United States Department of Education Update, June 2006

Overview & Synopsis

The Department of Education hosted a rare "technical training" for State correctional education directors and data managers this spring titled "Making Data Work for You." Forty-eight States participated. This was a welcome opportunity for face-to-face contact with correctional education administrators from across the U.S. More than ten States assisted with the training by presenting examples of smart utilization of correctional education program data for program improvement, accountability and strategic planning. The Department also used this opportunity to announce the availability of a correctional education data guide on an interactive web site: http://www.cedatanetwork.org/reports/index.html. This resource is the result of a multi year partnership with a team of volunteer State correctional education programs working together to articulate common definitions and standards for correctional education data. We hope that knowledge and resource brought from this training are now impacting the way that State correctional education programs are doing business.