To advance equity in education, states, districts, and schools need to identify and address the root causes of systemic inequities. Disaggregated quantitative data enable educational systems leaders to understand these root causes and the extent of inequities experienced by different groups of students.

This brief helps leaders of local educational agencies and state educational agencies, technical assistance providers, principals, and teachers to consider the importance of disaggregated quantitative data as part of culturally responsive and equitable data usage.

The brief discusses how data should be disaggregated by various factors, such as race/ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, Individualized Education Plan status, disability, and multilingual learning status. It also illustrates the importance of examining data across student groups and at the intersections of marginalized identities, such as race/ethnicity and gender.

This process facilitates the analysis of the performance, progress, and experiences of specific groups of students, which can help identify inequities and disparities that might otherwise go unnoticed in broader analyses. The brief ends with recommendations of qualitative measures to support the use of disaggregated quantitative data.