Web Links
We hope that these additional resources will be helpful to you in the data driven decision making process.
Common Data Standards
The CDS Initiative’s objective is to help State and local education agencies and higher education organizations work together to identify a minimal set of key data elements, common across organizations and necessary to meet student, policymaker and educator needs, and come to agreement on definitions, business rules and technical specifications, where possible, to improve the comparability and share-ability of those elements. http://www.commondatastandards.org
FERPA: Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
The mission of the Family Policy Compliance Office (FPCO) is to meet the needs of the Department's primary customers--learners of all ages--by effectively implementing two laws that seek to ensure student and parental rights in education: the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA). http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/index.html
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) was signed into law by President Obama on February 17th, 2009. It is an unprecedented effort to jumpstart our economy, create or save millions of jobs, and put a down payment on addressing long-neglected challenges so our country can thrive in the 21st century. The Act is an extraordinary response to a crisis unlike any since the Great Depression, and includes measures to modernize our nation's infrastructure, enhance energy independence, expand educational opportunities, preserve and improve affordable health care, provide tax relief, and protect those in greatest need. http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/recovery/index.html
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009: Education Jobs and Reform
Goverment Fact Sheet available at: http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/recovery/factsheet/overview.html
Data-Driven Instruction - Resources from eSchool News
eSchool News has put together a new mini-site that contains resources to help you address student needs through the use of data. The site includes a self-assessment test, information on a US Department of Education data management tool, pointers for making data-driven decisions, and information about how "informed instruction" can help your district meet federal mandates. www.eschoolnews.com/resources/reports/Data-informed/index.cfm
Data-Driven Instruction - More Resources from eSchool News
Education Decision Support Library helps meet NCLB goals.
www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStoryts.cfm?ArticleID=6513
Data Management
Technology & Learning has put together a series of online articles with helpful hints to guide you through the process. http://www.techlearning.com/hot_topics/data_management.php
Data Management and NCLB
In spite of the computer revolution, too many schools remain "data rich and information poor." At one time, that might have been acceptable, but in the era of No Child Left Behind and high-stakes accountability, the lack of intelligible, actionable information is no longer tolerable. The editors of eSchool News have put together an Educator's Resource Center that helps you discover what's at the cutting edge of data analysis. www.eschoolnews.com/resources/reports/datamgmtandnclb/
Data Quality Campaign
The Data Quality Campaign is a national, collaborative effort to encourage and support state policymakers to improve the collection,availability and use of high-quality education data and implement state longitudinal data systems to improve student achievement. CoSN in an endorsing partner on this effort. www.dataqualitycampaign.org
Data Warehousing Information Center
This site is a collection of essays by Larry Greenfield on data warehousing, decision support, business intelligence. www.dwinfocenter.org
Education Counts
Education Counts is a database of more than 250 state-level K-12 education indicators with custom table builder to create graphs of these indicators. edcounts.edweek.org/createtable/step1.php
Growth Research Database
The Northwest Evaluation Association is developing a longitudinal data warehouse of information from schools across the country;this resource will help identify the district characteristics and instructional programs that improve student growth. www.nwea.org
Improving Education Practice Through Data Use: Data-driven Decision-Making
This website provides resources on data-driven decision-making, including reviews of software for analyzing student data. edadmin.edb.utexas.edu/datause/
Improving School Board Decision-Making: The Data Connection
The website and publication are for school board members who want to know more about how to use data to make good decisions for children in public schools. Trainers who work with school board members also can use these materials at state and national conferences or in local training sessions. The resources you will find here are designed to compliment and supplement the book.
www.schoolboarddata.org /p>
Knowledge Management in Education: Defining the Landscape
Many districts and schools have poured millions into information technology but have yet to effectively integrate these technologies into shared decision-making processes to improve performances of students, schools, and districts. Teachers and administrators continue to struggle with disjointed information infrastructure, unclear priorities in data requirements,and limited resources for collecting, distilling, and sharing of information.
The Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education (ISKME), a newly established think tank in K-16 education, is pleased to present the report - Knowledge Management in Education: Defining the Landscape, to address these issues. It illustrates differences between data-,information-, and knowledge-based decision-making and provides a framework for understanding an institution's information infrastructure. It is the result of collaborative conversations with leaders across education sectors, foundations,and business enterprises.
This report - like ISKME itself - is a practical resource for districts and schools. It provides essential information that can inform the work that educational leaders are doing to improve school effectiveness and student results.
Making Sense of the Data
Making Sense of the Data (PDF) explores the essential components of a framework for data management and analysis (DMA) systems basedon visionary districts, states, and vendors. The study provides an analysis of the vendor landscape and strategies, including snapshots of more than 20 providers, and furnishes administrators with a strong foundation for understanding the tools and resources available in the K-12 DMA market segment. Eduventures is a market research and strategy consulting firm focusing exclusively on learning markets. For more information, please visit www.eduventures.com.
School Improvement in Maryland
Topics covered include understanding standards, assessments,and AYP; the school improvement process; and standards-based instruction. www.mdk12.org
SchoolMatters.com
SchoolMatters.com, a web-based national education data service provides in-depth information and analysis about public schools, districts and state education systems. The National Education Data Partnership is a collaboration among the Council of Chief State School Officers, Standard & Poor's School Evaluation Services, Achieve, Inc., and the CELTCorporation funded by the Broad Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. www.schoolmatters.com
SETDA's Data Driven Decision Making Site
Includes over 20 examples of successful schools, tools for data collection, a DDDM bibliography, and over 225 instrument reviews. www.setda.org/web/guest/datadrivendecisionmaking
SETDA's Profiling Educational Technology Integration (PETI)
The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) has released Profiling Educational Technology Integration (PETI): Resources for Assessing Readiness and Use, available free to all stakeholders including states, districts, schools, and other organizations, to utilize to assess the integration of technology. SETDA’s PETI represents the consensus and work of state directors from over 30 states and is designed to assist states in implementing the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) and evaluating the effectiveness of educational technology in all educational environments. SETDA developed the framework, instruments, and protocols in conjunction with the Metiri Group with support from the US Department of Education. The instruments and protocols have been validated through extensive pilots in five states and have been examined through a peer review process. http://www.setda-peti.org/
SIF Implementation Readiness Assessment Toolkit
The SIF Implementation Readiness Assessment Toolkit was designed to help schools determine their current state of data management and help them create a plan for future data interoperability in SIF implementations. www.sifinfo.org/tool_kit.asp
Western States Benchmarking Consortium
Consortium members have developed common definitions of organizational effectiveness, i.e., "benchmarks" that articulate the steps toward achieving the highest quality public education. These statements are intended to assist the districts and campuses in recognizing and acting on key areas of emphasis to improve learning for all students. The consortium is organized around the following strategic areas: student learning, capacity development, community connectedness and data-driven decision making. www.wsbenchmark.org