Larry Fruth, Vince Paredes, and Mark Reichert, Schools Interoperability Framework Association

The release of the Schools Interoperability Framework (SIF) Specification version 2.0 again brings sweeping changes to enable data movement at new levels. With the inclusion of Web Services, Student Record Exchange, and requested new additional data objects, this release highlights the SIF Association’s willingness to work with and respond to the needs of the educational community. See what is new in version 2.0, what is taking place to strengthen the SIF Certification process, and where we see the SIF Association heading as we look beyond 2.0. This session also updated attendees on how the SIF Association is working with the International and Higher Educational Communities to enhance data movement in education globally and for all ages, as our stakeholders become life-long learners.

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SIF-Version 2.0 Looking to the Future

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The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Common Core of Data (CCD) survey series was first implemented in 1987 to collect data pertaining to the 1986–87 school year. With the rise of the U.S. Department of Education’s Education Data Exchange Network data system, some state education agency officials have asked whether NCES will continue to maintain a publicly accessible national database of information on public education systems at the state, district, and school level. This session explored that question and helped participants understand why it is in the interest of each state to maintain a collection of basic data based on the CCD model regardless of the data collection mechanism used by the U.S. Department of Education.

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Is the CCD Program Obsolete?	(82.2 KB)
CCD/EDEN Principles	(11.0 KB)

The National Center for Education Statistics and the Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development are working closely together to reduce collection burdens, improve data quality, and assist the states in the development of education information systems. This work has resulted in a collaborative effort to collect CCD data through the EDEN Submission System. This session addressed the progress in those areas including the Institute of Education Sciences Grants to States and the CCD.

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The Merger of CCD and EDEN

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As a data manager, you understand and believe in the power of longitudinal systems, but in most states, educational longitudinal data have received little time in the policy and political spotlight. Hear how Florida and Pennsylvania have built champions for their data systems.

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Developing Political Support and the Will to Build and Use Longitudinal Education Data Systems

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Geographic Information System (GIS) tools are powerful for visualizing and analyzing information about schools and school districts for making effective decisions and focusing information development.

This presentation introduced GIS and its uses in education for the new user, provided a more in-depth view for those who would like to use these tools for practical and analytic purposes, and explored what is new to the National Center for Education Statistics GIS website and how to get more out of the information available from the website. New school and district data included on this site were also discussed.

Delaware has created a number of web-based interactive maps during the last two years. These maps include planning maps to assist districts with school location decisions and broad-based maps to assist the public with school choice, day care, and private school decisions.

Planning maps include small area population projections, newly approved local development, and tax parcel data.

Public interest maps include the locations of all Delaware public schools, private schools, and day care centers. Public maps have a built-in geocoding function that allows the public to enter an address or to click in a map to view their school attendance. Public maps also contain relevant census data, and school links which pop up school profiles and State test scores.

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Web Based Interactive Mapping in Delaware

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For the past decade, the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) has tracked, analyzed, and reported on state accountability systems. That practice has taken on new meaning since the passage of No Child Left Behind in 2002. CCSSO has been following the developments with states’ accountability plans through its “Profiles of State Accountability Systems” website. This presentation showcased CCSSO’s online accountability information resources by reviewing sample state accountability policies, especially Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) formulation like annual measurable objectives, and examining them in relation to sample states’ AYP outcomes and student achievement trends from 2003 through 2005.

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Keeping an Eye out for 2014: Trends in Accountability Policies, AYP and Student Achievement

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The usual procedure for comparing teachers’ wages involves comparing them to all full-time non-teachers, or to all college graduates, or to compare directly with those of specific professions thought to be comparable to teaching. “Unfortunately, these professions are chosen based on limited data availability or are chosen somewhat arbitrarily with reference to any selection criteria” (Allegretto, Corcoran, and Mishel 2004, p. 17). In this presentation, three National Center for Education Statistics datasets are explored to begin to understand the occupations that teachers either come from or leave to. The Schools and Staffing Survey 2004 dataset may help understand what occupations present teachers left to become teachers. The Teacher Follow-Up Survey of 2001 may assist in identifying what occupations teachers leave to go to after teaching in 2000. The 1993/03 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B:93/03) followed students who earned a bachelor's degree in 1992-93 and were first interviewed in 1993, and then subsequently in 1994, 1997, and 2003. The final follow-up interview of the B&B:93 cohort, 10 years following completion of the bachelor's degree in 2003, may also reveal occupations to which former teachers moved.

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What Occupations are Comparable to Teaching?

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Historically excluded from the realm of public schooling, educational researchers are now leading collaborative efforts to improve student achievement through more complex longitudinal measures of performance. This presentation described one such collaboration between the Fayetteville Public School District, University of Arkansas, and a local business that has produced a value-added model utilizing a Performance Growth Index. This model allows educators to go beyond traditional cross-sectional comparisons to look at actual student growth over time, and to identify strengths and weaknesses within buildings, classrooms, and overall district curriculum. Presenters discussed the various components and outcomes of this program.

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The Future of Accountability: Utilizing Value-Added Measurement Models to Improve Teaching and Learning

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Charlotte County Public Schools (CCPS), comprising twenty-one schools, is developing a process for automatically validating student data in its Pearson SASI system. The process entails periodically checking the quality of incoming data and ensuring that data provided to the state, and ultimately to the U.S. Department of Education, are of optimum quality. The CCPS student data validation system improved the district’s ability to deliver complete, appropriate, consistent information, without having to perform manual queries.

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Improving the Quality of Data in a District Student Information System

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