Consortium Examines Schools' Methods Of Data Collection

Data-Driven Decision Making: Vision to Know and Do
A K-12 Breakfast Briefing

Agenda

Wednesday, July 16th 2003
10:00 AM. - 12:00 PM.

10:00 AM. Welcome

Representative John Boehner, Education & the Workforce Committee Chairman
Representative George Miller, Ranking Member

10:05 AM. Introduction and Background on the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN)

Keith Krueger, CEO, Consortium for School Networking

Overview of the Data-driven Decision Making Initiative: Vision to Know and Do
Irene Spero, Vice President, Consortium for School Networking.

10:15 AM. Presentation, "NCLB and Beyond - Why It Is Imperative That School Districts Make Better Use Of Data To Improve Student Achievement"

John Bailey, Director of Educational Technology, U.S. Department of Education

10:35 AM. Panel Discussion, "How School Districts Are Responding -- Successfully Using Data To Implement NCLB"

• John Q. Porter, Associate Superintendent & Chief Information Officer, Montgomery County Schools, Montgomery County, Maryland (Moderator)
• Katie Lovett, Chief Information Officer, Fulton County Schools, Fulton County, Georgia
• Tracy Jones, Data System Supervisor, Poway Unified School District, ISS, Poway, California

11:05 AM. Questions and Answers

11:15 AM. Showcasing Technology Solutions: ETS, IBM and SAS Exhibits

Press Coverage

Consortium Examines Schools' Methods Of Data Collection
by Chloe Albanesius

The National Journal

Data-driven decision-making is essential to implementing the education law enacted in 2002, according to a study released by the Consortium for School Networking (www.3d2know.org) on Wednesday.

The group promotes the use of information technology and the Internet in elementary and secondary education and sought to produce a source for schools on how to best collect, understand and use data effectively so that all students are appropriately taught. The result of the group's studies, Vision to Know and Do (www.3d2know.org/publications.html), shows a need for accountability in student performance, a focus on proven strategies, a reduction in bureaucracy and the empowerment of parents.

Under the 2002 education act, "data is going to become increasingly important," Ohio Republican John Boehner, chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, said at a Wednesday briefing on the consortium's report.

By not providing students with the best equipment and teachers, he added, "we're throwing American kids overboard. Enough is enough."

Californian George Miller, the ranking Democrat on the committee, said that in crafting the 2002 law, he and other lawmakers considered two things: an analysis of existing data and whether they could make that information intriguing enough to the private sector.

"We hope that this can happen in real time," Miller said. "Don't wait until a child is a semester into school before the transcripts of the previous school gets caught up with him."

John Bailey, the Education Department's director of educational technology, said one of the core policy themes for the act is "decentralized decision-making to the state and local level, and taking a more hands-on approach to collecting and analyzing data will make it easier to reach statute's goal of having 100 percent proficiency for all students in 12 years.

He said the current system might make students think they need not have "fundamental skills."

The consortium partnered with Educational Testing Service, IBM and the SAS software firm to produce its report. Bailey said such collaboration is beneficial because "companies [have the time] to do a richer data analysis" than schools might. "They can predict how students will do, [and we use these] projections as a learning tool."

In addition to the report, consortium Vice President and Project Director Irene Spero said the organization developed a self-assessment tool for districts to use in analyzing their data-collection techniques and issued a call for "best practices" in data collection from districts nationwide.