Findability, Accessibility, and Usability of Data Portals in Education

There is a need for stakeholders, at all levels of education, to be able to locate, access, and use the preponderance of data available about schools and students’ demographic information and academic performance. The reason for findability, accessibility and usability of the data is for the stakeholders to make data-driven decisions based on trends the data bring to light. However, in many cases, data are located in portals that are cumbersome and difficult to navigate. This article explores the complexity of educational data portals; the wide gap in technology skills of the user of the data; and, interface design challenges.