In the January 2019–20 State Budget Proposal, California Governor Gavin Newsom introduced a K–12 education spending plan that intends to make significant investments in the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), special education, state preschool, and partial relief for pension liabilities.

In addition, it includes a significant investment to plan and develop a longitudinal data system that would link student data from early education providers and K–12 systems all the way through institutions of higher education, employers, and health and human services agencies. The stated intent of the data system is to improve coordination across multiple, disparate data systems, improve collaboration between agencies, and collect relevant data on public education and its impact on workforce capacity.

Drawing from the experiences of the LCFF Test Kitchen — a joint project of the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence, Pivot Learning, and WestEd designed to foster innovation in local school districts as they implement LCFF — this brief offers four recommendations for designing a single, web-based reporting platform for K–12 education agencies through a process that values end users and fosters innovation. They include:

  • Articulate the goals and desired outcomes of a single web-based reporting platform that align to reporting structures
  • Engage end users throughout the development process
  • Foster competition to generate an innovative, single web-based reporting platform design
  • Create structures and supports to build trust between school districts and their communities

About the LCFF Test Kitchen
The LCFF Test Kitchen is a joint project of the California Collaborative on District Reform, the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence, Pivot Learning, and WestEd. Visit the LCFF Test Kitchen website for more information.