipartisan group of seven states and territories: American Samoa, Colorado, Delaware, Louisiana, Maryland, North Dakota and Oregon.

Project Team Presentations

The convening opened with video remarks from Governor Polis, followed by state and territory presentations that highlighted the teams' shared challenges and goals. Across jurisdictions, teams identified fragmented and siloed data systems as a primary obstacle to building effective dashboards. While most states reported strength in academic and workforce data, many acknowledged gaps in measures related to student well-being and civic engagement. Some presentation highlights follow:

• American Samoa is focused on centralizing birth-to-workforce data and tracking Samoan language proficiency.
• Colorado has strong academic data in place and is focused on building a dashboard for post-administration sustainability.
• Delaware is already in active dashboard development and is focused on building a resource that shows a continuous improvement journey rather than just a point-in-time snapshot.
• Louisiana is focused on translating existing internal data across K-12, higher education, and workforce agencies into a compelling, public-facing narrative around post-secondary and workforce readiness.
• Maryland has a working dashboard prototype in place and aims to create a "single source of truth" that connects education, training, and employment outcomes.
• North Dakota's effort is anchored in its Children's Cabinet, a unique body spanning the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Their dashboard goal is to cover the education journey from ages 0-21.
• Oregon is focused on building a transparent, sustainable dashboard that improves outcomes in reading and math, and strengthens coordination across agencies.

A Look at Indiana's Graduates Prepared to Succeed Dashboard

Speakers:

• Dr. Ron Sandlin, Chief Innovation Officer, Indiana Department of Education

During this session, Dr. Sandlin gave attendees an overview of Indiana's Graduates Prepared to Succeed (GPS) dashboard, emphasizing that a dashboard should tell a compelling story in service of a larger vision, rather than simply displaying data.

Indiana's approach highlighted the importance of setting boundaries on metrics, identifying and prioritizing a primary audience, and planning for long-term maintenance.

Data & Measures

Speakers:

• Bethany Little, Managing Principal, Education Council
• Dr. Kristin Blagg, Principal Research Associate, Urban Institute
• Brennan McMahon Parton, Vice President, Data Quality Campaign
• Laura Slover, Managing Director of Skills for the Future, ETS

This session focused on how governors can expand the way student success is defined and measured. Panelists encouraged moving beyond test scores to capture skills such as collaboration, communication, adaptability, and critical thinking.

Speakers further noted that many states already possess valuable data that is underutilized and that linking K-12, higher education, and workforce systems is the most critical infrastructure investment. The discussion also emphasized that dashboards can responsibly include "blank spaces" for measures that do not yet exist, keeping states oriented toward long-term goals rather than limiting ambition to current data availability.

Project Areas

Speakers:

• Dr. Tequilla Brownie, Chief Executive Officer, TNTP
• Dr. Erika Landl, Senior Associate, Center for Assessment
• Dr. Dave Paunesku, Co-founder & Executive Director, PERTS
• Ryan Reyna, Principal, Education Strategy Group

Experts explored how dashboards can measure outcomes across the Policy Academy's four focus areas: academics, postsecondary and workforce readiness, civic preparation, and student well-being. Speakers underscored the need to hone in on a small set of meaningful measures rather than exhaustive data inventories. Participants examined the value of balancing leading and lagging indicators, elevating learning conditions such as belonging and relevance, and measuring social capital and career exposure. The session highlighted the ongoing challenge of translating research into policy-relevant insights that resonate with leaders and constituents.

A Conversation with Policy Academy Partners

Speakers:

• Cameron Mendes-Moreau, State Policy Advocate, Britebound
• Dr. Mark Rogdon, Senior Vice President, Strada Education Foundation

This discussion centered on improving data systems related to career-connected learning and workforce outcomes. Speakers emphasized that while interest in non-degree pathways and work-based learning is growing, data systems have not kept pace. Gaps remain in tracking participation, equity, and long-term outcomes, particularly for non-degree credentials. Panelists highlighted enhanced wage records and dedicated analytic capacity as high-impact policy solutions, while underscoring that human connection remains essential in career advising, even as technology and data systems evolve.

Education Systems

Speakers:

• Dr. Vicki Phillips, CEO, National Center on Education and the Economy

Drawing on international comparisons, this session reframed dashboards as tools for evaluating system effectiveness, not just school performance. Dr. Phillips emphasized that high-performing education systems measure success across excellence, equity and efficiency, with outcomes extending beyond academic proficiency to include well-being, civic readiness, and career preparedness. The conversation highlighted career-connected learning as a first-choice strategy and stressed that better data on educator pipelines and learning ecosystems could significantly improve long-term outcomes.

Data Visualization

Speakers:

• Jeremy Chiappetta, Senior Advisor, Office of Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee
• Dr. Curt Merlau, Vice President of Education Practice, Resultant
• Matt Jones, Chief of Staff, Georgia Department of Education

State leaders and data experts shared lessons on translating complex data into tools that drive action. Speakers emphasized starting with policy goals or campaigns-such as attendance or workforce readiness-and designing dashboards to support those priorities. Participants discussed tailoring dashboards to different audiences, embedding data into decision-making processes, and investing heavily in underlying data quality and governance. The session concluded with a focus on execution: Dashboards must reduce cognitive load, point users toward clear actions, and evolve alongside emerging technologies such as AI while maintaining trust and accuracy.

Conclusion

Building on the shared challenges, lessons and priorities surfaced in Charleston, participating states and territories will continue to engage in peer learning and technical support as they advance dashboard development. Two additional in-person convenings will be held between now and June 2027 to assess project progress, deepen cross-state learning, and refine strategies for building sustainable, actionable dashboards that support long-term policy and system improvement.