Concurrent Session XI Presentations

Friday, July 29, 2011
9:45 am – 10:45 am

XI–A: Data-Informed Professional Development

Eric Brooks, Arizona Department of Education
Joellen Killion and Jacqueline Kennedy, Learning Forward

Arizona is committed to supporting school districts to measure the effectiveness of professional development. Using the Standards Assessment Inventory based on the Standards for Staff Development, schools and school districts within Arizona have information to make data-informed decisions to increase the quality and effectiveness of professional development. The newly revised Standards for Professional Development, released in July 2011, define the indicators of quality and recommended practice in the field. Hear how Arizona has used standards for professional development and how they will use the newly updated standards to increase the effectiveness and results of professional development.

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XI–B: The Challenges of Implementing an On-Line Teacher Credentialing System and Moving it to Real-Time

Darren Addington, California Commission on Teacher Credentialing

The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing will share some of the trials it went through when it implemented its on-line Credentialing system, which includes public and private display of Credentials, renewing of Credentials online, Approved Programs (IHEs) recommending people for Credentials, and Direct Applications. The presenter will share the challenges the Commission is currently facing in bringing this online system in house and moving it to real time processing and display.

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XI–C: Dropout Prevention, College Readiness, and Teacher Matching: Using Existing State Data

Dorothyjean Cratty, National Center for Education Statistics

This session is a demonstration and discussion of the types of policy-relevant research questions that can be addressed using existing state data and a range of techniques that can be employed to turn administrative data files into research-ready datasets. For both, states just beginning to develop linked, longitudinal datasets, and those that have been collecting them for years—there are a few additional steps that can be taken to allow state and local education agencies and their stakeholders to analyze pressing but complex issues. By incorporating available information about the data generation process, states and stakeholders can make significantly greater use of evidence-based solutions to education’s biggest challenges.

Download Zipped PowerPoint Presentation:

Dropout Prevention, College Readiness, and Teacher Matching: Using Existing State Data (645 KB)

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XI–D: Standardizing the Standards

Michael Sessa, Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council (PESC)
Shawn Bay, eScholar LLC
Rick Skeel, The University of Oklahoma

For more than a decade, there have been a number of groups working to produce and implement data standards that support the goal of interoperability. These initiatives have come at the problem from various perspectives, PK–12, higher education, data collection, instructional management and more. More recently, as data are being put to work on a large scale, we have all become aware that we are addressing different portions of the same large scale data problem. Our panel will outline the specific action steps that are being taken to converge these standards as we move forward so the constituencies and installed bases of each standard will reap the benefits increasing interoperability as we move forward. We will discuss the work done so far, the plan going forward and the use cases we have currently addressed. We will also discuss the roles and actions that state education agencies, local education agencies, and vendors can take to move this process forward as effectively as possible.

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XI–E: School District Demographics System Map Viewer Update 2011

Tai Phan, National Center for Education Statistics
Brendan Collins, Blue Raster

NCES continues to make significant enhancements to its School District Demographics System (SDDS) website. This session will present an overview of the latest features and data enhancements available for the SDDS Standard and Express Interactive Map Viewers. The session will also briefly discuss some of the technology used in constructing the website, including ESRI ArcGIS Server Flex API.

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XI–F: P–20 Information Systems: Challenges and Possibilities

Meredith Bickell and Geir Solvang, Wyoming Department of Education
Alex Jackl, Choice Solutions, Inc.

Integration, quality, mobility, ownership, accessibility, scalability, sustainability…the utilization of data is important to everyone: parents, teachers, policymakers, and administrators. The driving factor behind all data collection is the concept that the data are collected and analyzed, reports are produced, and the information is analyzed from which informed decisions are made. The ability for this to impact student learning rests on the back of accurate data and being able to link multiple types and sources of data to create better information to use in making decisions. How can state education agencies create an environment conducive to building a P–20 Information System that will meet stakeholder expectations?

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XI–G: Navigating Multiple Databases for Research (Session Cancelled)

Sarah Frazelle, Kansas City Area Education Research Consortium
Mark Ehlert, University of Missouri

Quality research increasingly relies on combining data from multiple sources such as local, state and national education databases. Kansas City Area Education Research Consortium (KC-AERC) will facilitate a discussion on creating a common database for merging and storing Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) protected data from multiple databases while working under short-term data sharing agreements. Based on experience, KC-AERC will highlight best practices and common pitfalls with emphasis on documentation and replicable statistical programming.

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XI–H: Economic Hardships: Exploring Alternative Funding Sources

Carlee Poston Escue, University of Cincinnati

As the nation is struggling with economic hardship, it is becoming imperative to investigate alternative funding sources. This study explores largely unknown funding opportunities currently in existence yet not identified as potential funding sources. This study will also address some of the litigation and state reactions to such funding opportunities. It is the intent of the study to encourage innovative approaches to financial solutions for both the states and the nation.

Download Zipped PowerPoint Presentation:

Economic Hardships: Exploring Alternative Funding Sources (145 KB)

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XI–I: Foundations of Success: A Longitudinal Study of New York City Public School Students From Grades 1–12

Sarah Cordes, Amy Ellen Schwartz, Leanna Stiefel, and Meryle Weinstein; New York University

We conduct the first known longitudinal study of multiple cohorts of urban public school students that follows them for their entire academic careers. We look at 30,000+ New York City Public School children in each cohort to examine how those who succeed differ from those who do not. Importantly, we look at the evolution of their progress from first grade through the end of high school, examining their attendance, achievement, background characteristics, etc. In addition, we look at the successes and failures of the over 50,000 students who share their classrooms for some part of their academic journey.

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