Washington's goal should be to ensure that each and every student graduates from high school ready for college and the workplace, and the state must have a statewide data system that tracks the right indicators and is user-friendly and nimble enough for both educators and policy-makers to use. The data system should be able to link students and teachers across time to determine which students need extra help, which teachers are high-performing and which need assistance, and what types of interventions will work. It should give information not only onstudents who are struggling, but also those who are making progress. Most important, the ultimate goal is not only to collect data but also to analyze it effectively in order to increase student learning and school accountability.

Washington has made great strides in improving its data systems, although much work remains. The state is one of 11 states to meet all ten of the Data Quality Campaign's essential data system elements—a laudable achievement and a sign that the state is headed in the right direction. Still, Washington State's challenge is not only to enact policies that carry out its vision on data systems already contained in legislation, but also to think about how this vision can be translated into hands-on tools for teachers and administrators.