“The Better Data toolkit helps partners in a collective impact effort collect better data and use it to drive decisions. It guides them to collect complete data about youth outcomes, community supports, and leadership actions; align and connect data for decision making across systems; and use the best information about what works to make strategies more effective.

This toolkit enables partners to not only collect existing data, but to share data among themselves and create a permanent system of shared measurements in order to consistently track results and make adjustments based on those results.

This tool guides partners through a process of identifying data needs, filling data gaps, and using
data to influence real-time decision making. The process includes using existing data (from government agencies, for example) and creating new data through surveys and analyses. The tools include a Taking Stock Worksheet to assess what data is already at hand and where data collection needs to improve, and information about the Gallup Student Poll, which measures the hope, well-being, and engagement of young people. The toolkit also includes readings and other resources. …

The tools and worksheets were created for partnerships working on child and youth issues, but they can be (and have been) used by partnerships focused on other populations or on specific community issues.”