National Forum on Education Statistics - Forum Annual Report 2011-12

Forum Annual Report 2011-12

National Cooperative Education Statistics System
National Forum on Education Statistics

Summary
2011–12

Officers

Chairperson: David Weinberger, Yonkers Public Schools (NY)
Vice-Chair: Tom Ogle, Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Past Chair: Kathy Gosa, Kansas State Department of Education

Standing Committees

National Education Statistics Agenda Committee (NESAC)
Chair: Cheryl McMurtrey, Mountain Home School District 193 (ID)
Vice-Chair: Raymond Martin, Connecticut State Department of Education

Policies, Programs and Implementation (PPI)
Chair: Tom Howell, Michigan Center for Educational Performance and Information
Vice-Chair: Sonya Edwards, California Department of Education

Technology (TECH)
Chair: Peter Tamayo, Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction
Vice-Chair: Laurel Krsek, Napa Valley Unified School District (CA)

Completed Task Forces & Publications

Forum Guide to Facilities Information Management: A Resource for State and Local Education Agencies
Purpose: This guide is intended to provide a framework for collecting, evaluating, and maintaining education facilities data. It is written to help staff in state and local education agencies, and in public charter schools, design school facility information systems that support policy- and decisionmaking; management and operation; capital budgeting and project management; public participation in school facilities planning; and the integration of facilities data into other education and municipal data sets. It includes best practices for the design, development, implementation, and use of facilities management information systems, along with a list of standard data elements.

Allen Abend, Education Facilities Consultant (formerly Maryland Public School Construction Program, Maryland State Department of Education)
Margo Appel, Office of Building Technologies, U.S. Department of Energy
Claire Barnett, Executive Director, Healthy Schools Network, Inc.
Gordon Beck, Director, School Facilities and Organization, Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction
Barbara Bice, Chief, School Facilities Branch, Maryland Public School Construction Program, Maryland State Department of Education
Lucian Coleman, School Construction Accountability Program Manager, Office of Public Education Facility Modernization, District of Columbia Public Schools
Andy Fridley, Manager of Environmental Health, Safety and Support Services, Portland Public Schools, Oregon
Troy Glover, Solutions Group, Fanning Howey and Associates
Stefan Huh, Director, Charter Facilities Financing Office, District of Columbia Office of the State Superintendent of Education
Ed Murdough, Administrator, Office of Building Aid, New Hampshire Department of Education
Sean O’Donnell, Principal, EE&K Architects
Bernard Piaia, Director, Office of School Facilities, New Jersey Department of Education
Joan Ponessa, Director of Research, Education Law Center
Lee Prevost, President, SchoolDude
Sue Robertson, Planning Alliance, New Orleans, Louisiana
Gary Ross, Director of Media Services, Lane Education Service District, Oregon
Bill Savidge, Contra Costa School District, California
Gary Schwartz, Director, Iowa Demonstration and Construction Grants Program, Iowa Department of Education
Roger Young, Consultant, Roger Young and Associates
Consultant: Mary Filardo, 21st Century School Fund
Consultant: Tom Szuba, Quality Information Partners
Project Officer: Ghedam Bairu, National Center for Education Statistics

2011-12 Working Groups

Teacher-Student Data Link Working Group

Purpose: This working group will develop a resource to support implementation of the Teacher-Student data link by LEA and SEA staff. A considerable amount of work has been done and is currently underway related to the Teacher-Student data link, most notably through the Teacher-Student Data Link (TSDL) Project and the Data Quality Campaign (DQC). This group will develop a new resource, informed by prior work, that focuses on overcoming implementation challenges, particularly at the local level.

Lee Rabbitt (Chair), Newport Public Schools (RI)
Sherri Ballman, Princeton Public Schools
John Brandt, Utah Department of Education
Rob Curtin, Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Kathy Gosa, Kansas State Department of Education
Eli Pristoop, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Linda Rocks, Bossier Parish Schools (LA)
Pat Sullivan, Texas Education Agency
Susan Williams, Virginia Department of Education
Christopher Woolard, Ohio Department of Education
Consultant: Jim Goodell, Quality Information Partners
Project Officer: Ghedam Bairu, National Center for Education Statistics

Data Use Working Group

Purpose: While states and districts are collecting more data and capturing greater detail than ever before, the capacity among stakeholders to effectively use these data is often lacking. This working group will help education stakeholders to more effectively use data to improve the education system and student learning.

Kathy Gosa (Chair), Kansas State Department of Education
David Feliciano, Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools (GA)
Tom Howell, State of Michigan, Center for Educational Performance and Information
Laurel Krsek, Napa Valley Unified School District (CA)
Al Larson, Meriden Board of Education (CT)
Allen Miedema, Northshore School District (WA)
Jay Pennington, Iowa Department of Education
Brian Snow, Maine State Department of Education
David Weinberger, Yonkers Public Schools (NY)
Consultant: Tom Szuba, Quality Information Partners
Project Officer: Ghedam Bairu, National Center for Education Statistics

SEA Data Use Working Group

Purpose: Increases in the quality and quantity of education data, especially through the implementation of statewide longitudinal data systems, provide a wealth of information for education research. This working group aims to assist state education agencies (SEAs) as they consider how to manage and service requests from external researchers for education data.

Kathy Gosa (Chair), Kansas State Department of Education
Bruce Dacey, Delaware Department of Education
Tom Howell, Center for Educational Performance & Information (MI)
Ruth Neild, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE)
Jay Pennington, Iowa Department of Education
Brian Snow, Maine State Department of Education
Pat Sullivan, Texas Education Agency
Peter Tamayo, Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction
Levette Williams, Georgia Department of Education
Consultant: Tom Szuba, Quality Information Partners
Consultant: jay Pfeiffer, MPR Associates
Project Officer: Ghedam Bairu, National Center for Education Statistics

Member Activities

The Forum welcomed representatives of nine Regional Educational Laboratories (RELs) as associate members, including:

The Forum welcomed the Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council (PESC) as a new associate member. PESC is a "501(c)(3) non-profit, community-based, umbrella association of colleges and universities; college and university systems; professional and commercial organizations; data, software and service providers; non-profit organizations and associations; and state and federal government agencies” that operates to promote “cost-effective connectivity between data systems to accelerate performance and service, to simplify data access and research, and to improve data quality along the higher education lifecycle."

Other Activities

The Forum and the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE) are working together to facilitate collaboration between the Regional Educational Laboratories (RELs) and state and local education agency (SEA and LEA) representatives. The RELs are charged with helping states and school districts systematically use research and data to answer important issues of policy and practice with the goal of improving student outcomes. The Forum initiated a series of web conferences for Forum, REL, and Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS) representatives in each region, which provides an opportunity for REL representatives to share their first year research agendas and technical assistance plans with SEA and LEA representatives. Web conferences also offer SEA and LEA representatives the opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback to RELs to inform current and future REL plans.

The Forum and NCEE are also promoting interaction between Forum members and RELs through roundtable discussions at the Summer 2012 Forum. The goal of the roundtables is to provide an opportunity for RELs to learn more about the research and technical assistance needs of SEAs and LEAs, and for SEAs and LEAs to learn more about what the RELs can offer them.

Meetings

Summer 2011 Meeting: July 25-27, 2011 in Bethesda, MD
Winter 2012 Meeting: February 13-14, 2012 in San Diego, CA