A report from the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) highlights a major shortcoming with state school report cards: most states aren’t transparent about how students are faring post-COVID. Although data on academic outcomes is widely available, crucial data—such as chronic absenteeism rates and the performance of specific student groups—remains hard to find and often overlooked.
Key findings
- Data gaps: 34 states and D.C. received a grade of “C” or lower for providing accessible, transparent school performance data. Only seven states earned an “A”—Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Michigan, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. [Axios]
- Missing information: While ELA and math scores are often available, critical data such as chronic absenteeism and achievement growth are missing or hard to find. This is especially concerning post-COVID, when absenteeism rates have spiked and student performance has dropped.
- Usability issues: Even in states where data is available, confusing layouts and navigation challenges make it difficult for parents and advocates to find important information. For instance, states like Michigan and Tennessee have usable data but poorly designed interfaces. [Chalkbeat]
Why it matters: The pandemic drastically affected student performance, but parents struggle to track learning loss through these report cards. Many report cards fail to provide critical longitudinal data, making it difficult for families and advocates to understand how COVID-19 has impacted student outcomes. [The 74]
Is it just test scores? While academic outcomes like test scores provide one measure of student performance, they don’t tell the whole story. A major issue with many report cards is that they only show data for students who are in attendance, leaving out those who are chronically absent (more on that below). Without data that reflects this, schools may appear to be performing better than they actually are.
What’s next: One key recommendation from the CRPE report is for states to work together to create more uniform and accessible systems. With 51 different models currently in use, the inconsistency is staggering—many smaller or more rural states simply lack the resources to design intuitive, user-friendly platforms.
- States are also urged to focus on usability by making their websites easier for parents to navigate, ensuring that critical data—like student subgroup performance and absenteeism rates—is accessible. Without clear, easy-to-find data, parents and advocates can’t effectively push for the resources and interventions schools need to support student recovery
