Education Research & Data Center Update
July 1, 2009

Priorities

  • Develop a longitudinal research data system that allows for the analysis of student performance and progress, while strictly maintaining student confidentiality.
  • Integrate education data with social, income, workforce, and other data.
  • Disaggregate education data by race and ethnic categories whenever possible.
  • Identify and maintain focus on a relatively small core of critical questions about student achievement and transitions and use the longitudinal data base to address as many as possible.

Operational Activities and Workgroups

  • Education agency directors’ advisory group.
  • A joint OFM/LEAP staff workgroup focusing on collaborative analyses.
  • Data Sharing and Linking Workgroup (data “owners” group with technical focus).
  • Public Centralized Higher Education Enrollment System (PCHEES) consolidation project team.

Recent Accomplishments

  • With the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC), the four-year public higher education institutions and the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB), shared and linked data on student achievement and transitions.
  • Assembled an operational longitudinal research database linking K-12 and postsecondary student-level data through the use of an ERDC-assigned research ID.
  • With public higher education institutions and the HECB, re-designed PCHEES to accommodate longitudinal research and reporting on enrollment and outcomes.
  • Conducted research on longitudinal educational data and trends. Completed research briefs on enrollment patterns for low-income K-12 students and higher education enrollment for high school students.
  • Updated the Compendium of Education Indicators.
  • Completed data-sharing and data management agreements with public higher education institutions, the SBCTC, the HECB, OSPI, and the Employment Security Department.
  • Continued to work with the Attorney General’s office and legislative attorneys to ensure that student privacy and confidentiality requirements under federal and state law are being fully met.
  • Linked social service client records with K-12 student records in support of research related to low-income families.
  • Made presentations to WERA/OSPI Assessment Conference, WICHE Workshop, Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee, House Education and Education Appropriations Committee, NCES MIS Conference, and SHEEO/NCES Network Conference.

Plans

  • Integrate PCHEES with student data system managed by the SBCTC, thereby transforming PCHEES into a comprehensive public two- and four-year higher education data system.
  • Building on existing successes in linking education data across the P-20 spectrum, design and develop a system that is sourced by K-12 data systems and PCHEES, and which also incorporates financial aid elements, workforce information, and social service information.
  • Collaborate with OSPI to display staffing and financial data by school building.
  • Update Higher Education Per-Student Funding Comparisons (RCW 28B.15.068).
  • Plan for additional requirements associated with the passage of ESHB 2261 by the 2009 Legislature.

Past Reports