Longitudinal data systems in education

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1 WHITE PAPER Longitudinal data systems in education Leveraging the SAS Business Analytics Framework to accelerate implementations and minimize risk

2 Table of Contents Executive summary... 1 Drivers of longitudinal data system investments... 2 Barriers to success... 3 Funding and leadership challenges... 3 Political challenges... 3 Security challenges... 3 Data collection and integration challenges... 4 Scalability challenges... 4 Reporting challenges... 4 Leveraging successful industry and government models... 5 The SAS Business Analytics Framework accelerating LDS initiatives... 5 Critical components of a comprehensive LDS solution... 6 Data integration... 7 Analytics... 8 Reporting... 9 Building on a legacy of large-scale LDS projects in the public sector... 9 SAS: A true partner in education About SAS i

3 Executive summary There is an old adage in education that an IT project is a success when all of the data are in the same format. In some respects, the technical goal of the statewide longitudinal data system (LDS) grants offered by the US Department of Education is to do just that: aggregate mission-critical data into a single data warehouse that delivers reliable, longitudinal, student-level data that can be used to improve education policy, school practice and student outcomes. The ultimate goal is to ensure that state education systems are preparing students for long-term success in college, postsecondary training and the workplace. However, many states are at risk of failing to fulfill the intended vision of these grants. In some cases, states are at risk because they may not fully understand the technical challenges required to implement a fully functioning, longitudinal data warehouse and as a result, they may inadvertently select technical solutions and service providers that can t enable a successful LDS. In other cases, states are at risk because they do not recognize that seemingly minor technical decisions in implementing the data warehouse will greatly affect their ability to use those data. A short-term solution today may be a long-term problem for years to come. The good news is that although longitudinal data systems that integrate widely fragmented data are relatively new to education, they are not new to leaders in the software industry such as SAS. While these projects are complex and may seem daunting, SAS, as the leading software and services vendor in the business analytics industry, understands the challenges and has the experience, proven solutions and best practices to address them. This paper takes a brief look at the drivers of LDS initiatives and the challenges in implementing a large-scale data warehouse that can support the analytics and reporting needed to achieve the goals of LDS initiatives. It then explores SAS best-practice-based framework for implementing large-scale data integration and enterprise data warehouse initiatives. This framework has been well-honed over years of successful implementations of systems for multinational companies and state and federal governments. The SAS Business Analytics Framework provides a complete information infrastructure for data integration, validation, business intelligence (reporting), predictive analytics and information deployment for state LDS initiatives. With SAS, information gaps among key educational agencies need no longer exist, and decision makers can be armed with the accurate data they need to make proactive decisions and effective education policies. 1

4 Drivers of longitudinal data system investments Each state in the US faces many challenges in its efforts to ensure the highest-quality education for students education that prepares them for long-term success in college, postgraduate training and the workplace. But few states can evaluate the effectiveness of their education systems longitudinally or historically. They have limited access to the information needed to identify where the state s most effective educational programs are, as well as what makes them effective. And they have no process for streamlining funding to effective programs or aligning educational resources to meet current and future workforce requirements statewide or nationally. To address these challenges, a growing number of states are merging the vast amounts of student data from the disconnected levels of public and even private education culminating in the development of a data-rich, state-specific enterprise data warehouse. Now commonly referred to as a longitudinal data system (LDS), this data-rich system integrates relevant data about a student s education from preschool through graduate school or actual entry into the work force. A robust LDS initiative includes linked student records, teacher records, test scores, course selection, finances, certifications, licensure, salary and more. Once in place, an LDS may enable states to accomplish a number of goals, including: Measuring the effect of various factors on improvement in student achievement. Estimating overall school effectiveness. Examining the extent to which teacher effectiveness changes based on the teacher s level of experience or the class composition. Allowing institutions to make informed decisions about programs and practices that will prepare students to be productive citizens in society today and in the future. Enabling state education agencies to optimize educational outcomes by leveraging the vast amounts of data that exist in education, eliminating data silos and working collaboratively as informed stewards of state and federal resources. What is clear to education professionals and policymakers is that this kind of visibility and insight is essential to improving educational outcomes and global competitiveness. The arrival of the Information Age has made it possible to take a closer look at the delivery of education services across a person s lifetime and begin to address the increasing diversity of the US school-age population, workplace changes that demand higher-level skills and knowledge among workers, 1 and the growing need for citizens to think critically about complex public issues and perform responsibly in public affairs. 1 Van de Water, Gordon and Terese Rainwater. What is P-16 Education? A Primer for Legislators. Education Commission of the States (ECS),

5 Barriers to success But within many states, LDS and related initiatives, such as P-20 initiatives, are delayed or floundering. According to the National Council for Educational Accountability s (NCEA) survey on statewide data systems, while many states have a data warehouse initiative in place, they are all inadequate to fully deliver what the Data Quality Campaign (DQC) considers to be the 10 essential elements for a statewide LDS. Based on an NCEA survey, only six states have all 10 essential elements in place. 2 The barriers to LDS initiatives are diverse, but they tend to fall into two categories: political and technical. Funding and leadership challenges LDS initiatives have often been hindered by limited funding resources. But the good news is that billions of dollars are now available for LDS initiatives through federal education grants and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) passed in However, changes in federal, state and local leadership pose an ongoing challenge, as priorities and strategic directions tend to change as elections and new hires bring new people into positions with priorities that can derail LDS initiatives. State policymakers including legislators, governors, state board members, higher education officials, attorney generals and state school officers need to collaborate and build the political will to execute on a common, documented LDS vision. In some cases, states are driving alignment by creating P-20 councils that discuss issues around these systems an approach that is only effective when councils are granted authority over the issues they discuss. 3 Political challenges One of the biggest challenges to LDS initiatives is not technical at all. While companies like SAS have been implementing large-scale data warehouses across industries for decades, these kinds of projects are relatively new to education. And in the world of education, these data may be political. Over 30 states currently have laws that limit or prohibit matching of student data across different systems. And even federal laws place some restrictions on the exchange of individual records. Some states, such as Minnesota and Virginia, are actively pursuing changes to state laws so they can track student data and link it to teachers, schools and programs. 4 Security challenges Education leaders need to be able to assure students, parents and all citizens that the data will be secure and for good reason. To address this need, states can use security architectures already used extensively for large-scale, security-sensitive data projects within multinational companies and the federal government. It should provide a highly secure, technical processing environment capable of meeting both FERPA and HIPAA requirements. In addition, the system should be capable of supporting role-based access so that only appropriate information is made available to authorized users and entities Laird, Elizabeth. Developing and Supporting P-20 Education Data Systems: Differing States, Differing Models. National Center for Educational Achievement, Data Quality Campaign. February Ibid. 3

6 Data collection and integration challenges Traditionally, state departments of education have made investments in student information systems, finance systems and human resource management systems that aren t compatible, consolidated or easily integrated with one another. Furthermore, according to research published by DataQualityCampaign.org, very few states can link their education data systems with other critical data systems that serve students, such as foster care, health, labor, juvenile justice and human services. In fact, it seems that in some cases, there is a significant interest in fencing off relevant data to the other agencies. A huge challenge lies in finding ways to consolidate data in these related systems and leverage it across the state (or the nation). SAS believes that the most successful LDS implementations will provide a single environment that seamlessly integrates data quality assurance within the data integration process. This would enable states to transform and combine disparate data, remove inaccuracies, standardize on common values, parse values and cleanse dirty data to create consistent, reliable information. Scalability challenges Current data systems often can t accommodate multiple school districts, let alone the entire state. What s certain is that the scope of data within an LDS will only grow over time, so it s essential that states find technology partners who will be around for the long haul and can offer road maps for scalable infrastructure. SAS also believes that given the budget constraints facing states, it s best that states invest in technology that allows them to implement larger solutions incrementally over time, as their budgets permit. This will allow them to address immediate needs and realize quick returns while ensuring that all of the various pieces work together seamlessly as a highly scalable, fully integrated LDS solution. The enabling technology also has to be flexible enough to accommodate future technologies and business processes not yet defined. Reporting challenges Most states even those that have somewhat successful LDS starts struggle with the higher-level purpose of data collection and analysis that is, the shift from reporting data for compliance purposes to using data to guide investment decisions and improve teaching and learning outcomes. If a state can assemble a centralized data repository connecting relevant data of the agencies to one another, they can successfully tackle reporting and business intelligence right down to the user level for example, by using Web-based, flexible and customizable tools that grow and scale as needs evolve. 4

7 Leveraging successful industry and government models While longitudinal data systems that integrate widely fragmented data are new and often overwhelming to education leaders, they are not new to the business analytics software industry. SAS, an experienced business analytics vendor, understands the challenges of LDS and brings extensive experience and proven solutions and best practices for addressing them. The variables and columns within an educational LDS may have different names and headers compared to comparable industry and government solutions, but the processes required to integrate, validate, analyze and report on the data are the same. SAS approaches the problem by delivering software and services that help you: Create a single version of the truth by pulling together data, regardless of source or format, cleaning it to ensure its integrity and storing it in a central location. Share information securely among public education stakeholders including analysts, educators and policymakers on a need-to-know basis. Enable confident decisions by combining the power of advanced analytics with easy-to-use ad hoc reporting capabilities that let decision makers generate their own reports using reporting templates and best practices. Partner with an industry expert who can deliver the analytic expertise and data management services you need without burdening your already limited resources. Get all public education stakeholders up to speed with customized training. SAS offers a proven methodology that gets you up and running quickly. In addition, SAS helps you implement a technology framework that integrates with existing IT infrastructures, smoothes the flow of information across departments and functions, and supports future technologies and business processes not yet defined. The SAS Business Analytics Framework accelerating LDS initiatives The technology SAS offers to implement a successful LDS starts with the SAS Business Analytics Framework. This framework encompasses SAS overall approach and solution components to address industry-specific challenges. The framework includes the platform for SAS Business Analytics as the enabling technology platform for all SAS solutions able to be built incrementally as needs change and funding and resources allow. The SAS Business Analytics Framework provides states with the ability to gradually integrate individual technology components into the existing IT infrastructure as part of a unified system that can cut across organizational, departmental and even intrastate education data silos; this flexibility allows states to make incremental, lower-risk IT investments that work within their annual budget constraints, deliver incremental benefits and ultimately work together to deliver a powerful, integrated LDS. As new resources become available, new systems can be integrated into the LDS over time. The result is a seamless information flow that can cross organizational boundaries and deliver new insights that drive value for education decision makers. 5

8 With an LDS built using the SAS Business Analytics Framework, states can also centralize data collection and management and enable many people from any location to access LDS data and reporting and do so securely through a standard Web browser and role-based access controls. Critical components of a comprehensive LDS solution The SAS Business Analytics Framework extends the value of existing systems while setting the stage for new levels of intelligence not previously possible. As illustrated in Figure 1, SAS provides data integration, analytics and reporting key components of an LDS as part of one seamless business analytics framework: Data integration: SAS offers prebuilt, high-performance capabilities for data connectivity, data quality, ETL (extract, transform and load), data migration, data synchronization and data federation. Analytics: SAS provides an integrated environment for predictive and descriptive modeling, forecasting, optimization, simulation, experimental design and more. Reporting: Role-based interfaces enable different types of users to surface and visualize meaningful intelligence from consistent, organizationwide data. Figure 1: SAS components for data integration, analytics and reporting build on each other to provide an integrated platform upon which SAS business solutions are built. As part of an integrated framework, all of these technology components are managed from a single point of control, which can reduce the administrative and maintenance effort associated with LDS solutions. Data consistency is assured because metadata is stored in a single repository and is shared across all SAS technologies and solutions. 6

9 Data integration SAS offers a comprehensive data integration environment named SAS Data Integration that enables organizations to integrate data from any source and in any format. This is possible because SAS Data Integration is vendor-neutral with regard to operating systems, hardware and platforms. So there s no need to work with various vendors to have them create custom interfaces or pull data from systems for states SAS can do it all, which greatly simplifies the data integration process for customers. This level of integration also ensures that data used in analysis is complete, sequenced and properly cleansed without excessive proliferation of metadata (a common problem in legacy business intelligence architectures). As a result, state education departments can maximize technology and information assets so they can address critical educational issues right away. SAS Data Integration supports data connectivity, data quality, ETL, data migration, data synchronization, data federation and master data management. Data integration processes can take place on the platform where the data resides, as SAS can read and extract data from virtually all disparate, heterogeneous platforms. This greatly reduces network traffic and data duplication and simplifies hardware configuration, which all help to lower total cost of ownership. In addition to supporting all database structures, SAS offers prebuilt, high-performance capabilities for data manipulations, analyses, data quality and integration. Desktop data cleansing tools provide the ability to quickly and effectively analyze and resolve data quality problems and integrate the transformations into the data integration environment. Planning for the Future Massive amounts of data are collected on students every day. Once an LDS project is implemented, a successful implementation should allow for integration of additional data sources in the future. That means the software must be able to integrate new data sources from many different formats. A plan that maps only the current data sources without consideration of additional or different data sources in the future will not be ready for the future. The SAS approach to an LDS makes it easy to integrate new data sources as needed. SAS Data Integration not only enables data integration with any source, but also provides an easy-to-navigate graphical user interface for designing integration processes and accessing the data itself for analysis and reporting. From an LDS perspective, all of these capabilities translate into a single version of the truth that: Brings together clean, accurate student record data, even if students have changed districts. Eliminates data silos across many different organizations. Saves time and money by eliminating the need for add-on data access and connectivity products. Ensures data integrity and reliability. Automates and simplifies common data access tasks. 7

10 Analytics Once state education departments bring their data together using SAS Data Integration, they can apply analytics to answer questions, solve problems and make data-driven decisions. SAS Analytics deliver instant access to standard reports, ad hoc reports, query drill-downs and alerts to understand what s happened in the past, as well as predictive analytics that enable educators and policymakers to be more proactive in their decision making. Now they can create detailed forecasts to address what will happen in the future; and using SAS optimization capabilities, they can determine the best actions to take in a particular situation. For example, with SAS Analytics, educators and policymakers can tackle strategic policy decisions such as How are today s actions likely to affect students tomorrow? and What will be the best ongoing course of action to meet our future workforce needs? Answers to questions like these are possible because SAS delivers the widest portfolio of analytics state-of-the-art algorithms, visualization techniques, interactive data exploration and manipulation capabilities, and predictive analytics to produce accurate models that meet different needs (see Figure 2). Predictive analytics is particularly valuable to education decision makers; rather than just analyzing historical information and using gut instinct, they can use predictive analytics to lower the risks associated with new policies and plans, as well as create more robust grants proposals and funding requests. SAS Analytics also provides sophisticated modeling capabilities for discovering the complex relationships between dynamic factors that affect schools, students and learning outcomes today. The results from sophisticated analyses and the ensuing discoveries can be shared with decision makers across the organization through open integration with reporting applications. With SAS Analytics, education decision makers can get answers to key questions such as: How can we forecast hiring needs and coursework needed to prepare graduates by location, discipline and certification area? How many children go on to college and persist? What educational characteristics do they have in common (for example, courses taken, teachers, specific curricula, schools of graduation)? Where do graduates go when they enter the work force? Are adequate numbers entering highdemand areas in the knowledgebased economy? How do graduates perform when they enter the classroom or the work force? Which programs are producing the most successful graduates? Figure 2: Most software vendors can only answer questions in the green area a reactive way of making decisions. Your state education department will be much more effective if decision makers can ask and gain insights into proactive questions such as What will happen next? and What is the best that can happen? SAS, the leader in business analytics, can deliver reliable insights hidden away in your data. 8

11 Reporting The larger vision of an education LDS is to have a data system that is the basis for informed decision making. To achieve this goal, the longitudinal data warehouse must: Make compliance reporting accurate and straightforward. Include provisions for users without significant statistical skills to access and explore the data they need to make critical decisions, when they need it. Quickly integrate new data and provide access to pre-written summative and predictive reports and queries for users. Include multiple levels of security. Require minimal software overhead for end users (for example, Web access through any browser). Enable access for multiple kinds of users, including analysts, educators and policymakers. The reporting capabilities delivered through the SAS framework meet all of these needs and more. SAS solutions can make compliance reporting straightforward, complete with backup data in which users can have confidence. They also empower all users by giving them self-service access to reports on a need-to-know basis while respecting the need for IT control of the underlying data and access controls. At the same time, data can be shared across departments and districts from a centralized repository, eliminating the need to maintain data, security and metadata in several places and formats. This simplified data sharing can encourage and enable collaboration among policy analysts, administrative leadership and more. SAS reporting interfaces can transparently reuse SAS Analytics without requiring advanced skills in statistics or support from IT. As a result, analysts, educators and policymakers can seamlessly integrate analyses of historical data into accurate models and forecasts of the future. Decision makers can get answers to more sophisticated questions, format presentation-quality results and easily share their findings. As a result, everyone is able to derive more value from information assets contained in the LDS. SAS also provides a full breadth of reporting capabilities, including interactive visualization and advanced data exploration, to meet differing user skill levels and needs. Across state and local education departments, users can even generate their own answers and produce their own reports while IT retains control over the quality and consistency of the data. At the same time, these reporting capabilities enable researchers to use data contained in the LDS to identify opportunities and best practices that may improve educational outcomes. Building on a legacy of large-scale LDS projects in the public sector For SAS, large-scale LDS projects that require integration of hundreds of data sources are nothing new. For example, the 2000 decennial US Census incorporated the powerful online analytical capabilities of SAS, giving the US Census Bureau unprecedented access to microdata and summary information from its count of more than 280 million people in the US. For the first time in the bureau s history, analysts can access all data from their desktops with point-and-click ease collecting and analyzing in a matter of seconds information that could have taken days to gather and process. 9

12 Census Bureau employees and their sworn census agents from partnering states enjoy access to more than 1 billion records. Using SAS, the Census Bureau has increased the number of records available and enhanced drill-down capabilities for the kind of depth that lets analysts compare 2000 census data for a specific city block with the 1990 data for the same block. That s done by using SAS to create person-level and household-level files for each state and merging the records to look at components of a household with its occupants. By merging that data with geographical information, analysts have the ability to drill down by geographical hierarchy. SAS has also worked at the state level on various projects that require development of a large-scale, statewide enterprise data warehouse. For example, for the State of Illinois Department of Transportation (Illinois DOT), SAS developed a data warehouse called MISTIC (Materials Integrated System for Testing Information and Communication) that enables planners and policymakers to make better decisions and improve the highway system. The warehouse uses online views, reports and graphs to provide easy access to departmental test data through user menus defined by major material categories such as aggregate, cement and concrete. Menus of producers and products, test records, mixture designs, contracts and assignments are also available through the application. Now DOT teams can access the data they need to make decisions about specification development issues, such as whether materials meet quality control standards, as well as get answers to complex, real-world questions that they could never have addressed before. SAS: A true partner in education Looking ahead, the success of a state LDS project won t be measured by the annual increase in data stored on a hard drive enclosed in steel box in the basement. Rather, it will be measured by the steady increase in understanding of what influences teaching and learning, as well as by the improvements in educational opportunities and student success enabled by data-informed policies, plans and best practices. SAS has been a trusted partner in education for more than 30 years, with a successful track record, proven implementations and industry validation underscoring our commitment to enhancing education through technology. And we invest all that experience and expertise into becoming a true partner. We work closely with our customers to fully analyze their current system and needs and then develop a solution designed to meet specific goals. With SAS as a partner, states can: Leverage existing hardware, software, data and human resources. Take an iterative approach to implementation by starting with your most pressing needs and build on your successes over time. Adapt readily to platform changes, database additions and changing school system requirements, so there s no worry about outgrowing the system over time. The Vision A single version of the truth: What if you could pull together student record data enrollment, attendance, test scores, demographics and more from multiple school districts across years and know with confidence that the information was accurate and consistent? Secure information sharing: What if critical, timely data on student performance could be moved smoothly from schools to districts to states and on to the US Department of Education with appropriate, secure access at each point? Self-service reporting: What if analysts, educators, policymakers and more could generate customized reports based on current, accurate student information whenever they needed them? Freedom to focus on education priorities: What if you could focus on education issues like improvement, innovation and leadership, and leave technology implementation issues to a partner with decades of proven experience? Customized training: What if users at all levels IT staff, administrators, analysts and more had access to training that would enable them to get the maximum benefit from the technology systems at their disposal? 10

13 As a longtime solution provider to commercial and public organizations around the world, state educators and policymakers can look to SAS to become part of their state s long-term institutional memory. Today, SAS solutions are used at more than 45,000 business, government and university sites in 113 countries. We are the largest privately held software company in the world and the market leader in data integration and business analytics. Our record of revenue growth in every year of our existence (since 1976) makes us a stable business partner; it also enables us to reinvest a substantial percent of revenues in R&D each year (22 percent in 2008) so we can continually improve our products with the changing demands of every industry. This commitment to innovation is one reason why the overwhelming majority of our customers renew their software licenses with SAS every year. We have the depth of resources to sustain excellence in product development and customer support. While many competitors have merged, changed ownership or simply vanished, privately held SAS has remained focused on its primary mission delivering superior, award-winning software and enhancing customer relationships. This mission was first defined in the early 1970s by Jim Goodnight, John Sall and other North Carolina State University colleagues who initially developed software to analyze agriculturalresearch data. With SAS roots in education, we are committed to leading the way for integrating education and technology. It is SAS mission to supply our clients and users with the information they need to make the best decisions for more effective and efficient learning throughout the education life cycle. We understand the challenges that today s analysts, educators and policymakers face: shifts in demographics, technology transitions, shrinking budgets, government mandates, workforce development and changes in student patterns of attendance. SAS is building intelligence where it matters most in the classroom. SAS is dedicated to serving the education industry during this dynamic time by delivering software solutions, strategic services and academic programs that are designed to spark innovation and expand educational opportunities. And only SAS provides award-winning data warehousing that lets states integrate data sources in a flexible, easy-to-manage environment so they can achieve their ultimate goal of improving student achievement through the effective use of data. Interested in learning more? Call us at (US and Canada) or request more information. About SAS SAS is the leader in business analytics software and services, and the largest independent vendor in the business intelligence market. Through innovative solutions delivered within an integrated framework, SAS helps customers at more than 45,000 sites improve performance and deliver value by making better decisions faster. Since 1976 SAS has been giving customers around the world THE POWER TO KNOW. 11

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