NAES partners with the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) to collect annual data about Episcopal schools via DASL — Data and Analysis for School Leadership, a powerful database tool.
Why is DASL important for all Episcopal schools?
NAES can use DASL to track trends in Episcopal schools nationally and regionally and tell the story of Episcopal schools to our members, the Episcopal Church, and the public, religious, and independent school sectors. But we need complete and accurate data to do so.
Why is participating in DASL important for my school?
Participating schools have access to DASL’s robust data and reports. Use DASL reports to benchmark your school regionally, by school size, or in relation to other Episcopal schools across variables such as:
- Faculty and staff salaries and benefits
- Chaplain salaries and benefits, including housing allowance and pension plans
- Demographic composition and enrollment
- Tuition and financial aid
- Fundraising
You do not need to be a member of NAIS to participate in DASL!
Why should schools be using DASL?
- Fewer data collections. When you put your data in DASL, it will go to many of the organizations to which your school belongs.
- Shorter data collection. Based on characteristics you provide, your school will see only the questions relevant to you. For example, girls’ schools will not be asked for boys’ enrollment.
- More choices. This year, you will have the option of downloading an Excel template into which you can enter your data, then upload the file to DASL, confirm your data populated correctly, and finalize your entry.
- Faster system. DASL is in the cloud, with state-of-the art security and speed.
What can DASL do for my school?
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Benchmark your school’s data.
Where do you stand? Use more than 30 years of independent school data to help you make the right choices for your school.
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Create comparison groups.
Filter search by region, grades served, Episcopal/Non-Episcopal, and more. Access data on demographics, tuition, financial aid, enrollment, among other characteristics.
🎓
Recruit and retain top talent.
How much should you pay faculty and staff? Review salary and compensation data from around the country to give your school the edge.
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Ensure a healthy enrollment.
Keep up with the changing demographics in your area. Empower your admissions team with data to aid their community outreach.
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Impress your board.
Use the dashboards for an overview with the latest numbers and data visualizations. Come prepared to board meetings with auto-populated reports.
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Tell your school story.
How has your school changed over the years? Track your numbers to show people what makes your school stand out in crowded field.
What is available to my school?
| Members of NAES and NAIS | Members of NAES Only | |
|---|---|---|
| DASL Benchmark Report Builder | Full access to all data from all 1,800+ schools contributing to DASL. | Access data from all Episcopal schools as well as any other DASL partners of which you are a member. |
| DASL Databook | ✔ | |
| DASL Dashboards | ✔ | |
| Custom Comparison Groups for Easy Reporting | Ability to include schools from across the country in custom comparison groups. | Ability to group Episcopal schools as well as any other DASL partners of which you are a member. |
| Custom DASL Salary Reports | ✔ | |
| Market View | ✔ | |
| Statistical Tables | ✔ | ✔ |
Frequently Asked Questions
We are using DASL because DASL eliminates the need to type the same information time and time again into surveys from the various associations to which you may or may not belong. This both saves time and gives you access to a much wider range of data.
Yes! One of the wonderful things about DASL is that after you have told it what kind of schools you are, it tailors the questions specifically for you. Are you a day school? No more boarding school questions. Are you a preschool? Only questions that pertain to preschools.
Yes! There are two ways. Firstly, after your first year of using DASL, many of the questions will have the option to automatically fill with last year’s data. Secondly, you can divide the process out between staff members if necessary.
You can fill out the forms online or by using a downloadable spreadsheet. You can even divide the work between multiple staff members.
You can contact NAIS directly for help by emailing daslhelp@nais.org. You can also sign up for online office hours and webinars. Visit dasl.nais.org and click on “help” in the top right corner.
No!