Governors, state education leaders, and legislators have the opportunity under ESSA to work together to improve the quality of publicly reported education data. Now, more than ever, state leaders must move away from a compliance mentality and meet the information needs of a broad range of communities.
DQC’s analysis focused on what information states include, how they display it, and whether they make it accessible and understandable to a broad public audience.
Among the key findings:
- Only four state report cards meet all data reporting requirements under NCLB.
- Ten states most recent state assessment data is from the 2012-13 or 2013-14 school year.
- Eighteen states require three or more clicks from search engine results to reach the state report card.
- And 45 states produce report cards in English only and provide no resources to have it translated into other languages.
DQC created a corresponding scavenger hunt, Does Your State Report Card Answer Your Questions?, which facilitates a tour of a state report card through the eyes of a parent. Do the activity to learn more about your own state report card and try to get information for your questions or wear the hat of someone else. The scavenger hunt exercise includes search terms and questions based on DQC’s review, as well as information that is particularly useful for families.
Additional recommendations on how states can use ESSA as an opportunity to improve public reporting can be found in Opportunities to Make Data Work for Students in the Every Student Succeeds Act.
Material from a press release was used in this report.
- The compliance trap waiting on the other side of Title II - September 11, 2026
- The everyday access control gaps schools overlook - September 10, 2026
- When practice becomes data: Helping teachers respond to student misconceptions - September 8, 2026