Data Systems  

Update for School Year 2011-2012

Hawaii’s education reform plan calls for rapid access to current and longitudinal data that can be used to monitor student progress, identify effective teaching practices and inform decision-making at the classroom, school and system levels.

Ongoing improvements have already led to the introduction of new assessment tools in public schools statewide. In school year 2011-12, computerized testing delivering real-time results have allowed school administrators and teachers to better gauge student progress and tailor instruction to address specific academic benchmarks. (link to Standards and Assessments page for online HSA and DSI)

In school year 2011-12, the Department will introduce 12,700 teachers to a web-based dashboard, which was unveiled to administrators last year. It generates longitudinal data reports that apply diverse indicators to more than two decades of individual student records. This reporting tool boasts more than 100 different metrics and reports, a number that is expected to double by 2014.

“A number of school administrators have begun using the (dashboard) as a tool for analyzing their performance over the course of the year, and to prepare themselves for the year ahead,” said DOE Data Governance Director Christina Tydeman.

The ability to collect, use and share quality data is critical in the state’s effort to prepare all public school students for seamless transitions into college and career. As data capabilities expand, the DOE will be able to merge its public school student and personnel data. Resulting data reports can be used for internal monitoring purposes within the Department, as well as to share information with researchers and stakeholders.

Through collaboration with Hawaii early and post-secondary education providers, DOE student data will also be linked to preschool and college information. This extended view will help the state better determine whether its college-readiness goal is being met.

Data systems, both in use and under development, are intended to provide information that can spur action and drive change to increase effectiveness and efficiency throughout Hawaii’s public school system. The dashboard offers system-level leaders a mechanism to establish strategies, which can then be monitored to ensure they produce the intended goals and outcomes.

Training is planned throughout the school year to build awareness of the dashboard and the importance of the Department’s data policies. Meanwhile, ongoing system development will continue.

“The next two years will see a number of improvements,” Tydeman said. “Advanced analytic modules will provide smarter reporting capabilities to users, and additional data sources will be tapped to provide the (dashboard) with more data.”

The Department has been collecting individual student data for more than 20 years, for a variety of purposes. “Bringing together data from systems that were developed as silos is challenging, because all of the data must be aligned to meet a common standard that was not present in their original development requirements,” Tydeman said.

Upgrades to the Electronic Human Resources system and other sources of personnel and professional development information will allow for comprehensive monitoring of school and Department staff. The goal is to make sure all employees receive professional development in the areas they need most, Tydeman said. 

Tydeman stresses that the data collected is meant to be used constructively:

“It will make a huge difference if we can successfully create systems that are user-friendly, manageable, and informative, and if we can develop a culture that makes use of these systems.”

                            
NEWS

America COMPETES drives data system improvements

Stimulus Aid: State Data Systems (Education Week May 2011)

INFORMATION 

Data for Action 2011

Data Quality Campaign

Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems (ARRA grant information)

Statewide Longitudinal Data System: About Hawaii's Longitudinal Data System for Educational Improvement (Hawaii P-20)

November 2011