The National Forum on Education Statistics PK-12 Data Model Task Force is developing a comprehensive education data model that will be available for use by schools and LEAs to build or guide the selection of instructional delivery systems, data driven decision-making systems, operations systems, and reporting systems. The PK-12 Data Model will facilitate local decision-making and add to overall data quality, goals that are aligned with States' efforts to develop and utilize longitudinal data systems.
The National Forum on Education Statistics Metadata Task Force will develop a document with best practice concepts, definitions, implementation strategies, and templates/tools for an audience of data, technology, and program staff in state and local education agencies.
Forum Guide to Building a Culture of Quality Data: A School & District Resource Quality data, like quality students, come from schools. Recently, there has been a growing awareness that effective teaching, efficient schools, and quality data are related. The quality of information used to develop an instructional plan, run a school, plan a budget, or place a student in a class depends upon the school data clerk, teacher, counselor, and/or school secretary who enter data into a computer. This document offers recommendations to staff in schools and school districts about best practices for data entry — getting things right at the source.
Forum Curriculum for Improving Education Data: A Resource for Local Education Agencies This curriculum supports efforts to improve the quality of education data by serving as training materials for K-12 school and district staff. It provides lesson plans, instructional handouts, and related resources, and presents concepts necessary to help schools develop a culture for improving data quality.
Improving Education Data Part 1—Creating a Foundation (online course) Improving Education Data Part 1—Creating a Foundation is the first of two online courses based upon the Forum's Data Quality Curriculum resource. The four lessons in this first course concentrate on establishing a culture of quality data, assessing your local education agency’s data quality, classifying education data, and examining security and confidentiality. The course is designed to be either instructor-led or self-paced and incorporates activities, discussions, presentations, and support materials. Both courses are designed for LEAs and are free of charge through SIFA University.
Improving Education Data Part 2—Coordinating Data Quality (online course) Improving Education Data Part 2—Coordinating Data Quality is the second of two online courses based upon the Forum's Data Quality Curriculum resource and will be released in Summer 2008. The eight lessons in this course center on the data coordinator/steward responsibilities, data flow and cycles, data entry, creation and use of a data dictionary, development of a data calendar, types of data errors, validation and audit of data, and communication. Both courses are designed for LEAs and are free of charge through SIFA University.
The NCES Data Handbooks provide guidance on consistency in data definitions and maintenance for education data, so that such data can be accurately aggregated and analyzed. The online Handbook database provides the Nonfiscal Handbooks in a searchable web tool. This database includes data elements for students, staff, and education institutions.
Regional Educational Laboratories (REL) The Regional Educational Laboratory Program (REL) consists of a network of ten laboratories that serve the educational needs of a designated region by providing access to high quality scientifically valid education research through applied research and development projects, studies, and other related technical assistance activities.
Fast Response Projects
SEAs and LEAs can request technical assistance from their regional educational laboratories through fast response applied research and development projects that are focused on high priority education issues and are by design, short term, lasting no longer than twelve months, to ensure a fast turnaround. Issues are identified through on-going regional needs assessments and primarily from requests from policymakers and educators at the state and local level. The regional educational laboratory may gather up recent data, studies, reviews, or tap into state or district resources to provide a careful examination of findings and present those findings in such a way that they are able to inform the decision making process that is based on the best scientific evidence available.
National Center for Education Research (NCER) Funding Opportunities Through its research initiatives and the national research and development centers, NCER engages in research activities that will result in the provision of high quality education for all children, improvement in student academic achievement, reduction in the achievement gap between high-performing and low-performing students, and increased access to and opportunity for postsecondary education. NCER research examines the effectiveness of educational programs, practices, and policies, including the application of technology to instruction and assessment. The goal of NCER research programs is to provide scientific evidence of what works, for whom, and under what conditions.
NCER will be releasing the FY2009 Request for Applications for its grant programs by the spring of 2008. To receive notification of their release sign up for the IES Newsflash for NCER at the IES website and check their status on the NCER website.
What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) The What Works Clearinghouse was established in 2002 by the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences to provide educators, policymakers, researchers, and the public with a central and trusted source of scientific evidence of what works in education. The WWC aims to promote informed education decision making through a set of easily accessible databases and user-friendly reports that provide education consumers with high-quality reviews of the effectiveness of replicable educational interventions (programs, products, practices, and policies) that intend to improve student outcomes.
The National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER) is a federally funded National Research and Development Center. CALDER capitalizes upon longitudinal individual-level student and teacher data across a number of states to investigate how state and local policies, especially teacher policies, governance policies, and accountability policies affect teachers (e.g., who teaches what students) and students (e.g., academic achievement and attainment).
NCES Personnel Exchange Program provides travel funds for state or local education agency staff to visit other education organizations in order to share knowledge about education data issues.
