Data Quality Initiative

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Achieving Quality Data

South Carolina Department of Education

Data Quality Initiative

School to

WorkPrecode

ClassSchedule

Teacher

CourseCodes /History

Student

DropoutsDisciplineCareer & Tech Ed(CATE)

EarlyChildhood

Attendance

EIA/EFAFunding

Trans-portation

SASI stores a vast amount of data related to all aspects of educating SC’s students.

Over 190 data items are extracted from SASI records

Quality Data:SASI Data

Data Quality Initiative

No Child Left

Behind

School & District Report Cards

Highly Qualified Teachers

Adequate Yearly Progress

EEDA

Legislative Decision Making

Medicaid Funding

UMIRS

Perkins Act

Preprinted Test

Sheets

and more…

SASI data is often relied upon to meet the requirements of Federal, State, and District policies and regulations.

Quality Data:SASI Data – Put to Work!

Data Quality Initiative

Quality Data:SASI Data – Put to Work!

Increased demands for data result from state and federal statutory and regulatory requirements.

Each data element requested via SASI is tied to a requirement for reporting or funding.

Free or reduced lunch status

•USDA Reimbursements

•Education Accountability Act Report Card

Data Quality Initiative

The Collection of Accurate and Timely Data Allows…

…TEACHERS to make appropriate decisions about their students’ needs.

…PRINCIPALS to track student and teacher progress.

…DISTRICT PERSONNEL to hire staff or provide resources where and when they are most needed.

…the SC STATE LEGISLATURE to know when resources are making a difference in education.

…the SC DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION to plan and manage effective programs.

Quality Data: Shaping South Carolina’s Future

Data Quality Initiative

Quality Data: Getting Things Right…

• Quality Data is Accurate • Quality Data is Secure• Quality Data is Timely• Quality Data is Complete• Quality Data is Trusted

What constitutes quality data?

Data Quality Initiative

Data Quality:How can data be improved?

Define the Data Input Criteria

• Policies and Regulations

• Standards and Guidelines

http://ed.sc.gov/

Data Quality Initiative

Communication

• Schedule regular meetingsfor program experts, data entry staff, and technology staff.

• Encourage a forum for feedback on what works and what doesn’t.

• Publish data entry & collection deadlines via a “Data Calendar.”

Data Quality:How can data be improved?

Data Quality Initiative

Quality Data: How can data be improved?

Hands-on SASI training workshops are provided by SDE Regional Technology Centers in

– Florence– Conway– Dorchester

Additional training Webinars & Workshops may be provided via Pearson School Systems (PSS).

Professional Development

Data Quality Initiative

• Protect the confidentiality of student records• Utilize login passwords• Implement periodic software updates• Limit user rights within SASI• Prohibit volunteers and non-trained

employees from accessing SASI data.

Quality Data: How can data be improved?

Technology

Secure the Network!

Data Quality Initiative

Data Quality:How can data be improved?

Data Entry Personnel

SASI Clerks are the INITIAL SOURCE for quality data!

Re-evaluate:• Job descriptions• Salary level• Skills and educational

requirements necessary to do the job

Recognize and reward exceptional data entry persons in your school.

Data Quality Initiative

Quality Data: How can data be improved?

Data Entry Environment

Limit non-essential duties during heavy data entry periods.

Communicate the data entry expectations.

Provide a quiet setting for data entry.

Allow data entry staff to attend SASIxp training.

Share the memos.

Data Quality Initiative

Cooperation… Quality is Everyone’s Responsibility

Data Quality:How can data be improved?

Principal

Data Entry Clerk

Teacher

Counselor

Librarian

Nurse

Superintendent

Data Coordinator

Technology Staff

Data Quality Initiative

Quality Data: Resources which help improve

data

• Technical Documentation• Web sites - http://ed.sc.gov• Forms/worksheets• SDE 2006 Data Collection Manual

Data Quality Initiative

Resources:2005-06 Data Collection Manual

• Identifies the SASI fields collected, Atom by Atom

Data Quality Initiative

Verification and Validation of SASI

Data

Data Quality:How can data be improved?

Data Quality Initiative

Data Quality :(SDE) Reporting Manager Data Validation

• Reports list error messages (by District or school) which identify missing, inaccurate, and invalid data.

• Validation reports are provided to the districts via the Reporting Manager.

Data Quality Initiative

Role of the PrincipalWhat you should do…

Recognize the potential impact of inaccurate data…

Financially • Pupil Accounting System (PAS) • Student Accountability System (SAS) • Relationship of Free & Reduced lunch data to:

Nutrition programs Title 1 services E-rate program

PubliclyUMIRS ReportingAYP School Report CardHighly Qualified Teachers

Are you confident that your data reflect appropriate codes for services provided at your school?

Data Quality Initiative

The Reality of Poor Data Quality –the UMIRS Report

The Federal No Child Left Behind legislation mandates the collection and reporting of :

• Truancy rates

• Violent offenses

• Drug-related offenses

• Student suspensions & expulsions

• Programs & services for dealing with truancy, violence and drug use

Is your data painting an accurate picture

of your students and school?

Data Quality Initiative

175 offenses of chewing gum

are reported as

175 hand gun violations

on the UMIRS report.

WHY?

The Reality of Poor Data Quality –Coding Errors on the UMIRS Report

Data Quality Initiative

Culprit: Inaccurate Coding The middle school used the state standardized discipline code for hand gun violation (#781) instead of creating a user-defined code to record incidents of chewing gum.

Are you confident that data entry at your school is based on current, accurate, and standard codes?

The Reality of Poor Data Quality –Coding Errors on the UMIRS Report

Data Quality Initiative

Joe teaches Algebra I at a SC middle school.

Joe is S.C. certified and highly qualified in Math.

Why are Joe’s Algebra classes flagged as not

having a highly qualified Math teacher?

The Reality of Poor Data Quality – Inaccurate Highly Qualified Teacher Data

Data Quality Initiative

Answer:

Two numbers in Joe’s certification number were transposed upon entry, therefore he was could not be verified as SC certified teacher.

-or-An out-dated course code was used when scheduling Joe’s Algebra classes in SASI. The course code was not state approved for indicating a “core” subject.

The Reality of Poor Data Quality –Inaccurate Highly Qualified Teacher Data

Data Quality Initiative

The Reality of Poor Data Quality –Inaccurate Highly Qualified Teacher Data

Highly Qualified Teacher counts are affected by:

• Incomplete teacher information

• Invalid teacher Social Security and/or certificate numbers

• Out of date/incorrect course codes

Ooops!

Data Quality Initiative

The Reality of Poor Data Quality: Inaccurate Data

Worrisome “dirty” data…

• Lunch status, gender, birth date, GR9 & race data fields are often left blank or completed with invalid codes.

• Duplicate student records exist;The unique State ID field is often blank.

• Inaccurate dropout dates, program entry/withdrawal dates are often found.

• Invalid characters are found in name fields

• Incorrect number of digits in numeric fields, etc.

Data Quality Initiative

Worrisome data entry processes…

• Not completely “enrolling” new students with birthdates, etc. SUNs program is not invoked = potential for duplicate students.

• Not “inactivating” students prior to the first day of testing. Inaccurate counts represented in AYP calculation.

• Not using standardized codes.

The Reality of Poor Data Quality: Inaccurate Data

Data Quality Initiative

Role of the PrincipalWhat you should do…

Ask Yourself…• Are data complete for students, teachers, courses, etc?

• What verification methods are implemented in my school or district prior to submitting data to the SDE?

• Which persons are responsible for the data? Have they been trained?

• Are the most current guidelines and codes being utilized?

Data Quality Initiative

Office of Technology Barbara Solomon(Bsolomon@ed.sc.gov)

Data Quality

QUESTIONS?

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