3D2Know: Fall 2007 Newsletter

DATA NEWSLETTER - FALL 2007

Thank you for visiting our Website, www.3d2know.org and requesting information about CoSN's Data-driven Decision Making Initiative: Vision to Know and Do. This newsletter is part of an ongoing series of periodic updates that you will be receiving. I hope that this information is of interest and welcome your comments and suggestions. Please contact Irene Spero, Chief Operating Officer, CoSN, at irene@cosn.org. Thanks.

NEW FOCUS FOR VISION TO KNOW AND DO
A great deal has been accomplished since the launch of CoSN’s Data driven Decision Making Initiative in 2003. The initiative has become a:

highly respected source of up-to-date, unbiased information for educators on collecting, understanding and using data effectively;
practical mechanism for educating school leaders about data-driven decision making and its applications in elementary and secondary education; and,
nationally recognized framework for sharing knowledge among educators and transferring knowledge between the educational and vendor communities.

We are proud of our accomplishments. The Website receives over 6,000 unique Web instances and we continue to do presentations at conferences around the country and provide professional development to school districts.

It is now appropriate to move ahead with the next phase of the initiative. Our work over the last four years highlighted the ways in which educators are collecting, reporting and analyzing data and responding to accountability mandates at the state level and requirements of No Child Left Behind. However, the findings from our self assessment tool and our work with schools and school districts underscore the fact that data is used infrequently for targeted interventions to improve student learning.

CoSN is restructuring Vision to Know and Do and shifting its focus to help educators realize the power of data for targeted interventions and for personalizing and individualizing the learning process. As part of this new direction, CoSN’s Data driven Decision Making Initiative and Using Technology to Raise the Achievement of ALL Students, (www.accessibletechn4all.org ) are combining resources to:

create tools for educators on the use of data for differentiated instruction.
highlight the ways in which accessible technologies can be used to enhance learning for all students – those with disabilities and those without disabilities.
focus on personalizing the learning process for all students.

We hope that our new focus will be of interest and helpful in your work – and as always we welcome your thoughts and suggestions.

LEARN ABOUT CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND FOX CHAPEL (PA) SCHOOL DISTRICT:

Two new case studies are now posted and available.

Chicago Public Schools

http://www.cps.k12.il.us/

With over 420,000 students and more than 600 schools, Chicago Public Schools finds itself in all three stages of data-driven decision making at once: collection, analysis, and action

Fox Chapel Area School District

http://www.fcasd.edu/j_district/index.php

A small school district committed to individualized instruction, Fox Chapel Area School District is learning data-driven decision making from its own success as well as the success of its neighbors.

Do you want to tell how you are using data in your district? We want to hear about your experiences and to share these results with others. We are interested in compiling information about best practices and developing case studies of school districts that are using data-driven decision making systems and posting these on www.3d2know.org.

Please take a moment to visit www.3d2know.org/ddmfeedback.cfm
and complete the form posted. Tell us about your goals, process, technology tools and measurable results. We will put these stories on the Website as a way of promoting dissemination of best practices and examples of excellence.

NEW LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS INTRODUCED IN CONGRESS: STATEWIDE LONGITUDINAL DATA SYSTEMS

Legislative proposals have been introduced in the House and the Senate to support the development of statewide longitudinal data systems.

Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Hillary Clinton (D-NY), and Bernie Sanders (D-VT) introduced S.2014. The legislation would provide $100 million in competitive grants for states for the development and implementation of statewide longitudinal data systems and $100 million in formula grants to states for alignment, professional development, and other efforts to improve the use of data. The legislation also authorizes funding to support a state education data center and state educational data coordinators to improve data collection, reporting, and compliance processes.

In the House, Representatives Rush Holt (D-NJ) and Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) introduced HR 3253, Measuring and Evaluating Trends for Reliability, Integrity, and Continued Success Act (METRICS). HR 3253 would authorize $150 million in formula grants to states for the development and implementation of statewide longitudinal data systems. The bill includes a set-aside of up to $2 million for a state education data center to support states in developing these systems, disseminating best practices, and serving as a central repository for education and school safety related data.

CoSN joined with the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) in sending a letter to the chair of the House Education and Labor Committee urging that the legislation include provisions requiring that 25% of grants to states flow to school districts for staff data integrity training and professional development in the appropriate collection, reporting and usage of data. The letter also recommends that the Committee incorporate new language into the current draft that would mandate that states, in their applications for data program funding, identify resources and provide technical assistance to assist local efforts to collect and deliver the required data elements

NEW VISION TO KNOW AND DO PRESENTATIONS AVAILABLE

We continue to do presentations at meetings and conferences. All presentations are placed on www.3d2know.org as a way of sharing the knowledge and providing information about important activities in data driven decision making.

Using Data to Transform Education

NCES Stat-DC 2007 Summer Forum and Data Conference
Washington, DC
Wednesday 7/25/07

Irene K. Spero, CoSN Project Director, Vision to Know and Do
Jane Lockett, Jane Lockett, Senior Vice President, Client Services, SchoolNet
Diana Nunnaley, Director ,Using Data Projects / Survey of Enacted Curriculum , TERC

Using Data for Targeted Interventions

CoSN School District Technology Leader/CTO Clinic
Network Meeting Center at Techmart, Santa Clara
Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Karen Henke, Author and Speaker, Nimble Press

Using Data for Targeted Interventions
FETC 2007
Orlando, Florida
January 25, 2007

Keith Krueger, CEO, CoSN
Sharnell Jackson , Chief eLearning Officer, Chicago Public Schools

COSN CONTINUES COLLABORATION WITH THE DATA QUALITY CAMPAIGN (DQC)

CoSN continues as an endorsing partner of DQC, 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.

A newly issued policy brief, The Right Data to the Right People at the Right Time: How Interoperable Data Help America's Students Succeed is available at http://dataqualitycampaign.org/activities/. The paper notes that “ Longitudinal data are imperative for improved instructional, management and policy decisions, but the data
only become information once they are used to make better decisions — and they can be used only when they are assembled together in a useful form. Although pockets of interoperability exist in certain states and regions, the education community has not achieved interoperability on a broad scale. “

ARE YOU LOOKING FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN DATA-DRIVEN DECISION MAKING?

We have professional development materials to help you become more proficient in the use of data - and we are available to deliver workshops for school districts!!

As part of our Essential Leadership Skills (ELS) Series, CoSN released its offering on Data Driven Decision Making. Designed as professional development resources for district level technology decision makers, the materials include a comprehensive monograph (backgrounder book) and workshop CD with participant workbook to help use data effectively in the educational process.

The Data Driven Decision Making Essential Leadership Skills Series materials are available from the CoSN online catalog https://my.cosn.org/mycosn/store/. If you are a member be sure to log in to myCoSN first to receive significant member discounts.

ABOUT THE DATA-DRIVEN DECISION MAKING INITIATIVE

The goals of the Data-driven Decision Making Initiative are to:

Serve as a highly respected source of up-to-date, unbiased information for educators on collecting, understanding and effectively using data;
Provide an easy-to-use mechanism for educating school leaders about data-driven decision making and its applications in elementary and secondary education; and
Supply a nationally recognized framework for sharing knowledge among educators and transferring knowledge between the educational and vendor communities.

ABOUT THE CONSORTIUM FOR SCHOOL NETWORKING (COSN)

CoSN is the country’s premier voice in education technology leadership, serving K-12 technology leaders who through their strategic use of technology improve teaching and learning. CoSN provides products and services to support and nurture leadership development, advocacy, coalition building, and awareness of emerging technologies.

CoSN leadership initiatives include: Using Technology to Raise the Achievement of ALL Students (www.accessibletech4all.org); Cyber Security for the Digital District (www.securedistrict.org); Data-Driven Decision-Making (www.3d2know.org); K-12 Open Technologies (www.k12opentech.org); Taking Total Cost of Ownership to the Classroom (www.classroomtco.org); Value of Investment (www.edtechvoi.org); and the development of the Council of School District Chief Technology Officers (CTO Council).

CoSN’s membership includes a unique blend of education and technology leaders, policy makers, and influencers from the public and private sectors. Our audience includes key technology leaders (often called Chief Technology Officers—CTOs) in leading-edge states and districts, policy makers, private sector leaders, as well as those technology leaders who wish to accelerate their districts’ or states’ systemic technology use. Visit www.cosn.org or phone 866.267.8747 to find out more about CoSN’s programs and activities supporting leadership development to ensure that information technology has a direct and positive impact on student learning in elementary and secondary schools.

You are receiving this e-newsletter because you visited www.3d2know.org and requested information about CoSN's Data-driven Decision Making Initiative: Vision to Know and Do. I hope you find this information interesting and useful, and I welcome your comments and suggestions. Please share this e-newsleteter with others who share your interest in this topic. If you have any questions, please contact me at: Irene Spero, Vice President, CoSN, irene@cosn.org or 866.267.8747 x112.