Wisconsin Case Study: Building a Student-Level Longitudinal Data System

The Data Quality Campaign is a national, collaborative effort to encourage and support state policymakers to improve the collection, availability and use of high-quality education data and to implement state longitudinal data systems to improve student achievement. The campaign aims to provide tools and resources that will assist state development of quality longitudinal data systems, while also providing a national forum for reducing duplication of effort and promoting greater coordination and consensus among the organizations focusing on improving data quality, access and use. To these ends, four site visits were conducted in the spring of 2006 to state education agencies (SEAs) to gather information on their experiences in developing statewide longitudinal data systems: Florida, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin. In this document the following topics are discussed in relation to Wisconsin's student-level longitudinal data system: (1) History of Development; (2) Implementation Issues; (3) Benefits and Uses of System; (4) Lessons Learned; and (5) Recommendations for Future Development.