State needs a better tracking system

The Associated Press has a story that says California's lack of adequate technology to track its students makes it unable to properly comply with No Child Left Behind.

While the state collects reams of information about students, from their ethnicity and poverty status to their scores on the high school exit exam, most of that data is not linked. That gap means state officials do not know the answer to such basic questions as whether special programs have helped third-graders read better or how many students drop out and where they go.

There also is no way to make sure records are transferred when students move to another city or to see what courses they’ve taken.

The lack of data has kept the state perpetually at odds with federal education officials over how to measure student progress under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Here's the story.