ESP Solutions Group
Anne Marie Westmoreland and Joshua Goodman, ESP Solutions Group
ESP Solutions Group is solely dedicated to improving data management in K-12 education. We provide products and services for state education agencies in mission-critical areas such as data management, data collection and exchange, data analysis, and data reporting.
ESP personnel have advised all 52 education agencies as well as the U.S. Department of Education on the practice of K-12 school data management for state and federal reporting. We are regarded as leading experts in understanding the data and technology implications of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), Education Data Exchange Network (EDEN), and the Schools Interoperability Framework (SIF).
Statewide .net Student Information System
Willie McIntosh and Rick Whitehead, Third Day Solutions
Visitors stopped by Third Day Solutions’ demonstration table to learn about our statewide development of Oklahoma student information system with Schools Interoperability Framework, how our development is leading to more accurate counts and faster reporting, what this development means to Oklahoma, and how other states and individual districts can use and benefit from our research and experience. New products and tools are available for implementation to co-exist within the state/district informational tracking system. We showed how this works with Education Data Exchange Network and SIF requirements.
eScholar: Complete Data Warehouse Solution and Uniq-ID System for K-12 Education
Ron Streeter, Shawn Bay, and Wolf Boehme, eScholar
eScholar, the nation’s leader in K-12 longitudinal data systems, provides the best possible data management, analysis, and reporting solutions for tracking and improving student achievement. The eScholar Complete Data Warehouse™ is the most comprehensive solution available for compiling, analyzing, and reporting on thousands of data elements. The powerful eScholar Uniq-ID™ System, incorporating ChoiceMaker Technology’s matching capability, is the leader in generating, assigning, and locating statewide unique student identifiers. eScholar enables state education agencies and school districts to fully customize a solution to meet their own requirements, while maintaining Schools Interoperability Framework and National Center for Education Statistics standards.
Innovations in Data Collection, Reporting, and Use
Gay Sherman, Aziz Elia, and Michelle Elia
Computer Power Solutions of Illinois
This demonstration showed the Schools Interoperability Framework (SIF)-based ETL tools available for collecting data on a district and state level and placing it in an operational and transactional data warehouse. We also showed how this data can be displayed with easy-to-use tools that can be viewed by teachers, parents, and administrators. The SIF Connect data warehouse solution is XML-based using the SIF standard and zone integration server. Additional SIF agent demonstrations for Identity Manager and Moodle were also available.
Analyze, Verify, and Certify the Quality of Education Data Collectionswith C4DQ Certify® Software
Richard Paar, The Center for Data Quality
Ten state education agencies use the Center for Data Quality (C4DQ) Certify® software to analyze, verify, and certify the quality of data collections submitted to the U.S. Department of Education. C4DQ Certify® allows education agencies to pinpoint and view the sources of data quality problems, such as missing data, incomplete data, corrupted data, or misunderstood business rules. The software provides data quality metrics and customizable trend reports, so data owners, data stewards, and database administrators can observe data quality improvements over time. Real examples of K-12 data from selected state-level data quality programs were demonstrated.
Transforming Data to Increase Academic Achievement
Alvin Crawford, SchoolNet
K-12 public school districts nationwide are partnering with SchoolNet for comprehensive, web-based Instructional Management Solutions (IMS) that transform data into a powerful tool to improve teaching and learning. This presentation demonstrated the power of the IMS and its impact on meeting Adequate Yearly Progress goals, narrowing achievement gaps, enhancing teacher proficiency, and accelerating learning in some of the nation's largest school districts.
EDSL: The Data Warehouse for Planning, Performing, and Publishing Results
Gary Policastro and Vincent Kelso, Fairfax County Public Schools, Virginia
Fairfax County Public Schools has taken the lead to publish school-level information as school profiles. The profiles are used to publicize school programs; school board strategic target measures; and demographic, performance, staffing, and safety of all of our schools. The profiles are an example of how to use the Education Decision Support Library (EDSL), an enterprise-wide decision support system, to support publication.
This demonstration illustrated the importance of a decision support system for ease of reporting for school planning purposes, administrative planning, state reporting, and how school board members can easily provide appropriate school-level information to their constituents.
Using eGrants to Facilitate Better Planning and Accountability
Dan Carier and Eric Lindenberg, MTW Solutions
Districts and states invest significant effort in developing district improvement plans. For those plans to be effective, state education agencies (SEAs) must ensure the appropriate needs are funded, and results measured. MTW has built Grant Management Systems for 7 SEAs. We demonstrated how these states are integrating improvement plans with grant applications on through measuring results. Recent enhancements have tied these results back into future grant applications, leading to continuous improvement.
Pearson School Systems: Taking Data Collection to Analysis to Action
Merna Smith, Pearson School Systems
Geno Callens and Anna Palacios, Cal Data Systems
Discover how your school district can explore new ways to improve student achievement and make the most of existing technology resources. Over 16,000 U.S. schools use Pearson School Systems solutions to collect, consolidate, analyze, and report on district, school, and student data. AllOneSystem™ allows districts to make the most of their existing data systems while streamlining operations, reducing redundant data entry, and creating real-time connectivity and data sharing among any new or existing application. This demonstration showed how districts are utilizing this suite of solutions to manage performance and improve student achievement.
What Can SIF Do For You? How to Automate State Data Collection, Unique Student Identification, and Data Warehouse Integration through SIF
Gary Johnson and Sandra Richards, Edustructures
Increasingly, states and districts thinking about state reporting, unique student identification, and data warehouse integration are relying on the Schools Interoperability Framework (SIF). The SIF vertical reporting, student locator, and application integration frameworks are reliable and cost-effective. Several state departments of education such as South Carolina, Virginia, Utah, and Wyoming are employing SIF. We explained how at the Edustructures demonstration.
GIS Matters in Education
Chuck Roberts, George Dailey, and Tosia Shall, ESRI
Geographic information system (GIS) technology and processes are more commonplace every day. Their application to planning and decisionmaking is evident in numerous fields and industries as they address challenges and provide solutions. This includes education. The use of GIS in classroom instruction and school administration has been growing for more than a decade. The application of this technology and its methods to education research and policy is just unfolding. Here, GIS provides a geographical way to tackle data-driven decisionmaking, allowing users to explore patterns and relationships not visible in tables and charts alone.
Emergency Operations Planning for Schools
Aimée Barnes and Diane Cornwell, Texas Engineering Extension Service
The Texas Engineering Extension Service has developed an online tool that guides school/district personnel through the development of a comprehensive emergency operations plan. The user develops each section of the plan by answering simple questions regarding their school or district. The plan is based upon established federal emergency management principles for jurisdictions, but simple enough for a novice to understand.
The demonstration showed an overview of the contents of a comprehensive plan, the functionality of the online tool, examples from use within the state of Texas, and the potential data that can be mined from the tool.
Educator Credentialing System (ECS)
Dean Hupp, Hupp Information Technologies
Hupp Information Technologies has worked with the Illinois State Board of Education to completely revamp their teacher certification and professional development systems. The new ECS system improves data quality, educator compliance, and educator renewal. Illinois educators now have more tools than ever to manage their credentials and the credentialing process.
Triand: Integrated System Data Solutions
Brad Duggan, Dan Hansen, and Sylvia McMullen, Triand
Triand is the leader in integrated solutions for student improvement and accountability, providing automatic Schools Interoperability Framework certified data connectivity. We deliver on-time data directly to the desktop to over 53,000 users in 550 districts through aligned curriculum, an electronic student record exchange system, student graduation planning, and certified data quality audits for statewide reporting. The system contains over 4 million student records, 8 million assessments, and 350,000 aligned lesson plans and resources.
Triand demonstrated the automated process for the nationwide unique student identifier using the secure, integrated data solution.
Using and Tracking Utility Data from LEA to the State: SC SAVE$
Roger Young, Roger Young and Associates
Mitch Perkins, South Carolina Energy Office
This demonstration highlighted how energy and other utility data are collected at the school district level and rolled up to the state energy office in order to benchmark energy consumption and costs.
SC SAVE$ (South Carolina Schools and Agencies Verify Energy Dollars), a program developed by the South Carolina Energy Office, was recently selected as the state winner of the 2006 Southern Growth Policies Board Innovator Award.
Technology innovations improve productivity and provide measurable results to assist schools in controlling their energy costs.
