As the earlier section “Invisible Men” makes clear, the goal of equity and opportunity for students is critically hampered by our lack of key data about them. Data disaggregated by race and gender is scarce, and there is no single accepted method of calculating graduation rates or handling the many different kinds of diplomas high schools may offer.
While Federal guidelines are crucial to establishing consistent and comparable sets of data across the country, states and districts need not wait — they should start releasing quality disaggregated data immediately so that parents, educators, advocates, and policymakers can create solutions that fit their specific needs.
