What Is the Data Freshness Monitor?
ThinkKits aggregates data from 23+ federal, state, and third-party sources. The Data Freshness Monitor tracks when each source was last updated, whether the data is current, and assigns health grades (A through F) so you always know how fresh the intelligence behind your decisions is. Weekly health reports are generated automatically.
Health Grades
Grade A
Updated within the expected refresh cycle. Data is current and reliable.
Grade B
Updated recently but approaching refresh threshold. Still reliable for most use cases.
Grade C
Overdue for refresh by 1 cycle. Use with awareness that newer data may exist.
Grade D/F
Significantly overdue or source unavailable. Data may be stale — manual verification recommended.
Monitored Sources
| Source | Category | Refresh Frequency | Typical Lag |
|---|---|---|---|
| NCES CCD (Schools) | Demographics | Annual (Oct) | 8-12 months |
| NCES CCD (Districts) | Demographics | Annual (Oct) | 8-12 months |
| NCES F-33 Finance | Funding | Annual (Mar) | 12-18 months |
| Title I Allocations | Funding | Annual (Jul) | 2-4 months |
| IDEA Part B | Funding | Annual (Jul) | 2-4 months |
| USAC E-Rate | Funding | Quarterly | 1-3 months |
| USASpending.gov | Funding | Monthly | 30-60 days |
| State Assessments (5 states) | Performance | Annual (Aug-Nov) | 3-6 months |
| BoardDocs | Governance | Weekly | 1-7 days |
| Simbli | Governance | Weekly | 1-7 days |
| Grants.gov | Opportunities | Daily | 1-2 days |
| IRS 990 (ProPublica) | Foundations | Quarterly | 3-6 months |
| CASE Standards | Curriculum | As published | 1-30 days |
Weekly Health Report
Every Monday at 7 AM ET, the system generates a comprehensive health report that includes the overall system health score, per-source status, any degraded sources with estimated refresh dates, and a 30-day trend chart. Reports are emailed to Professional+ users and viewable in the admin dashboard.
How to Use
- Navigate to Data Health from your dashboard or admin panel
- View the overall health score and per-source status grid
- Click any source to see detailed history: last 12 refresh timestamps, average lag, and trend
- Configure alert thresholds per source (e.g., alert if NCES data is >14 months old)
- Export the health report as PDF for stakeholder presentations
When presenting to school boards or grant reviewers, include the Data Freshness Report as an appendix. It demonstrates that your recommendations are based on verified, current data — not stale spreadsheets from three years ago.