Concurrent Session XI Presentations


Friday, July 10, 2015
10:15 am – 11:15 am


XI–A: Who Moved My Education Data Exchange Network (EDEN) Queries: How Pennsylvania Automated Its EDEN Submissions

Joseph Cowan, Pennsylvania Department of Education
Russ Redgate, eScholar LLC

    This session will address the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s (PDE’s) journey on collecting data from local education agencies (LEAs) and describe how the Education Data Exchange Network (EDEN)/EDFacts reporting is automated by using new processes implemented in recent years to make PDE’s statewide longitudinal data system (SLDS) project successful. PDE will discuss the progress it has made with its statewide data collections using a commercial, off-the-shelf, and standards-aligned solution and the agency’s evolution of EDEN reporting.

    Complexity: Entry Level

XI–B: Field Experiment-Based Improvements to Fiscal Indicators and Title I Allocation Process

Galit Eizman, Harvard University

    Suggested improvements to fiscal indicators of effective educational opportunities, Title I allocation process, and poverty parameters will be presented, based on a field experiment. The randomized experiment introduces the homeless youth population to high-quality education. The results support the assumption that highly educated parents and students have a substantially diminished chance of finding themselves impoverished. Hence, federal measurements for poverty should control for parents’ and students’ education.

    Complexity: Intermediate Level

XI–C: SchoolStat: Performance Management and Problem Solving for Better Results at Scale in the Shelby County (TN) and Syracuse City (NY) Public Schools

Brad Leon,, Shelby County Schools (TN)
Paula Shannon, Syracuse City Public Schools (NY)
Bryan Richardson, UPD Consulting

    Performance management is the process of using data to routinely and methodically monitor the relationship between the work you are doing and the goals you seek. On the shoulders of the districts’ technology tools, the Shelby County Schools (Tennessee) and the Syracuse City Public Schools (New York) have implemented SchoolStat, a districtwide performance management routine to (1) facilitate broad, cross-functional problem solving; (2) understand the efficacy of the district’s work; and (3) to adapt its work based on what works (and what does not). This session will (a) present the tenets and operational components of the SchoolStat process, (b) provide examples of how Shelby County Schools and Syracuse City Public Schools implemented these processes and the results they achieved, (c) provide tools to help other states and districts implement the process, and (d) feature an interactive simulation exercise that brings to life the challenging data use and change management inherent to performance management.

    Complexity: Intermediate Level

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XI–D: Blend-ED: New Methods for Targeted Professional Learning

Michael Ferry, Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Kiran Athota and Gregory Newcom, FocalPointK12

    See how Rhode Island is providing a comprehensive statewide professional learning system that takes a different approach of blending the face-to-face professional learning with next-generation professional learning through communities, recommendations, interactive dashboards, and badging.

    Complexity: Intermediate Level

XI–E: Educator Preparation Program Scorecards: Comparing Teachers’ Effectiveness, Placement, and Retention by Preparation Program

Atnre Alleyne, Delaware Department of Education
Steve Cartwright, Tembo, Inc.

    This session will explore the results of a year-long partnership between the Delaware Department of Education and Tembo, a data analytics and visualization partner, to evaluate and report on the effectiveness of teachers from different educator preparation programs. Discussants will review the key findings from an evaluation of Teach For America and the University of Delaware’s Alternative Routes to Teacher Certification program and share how the analytics used in this evaluation are being applied to a statewide educator preparation scorecard project. This session is of interest to any state leader focused on building an educator preparation accountability program.

    Complexity: Intermediate Level

XI–F: Data Standards for Those Who Want It Their Way

Larry Fruth, SIF Association/A4L
Alex Jackl and Dan Ingvarson, SIF Association
Jim Goodell, Quality Information Partners, Inc.

    Ironically, there are a lot of data standards and they rarely talk to each other. This conversation is a dialogue about navigating the balance between customizing your data system to meet your exact needs; utilizing and leveraging the standards to increase your efficiency, interoperability, and sustainability; and weaving through all the hype and negativity to have conversations that lead you to something that makes sense. This will be an interactive workshop designed to develop a set of techniques that will be useful whether you are starting over or maintaining your tried and true system.

    Complexity: Intermediate Level

XI–G: I Have My List of Students . . . Now What?! Mechanics and Practice of a Middle School Early Warning System (EWS)

Stephanie Haskins, Staunton City Schools (VA)
Aimee Evan and Becky Smerdon, Quill Research Associates

    Regional Educational Laboratory Appalachia’s Virginia Middle School Research Alliance is developing a locally validated Early Warning System (EWS) in Virginia middle schools. We’ll share tools related to three research-based foundations necessary for an effective EWS: (1) relevant data and accessible data systems, (2) knowledge and skills for using data, and (3) organizational structures that support data use and ways in which educators can build this capacity. You’ll learn how we’ve strived to improve the totality of our Alliance divisions’ education system for future generations by (1) identifying and meeting current struggling students’ needs, and (2) examining why students are struggling.

    Complexity: Entry Level

XI–H: Stretching Student Success With Data Analytics

Tom Reed, Center for Achievement and Leadership Services
Todd Hellman, Battelle for Kids
Tricia Moore, Reynoldsburg City Schools (OH)

    Central Ohio school districts, in partnership with the Educational Service Center of Central Ohio and the not-for-profit organization Battelle for Kids, have joined forces to reimagine the use of value-added data, student academic history data, and scheduling information in order to better prepare students for postsecondary certificates or degrees. Attend this session to learn how these districts are pioneering the development and use of innovative data reports designed to help schools maximize their impact by matching teachers with students based on strengths and needs and identifying and addressing key curricular opportunity gaps.

    Complexity: Intermediate Level

XI–I: Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Grants to Analyze Your State or District Data

Allen Ruby, U.S. Department of Education

    This presentation will identify grant programs of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) that can be used to analyze state administrative data. The presentation will focus on (1) the specific grant programs, (2) the sections of the research narrative that comprise the most important part of the grant application, and (3) the application and review process. Specific examples of ongoing grants that use state administrative data will be provided.

    Complexity: Entry Level

XI–J: Data Linking Beyond K–12 and Postsecondary Reporting: Lessons Learned and Helpful Tips

Fawn Dunbar and Jesse Knapp, Michigan Center For Educational Performance and Information

    This session will describe Michigan’s process of linking K–12 students to postsecondary students and the state’s challenges and solutions to obtaining meaningful data elements from institutions of higher learning. The session will also include a discussion of good practices, lessons learned, and examples of reports produced as a result on Michigan’s public portal.

    Complexity: Entry Level

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