Talent Data & K-12 Decision-Making: Balancing the Equation

At a time when educators are facing growing demands on their time and energy the teacher shortage expands to virtually all corners of county, the work of attracting, supporting, growing and retaining high-quality educators is now more important than ever. A strategic approach to human capital management (HCM) plays a key role in supporting all of the people who work hard to help students meet their own growing challenges.

A truly strategic approach to HCM requires not just the right strategy, but also the right data points and the right approach to using that data to drive talent decisions.

Here at the Institute, we believe that if strategic leaders bring the right data together with the right lens, coupled with the right policies and systems, they can build human capital management systems that turn the tide on teacher recruitment and retention, yielding better fits for teachers and better outcomes for students.

Our latest white paper delves into policy and practice lessons from the last few decades. What have we learned about the use of K-12 talent data – and where do we go from here?

What’s most important is that district leaders together are reaching an understanding that a strategic approach to HCM is essential and–further– can be transformative for school systems. In the end, this commitment to building high-performing employee culture only builds on something most educational leaders are already acutely aware of: it’s the people who make the difference.

Here are a few key insights from the paper:

• Data-driven decision-making, from the earliest endeavors to now, has helped apply structure to an otherwise formless and – seemingly – endless trove of data.
• Despite recent advances in the effective capture and use of student data, progress in using and defining educator data, and then turning it into a plan of action to support educators, is far off pace.
• Schools and districts, working within the law, but innovating independently, have found HCM success through mapping their own path to improvement.
• Highly-effective HCM districts establish signposts by using data to determine what constitutes progress. The processes behind the schools and districts that have found success with this model can be adapted to fit other schools, just like yours.
• If education leaders bring the right data together with an actionable lens, coupled with coherent policies and systems, it is possible to build strategic HCM systems that turn the tide on teacher recruitment and retention.

Read the White Paper