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Information quality is important to the Department of Education because educators, researchers, policymakers, and the public use information that the Department disseminates for a variety of purposes. Thus, it is important that the information the Department disseminates be accurate and reliable.
The Department's Strategic Plan emphasizes the importance of information quality. For example, goal four of the six strategic goals is to "Transform Education into an Evidence-based Field." Under this goal, the Department seeks "to ensure that research funded or published by the Department is of the highest quality." The Department places priority on ensuring "... that high-quality research - whether or not it is funded by the Department - is synthesized, publicized, and disseminated widely."
The Department also relies on high quality information in the administration of its grant programs. For example, Objective 1.1 under the Strategic Plan requires the Department to "... link federal education funding to accountability for results." Consequently, programs that cannot demonstrate evidence of effectiveness will be candidates for reform or elimination. High quality information is required to demonstrate evidence of effective programs. To make sound decisions, the Department intends to accept and use only information that is accurate and reliable.
To serve the public, the Department of Education prepares and disseminates information products that describe the condition of American education and the Department's policies, programs, and services. The Department also disseminates profiles of the learner populations served by Department programs, evaluations of Department programs, and research products describing what works in American education. In addition, the Department reports statistical data describing the educational achievement, attainment, and the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of America's students; the characteristics of the education labor force in the United States; the financing of education in the United States; and international comparisons of education systems and their students. The Department disseminates most of its information products in both printed and electronic formats, as well as in oral presentations. Many information products are announced on the Department's Website (www.ed.gov), where they can be accessed and downloaded.
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