icegov2012 proceedings

The United States Department of Education [17] found that only
25% of all teachers reported having access to the prior year’s
assessments for their current students and fewer than 11%
reported having access to multiyear assessments. Teachers are
increasingly using computer systems to input attendance, course
scores, and interim assessment information. However, it may well
be that teachers are accessing the system only for reporting
purposes [15] and not for actionable information. This is not to
say that the individual existing systems cannot produce reports.
The mature and well-understood reports available from existing
systems were developed for purposes other than programmatic
and instructional interventions, and only include data from their
one source. While these systems may excel at managing the data
for a given function, they were not developed for the purpose of
providing actionable information to teachers and administrators.
At issue is the need to provide contextually meaningful reports
which can be used to improve instruction. If existing systems
cannot combine data from multiple systems, then alternatives
must be considered. However, individual schools often do not
have the development resources needed to implement solutions,
even when the tools are available.
The frequency with which data are refreshed is important in any
decision making environment. The data refresh rate needs to
reflect the speed or frequency of change. Data that are refreshed
on a timely basis, and include school process related information,
are exceptionally helpful. The process of refreshing data presented
to teachers and administrators cannot be delayed in order to
accommodate existing information processing cycles. Some data
types, such as period-by-period student attendance, may need to
be updated several times a day. It has been shown that refreshing
data on a cycle greater than two weeks may be too long a period
to effect meaningful interventions [18].
3.2 Design
NERIC Connect is built on Microsoft’s SharePoint environment.
The SharePoint platform provides a secure environment to
leverage Microsoft’s SQL (MSSQL) server technologies. MSSQL
technologies are used extensively to provide role based, user
specific contextualized and interactive data displays. SharePoint
provides a simple, uncluttered, consistent user experience. NERIC
Connect can run on any Web-enabled computer, offers automated
workflow processes, integrates Microsoft Office products, and
provides a centralized location for documents and collaboration.
Built-in functionality allows for easy access to surveys, document
management, and virtual meeting workspaces. NERIC Connect
enables teachers and administrators to make better informed
decisions by securely presenting critical information about their
students from one central location, at anytime, from anywhere.
NERIC Connect creates a mash-up of the data from multiple
sources. It presents a customized user friendly data dashboard to
help teachers and administrators contextualize their data. Each
dashboard is generated in real-time, is specific to the user, and
limits the data presented based on their role and responsibility. In
other words, each user views their own customized dashboard that
contains up to date information, that is specific to their needs, and
that merges redundant data into a consistent presentation. The
dashboard takes disparate data and provides actionable
information that can be used to alert teachers to situations that
may need their attention. For example, if a student skips their
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math class, all of their teachers, not just the math teacher, become
immediately aware of this change in behavior.
In order to aid adoption, NERIC Connect offers several features
which meet the needs of teachers and administrators. In addition
to a contextually relevant dashboard, the system provides a
dynamic collection of frequently used tools and documents. It also
will provide a virtual classroom for safe, controlled collaboration
between and among teachers and students.
An extensive and extensible ODS (see Figure 1) was developed to
provide a canonical model for data elements required for
reporting. NYSED maintains a data warehouse, which is driven
by NCLB and is primarily used for storing data for enrollment and
assessment reporting purposes. However, the underlying data
model is insufficient to provide the data required for producing
actionable information to assist teachers and administrators in
improving student performance. The ODS draws not only from
the NYSED data warehouse; it also draws from student
information, employee payroll, special education systems, as well
as any district based data that contain key indicators of when a
student may need intervention.
Operational
Data Store
Employee
Data
Enrollment &
Assessment
Query
Reply
Application
Server
Extract
Transformatio
n Load
Student
Information
Systems
Figure 1- Logical Data Flow
Web Front
End
District
District
Based
Based Data
Data
Special
Education
The NERIC Connect system has a governance group and a
development advisory committee comprised of chief school
officers and other district administrators, as well as NERIC
administrators and staff. Their purpose is to identify desired
modification to the existing system and to plan for major updates
and rewrites of the system that can lead to improving student
achievement. These groups have already focused on the
development of key indicators of student success.
While performing data analysis of standardized assessments can
reveal specific instructional gaps and provide accountability
information, such analysis takes time to produce. In order to
empower teachers so that they can provide timely interventions,
school districts need to rely on more than just assessments. The
governance group helps to develop, and to fine tune, the key
indicators of student success, such as attendance information or
even if the student has overdue library books. Key indicators do
not need to imply causation; it is up to teachers and administrators
to look at root causes. Key indicators of student success can be