Last week, we had the welcome opportunity to attend the second Action Analytics Symposium in St. Paul, MN. Doug Lederman, of Inside Higher Ed was also there. He moderated a panel discussion. Here's his report on the symposium and other, related movements aimed at getting better data-informed decisions made about student learning:

Those behind Action Analytics wouldn't dare assert that they have a clear solution to that problem, but they left last week's meeting vowing to keep attacking it. They plan to convene national experts in a Web-based community of practice, and to test out concepts locally in the Twin Cities, involving not just the host institutions but the mammoth University of Minnesota, too. While some participants expressed concern that the continuing economic woes in the states would discourage progress on this front -- since "bad times sometimes erode away what was innovative," said [SCUP board member Linda] Baer of MnSCU -- others argued that the combination of economic necessity and continued external pressure from federal and state policy makers would compel college leaders to find new ways to improve their own performance. "If we don't," said [Aimee] Guidera of the Data Quality Campaign, "we will go the way of newsprint."