Data Systems Community of Practice Resources

CoP Summary: Many state educational agencies (SEAs) have begun to move beyond collecting and reporting data for mainly compliance purposes to recognizing the value and utility of cross-sector, longitudinal data for continuous improvement and educational equity. National efforts supporting SEAs to make this shift began in earnest in 2005 and, most recently, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) endorses such an approach. ESSA asks states to assess student and school success and growth using more robust measures than before, for example for student subgroups not previously required including students who are homeless, in foster care, and have active duty military parents or guardians. As SEAs design, manage, and sustain their cross-sector, longitudinal data systems, align with local educational agencies (LEA) data systems, and enhance efforts for greater use of the data, they will benefit from specialized technical knowledge from peers and national subject matter experts. SEAs and other stakeholders that engaged and collaborated in this CoP had an opportunity to:

• Understand the provisions for data disaggregation and the use of cross-tabulation analyses in ESSA;
• Design and implement approaches to meeting the federal provisions, using federal guidance and other expertise;
• Implement methods to improve internal data control, coherence, collection, and analysis of subgroup populations, including cross-sector partnerships that manage needed student characteristic data;
• Implement methods to improve the quality of disaggregated data (by addressing data accuracy, timeliness of reporting, and missing data) used for state accountability, report cards, and continuous improvement; and
• Participate in the development of written guidance for SEAs and LEAs to collect, analyze, and report high quality student subgroup data, including report templates that meet ESSA requirements.

The resources below were used during learning cycle virtual meetings and asynchronous activities. They are organized in two sections. The first set of resources were provided to CoP members from subject matter experts (SMEs), and are comprised of resources those subject matter experts created for the work of the CoP and items curated from other technical assistance providers. The second set of resources were shared by participating member states.

Participating SEAs: Bureau of Indian Education, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oregon, South Carolina.

CoP Duration: August 2017 through April 2018

Resources