The purpose of assistance under this program is to enable State educational agencies to design, develop, and implement statewide, longitudinal data systems to efficiently and accurately manage, analyze, disaggregate and use individual student data. The goal of the program is to enable all States to create comprehensive systems that permit the generation and use of accurate and timely data, support informed decision-making at all levels of the education system, increase the efficiency with which data may be analyzed to support the continuous improvement of education services and outcomes, facilitate research to improve student achievement and close achievement gaps, and support education accountability systems and public reporting.

Funding provided under this competition is to be used for statewide data systems that, in addition to P-12 data, also include postsecondary and workforce information. Grants will support the development and implementation of P-20 systems that have the capacity to link individual student data across time and across databases, including matching teachers to students, promote interoperability for easy matching and linking of data across institutions and States, and protect student privacy consistent with applicable privacy protection laws.

This additional one-time funding provided by the ARRA will permit grantee State educational agencies (SEAs) to accelerate the development of their data systems, to include not only data related to K-12 education, but also data on preschool and postsecondary education and workforce information, and to promote linkages with other data systems where such linkages may inform education policy and practice.

IES has identified $245 million in funding with individual cooperative agreements ranging from $2 million to $20 million. IES notes "the number of awards made under this competition will depend upon the nature and quality of the applications received."