Resources on Using Student Data and Developing Data Systems

Over the past year, the U.S. Department of Education has stressed using data for progress monitoring and decision making by state departments of education (SDEs), schools, and school districts. In the September 2009 practice guide, Using Student Achievement Data to Support Instructional Decision Making, the Institute of Education Sciences offers five recommendations to help educators use data to monitor students’ academic progress and evaluate instructional practices:

1. Make data part of a continuous cycle of instructional improvement
   
2. Teach students to examine their own data and set learning goals
   
3. Establish a clear vision for schoolwide data use
4. Provide supports that encourage a data-driven culture within the school
5. Develop and maintain a districtwide data system

Using data and establishing data systems is one of four core reforms identified in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which provides funds for school reform and improvement efforts. Through its Rapid Response Service, SECC provided specific information on this topic in Web-Based State Longitudinal Data Systems, a report that was developed to fulfill a request from one of the states served by the center.

 

 

Highlights of State Work

Alabama

Evaluation of Alabama State Support Team Efforts

In October, SECC staff Erin McCann, PhD, program associate, and Mary Lou Meadows, EdD, Alabama state liaison, met with Alabama’s statewide system of support (SSOS) evaluation team members Sherrill Parris, assistant state superintendent of education; Deann Stone, federal programs director; Ann Allison, school improvement (SI) administrator; Cheryl Sparks, SI leader, regional school improvement coaches; Debbie Webster, SI leader, regional school improvement coaches; and Catherliene Williamson, school improvement coordinator. The group met to begin the process for developing an evaluation design to examine the effectiveness of SSOS efforts.

During the work session, McCann discussed the evaluation process and the benefits of taking an in-depth look at the program goals, objectives, inputs (what is invested), outputs (what is done) and outcomes/impact (results). A second meeting was held November 2–3.

Response to Intervention Training Session I

The Instructional Services Division of the Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE) sponsored a shared professional development session on Response to Instruction (RtI) for approximately 200 of its staff members. The full-day session, held October 23, was the first in a series of four for 2009–2010. This session featured consultant Dr. Denise Gibbs and was facilitated by Sandra Lindsay, EdD, SECC South Carolina state liaison.

During the morning content session, Dr. Gibbs engaged participants in a discussion of RtI as it is and how it will be more fully implemented in Alabama. In the afternoon, participants met by ALSDE work sections and examined the contributions each section might provide in implementing RtI. They examined their current work focus to determine key intersections with RtI goals and discussed ways, when appropriate, to further align their efforts to RtI. The next meeting is planned in January and will focus on literacy as it relates to RtI.

ELL Academic Language Project

Meadows, SECC Alabama state liaison, met with ALSDE staff Christine Spear, Ann Allison, Dely Roberts, and Heidi Goertzen on October 15 to discuss incorporating English language learner (ELL) assistance into RtI. The committee requested that SECC provide a series of training sessions on ELL academic vocabulary and strategies with a focus on grades 4–12. The sessions will be held in three locations in Alabama in March, April, and May 2010.

Leadership Success Academy Follow-Up Planning

On October 8, SECC’s Meadows met with ALSDE staff Catherliene Williamson and Angela Mangum, leadership and evaluation. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss how SECC could provide follow-up assistance to the Leadership Success Academy that will help to build the capacity of ALSDE to assist high-priority schools.

Georgia

Thinking Maps® Content Support

On October 23, 2009, SECC program associates Concepion Molina, EdD, and Camille Chapman, MEd, presented a 2.5-hour technical assistance session to Georgia state directors working in needs improvement schools about deepening the implementation of Thinking Maps in mathematics. Glenda Copeland, MA, SECC Georgia state liaison, facilitated the session.

Collaborative School Improvement Conference

SECC staff Copeland, Molina, and Chapman participated in the 2-day meeting of the School and Leader Quality Division, Regional Educational Service Agency (RESA) school improvement specialists, and external collaborators on October 23–24. Day 1 consisted of breakout sessions conducted by school staff, RESA, and Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) staff on topics of interest related to secondary school improvement.

Literacy Plan Review

On October 15–16, SECC program associates Ramona Chauvin, PhD, and Kathleen Theodore, MA, met with GaDOE’s Mary Stout and other staff members to plan the pilot of the K–12 literacy plan statewide and to identify additional work that SECC can support in 2010. The group is scheduled to meet again December 14–15.

Louisiana

School Improvement Work Sessions

Work sessions to develop the Louisiana School Support Team Trainer-of-Trainer Module continue. SECC program associates Darlene Morgan Brown, PhD, Louisiana state liaison, and Robyn Madison-Harris, EdD, participated in a 2-day session on November 23–24, 2009, in Baton Rouge.

Statewide System of Support Initiative

SECC staff members Brown, Madison-Harris, Camille Chapman, and consultant Michael Davis, EdS, shared the preliminary results of the SSOS self-assessment inventory and interviews with the Louisiana Department of Education (LDE) executive cabinet, LDE staff, Recovery School District personnel, and external partners in Baton Rouge on November 17. After discussing the preliminary results, SECC staff presented information on the Rubrics-Based Evaluation of a Statewide System of Support—a framework for evaluating the capacity, efficiency, and effectiveness of an SSOS developed by Rhim, Hassel, and Redding. LDE staff were divided into three work groups and charged with using the rubric to gain a clear view of the SSOS and to report their ratings to the group at large. This information will be used to document growth through the evolution of the SSOS. SECC’s Brown (center, standing) is pictured with the work group.

Mississippi

Recovery School District Retreat

Debra Meibaum, MAT, SECC Mississippi state liaison, participated in the Mississippi Recovery School District (MRSD) Retreat on October 29–30, 2009. The focus of the retreat was to obtain input from all stakeholder groups for the development of policies and procedures that will guide the actions taken by MRSD and to ensure that those policies and procedures support the goal of turning around low-performing schools.

School Improvement Symposium

On October 27–28, SEDL program associates Joe Parker, MS, Marion Baldwin, MA, and Maggie Rivas, MA, assisted by Meibaum, conducted presentations at the Mississippi Department of Education’s School Improvement Symposium (pictured are symposium participants). Rivas co-presented with Yvette Gilbert, MDE Title III coordinator, on response to intervention for ELLs. In addition, Parker and Baldwin addressed school and afterschool leaders to share tools and resources for using afterschool as a school improvement strategy.

Restraint and Seclusion Policy Development

On October 7, SECC program associates Robyn Madison-Harris and Dale Lewis, PhD, met with an MDE committee that was assembled to draft recommendations for a restraint and seclusion policy for the state’s schools. Comprised of various stakeholders including school principals, nurses, social workers, and parents of children with disabilities, the committee discussed current state policy, common restraint and seclusion policy elements, and the evidence base for schoolwide positive interventions and supports. The committee also agreed on group norms for work sessions on November 3 and December 4. MDE plans to request to begin the Administrative Procedures Act process in January 2010.

Dropout Prevention Technical Assistance

SECC program associates Sally Wade, EdD, Ed Tobia, EdD, Camille Chapman, and Mississippi state liaison Meibaum, provided technical assistance to MDE at its Fall Regional Training Sessions for Dropout Prevention on September 29, October 1, and October 6–8. The training sessions provided information to school districts on a broad range of issues dealing with dropout prevention.

In addition, Wade facilitated carousel sessions on the relationship of parental involvement to dropout prevention and provided information on free resources. In Tupelo and Jackson, Tobia facilitated carousel sessions entitled “Putting Your Dropout Plan into Action: A Leader’s Guide to Implementation.”

Literacy Collaborative

On October 1, SECC program associates Ramona Chauvin and Meibaum participated in MDE’s Literacy Collaborative. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss implementation efforts conducted in July–September 2009 in support of scheduled literacy actions. The group developed detailed implementation plans and a calendar for new and continuing actions. Future meeting dates are December 16, 2009, and March 11, 2010.

South Carolina

Parental Involvement Project

The South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE), SECC, and the South Carolina Parent Information and Resource Centers cosponsored the third annual collaboration meeting for organizations in the state that have parental involvement as a primary goal. The Summit Club in Columbia was the site for the November 16, 2009, meeting of more than 40 participants representing a variety of for-profit and nonprofit organizations throughout the state.

During the event, Chris Ferguson, PhD, SECC program associate, provided helpful information about SEDL’s free resource A Toolkit for Title I Parental Involvement. Also, Karen Williams, SCDE Title I parent involvement coordinator, shared the work of a subcommittee of this collaborative group that has worked on SCDE-specific documents. The documents developed by the work group will guide the work of school districts as they seek to more effectively involve parents in the lives of their students.

Documents developed over the past year included a definition of meaningful engagement and capacity building for SCDE, research-informed rubrics that allow the agency and districts to measure their efforts in parental involvement, and an evaluation tool for use in local school districts for self-assessment and feedback. Participants at the collaboration meeting provided feedback on the documents that will be used to further improve the tools and make them more useful to the state department and school districts.

Calendar of Events

 

Southeast Comprehensive Center Spotlight A publication of SEDL's Southeast Comprehensive Center
Wesley A. Hoover, PhD, SEDL President and CEO Robin Jarvis, PhD, SECC Program Manager Chris Times, MBA, SECC Communications Associate and Publication Editor Alabama State Liaison: Lou Meadows, EdD (lou.meadows@sedl.org) Georgia State Liaison: Glenda Copeland, MA (glenda.copeland@sedl.org) Louisiana State Liaison: Darlene Brown, PhD (darlene.brown@sedl.org) Mississippi State Liaison: Debra Meibaum, MAT (debra.meibaum@sedl.org) South Carolina State Liaison: Sandra Lindsay, EdD (slindsay@mailbox.sc.edu)
The Southeast Comprehensive Center (SECC) is one of 16 regional centers established by the U.S. Department of Education. The primary goal of the regional centers is to build the capacity of the state education agencies and statewide systems of support to implement NCLB. Links to the other regional centers, the content centers, and the U.S. Department of Education may be found on the SECC Web site (secc.sedl.org).
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Copyright © 2009 by SEDL. The contents of this publication were developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The contents do not, however, necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and one should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. You are welcome to reproduce the Southeast Comprehensive Center Spotlight and distribute copies at no cost to recipients; please credit SEDL as the publisher.

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