EDTEC 685
Becky Hammons
K-12 Data Warehousing & Mining Summary
The MISi k-12 data warehousing and mining software is a great example of a hosted solution to a significant challenge for educational systems – tracking, managing and analyzing the tremendous amount of data that is collected on student performance.
The introduction to the No Child Left Behind Issue Brief (Copyright 2002 by the Education Commission of the States), states “Nearly every state reports annually to districts on how well their schools and students are meeting state standards. With schools being held accountable for helping all children achieve state standards, and assessment data measuring how well schools and students are meeting those standards, the question is: How can districts support schools’ use of data, and what types of data can be used to make decisions that improve student and school performance?”
The MISi k-12 products answer this very question. The PowerPoint presentations and demo version of the data mining product provide good exposure to the numerous elements of student performance that can be analyzed. The Brief (2002) also provides guidance on the important elements of data-driven decision-making including demographic data, achievement data, instructional data and perception data. I noted that the MISi k12datamine product displayed reporting on demographic, achievement and perception data. I did not notice any tabs related to instructional data availability.
From a product development orientation, I am interested in knowing about the “back end” of the MISi system. From the presentation of the data within the reporting, I make the assumption that the system is hosted by MISi. I wonder many things and search their site for information. Is it a SQL database, how do they handle replication and backups, what are the terms of their SLA’s and the frequency of their product updates? I wanted to understand how the standards are linked to the records and if their reporting tool was comprised of a series of SQL queries. I probably spend about one million dollars per year on software packages and maintenance renewals for existing infrastructure, so I am interested in compatibility with existing systems and the ability to customize with internal development.
From the standpoint of a school district, I would consider a number of factors in the purchase decision.
1. How will this system integrate with our existing data tracking systems and tools?
2. How is the user experience? Are icons and pull-down menus clearly identified? Does the workflow make sense?
3. How will we assure the integrity of the data from a disaster recovery and business continuity standpoint?
4. Is the company responsive to feature requests? Can I talk to a couple of reference customers?
5. What are the services provided through their Professional Services organization (project management, training, data migration)?
6. How is the transaction quality confirmed by MISi?
7. How does the product reflect interoperability standards (Schools Interoperability Framework)?
8. How steep is the learning curve for our staff? Going from zero to ninety? Is the staff comfortable with technology changes?
Perhaps one of the most important considerations is the organization’s culture and the ability to embrace transformative change. The implementation of the MISi application into a school district is likely to take months of collaboration between the school technology and admin staff and the vendor. Such an undertaking cannot be forced onto district staff that has not the time, support, or interest. In a sense, some districts probably face a double-bind – a lack of funding (support) or skills to embrace an implementation of this scale, yet the lack of such a system will keep them in the same inefficient cycle.
The MISi user interface is okay but not great. The color coding methods are helpful and I'm sure the visual interpretation of information would become an ingrained habit for users. The presentation of the data is graphically rough and could benefit from a refresh from a good graphic designer. Overall, though, the application captures many of the key requirements identified through our course readings on student information systems.
I am particularly interested in the aspects of adult learning that must be addressed to succeed with the implementation of MISi. What new roles must be established within the district or school (train-the-trainer, local admin, data entry)? It’s important to define the new roles that may come with the new data mining application. The success of the implementation may rely on early adopters within the school community. How will people be asked to use the system? What policy changes are required to support the use of the application?
Another area of interest is in understanding the competencies of the stakeholders. Are the decision makers comfortable with technology? Will they trust the system they choose? The July 9, 2007 COMPUTERWORLD 40th Anniversary Special Edition identifies Salesforce.com as one of the top 10 products of the past 40 years. Salesforce.com is a hosted customer relationship management (CRM) product. It is similar in concept to the MISi products and has steadily gained market share by off-loading critical business processes. Salesforce.com provides a product and service so that companies do not have to make CRM development one of their core competencies, thereby freeing the company to innovate in other core areas. MISi offers a similar product and service to its customer base. In going with a hosted solution a school district is agreeing that the vendor will lead the way with future feature enhancements.
Aside from the decision makers, there will likely be other administrative personnel or grass-roots supporters of the implementation of a system like MISi. I would give consideration to who these people are and how they can be engaged in the successful deployment of the system. It’s hard to imagine that it’s a “turn-key” system. I can envision the need for due diligence on the current records management techniques and media followed by a data migration effort. Then there’s user training. One of the things I’ve learned in about twenty years of providing ad hoc tech support to my local school systems is that some teachers need to receive repetitive learning experiences to build confidence in using a new software system.
Overall, the GAO Report to Congressional Committees (October, 2005), Education’s Data Management Initiative, captures my concerns about the usability of a system such as MISi for school districts: “Significant Progress Made, but Better Planning Needed to Accomplish Project Goals”. The MISi data warehousing and data mining applications will be successful if clear project goals are established and detailed and comprehensive planning is conducted. All too often software vendors are eager to reach their quarterly revenue objectives and are inattentive to the delivery process. It’s important for potential users of MISi or any other business process vendor to investigate the reputation of the company.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Obama's Wife & the War in Iraq
Yesterday I listened to an NPR interview of Barack Obama's wife while I commuted home from work. She made several good points with respect to his position regarding the war in Iraq. To paraphrase, she said instead of fighting a war in Iraq we could be spending the money on improvements to our educational system, and child care and health care systems.
Every family must work from a budget to stay solvent and make good investment decisions for their future, such as retirement, home ownership, education, etc. It makes good sense to look at the extraordinary expense incurred during this war, which is going on for more years than anticipated/planned, and assess alternatives. Had the many billions of dollars of investment in "rebuilding" Iraq been instead invested in improvements to US child care and K-12 educational systems, imagine the gains that could have been (might be) made? One big example: Information management systems could have been implemented, improved, and standardized to the benefit of children, parents/guardians, teachers, administrators and agencies.
Mrs. Obama's perspective has changed my own with respect to how our government is choosing to allocate funds -- it gets down to prioritization within a limited budget. Where does education stand in the list of priorities for 2008 candidates? This will be an interesting way to evaluate candidates throughout this year and next.
Every family must work from a budget to stay solvent and make good investment decisions for their future, such as retirement, home ownership, education, etc. It makes good sense to look at the extraordinary expense incurred during this war, which is going on for more years than anticipated/planned, and assess alternatives. Had the many billions of dollars of investment in "rebuilding" Iraq been instead invested in improvements to US child care and K-12 educational systems, imagine the gains that could have been (might be) made? One big example: Information management systems could have been implemented, improved, and standardized to the benefit of children, parents/guardians, teachers, administrators and agencies.
Mrs. Obama's perspective has changed my own with respect to how our government is choosing to allocate funds -- it gets down to prioritization within a limited budget. Where does education stand in the list of priorities for 2008 candidates? This will be an interesting way to evaluate candidates throughout this year and next.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Assessment Technology Review
I selected Futurekids Prometheus Technology for my review of an alternate school assessment tool (http://www.futurekids.com). I haven't used an assessment tool in an educational environment as my career is in the software development industry. I am, however, familiar with several employee assessment tools.
Futurekids is a five step service provider to K12 education providers. The company focuses specifically on the assessment of teacher, administrator and student technology skill levels, and the school's goals and IT infrastructure. The assessment output is in the form of a report on student and teacher competency results and IT infrastructure assessment results, including areas for improvement and comparisons with other benchmark results in the country. Futurekids also provides a review of the school's technology plan. The assessment categories include basic concept knowledge and skills, classroom/personal productivity skills, classroom instruction skills, communication/information skills, integration of technology into the curriculum, leadership skills related to technology management and educational leadership.
Individual learning plans can be generated by teachers, administrators, technology coordinators and students. These plans target new proficiency levels to be achieved in the various categories of skill and knowledge.
The second step is the creation of a customized technology plan by Futurekids based on the assessment results and dialogue with the school staff. The third step involves a weeklong training session for the technology coordinator for the school, to enable them to reach the goals established in the technology plan. The implementation phase is the fourth step and involves mentoring of the technology coordinator by an assigned Futurekids mentor. Finally, a reporting activity at the end of each school year provides additional assessment feedback to the school relative to the technology plan objectives.
I am currently implementing a similar methodology at Double-Take Software to create a records retention program for the company. I've deployed an assessment application (hosted software) throughout the company to identify current records retention practices. From the tabulation of the resulting data and review of benchmark data, we'll generate a retention policy and schedule. The policy and schedule will be implemented via the hosted application to enable us to manage the schedule properly, including the materials sent to offsite storage.
In light of my current internal assessment activities, I found the Futurekids services to be interesting as they focus on one specific segment of teacher/admin/student assessment that may not be on the map for ISTEP and NCLB. I'm unfamiliar with any requirements for NCLB relative to technology proficiency, yet I do believe that the school environments that address most stakeholder needs for technology proficiency will be those meeting other core NCLB requirements as well.
As a parent, I want my children to be competent in technology matters and I also want their school to communicate with me in ways I am comfortable (email, web-based communications, online homework assignments). Because I work full-time it is not possible for me to use only the phone and walk-in for administrator and teacher contact. I carry a blackberry and cell phone with me and wish the Blue River Valley school system would email me with important notes (rather than make me dig through backpacks every evening) and call my cell when I'm needed (rather than leave a voicemail on my home phone only).
The Apple SIS site for PowerSchool documents an April 24, 2006 news release detailing the results of a PowerSchool survey ("Vast Majority of U.S. Parents Agree That Student Achievement Would Improve if Current Communication Methods between Schools and Parent Were Made Better"). The survey findings indicate that "parent/teacher conferences are the primary way through which parents receive academic progress information from their child's school...". That's truly unfortunate given that teachers have only a ten-to-fifteen minute slot for parents once or twice a year!
I routinely provide technical support to my children's teachers for their school and home computers and am surprised at the lack of technology training available for the teachers at their schools. An assessment tool that could get at the heart of the technology proficiency short-comings and identify learning objectives for improvement would be beneficial to many school systems and the associated parents. The benefits would include improved use of communication methods with parents and perhaps a better match with student learning methods. Instructional methods haven't changed much over the years but the ways in which students like to learn have changed considerably through exposure to the internet, video and online games, texting, etc.
Futurekids is a five step service provider to K12 education providers. The company focuses specifically on the assessment of teacher, administrator and student technology skill levels, and the school's goals and IT infrastructure. The assessment output is in the form of a report on student and teacher competency results and IT infrastructure assessment results, including areas for improvement and comparisons with other benchmark results in the country. Futurekids also provides a review of the school's technology plan. The assessment categories include basic concept knowledge and skills, classroom/personal productivity skills, classroom instruction skills, communication/information skills, integration of technology into the curriculum, leadership skills related to technology management and educational leadership.
Individual learning plans can be generated by teachers, administrators, technology coordinators and students. These plans target new proficiency levels to be achieved in the various categories of skill and knowledge.
The second step is the creation of a customized technology plan by Futurekids based on the assessment results and dialogue with the school staff. The third step involves a weeklong training session for the technology coordinator for the school, to enable them to reach the goals established in the technology plan. The implementation phase is the fourth step and involves mentoring of the technology coordinator by an assigned Futurekids mentor. Finally, a reporting activity at the end of each school year provides additional assessment feedback to the school relative to the technology plan objectives.
I am currently implementing a similar methodology at Double-Take Software to create a records retention program for the company. I've deployed an assessment application (hosted software) throughout the company to identify current records retention practices. From the tabulation of the resulting data and review of benchmark data, we'll generate a retention policy and schedule. The policy and schedule will be implemented via the hosted application to enable us to manage the schedule properly, including the materials sent to offsite storage.
In light of my current internal assessment activities, I found the Futurekids services to be interesting as they focus on one specific segment of teacher/admin/student assessment that may not be on the map for ISTEP and NCLB. I'm unfamiliar with any requirements for NCLB relative to technology proficiency, yet I do believe that the school environments that address most stakeholder needs for technology proficiency will be those meeting other core NCLB requirements as well.
As a parent, I want my children to be competent in technology matters and I also want their school to communicate with me in ways I am comfortable (email, web-based communications, online homework assignments). Because I work full-time it is not possible for me to use only the phone and walk-in for administrator and teacher contact. I carry a blackberry and cell phone with me and wish the Blue River Valley school system would email me with important notes (rather than make me dig through backpacks every evening) and call my cell when I'm needed (rather than leave a voicemail on my home phone only).
The Apple SIS site for PowerSchool documents an April 24, 2006 news release detailing the results of a PowerSchool survey ("Vast Majority of U.S. Parents Agree That Student Achievement Would Improve if Current Communication Methods between Schools and Parent Were Made Better"). The survey findings indicate that "parent/teacher conferences are the primary way through which parents receive academic progress information from their child's school...". That's truly unfortunate given that teachers have only a ten-to-fifteen minute slot for parents once or twice a year!
I routinely provide technical support to my children's teachers for their school and home computers and am surprised at the lack of technology training available for the teachers at their schools. An assessment tool that could get at the heart of the technology proficiency short-comings and identify learning objectives for improvement would be beneficial to many school systems and the associated parents. The benefits would include improved use of communication methods with parents and perhaps a better match with student learning methods. Instructional methods haven't changed much over the years but the ways in which students like to learn have changed considerably through exposure to the internet, video and online games, texting, etc.
Schools have failed black male students
From Friday's USA Today, a letter to the editor:
"USA TODAY's editorial on the gender gap in high school graduation rates highlights the national tragedy of how schools have failed boys, especially African-American boys. But the data cited in the editorial and originally published by Education Week is not new and only reports what nmost parents, teachers and school officials already know yet choose to ignore: Public schools are failing to educate black boys ("When it comes to your sons, schools miss the mark," Editorial, Friday).
The graduation rate for black boys is a disgrace, and the education system's failure to provide an environment where black boys can be successful is almost criminal.
Even though public school systems are well aware of the status of black male students, they are ignored, stereotyped and written off as dysfunctional.
The low graduation rate is only part of the tragedy. Black male students are disproportionately suspended and expelled from school, systematically excluded from advanced and college preparatory classes, and overrepresented in special education classes.
Last month, the governor of Ohio took the bold step of convening a state conference to explore how public schools and local communities could address these issues. Every state should follow the lead of Ohio by developing initiatives to address the status of black male students in public schools."
- Floyd Weatherspoon, Professor of Law, Capital University Law School, Columbus, Ohio
Floyd provides a good overview of the problems of exclusion within our school systems. Many schools appear to effectively serve students who "conform" well to certain implicit standards. However, as pointed out by Weatherspoon, there are many who fall outside of that group.
"USA TODAY's editorial on the gender gap in high school graduation rates highlights the national tragedy of how schools have failed boys, especially African-American boys. But the data cited in the editorial and originally published by Education Week is not new and only reports what nmost parents, teachers and school officials already know yet choose to ignore: Public schools are failing to educate black boys ("When it comes to your sons, schools miss the mark," Editorial, Friday).
The graduation rate for black boys is a disgrace, and the education system's failure to provide an environment where black boys can be successful is almost criminal.
Even though public school systems are well aware of the status of black male students, they are ignored, stereotyped and written off as dysfunctional.
The low graduation rate is only part of the tragedy. Black male students are disproportionately suspended and expelled from school, systematically excluded from advanced and college preparatory classes, and overrepresented in special education classes.
Last month, the governor of Ohio took the bold step of convening a state conference to explore how public schools and local communities could address these issues. Every state should follow the lead of Ohio by developing initiatives to address the status of black male students in public schools."
- Floyd Weatherspoon, Professor of Law, Capital University Law School, Columbus, Ohio
Floyd provides a good overview of the problems of exclusion within our school systems. Many schools appear to effectively serve students who "conform" well to certain implicit standards. However, as pointed out by Weatherspoon, there are many who fall outside of that group.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Special Ed Needs - NCLB
There was an interesting article in yesterday's Muncie Star Press: States not meeting special-ed conditions.
Washington: "Four-fifths of the states are falling short of federal requirements for educating students with disabilities, the Education Department says.
The states got their first-ever federal report cards this week judging them on how well they are implementing the nation's main special education law.
The state-by-state results were posted on the Education Department's Web site Wednesday.
The requirements are outlined in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, as the law is called. The largest part of the act is a $10.5 billion program providing students aged 3 to 21 with specialized programs to fit their educational needs.
Only nine states were found to be fully meeting the requirements of that part of the program. Those states are: Alaska, Connecticut, Hawaii, Michigan, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and Wyoming.
The rest of the states were labeled as "needs assistance" or, worse, "needs intervention."
If they don't improve within a few years, they could face sanctions such as the loss of federal aid."
Although the article did not specifically address NCLB, I think that the study results indicate that this is one of the risk areas related to assessments and school status. Special needs students appear to be under-served in meeting their learning needs. Perhaps the NCLB data confirms the results of this special ed needs study.
This is one area where radical change is needed, not just a continuous improvement approach from the current baseline.
Recent newspaper articles have indicated a significant rise in the rate of autism diagnosis in children. How will our school systems integrate the needs of these students? Or will they be "left behind"?
Washington: "Four-fifths of the states are falling short of federal requirements for educating students with disabilities, the Education Department says.
The states got their first-ever federal report cards this week judging them on how well they are implementing the nation's main special education law.
The state-by-state results were posted on the Education Department's Web site Wednesday.
The requirements are outlined in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, as the law is called. The largest part of the act is a $10.5 billion program providing students aged 3 to 21 with specialized programs to fit their educational needs.
Only nine states were found to be fully meeting the requirements of that part of the program. Those states are: Alaska, Connecticut, Hawaii, Michigan, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and Wyoming.
The rest of the states were labeled as "needs assistance" or, worse, "needs intervention."
If they don't improve within a few years, they could face sanctions such as the loss of federal aid."
Although the article did not specifically address NCLB, I think that the study results indicate that this is one of the risk areas related to assessments and school status. Special needs students appear to be under-served in meeting their learning needs. Perhaps the NCLB data confirms the results of this special ed needs study.
This is one area where radical change is needed, not just a continuous improvement approach from the current baseline.
Recent newspaper articles have indicated a significant rise in the rate of autism diagnosis in children. How will our school systems integrate the needs of these students? Or will they be "left behind"?
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