Steering Committee Conference Call

October 20, 2006

Downloadable version: Conference Call Notes, October 20, 2006 (136 KB)

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Participants

Derrick Lindsay, Forum Chair, Mississippi Department of Education
Susan VanGorden Forum Vice-Chair Lakota Local School District (OH)
Bill Smith, Forum Immediate Past Chair, Sioux Falls School District (SD)
Linda Rocks, NESAC Vice-Chair, Bossier Parish Schools (LA)
Robert Beecham, PPI Chair, Nebraska Department of Education
Levette Williams, PPI Vice-Chair, Georgia Department of Education
Jeff Stowe TECH Chair Arizona Department of Education
Kathy Gosa TECH Vice-Chair Kansas State Department of Education
Ghedam Bairu, National Center for Education Statistics
Mary McCrory, National Center for Education Statistics
Deborah Newby, Council of Chief State School Officers
Nzinga Damali-Cathie, Council of Chief State School Officers
Tom Szuba, Quality Information Partners
Beth Young, Quality Information Partners

Discussion

Strategic Plan

The revised Forum Strategic Plan (dated October 2006) was sent to Forum members for review, comment, and vote. The final version will be posted on the Forum website.

Forum Voting

Ghedam is working with Westat to provide an online voting tool for the Forum. It will permit members to read a question/issue, vote yes or no, and share comments.

Concerning Forum Meetings

• Evaluations: Ghedam will explore how best to collect member evaluations of Forum meetings. We might consider setting aside time to fill out an evaluation during the Closing Session rather than expecting people to submit their evaluations on their own afterward. We could even consider using e-voting tools onsite if they are available. Alternatively, “Survey Monkey” and other online tools are readily available should we wish to use them.
• Orientation Session (no new members for the Winter 2006 Meeting as of now)
  • The Orientation Packet should include a page dedicated to ongoing Forum projects.

Mentoring

Mentoring will start as soon as a new member joins the Forum.

Working Groups

TECH has convened a Metadata Working Group to be chaired by Tom Ogle. It will have its first meeting in December 2006. Tom Ogle will work with Jeff Stowe to ensure that the effort is coordinated with the PK-12 Data Model Task Force.

NESAC has established a Truancy Working Group to be co-chaired by Blair Loudat and Bill Smith. It had its first meeting on October 23.

PK-12 Data Model Task Force

The task force is establishing a series of small groups to tackle issues by content area (and keep tasks manageable on such a large project). Task force meetings will be held with the leaders of these groups to ensure that content area development is coordinated. The leaders will convene their content groups online.

Action Plan Items 2006–07

• TECH: Education technology terminology will be added to the glossary of the Forum Unified Education Technology Suite (http://nces.ed.gov/forum/pub_tech_suite.asp).
• NESAC: The committee will develop a best practices document on data recovery in the LEA environment after a disaster.
• PPI: Committee members are interested in data sharing across PK-20 agencies. PPI would like to create data sharing/FERPA guidance for SEAs, but it must wait for the FPCO update planned for FERPA before undertaking such a task. Ghedam sent Bob Beecham the Forum’s SEA/LEA listserv address so that he could initiate a discussion about data sharing and FERPA.

School Staff Compensation Data

NCES Commissioner Mark Schneider will discuss NCES interest in staff compensation data at the Winter 2006 Forum Meeting. Frank Johnson (NCES) will also be available to explore the topic during a joint session at the meeting.

Forum Member Handbook

A new Forum Member Handbook is currently under development. The Forum Product Development and Dissemination Guide will be a component of it after being revised to reflect the most up-to-date Forum publication process and better address the possibility that some new Forum resources might be electronic products rather than just PDFs of print resources. Drafts will be shared for comment. A final version should be completed by the Winter 2006 Meeting.

Disseminating Information Developed by Federal Grants

Members of the TECH Committee expressed interest in ensuring that the results of the IES Statewide Longitudinal Data System Grants are made readily available to Forum members and others. Ghedam will convey this request to Kashka Kubzdela (NCES) and Deborah Newby (CCSSO) who are working on the IES Grant website.

Next Call

Friday, December 1, 1:00 PM Eastern Time. Dialing instructions will be sent prior to the call.

Steering Committee Notes

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Publications of the National Forum on Education Statistics do not undergo the formal review required for products of the National Center for Education Statistics. The information and opinions published here are the product of the National Forum on Education Statistics and do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the U.S. Department of Education or the National Center for Education Statistics.