National Forum on Education Statistics - Forum Annual Report 2009-10

Forum Annual Report 2009-10

National Cooperative Education Statistics System
National Forum on Education Statistics

Summary
2009–10

Officers

Chairperson: Linda Rocks, Bossier Parish Schools (LA)
Vice-Chair: Kathy Gosa, Kansas State Department of Education
Past Chair: Bruce Dacey, Delaware Department of Education

Standing Committees

National Education Statistics Agenda Committee (NESAC)
Chair: David Weinberger, Yonkers Public Schools (NY)
Vice-Chair: Patricia Sullivan, Texas Education Agency

Policies, Programs and Implementation (PPI)
Chair: Vince Meyer, Wyoming Department of Education
Vice-Chair: Laurel Vorachek, Anchorage School District (AK)

Technology (TECH)
Chair: Patsy Eiland, Alabama Department of Education
Vice-Chair: Lee Rabbitt, Newport Public Schools (RI)

Completed Task Forces & Publications

Crisis Data Management: A Forum Guide to Collecting and Managing Data about Displaced Students
Purpose: This best practice guide can be used by elementary and secondary education agencies to establish policies and procedures for collecting and managing education data before, during, and after a crisis. This includes scenarios in which the agency is directly or indirectly (e.g., only receiving displaced students) impacted by a disaster.

Linda Rocks (chair), Bossier Parish Schools (LA)
Challis Breithaupt, Maryland State Department of Education
Derrick Lindsay, Mississippi Department of Education
Steve Shiever, Crescent Public Schools, OK
Allen Schulenberg, Louisiana Department of Education
Pat Sullivan, Texas Education Agency
Earl Watkins, formerly of Jackson Public School District (MS)
Consultant: Beth Young, Quality Information Partners
Project Officer: Ghedam Bairu, National Center for Education Statistics

The Forum Guide to Data Ethics
Purpose: This resource is intended for a broad range of stakeholders in the education data community. Its nine canons address ethical issues focused on the management and use of education data, with particular emphasis on individually identifiable student and staff data. Each canon is supported by text that is specific enough to make the ethical principles understandable and actionable for staff in an education organization.

Tom Purwin (chair), Jersey City Public Schools (NJ)
Cheryl McMurtrey, Mountain Home School District 193 (ID)
Stephen Metcalf, Montpelier School District (VT)
Janice Petro, Colorado Department of Education
Lee Rabbit, North Kingstown School Department (RI)
David Uhlig, Charlottesville City Public Schools (VA)
Consultant: Tom Szuba, Quality Information Partners
Project Officer: Stephen Cornman, National Center for Education Statistics

Forthcoming Publications/Products

Traveling Through Time: Forum Guide to Longitudinal Data Systems (series)
Purpose: This four-book series was developed to help state and local education agencies meet the many challenges involved in building robust LDSs, populating them with quality data, and using this new information to improve the educational system. With special emphasis on the business-level perspective, these products explore a broad range of issues involved in establishing a successful LDS.

Bruce Dacey (chair), Delaware Department of Education
Nancy Burke, Century Elementary Grafton Public School District (ND)
Corey Chatis, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (formerly of the Tennessee Department of Education)
Laurie Collins, Schools Interoperability Framework Association
Maureen Matthews, Council of Chief State School Officers
Pat Sherrill, U.S. Department of Education
Nancy Smith, National Center for Education Statistics
Steve Smith, Cambridge Public Schools (MA)
Raymond Yeagley, Northwest Evaluation Association
Consultant: Anthony Garofano, Quality Information Partners
Project Officer: Tate Gould, National Center for Education Statistics

Forum Guide to Data Ethics Online Course
Purpose: This online course is currently being developed based on the nine canons and lessons contained in The Forum Guide to Data Ethics. The course will outline a code of ethics for data management and use in education, address issues pertinent to many education stakeholders, and make ethical principles understandable and actionable. This product will be available on both the NCES and Forum websites.

Forum Brochure

Shared Knowledge for Shared Success
Purpose: This brochure provides information about the Forum's free publications developed to provide states, districts, and schools with helpful advice on the collection, maintenance, and use of elementary and secondary education data. The brochure also includes information on the Forum's history, purpose, membership, and events.

Linda Rocks, Bossier Parish Schools (LA)
Kathy Gosa, Kansas State Department of Education
Project Officer: Ghedam Bairu, National Center for Education Statistics
Consultant: Anthony Garofano, Quality Information Partners

2009-10 Task Forces

Crime, Violence, and Discipline Working Group

Purpose: This working group is updating the 2002 Forum document Safety in Numbers: Collecting and Using Crime, Violence, and Discipline Incident Data to Make a Difference in Schools to help establish a consistent body of terms and definitions in the field.

William Smith (chair), Sioux Falls School District (SD)
James Haessly, School District of Waukesha (WI)
Derek Howard, Utah State Office of Education
Irma Jones, Tennessee Department of Education
Tom Ogle, Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Janice Petro, Colorado Department of Education
Linda Rocks, Bossier Parish Schools (LA)
David Weinberger, Yonkers Public Schools (NY)
Consultant: Tom Szuba, Quality Information Partners
Project Officer: Ghedam Bairu, National Center for Education Statistics

Education Privacy Working Group
Purpose: This working group is reviewing the current Forum documents on privacy and determining the scope of the revisions needed based on recent FERPA guidance and changes in education data management and use.

Levette Williams (chair), Georgia Department of Education
Challis Breithaupt, Maryland State Department of Education
David Fringer, Council Bluffs Community School District (IA)
Kathleen Gosa, Kansas State Department of Education
Mary K. Hervey DeGarmo, Brooke County Schools (WV)
John Metcalfe, Fremont County School District #1 (WY)
Laurel Vorachek, Anchorage School District (AK)
Consultant: Oona Cheung, Quality Information Partners
Project Officer: Ghedam Bairu, National Center for Education Statistics

Non-Secondary School Course Classification Working Group
Purpose: This working group is creating a taxonomy for assigning standard codes to elementary and middle school courses. This taxonomy is intended to make it easier for school districts and states to maintain longitudinal student records electronically, and to transmit course taking information from one student information system to another, from one school district to another, and from a school district to a state department of education. An early, partial review draft of the codes was posted for public review in the spring.

Helene Bettencourt (chair), Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Lee Hoffman, National Center for Education Statistics
Myrna Holgate, Idaho State Department of Education
Carol Jones, Michigan Center for Educational Performance and Information
Carmen Jordan, Arkansas Department of Education
Raymond Martin, Connecticut State Department of Education
Kristina Martin, Macomb Intermediate School District (MI)
Coleen McClanahan, Iowa Department of Education
Vince Meyer, Wyoming Department of Education
Jeanette Nobo, Kansas State Department of Education
Cheryll Ostrom, Minnesota Department of Education
Michael Schwartz, New Hampshire Department of Education
Ryan Smith, Loess Hills Area Education Agency 13 (IA)
Patricia Sullivan, Texas Education Agency
Cathy Wagner, Minnesota Department of Education
Carolyn Wood, Harford County Public Schools (MD)
Consultant: Alyssa Alston, Council of Chief State School Officers
Project Officer: Ghedam Bairu, National Center for Education Statistics

Section 508 Accessibility Working Group
Purpose: This working group is developing a document to increase awareness of Federal Section 508 regulations, which require public organizations that receive federal funds (including SEAs, LEAs, and schools) to make electronic information accessible to all people, including those with disabilities The group's product will provide basic guidance for designing (or revising) websites to improve accessibility.

Lee Rabbitt (chair), Newport Public Schools
Jim Addy, Iowa Department of Education
Sheila Corey, Alaska Department of Education and Early Development
Kathleen Gosa, Kansas State Department of Education
Thomas Purwin, Jersey City Public Schools (NJ)
Rachael Traub, Massachusetts Department of Education
Raymond Woten, Virginia Department of Education
Consultant: Tom Szuba, Quality Information Partners
Project Officer: Ghedam Bairu, National Center for Education Statistics

Web Activities

Activity on the Forum website continued to increase during the 2009-2010 year. Between June 2009 and May 2010, the Forum webpage had 105,610 page visits (8,800/month) and Forum publications were downloaded (as PDF files) or viewed (as publication web pages) 83,159 times (6,930/month).

Member Activities

The Forum welcomed the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as a new associate member. For over a decade, the Gates Foundation has worked around the world to enhance healthcare and reduce hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, the foundation seeks to expand educational opportunities and success. To this end, the Foundation has focused on many education issues, including improving the affordability and quality of early childhood education, boosting high school graduation rates and college readiness, and increasing postsecondary completion rates. The Foundation also provides scholarships to help low-income and minority students afford college.

Other Activities

Common Data Standards Initiative
Several Forum members representing state and local education agencies are participating in the Technical Working Group of the Common Data Standards Initiative. The Initiative is a national, collaborative effort to develop voluntary, common data standards (i.e., definitions, code sets, and technical specifications) for a key subset of K-12 and K12-to-postsecondary education transition variables. These standards are intended to help education agencies maintain a key subset of data that are comparable, interoperable, and portable. NCES is facilitating the technical portion of the Initiative, which includes partners from several K-12 education agencies, higher education organizations, the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO), the Data Quality Campaign (DQC), the Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council (PESC), and the Schools Interoperability Framework (SIF) Association.

Meetings

Summer 2009 Meeting: July 27-29, 2009 in Bethesda, MD
Winter 2010 Meeting: March 1-2, 2010 in Phoenix, AZ
Summer 2010 Meeting: July 26-28, 2010 in Bethesda, MD