A Guide for Planning Transitions to Secondary (Grades 6-12) School

Actionable Data

This section explains actionable data, shares an inspiring actionable data story (bright spot) and offers selected resources to support your efforts.

What is Actionable Data? It means collecting and reporting quantitative attendance and chronic absence data and qualitative analysis that can show reasons that students miss school that are accurate, accessible, timely, comprehensive and understandable. These data will inform the development of prevention and intervention strategies and allocation of resources that support student attendance.

During the 2020-2021 school year, actionable data requires monitoring multiple metrics including chronic absence, contact, connectivity, relationships and participation. The purpose of data is to activate support (not take punitive action), solve individual and shared challenges and identify effective practices whether school is in-person or remote.

Middle and high schools should take note of new students transitioning from elementary to middle school (6th grade) and from middle to high school (9th grade).

Attention to Equity

Actionable data is a key ingredient in your school’s ability to provide equitable opportunities and outcomes to all students. Gather, disaggregate, and analyze your school’s quantitative data and combine it with qualitative information from students and families to provide targeted support and continuous improvement.

Bright Spot
  • Under Development
Resources

  • See Attendance Works’ new data framework for attendance and participation that adds contact, connectivity, relationships and participation to chronic absence.

  • During the Take A Data Driven Approach to the Transition to School webinar, held during the Institute for Educational Leadership’s #RiseUpForEquity Summit, Misha Karigaca, Coordinator of Attendance and Discipline Support Services, Oakland Unified School District, showed how the district has added to its chronic absence reports and is monitoring new metrics and building new dashboards to compare data across schools. See the presentation.