The Seattle-based Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in partnership with the Los Angeles-based Broad Foundation, has announced grants totaling $45 million to the National Education Data Partnership — a collaboration of the Council of Chief State School Officers, Standard & Poor's School Evaluation Services, Achieve Inc., and the CELT Corporation — for a Web site that provides in-depth information and analysis about public schools, districts, and state education systems.

Despite increases in per-pupil spending over the past two decades, fewer than one in three students can demonstrate proficiency in reading or math on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Moreover, only 68 percent of public high school students nationally will graduate, according to a recent report from the Urban Institute.

SchoolMatters, as the site is called, enables educators in a given school to find schools with similar demographics and better academic performance, a useful start for schools and districts looking to develop comprehensive reform programs. In addition to student achievement information, financial data, and demographic breakdowns, the service includes analytical tools and objective analyses provided by Standard & Poor's to give education leaders the information they need to make informed decisions about schools and school systems.

"Through SchoolMatters, users can learn about creative reforms throughout the country and consider whether similar efforts would benefit their local schools," said Tom Vander Ark, executive director for education at the Gates Foundation. "Educators and policymakers can examine the relationship between spending decisions and student achievement, which may help to identify cost-effective solutions to improve student performance."