Nancy Sullivan on the States Data System

Interview with Nancy Sullivan of CSIS

Here is a full transcript of my interview with Nancy Sullivan on the states data system

1. How is the student identifier being used at the state, district, school and classroom levels in such a way that is affecting student progress in the classroom on a daily basis?

Not much impact on the on a daily basis. The state process is now that there is a student identifier number for every student in the state with basic demographic and program significant (spEd, EL, FRL) to build a longitudinal database) it could be leverage to impact the class on a daily basis but down the line. The impact rest at the school and district level in assessing data. Based on their local data management.

·        District Drop out rate. If student now registered in another district, school can know if at home visits find follow-ups drop out intervention. Better focus of resources.

·        25 to 30 % better drop out data for successfully target of high risk students.

·        Probe: district access to data? Digital certificate to authenticate that you are an eligible person. Who receives digital certificate is left to school and district approval. Processes to authorize access to data.

·       

NANCY

SENDING FIELDS

Does not include assessment data

State is developing a database called (CALPAD)

California

people achievement data system. By late 2008. Delay making student assessment data by ID until it can be integrated into CALPADS

data assessable  (csis pushing for earlier benefit to the state and help districts more effectively serve their students ). Schools already have this data for ongoing students in their internal systems, but transfer students will be greatly affected especially wih CELT and high school exit exams to get kids placed into the approprieate level of development program .

2. In what ways does the student identifier make it easier for a state to meet legal   reporting requirements (i.e. NCLB requirements)?  What effect can the tool have when properly implemented?

·        Probe 1: What positive effect can it potentially have on district’s support of the district’s own use of data?

·        8:12 Probe 2: What positive effect can it potentially have on the sites’ use of data when people report on the aggragate they are more likely to guess at reportable data (“we have about this many students”) when you have to report on an individual basis the data becomes much more accurate and you have a way to audit the data to see its true

·        Probe 3: What positive effect can it potentially have on the teachers; use of data? More accurate data. The question is are they putting their local data management practices in place to help ensure the quality of the data. When they get the new reports are they paying attention to the new fields, are they following up on errors- there is no easy button

3. What questions, at the district central office, can be answered by linking individual student records over time, as this is a crucial aspect of a comprehensive accountability system?
   • Please give a few examples
   • Look at cohort of students over time to see how they do. Currently you can compare 4^th grade this year vs fourth grade last year but not follow the student year after year…how well what happends in 1^st grade perdicts what happends in fourth grade.look at subgroups over time to see how different interventions have had and are they truly helping
   • More to tools to see are our interventions, teacher development programs meeting their needs

4. 15:14How can the student identifier help district central offices use data to support EL, Special Education, and FRPL students?

·        Please give a few examples

·        Look in system for student classifacation for transfers in their previous school

·        New Fed requirenment phased in approach direct certifacation of eligability to use health and social services records to deturmine who is elegable so districts don’t have to get info from parents. (csis applied for fed grant ) to include this data in large districts as early as summer ’06.

5. I light of all you’ve said here, what are three key challenges to be met to achieve optimal use of this new resource?

(Devils in the details)

• Report, maintaining, and sharing data

Implement local practices to graph analize data

Discussion within a district around how do we use this data in a meaningful way.

• Leadership is more that simply complying with state mandates it looking at what the reporting is trying to uncover (appropreate reources to manage data, taking error reports seriously, comittment to having clean data)

Helping teachers and proicipals to use data and to give support to help thier understanding what that means and how to use it in conjunjions with best pratices that other districts have and envision things happening differently than they are in the environment right now

Resources dept of ed proposed (state budget process)funding levels of $5.00 per student for all districts in the state to help support data management. Cuts happened here

6. We’ll be speaking with District practitioner experts; are there any other questions you would ask them?how are they connecting there student information system to student acheivement? are they using state ID number? Are they developing practices that make it easier to use State ID number?

Thank you for your time.