Concurrent Session IX Presentations


Thursday, July 12, 2012
4:00 pm – 5:00 pm


IX–B: P–20W—Selling the Value for Sustainability

Chandra Haislet and Rob London, Maryland State Department of Education

    P–20 in Maryland is a stand-alone system that combines data from several agencies. While the system is being designed to answer educational policy questions to support decisionmakers, selling the value of the system so that decisionmakers will use it is a challenge. Without decisionmaker support for the P–20, sustainability becomes a secondary challenge. This presentation discusses the human change component of making the P–20 part of data information gathering routine to support the decisions that agencies make and thus ensure that the system is valued and financially supported.

IX–C: Building Cross-State Bridges

Kathy Gosa, Kansas State Department of Education
Tom Ogle, Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Jay Pennington, Iowa Department of Education

    The state education agencies of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska, in collaboration with eScholar, have been working together to build a foundation for data exchange among their states. The eScholar Interstate ID eXchange project is the first step in the process and will enable state administrators to locate students who may have continued school in a different state. This capability will aid these state education agencies in identifying false drop-outs and more accurately report key education metrics. The panel discusses the work they have been doing, the technologies being used, and the challenges they encountered for their states.

IX–D: Getting on the Same Page—Communications for Effective Data Governance

Bobbi Stettner-Eaton, U.S. Department of Education
Darla Marburger, Claraview

    It is not enough in data governance to set standards, policies, and processes for managing data, including issue resolution. Communication is key to informing the functions of and implementing the products of data governance. This session discusses how investments in a Data Governance Communications Plan can positively impact data governance by engaging stakeholders, reducing confusion, and producing effective change in managing data.

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IX–E: The Evolution of Data Quality in Nebraska’s Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS)

Jill Aurand, Matt Heusman, and Ben Baumfalk; Nebraska Department of Education

    Nebraska has had a Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS) for the last six years and has faced the challenge of data quality. A multi-faceted approach was taken, incorporating a data validation and verification website, a group of trainers developing and implementing a data quality curriculum, and opportunities for local education agency and intermediate education agency staff to work collaboratively through joint workdays. Join us to learn how our data validation and verification system and our data quality training have evolved over time, the challenges and opportunities we have encountered, and the future changes that are in store—all in the name of data quality.

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IX–F: DataFirst: A Tool on How to Use Data for Local Decisionmaking

Jim Hull, National School Boards Association

    The National School Boards Association’s Center for Public Education developed DataFirst for governance training to better prepare school board members to use data more effectively in their policymaking. The training is comprised of a foundations module to educate board members on data presentation and analysis, along with two content modules dealing with teacher quality and preparing students for high school and beyond. This session provides an overview of the DataFirst data-driven decisionmaking process by demonstrating DataFirst.org, which was designed to educate not only school board members about proper data use but also the general public.

IX–G: New Models Are Not Just for Car Shows! Teacher Evaluations Deserve Them Too!

Lance Gilman, Maine Department of Education
Manos Stefanakos, Choice Solutions, Inc.

    In support of new teacher effectiveness legislation, Maine has implemented a teacher incentive evaluation tool that allows local control of the measures and thresholds used in the calculation models and rubrics. This approach allows districts to address concerns about fairness, effectiveness, and contractual restraints when designing their teacher scorecards and to avoid “one-size-fits-all” methodology. The presenters demonstrate the tool and discuss the feedback and lessons learned from the pilot districts.

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IX–H: Federated Data Systems: Portals, Workflows, and Data Requests

Matthew Bryant, Virginia Department of Education
Ajay Rohatgi and Will Goldschmidt, Virginia Information Technologies Agency

    Want to see a federated system design in action? This session shows the Virginia Statewide Longitudinal Data System “federated” design and demonstrates a researcher accessing the portal, formulating a data request, and submitting that request for agency approval, along with the workflows supporting this activity. Special attention will be paid to Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) considerations built into the workflows.

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IX–I: Using State Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS) to Provide Reference Values or Planning Evaluations

Eric Hedberg, National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago
Larry Hedges, Northwestern University

    Before a multi-level randomized study is carried out it is difficult to know important design parameters such as intraclass correlations and R2 values. Traditionally, evaluators have used either previous studies or compendiums from national samples (Hedges and Hedberg, 2007) for guidance on these parameters. State Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS) have all the data necessary to calculate these parameters. Not only would these estimates be more accurate, but they also would provide the appropriate information to evaluators who tend to work locally. This session showcases how states can easily estimate these parameters and provide them to regional educational laboratories (RELS) and other evaluators.

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