The Ideal State Postsecondary Data System 15 Essential Characteristics and Required Functionality Hans P. L’Orange State Higher Education Executive Officers Camille Brown South Carolina Commission on Higher Education John Porter State University of New York April 18, 2008 Rather provocative title but I’m going to lay out what I believe the ideal state postsecondary data system would look like. That will be followed by some reaction and comments from Camille Brown and John Porter who were participants in a meeting two weeks ago that first discussed these characteristics.

Framing thoughts… Moving from a sorting and selecting system of higher education to…… ….An environment designed to increase overall capacity. The world of higher education is changing and data are applying a role in those changes.

Data are needed to document the achievements of students, schools, and colleges: What does the overall “flow” of students through the pipeline look like? What experiences affect student success? What facilitates successful student transitions? There are many questions that data can address but these are just three of the more critical.

State Student Unit Record Systems An individual electronic record for each student enrolled for each term Collect a range of demographic and performance data at regular intervals Can be merged with other files to investigate student behavior and success Certain characteristics and functionality are essential in the ideal system Interest is high and growing The Secretary’s Commission on the Future of Higher Education talks about the value of state data systems. HEA SB 1642 refers to a state pilot program supporting 5 states in their efforts to develop state data systems The recent proposed changes to FERPA reference the development and use of state data systems. Proposed expansion of the Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS) grant program mentioned by Commissioner Schneider yesterday is designed to develop and enhance state data systems with a particular focus on K-16 alignment.

DQC 10 Essential Elements Unique statewide student identifier Student-level enrollment, demographic and program participation information Ability to match individual students’ test records from year to year to measure growth Information on untested students Teacher identifier system with ability to match teachers to students Student-level transcript information, including information on courses completed and grades earned Student-level college readiness test scores Student-level graduation and dropout data Ability to match student records between the Pre-K-12 and post-secondary systems State data audit system assessing data quality, validity, and reliability The Data Quality Campaign has very effectively drawn interest from many on the value of statewide data. DQC is designed to build support and political will among policy makers to: Fully develop high-quality longitudinal data systems in every state by 2009 Increase understanding and promote the valuable uses of longitudinal and financial data to improve student achievement Promote, develop, and use common data standards and efficient data transfer and exchange DQC can be boiled down to the 10 Essential Elements

Characteristics of an Ideal State Postsecondary Data System Student Characteristics A unique privacy protected id Common Enrollment, Completion, and Demographic data Financial Aid data Transfer data Persistence and Graduation data NCHEMS and SHEEO project Started as a parallel to DQC 10 Essential Elements As mentioned earlier, there is a lot of interest in state data systems but 50 different systems is problematic. This is an attempt to provide some common framework Very much under development and being placed in the community for comment and reaction Not dictating how it is done but whatever the process, the ideal system should include student characteristics, course characteristics, operational characteristics and data governance.

Characteristics of an Ideal State Postsecondary Data System Course Characteristics Remediation data & Development Education participation and success Course / Transcript level data Assessed Achievement

Characteristics of an Ideal State Postsecondary Data System Operational Characteristics Privacy protection Link to K-12 Link to Labor and Workforce Development Includes Independent and For-Profits Single system for all Public Institutions If you have the right data elements (student and course characteristics), you should be able to do the following:

Characteristics of an Ideal State Postsecondary Data System Data Governance Characteristics Data Audits: quality, validity, and reliability Alignment with State Goals and Demonstrating Usability and Sustainability Requires absolute and deliberate attention to quality Can’t be happening in isolation Becoming part of the infrastructure – means faith in the validity and reliability. Demonstrates value which leads to long-term sustainability inc. more than 1-time money

Recommendations Very challenging but attainable If you ask for average, that’s what you get Sets goals without requiring specific steps Requires state-specific decisions Common characteristics lead to a level of commonality

Panel Response Reactions to the proposal Is it worth trying? Can it be done? What should be different? How close is your state to the ideal? What would it take to make it happen?

A unique privacy protected id Enrollment, Completion, and Demographics Financial Aid data Transfer data Persistence and Graduation data Remediation data & Development Education Course / Transcript level data Assessed Achievement Privacy protection Link to K-12 Link to Labor and Workforce Development Includes Independent and For-Profits Single system for all Public Institutions Data Audits: quality, validity, and reliability Alignment with State Goals, Usability and Sustainability

Questions? Hans P. L’Orange hans@sheeo.org Thank You!