Illinois Longitudinal Data System Project
What is ILDS?
The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), along with our Education Partners, is now actively moving forward with the design and development of the state-wide Illinois Longitudinal Data System (ILDS). The system, when fully deployed, will provide data to help to track the outcomes of Illinois students as they progress from Pre-K through Postsecondary education, and as they enter the workforce. Longitudinal data supports an in-depth, comprehensive view of students’ progress and will ultimately help guide policymakers on where to invest time and energy to most effectively improve student achievement in our State.
The ILDS is defined by Public Act 96-0107 and enabled through federal funding, and instructs the State Board of Education to link student test scores, length of enrollment and graduation records over time. The system also will connect students to career planning and resources, with the potential to facilitate the application process for financial aid and records for transfer students.
ILDS will serve a large stakeholder group, including:
- Illinois State Board of Education
- Local Education Authorities
- Regional offices of education and intermediate service centers
- Parents and other members of the general public
- State Legislatures
- News media
- Research organizations
- Postsecondary Institutions
- State workforce and higher education agencies
- Education Partners
Project activities will include working with the stakeholders to define the appropriate data access rights for each group while preserving the privacy of individuals per Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Illinois School Student Records Act (ISSRA).
Illinois has received two federal grants that help provide funding for the ILDS project. The initial Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems grant is comprised of five major components:
- Establishment of a Data Advisory Committee
- Development of an Enterprise-wide Data Architecture
- Improved Data Quality through Data Stewardship
- Development of an Education Enterprise Data Warehouse
- Linking of the ISBE Unique Student Identifier with Postsecondary and Employment Data
The second grant, the Statewide Longitudinal Data System Recovery Act Grant, is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Referred to as the ILDS Expansion Project, it is comprised of four interrelated components:
- Establish a Statewide Transcript System for Middle and High School Students
- Integrate Student-level Data with Teacher and Administrator Data
- Continued Expansion and Development of Postsecondary Education Data Systems
- Expansion of Early Childhood Data Collection Systems.
The four components also address many of the data collection requirements the state must meet as part of Phase II of the Education Fund under the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF) Program. Please visit our Overview page for more detailed information.
For questions regarding the ILDS project please email the ILDS Project Management Office at ILDS@isbe.net.