Moving Beyond Compliance: Four Ways States Can Support Districts and
Local Data Use
2012 MIS Conference
Dan Domagala, Colorado Department of Education
Josh Klein, Oregon Department of Education
Jim Harrington, Hillsboro School District (OR)
Rebecca Shah, Data Quality Campaign
Key Objectives
» Understand the evolution of the state role from compliance-oriented to service-providing
» Understand current state efforts to build and use longitudinal data systems
» Learn why state and district collaboration is critical to improve the effective use of data
» Learn four guiding principles for states in this work
» Understand the complementary data capacity of states and districts
Evolution of the State Role
Past Future
States Have Made Unprecedented Progress Toward Building State Longitudinal Data Systems
2005 2011
No state had all 10 Essential Elements
36 states report that they have all 10 Essential Elements
States Have Not Taken Action to Support Data Use
2011
No state has taken all 10 State Actions
No One Entity Can Succeed Alone: Why State and District Data Collaboration is Critical
Past FutureMaximize data
investments and reduce costs and burden
Equalize and enhance district capacity
Meet the needs of allstakeholders
Ensure cross-district andcross-state comparability
Systems worked at cross-purposes
Unnecessary duplication of efforts is avoided
Data were not high quality, consistent or comparable
Data are provided within context of surrounding districts and schools
State system was designed to meet state needs and for compliance
State approaches work as customer service entity
Low-capacity districts struggled to collect/use data to inform decisions
Lessons learned can be leveraged and scaled across the state
Colorado State Leader
» Dan Domagala, Chief Information Officer, Colorado Department of Education
8Colorado Department of Education - www.Schoolview.org
9Colorado Department of Education – www.Schoolview.org (SAMPLE DATA)
10Colorado Department of Education – www.SchoolView.org (SAMPLE DATA)
11Colorado Department of Education – www.SchoolView.org (SAMPLE DATA)
By Working Together, We Get There Faster
Higher Capacity District
Lower Capacity District
StateImproved Student
Outcomes
When states and districts collaborate around data use, each single entity and the entire system can gain more powerful results- improving student achievement and system performance.
Four Guiding Principles for States to Support District Data Efforts to Improve Student Achievement
1 •Collaboratively identify district data capacity to inform state data efforts
2 •Transform data into actionable information and ensure district access
3 •Ensure data literacy among educators through pre-service and in-service policies and practices
4 •Maximize efficiency and minimize burden in data collection
Oregon Discussant
» Josh Klein, Chief Information Officer, Office of Assessment and Information Services, Oregon Department of Education
» Jim Harrington, Chief Technology Officer, Hillsboro School District (OR)
1 •Collaboratively identify district data capacity to inform state data efforts
» Proactively engage districts and other local entities to identify data capacity and inform the design of the state data system and related policies
» Develop and disseminate data tools and supports in ways that encourage active use
2 •Transform data into actionable information and ensure district access
» Build robust partnerships with external research and development organizations (universities, regional education laboratories and others) to develop research questions, conduct analysis and interpret findings from longitudinal data to inform data displays, reports and analytic tools
» Develop data portals that are engaging and enable users to access data based on role, and customize displays so the user is able to answer questions and address realworld problems
» Align efforts with developers that are creating data applications for local districts
Oregon Department of Education – www.EducationDataExplorer.com
3 •Ensure data literacy among educators through pre-service and in-service policies and practices
» Collect the data on students and teachers necessary to implement and evaluate state policies, and link these data according to identified promising practices, including developing robust “teacher of record” definitions
» Change certification and program approval policies to ensure that educators have proven competency in using data to inform instructional decisionmaking
» Share teacher performance data annually and automatically with teacher preparation programs to support their efforts to improve their programs
» Provide or support high-quality professional development to develop data literacy among educators on how to analyze, assimilate and apply data in their everyday work
4 •Maximize efficiency and minimize burden in data collection
» Ensure transparency and clearly communicate data element definitions and collection timelines, providing sufficient time for districts to make changes
» Integrate the underlying technology of state and district data and reporting systems so data can be more easily transferred electronically across each system
» Focus data collection on the information needed to answer critical policy questions developed through broad-based input in the state
DQC’s 2010 State Data Leader of the Year
Click here to view this video.
Serving districts by integrating state data into locally established role-based portals
Defining Clear and Complementary Roles
Examples of state data capacity
•Collecting data: Collect and store longitudinal data that follows students over time from early childhood through K12, postsecondary and workforce and across districts•Creating reports: Create longitudinal data reports/dashboards such as growth and early warning reports that take advantage of statewide comparisons and put local comparisons in context•Building educator capacity: Create statewide licensure, program approval and certification requirements to ensure new educators are proficient and competent users of data
Examples of district data capacity
•Collecting data: Collect and store student-level data (e.g., attendance, grades, formative and interim assessment data) not required at the state level•Creating reports: Create and disseminate reports/dashboards using district and state data that enable resources, programs and interventions to be used for strategic management of schools and classrooms•Building educator capacity: Require data literacy and capacity-building training from the teacher and principal certification programs
How Will We Know When We Are Successful?
When all education stakeholders demand and use quality data to make decisions
For More Information
The full publication, including an appendix with promising state practices from 17 states, is available at www.DataQualityCampaign.org/ComplianceToService.
To access the summary version, visit www.DataQualityCampaign.org/ComplianceToServiceSummary.
Questions and Answers
» Dan Domagala, Chief Information Officer, Colorado Department of Education
» Josh Klein, Chief Information Officer, Office of Assessment and Information Services, Oregon Department of Education
» Jim Harrington, Chief Technology Officer, Hillsboro School District (OR)
» Rebecca Shah, Senior Associate, State Policy Initiatives, Data Quality Campaign
