This article was co-authored by Kathy Gosa.
Education data are frequently used for high-stakes actions by a variety of stakeholders. Here are some examples of education data stakeholders:
- Policymakers who want to establish legislation or support programs that will most benefit schools, families, and students
- Parents who are making decisions about which early learning programs can best address the specific needs of their child
- Educators who want to implement curricula that will challenge and engage students
- Families that are looking for postsecondary opportunities to align with their means and their child's goals
For better decision-making by the stakeholders mentioned above (and others), we recommend including them at every stage of development of data products, such as reports or dashboards. This means gathering input to understand the needs of these stakeholders initially and keeping them informed during the development process, so the final product provides clear, meaningful, usable information to those stakeholders for decision-making.
By including stakeholders from beginning to end, they are much more likely to have confidence in the data quality, which means the information that your agency shares has a greater likelihood for being used by these stakeholders.
Consider these objectives that involve stakeholders and other data users throughout the process of creating a data product such as a report, dashboard, or research study.
Stay on track.
Setting expectations at the beginning of the project for the questions the data product is meant to answer will help the group stay on track toward on-time completion.
A stakeholder who is part of the project—as opposed to someone who is merely notified when a product is available—will have a greater understanding of the product itself, and of the thoughtful, and oftentimes lengthy, process for completion. They will be more aware of how feedback and input was gathered to design and develop the product, the data that had to be gathered for the product, the testing to ensure the information conveyed the intended message, and how challenges occur/are resolved over the course of development.
Involved stakeholders can help answer questions in a timely fashion to keep the work on track because they are informed and aware of the work (as opposed to reaching out “cold” and having to explain the project, its status, and its purpose each time you reach out).
Build trust.
Being transparent and involving stakeholders in the process of developing a data product will generate buy-in and give them ownership of the output. They will feel secure in understanding and using the data output.
And, as vested stakeholders who have been involved, they can act as advocates to keep the work moving forward even when changes occur in leadership or if the products show unfavorable results, for example. They’ll be able to speak to how the data product was created, why it was needed, and why it is important for decision-making.
Because it is a product they were part of, they are more likely to have built trust with the agency and feel confident about the results.
Maintain interest.
The inclusion of stakeholders over the course of the project also helps to maintain interest in the project. By including stakeholders over the duration of the project, there is a sense of accountability to one another. The agency team works toward the milestones and communicates progress, and the stakeholders are responsive to questions and calls for feedback— because they have mutual interest in the publication of a useful data product.
Often there is excitement and anticipation at the beginning of the process, but to ensure the data product continues to be important and valuable, stakeholders need to be involved in the process.
Consistent outreach is key to keep progress and products front-of-mind for stakeholders. Engaged stakeholders will be your biggest champions once data products are finalized and ready for publication.
See a real-life example here: Mississippi State Spotlight: Involving Stakeholders in the Development of a Research Agenda.
Address challenges before they become problems.
Involvement of stakeholders early and throughout the data product development effort supports building capacity for using and communicating the information. This involvement can also alleviate misconceptions and misuse of the data through mutual understanding.
For example, it may be necessary to verify the terminology that is used in a data product, and remembering to include a legend or guide to ensure clear and consistent understanding of terms that may seem obvious to agency staff. Sometimes, what may make sense to the researcher or staff creating the data product may have different meaning or may create a difficult communication situation for those who will use the data.
With your stakeholders involved from the beginning, you can avert a communication crisis that may require pulling a report down, sending additional communication to clarify the meaning or use—putting in the effort up front can save everyone involved time and headaches.
You may also involve stakeholders and users to develop a visualization strategy that is meaningful to the intended audience.
For example, to illustrate successful outcomes for a training program, providing numerical values to illustrate the economic impact to the state might resonate with policymakers and budget analysts, but telling the story of how a student was able to overcome hardships and achieve his dreams by completing the program may be much more meaningful to families and students.
How do we get data users engaged and committed to our efforts in the first place?
Engaging stakeholders from the beginning and throughout the design, development, and publish phases can ensure trust in the data and resultant data outputs. And, the rationale above may make sense to you, but how do you make this happen in a practical way that isn’t simply asking them to come to one more meeting?
Here are three strategies that we recommend to get stakeholders engaged:
1. Leverage existing committees.
So as to not create the feeling of "one more meeting," it's important to come up with a message or information that can be shared with stakeholders through the committees and meetings that are already on their calendars. It might be a data governance committee meeting or a cabinet meeting—however you can reach stakeholders at times that they already had booked will build goodwill.
This approach increases the likelihood that you will be seen as understanding that everyone’s time is valuable AND that they need to continue to be informed of progress. By using even a few minutes of the group's time to share important updates and seek their input will help you gain buy-in and a sense of ownership of the data product from the stakeholders.
2. Invite stakeholders to you.
And when you can get on everyone else’s agendas, give your stakeholders a reason to get excited about the progress and results by hosting an event that centers around the data, the findings, the uses, and the questions that remain. Instead of letting them read for themselves, help them understand by going out of your way to make sure they can ask questions.
Set up office hours where stakeholders could stop in to talk and ask questions. Have an event that invites them to contribute ideas about a new report—or show them a preview or something new or in-progress. Do something different, offer food, and showcase findings of interest. This opportunity also allows you to identify potential challenge areas and maintain excitement around the data products.
3. Make information clear, accessible, and available online.
From the data collection schedule to published findings and reports, make as much information available virtually and let folks know how they can find that information. Send postcards or flyers with links and contact information that stakeholders can keep at their desks (or on their refrigerators) to easily access and remind them of your data products. Provide materials such as magnets, pens, and sticky notes as small takeaways at conferences and meetings with the logo and website, so that it your agency’s work is front-of-mind.
Having a well-communicated online presence keeps the lines of communication open to your stakeholders so they can view progress, track the project to its goals, and preempt data use issues.
And of course, reach out in new ways that we haven't talked about. What strategies have worked for you and your stakeholders? We'd love to hear from you.
Recommended resources
For further reading on this topic, we recommend these additional resources that we created. Reach out any time if you have questions on creating an engagement strategy for your data stakeholders.
SLDS Issue Brief: Engaging Stakeholders to Expand Data Use in Support of P-20W+ Strategies This issue brief discusses stakeholder engagement strategies in the context of two successful P-20W+ stakeholder outreach projects.
Maintaining Partnerships with Data System Stakeholders: SLDS Issue Brief This brief advises on establishing and maintaining sustainable relationships with stakeholders.
SLDS Webinar: Engaging Stakeholders to Identify and Support Reporting for Financial Transparency View this webinar to learn about three state cases for working with stakeholders in the interest of gathering, using, and sharing education financial data.
SLDS Issue Brief: Implementing a Research Agenda This brief describes how to communicate and execute a research agenda to help SLDS teams align their work with state strategic goals, plan research projects, and respond to data requests from researchers.
Stakeholder Engagement Plan Guide & Template Use this framework to plan your engagement efforts to keep stakeholders consistently informed of your data use developments.
