1. PROJECT NARRATIVE (Outcomes) Outcome 1.0: Data Warehouse Expansion a. Outcome Summary: Initiated in 2001, the Colorado Department of Education s Enterprise Data Warehouse continues to mature and evolve. The CDE Data Warehouse expansion has been the key and focal point for the completion of all other Initiatives and outcomes associated with this grant. The understanding that a successful Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS) is built on data availability has kept the CDE focused in this area. The CDE was able to expand the data warehouse by including not only data that was documented in the grant application (Longitudinal projections and detailed student-level analysis, Graduation/Drop-out data (student level), Migrant/Homeless data (student level), Teacher Statistics/Licensure (teacher level detail), and Special Education (student level)) but in other areas as well. Additional areas included growth data, educator identification and data related to School Performance. Data Governance and oversight for the data warehouse was initiated during the 2007 Grant award period and will be used to sustain and drive the continued expansion. The continued expansion and automation of the EdFacts file submission schedules has been a planned sub-outcome of the data warehouse and reporting capabilities expansion. The file submission schedules are constantly expanding putting additional load on the CDE staff to complete the reporting accurately and according to established schedules. Intricately related to the Data Warehouse expansion effort is development of a comprehensive Data Dictionary. The Data Dictionary application would document all the existing Automated Data Exchange (ADE) and special collections which are the basis for the information in the data warehouse. b. Major Accomplishments: CDE was able to address each of the grants initiatives and associated outcomes that were part of the data warehouse expansion. The outcomes or sub-projects include the following immediate expansion needs identified by CDE, school districts, and project stakeholders include: Longitudinal projections and detailed student-level analysis (i.e. based on past 3 years of scores, student projects to be proficient in reading by 10th grade) Student growth information were calculated and loaded back to 2004 as part of the rollout of the Colorado Growth Model (CGM) application. The data was based on Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) scores. The data has been updated the past three years as the new scores become available. Graduation/Drop-out data (student level) Student level graduation and drop out data is being gathered and loaded into the data warehouse as part of the CDE collection process. Data from non-district sources including the Department of Human Page 1
services and the Department of corrections is being brought together to track each student. Those students who acquire their diploma outside of the districts (Completers) are being captured as well. Migrant/Homeless data (student level) After two years of issues in trying to implement a district sponsored system, the CDE moved forward with the implementation of the NGS system. The system provides proven tracking functionality with direct EdFacts reporting capabilities. Teacher Statistics/Licensure (teacher level detail) The existing Teacher Licensing system is currently being replaced by a system that is being used to track all licensing within the State. Data from the legacy system has been loaded into the data warehouse for reporting and research support. CDE continues to roll out the Educator ID and Standard Course Code projects that will support the Teacher Student Data Link (TSDL) initiative. All the data collected resides in the data warehouse. Special Education (student level) Both discipline and staff data associated with Special Education was loaded into the warehouse. The data had previously been inaccessible as it was located in siloed single user data structures. The need for additional data continues to grow with the implementation of replacement systems and applications. Plans to collect additional data are on-going with dedicated staff planning out the collection process. The purchase and use of the Enterprise License for the Cognos Business Intelligence tool provided a mechanism for all the CDE Data Warehouse information to be leveraged across both standard and ad hoc reporting requirements. The Cognos tool was used in the development of the Colorado Education Data Analysis and Reporting (CEDAR) system as well as other key components of the School View.org parent teacher portal. The implementation of the common reporting tool has helped the internal CDE Staff sustain and build new ways of providing data to the SLDS stakeholders. The CDE initiated the development of an Integrated Data Store (IDS) database for the purpose of capturing data associated with collections and to stage the data before moving into the Data Warehouse during the final year of the grant. The IDS is part of a larger Enterprise Data Management Strategy for the CDE. As part of the implementation of the IDS a pilot project to load common student demographic data was completed. The results of that pilot have provided insight into how data collections can be consolidated thus reducing the data collection burden on the districts. The CDE Data Warehouse will continue to be the basis for the SLDS reporting as we move from a K-12 to a P-20 implementation. Page 2
Through the course of the grant CDE has continued to improve their EdFacts reporting process to the point that they are now being looked at as a model State in the submission of EdFacts data. The processes put in place are again based on a solid data warehouse repository and a standard set of tools (Informatica, Cognos) that are applied in the development of each file submission. Funding from the grant made it possible to acquire outside services to address the backlog of file submission requirements and to put in place a sustainable process for addressing both current and future needs. As part of the data warehouse expansion and data collection process the CDE successfully implemented a Data Dictionary application. There were several failed attempts at building the dictionary, prior to the current application that was funded by the SLDS grant. That application was built around the collections that are currently being executed by the LEA and SEA stakeholders. The application is being utilized by the Education Data Advisory Committee (EDAC) to evaluate all new collections, and to look for ways to eliminate duplication of data requests across collections. The application is part of the USDOE / NCES / GRADS360 Public Domain Clearinghouse (PDC) and has been implemented or used as a model for numerous other States. c. Plans for Future Work and Sustainability: The CDE continually looks for sources of data to expand the Longitudinal Analysis capabilities of the data warehouse. The warehouse in its current state provides a solid foundation from which to build capability and address stakeholder s needs. Current expansion plans are in the area of Special Education, Teacher Student Data Link, and data associated with the P-20 sources planned for the 2009 SLDS Grant. d. Difficulties Faced and Lessons Learned: The difficulties faced for this outcome are similar to those experienced throughout the entire grant period. The lead time associated with procurement of outside resources continues to negatively impact schedules. This is one of the key reasons Colorado chose to extend the grant period. Knowledge transfer to CDE internal staff was a key for every engagement associated with the expansion of the data warehouse and the peripheral outcomes (EdFacts Reporting, Data Dictionary). Planning for this knowledge transfer and making it an ongoing effort as opposed to only at the end of the project has helped the CDE staff to accept the technology and to sustain the infrastructure. The other key lessons learned in this area has been to seek and compare work being done in other States. By talking with other States about their specific activities, the CDE has been able to reduce the number of false starts and head off problems encountered in other States. Outcome 2.0: Complete Transcript Definition Outcome 3.0: Automate Transcript/Student Data transfer between individual LEAs and between LEAS and higher education Outcome 4.0: Postsecondary Registration and set up Page 3
The three outcomes listed above were combined as they were all put in place for the purpose of implementing a Colorado supported transcript center. a. Outcome Summary: Many of the Colorado school districts expressed a desire to automate the transfer of student data between districts and from K-12 to Higher Education. To that end the CDE performed some exploratory analysis of a state-wide K-20 information system was needed. The National Transcript Center (NTC), owned by Pearson, in Austin, Texas, was chosen as the vendor of for implementing the Electronic Transcript Transfer System in Colorado. NTC supports a variety of record formats including SPEEDE/ExPRESS EDI, PESC XML college transcript and PK-12 student record, SIF electronic student record, authenticated pdf documents or a paper document. This has been accommodated using the diverse capabilities within our K-12 school districts and, based on a proven implementation strategy, build their capacity for future electronic data reporting. The goal was to reduce the costs associated with transcript data exchange and maintenance. In addition to the dollar savings, the CDE was interested in reducing the time required for a new school to receive records and to begin delivery of appropriate educational services. b. Major Accomplishments: The CDE in partnership with Pearson s National Transcript Center (NTC) successfully implemented the Colorado Transcript Center (CTC). Despite the fact that this initiative and associated outcomes was not mandated, Colorado was able to secure significant participation on the part of the stakeholders. In April of this year the following statistics were documented: o 75 districts registered for CTC membership o 68 smaller districts, 7 larger districts (>= 10,000 students) o 14 post-secondary/co-academic institutions registered o 6153 total transaction processed o 1640 student transcripts have been processed electronically to 165 separate postsecondary institutions (1435 to 36 in-state institutions and 205 to 129 out-of-state institutions ) o 639 transcripts requested by students since February 2010 Outcomes and initiatives completed during the project included the definition and publishing of the complete transcript record definition. Customization of the NTC site to become the Colorado Transcript Center (CTC) for the purpose of controlling transcript transfers. The automatic transfer of transcript and associated student data between participating LEA s and Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDHE) via the CTC site was completed. Pearson provided the CDE with training and documentation for each of the developed components through on-line help and recorded webinar s. The materials are in use today as new LEA s and post secondary institutions are brought on-line (new informational/instructional website: http://www.transcriptcenter.com/colorado.) Marketing of both LEA s and post secondary institutions quickly became the focus of the project team and vendor, as participation or use of the system was not mandated. Pearson and CDE came up with Page 4
many inventive ways to market, communicate and improve participation in the service over the course of the grant. Many of those ideas are being used by Pearson in other States to help the user participation levels. CDE continues to partner with NTC and look for innovative ways to increase participation and use of the established system. This includes utilizing the system with internal applications such as Teacher Licensing and Facilities Student School Data System (FSSDS). c. Plans for Future Work and Sustainability: The Standard Course Codes (SCC) implementation of the Colorado Transcript Center (CTC) project was not implemented per an agreement with the vendor. The course code project is being implemented as part of the Teacher Student Data Link (TSDL) project that includes the rollout of the Educator ID s. The SCC will begin to come through the CTC once it has been implemented in all the districts. The transcript center is set up to handle the entry of standard course codes once they are available. A pilot is scheduled for the summer of 2011. d. Difficulties Faced and Lessons Learned: The adoption rate has been slower than anticipated for the program. The lessons learned for all future such activities will be to work on rules and or legislation that require participation as opposed to making it voluntary. In order for full cost savings to be realized for the State, more participation is required. Another key lesson learned is picking a vendor partner that is dedicated to see the program succeed. Colorado s partner during this implementation, Pearson, worked diligently and creatively to come up with innovative ways to make the program successful. Their dedication to the success of the program was key factor in the participation and acceptance of the work to date. Outcome 5.0: Expansion of data analysis and reporting capabilities a. Outcome Summary: In 2007, CDE launched an ambitious effort to provide stakeholders with a window into its maturing data warehouse. To accomplish this, the CDE had to provide the stakeholders with the proper tools and access to use data. Early in the grant, the CDE purchased an enterprise license of the Cognos reporting tools. The enterprise license afforded the CDE with greater flexibility when designing and implementing solutions for expand data analysis and reporting capabilities. The Colorado Educational Data Analysis and Reporting (CEDAR) system capabilities and underlying infrastructure utilize the Cognos reporting tools. The CDE also recognized the need for an SLDS reporting structure to accommodate the parents, educators and students. The SchoolView.org Parent Teacher portal was created for that purpose. b. Major Accomplishments: Over the course of the entire Grant the CDE was able to leverage the Cognos Reporting tool in a number of areas. The primary expansion was in with CEDAR through expanded reporting capabilities and extension to existing reports. In addition, the Cognos tool set was used for the expansion of the SchoolView.org portal in the deployment of the Data Center, Data Lab and Page 5
School Performance Framework functionality. The functionality provided by the data applications allows the LEA s greater flexibility in how they access and use their data. Cognos was also used to deliver Individual Student Reports (ISR s) that are based on data from the Colorado Growth Model (CGM). The ISR s can be generated directly from the CGM with the proper access. A primary goal for all systems put in place by the CDE is to make them as self sustaining as possible. As part of the implementation of all the work relating to CEDAR and SchoolView.org, CDE has developed on-line training materials to help the users maximize their use of the capabilities and to reduce the support role of the CDE. The training materials developed during the grant period have established a model that the CDE can and will use for years to come. The enterprise Cognos License has allowed the CDE to significantly expand the user base including the addition of educators in all the LEA s. The implementation of a single tool has again helped the CDE to assure the long term sustainability of the data analysis and capabilities put in place through the grant. As a direct result of the 2007 grant, Colorado has gone from one of slowest in reporting EdFacts data to a leading State in their ability to submit reports on-time and more accurately. The CDE is very proud of their turn around in the preparing and submitting of EdFacts file submissions. Prior to the grant, Colorado had difficulty keeping up with the demands of the EdFacts submission schedules. The expansion of the data warehouse and the data analysis and reporting capabilities have provided a basis to more quickly address the EdFacts reporting requirements. The Colorado model has been documented and is being shared with the USDOE for possible reuse in other states. The grant was one of the initial and primary funding sources for the implementation of the Colorado Growth Model (CGM). During the grant period the CDE was able to implement two major releases of the model that have gained national attention. The model has provided the stakeholders with a common platform for comparing and visualizing the growth and achievement at the district, school and student level. The CGM is now part of the USDOE GRADS360 Public Domain Clearinghouse. Currently, there are twenty (20+) plus states that are interested in the CGM and five that are in the process of implementing a version of the model. In the fall of this year, Colorado will be implementing a national version of the model in order to start taking advantage of the work and changes that are being made in the other implementation states. c. Plans for Future Work and Sustainability: The CDE has completed this initiative and associated outcomes. The CDE will continue to expand the data analysis and reporting capabilities of the Colorado SLDS utilizing the tools and infrastructure put in place though this grant for years to come. d. Difficulties Faced and Lessons Learned: A key lesson learned for Colorado in this initiative is to take advantage of work performed in other states whenever and wherever possible. CDE has benefited from a number of other states work including Maryland, Kansas and Texas. Having the ability to discuss with Page 6
other states not only the technical aspects of their data analysis and reporting capabilities, but also what has worked and what has not has been very beneficial. The sharing of technology and concepts just makes sense for the long term sustainability of the SLDS program. Outcome 6.0: Training and Documentation Development a. Outcome Summary: A critical companion of expanded access to local data analysis and reporting is professional development and training. For Colorado s CEDAR system, training thus far has primarily focused on basic use of the web tool. Future professional development needs will be centered around delivery to a wider audience and focus on how to analyze the data. Other supported areas include SchoolView.org and Identity Management. b. Major Accomplishments: A primary goal for all systems put in place by the CDE is to make them as self sustaining as possible. As part of the implementation of all the work relating to CEDAR, Identity Management and SchoolView.org, CDE has developed on-line training materials to help the users maximize their use of the capabilities and to reduce the support role of the CDE. The training materials developed during the grant period have established a model that the CDE can and will use for years to come. Through the grant period the CDE started a program to take advantage of existing stakeholder meetings and conferences in an effort to inform and train them on the SLDS program activities. The CDE established a list of annual conferences and seminars and specific topics to communicate during those opportunities. CDE then secured time at each of them to provide timely training and documentation to a wider and targeted audience. The efforts have resulted in reduced level of on-going support and a wider acceptance of the programs being put in place. CDE implemented SharePoint as a project management tool during the grant period. The tool has provided a standardized methodology for communicating the status of projects. Through this standardization, CDE has been able to benefit from shorter project start-up lead times and to reduce the amount of overhead required for a typical Information Technology project. The CDE is looking at utilizing the SharePoint technology for external facing projects and public access moving forward. c. Plans for Future Work and Sustainability: The CDE has completed this initiative and associated outcomes. The CDE will continue to training and documentation tools as part of its on-going effort to keep the stakeholders informed engaged with the SLDS program. d. Difficulties Faced and Lessons Learned: A key lesson learned for Colorado is the realization that one single training method and communication or documentation method does not work for all stakeholders. Keeping the methods flexible with a base platform has allowed the CDE to better accommodate the needs of the Stakeholders. Webinars, classroom, and one on one training have been utilized through the grant period. Documentation has been provided in both soft and hard copy Page 7
versions for a wider acceptance. CDE continues to survey and listen to the customer in an effort to improve both training and documentation associated with the SLDS program. Outcome 7.0: Additional Project Costs (all initiatives) a. Outcome Summary: This outcome supports multiple areas of the SLDS Grant including the development and implementation of a 3 rd Party Evaluation survey, training for the CDE Staff, and the implementation and support of the CDE s Data Dictionary. These peripheral activities are used to help assure the work being completed as part of this grant meets the needs of the stakeholders and can be sustained for the long term. b. Major Accomplishments: CDE utilized the SLDS Share Program and acquired a 3 rd Party Evaluation Survey from the State of Indiana. The survey was distributed twice over the course of the grant. The feedback was used and continues to be used to drive some of the decisions with the 2007 and 2009 SLDS grant programs. CDE has utilized the grants training fund allocation to build and sustain the expertise of the existing staff members on the tools and methodologies that were put in place through this grant. The training has provided the needed knowledge to allow the work completed by contractors to be transitioned. The CDE Information Management Services group continues to cross train staff in order to support the existing applications with a limited staff. The cross training includes product training for staff members on the tools and software used at the CDE. This training will extend beyond the grant period in order to sustain and reduce the risk of losing any key resources. As part of the data warehouse expansion and data collection process the CDE successfully implemented a Data Dictionary application. There were several failed attempts at building the dictionary, prior to the current application that was funded by the SLDS grant. That application was built around the collections that are currently being executed by the LEA and SEA stakeholders. The application is being utilized by the Education Data Advisory Committee (EDAC) to evaluate all new collections, and to look for ways to eliminate duplication of data requests across collections. The creation of the Data Dictionary has been associated with both this outcome and the Expansion of the Data Warehouse. Colorado continues to share technology with other States and to look for opportunities to use other States capabilities as part of the 2007 Grant. Over course of the grant the CDE has worked with Kansas (edfacts, educatorid, Standard Course Codes), Arkansas (DQC / AYPF), Maryland (Special Ed, Cognos CUBES), Washington (Data Dictionary), Texas (Enterprise Data Modeling), New Hampshire (Data Modeling) and Arizona (Growth Model). Each of the relationships has provided the CDE with a much needed outside perspective on view into potential risk areas of their own implementations. Page 8
c. Plans for Future Work and Sustainability: The CDE has completed this initiative and associated outcomes. The CDE will continue to utilize the work product completed in this area to sustain the SLDS program elements in the future. The CDE is looking at ways to involve resources directly into all new technology projects and backfilling their current positions. This would again help to assure the long term sustainability of all technology put in place through grant funding. d. Difficulties Faced and Lessons Learned: The CDE did not interact and communicate enough with the SLDS stakeholders over the course of the grant. The governance structure that was put in place for the implementation of the grant was too heavily weighted toward the SEA level. Formal feedback was really only solicited through the annual 3 rd Party Survey tool. An increase in formal communication and feedback could have provided the SLDS stakeholders an opportunity to have more input into implementation projects associated with the grants outcomes. The CDE recognized this in their application for the 2009 SLDS ARRA grant and have built in an Organizational Change Management (OCM) Foundational Element and associated outcomes into that grant. Outcome 8.0: Develop Security Access & Use Policies a. Outcome Summary: The CDE Identity Management System incorporates Single Sign-on and Delegated Administration features, streamlines the user management experience, and provides greater control and flexibility to school districts in providing access to applications and data. The implementation will allow the CDE to fully implement the required FERPA rules while providing maximum flexibility to changes that may occur with those rules. b. Major Accomplishments: CDE has successfully implemented the Oracle IdM Suite as part of their now established Identity Management program. That implementation has all of the applications associated with this grant (CEDAR, CGM, Data Dictionary, SchoolView.org) utilizing the technology. CDE has become a leader in Identity Management technology as a result of these efforts, which has allowed them to guide the overall State policies. CDE has established a standard model for application development moving forward and has created the policies and procedure documentation for the long term governance of the program. The implementation successfully moved the centralized function of user management to a distributed model to the LEA s with self service driving all technology decisions. CDE also started the implementation of the Georgia bottom-up Single Sign-on tunnel Identity Management project during the final year of the grant. This technology will allow the Colorado LEA s to utilize their respective Student Information System roles and rights to access the CDE s systems and applications. This federated model can be used in the development and implementation of new technology projects planned for the 2009 SLDS Grant outcomes. The goal of creating a distributed user administration system as opposed to the centralized system was achieved with the implementation of this outcome. Self service has been the focus of every tool put in Page 9
place with this effort. This includes the training and support materials that are provided on the web. The materials are being updated and expanded with each new release of the identity management tools. The process has again become a model for other CDE applications. c. Plans for Future Work and Sustainability: Continued the implementation of Identity Management into every application, custom or commercial off the shelf that are part of the CDE technology roadmap. The single sign-on functionality helps simplify the access requirements for the SLDS stakeholders while enforcing the necessary security requirements (FERPA). d. Difficulties Faced and Lessons Learned: The technology being implemented as part of the Identity Management program is leading edge and has not provided the capabilities expected out of the box. The CDE has had to upgrade the Oracle software suite on several occasions in order to take full advantage of the technology. Those upgrades have taken time away from other key projects. Better planning in the form of a technology roadmap will be produced moving forward to understand the implications and dependencies of the software products. Page 10
2. BUDGET NARRATIVE A. EXPLANATION OF SLDS GRANT FUNDED SPENDING 1. Personnel: The CDE does not have any funding associated with this category a. Expenditures: Not Applicable b. Budget Discrepancies: Not Applicable 2. Fringe Benefits: The CDE does not have any funding associated with this category 3. Travel: 4. Equipment: a. Expenditures: Not Applicable b. Budget Discrepancies: Not Applicable a. Expenditures: Travel expenditures for this period have been limited to the attendance of the annual SLDS / NCES seminars and conferences and the travel to other States as part of the Sharing process. CDE makes every attempt to avoid travel for training purposes. b. Budget Discrepancies: Colorado has under spent its travel budget in all four years of the grant funding. The travel budget will be used during the no-cost extension for the same purposes as years past. The changes to the budget are reflected in the GRADS360 Budget tab. a. Expenditures: The original CDE 2007 Budget only allocated funding in this area for the first year of the Grant. In the final analysis of the spending, the allocation made in the 3 rd year of the grant was incorrect. This was corrected in this version of the budget. b. Budget Discrepancies: The CDE went through two budget change requests through the period to move funding from contractual to equipment in support of the Oracle BPEL Software and in support of an additional 5000 Oracle IdM licenses. 5. Supplies: The CDE does not have any funding associated with this category a. Expenditures: Supplies associated with the final no-cost extension for the grant. Supplies included postage and office supplies associated with the all the outcomes. b. Budget Discrepancies: No funding was initially assigned to this area. Any additional funding would require a shift from the contractual budget. The changes to the budget are reflected in the GRADS360 Budget tab. Page 11
6. Contractual: a. Expenditures: Expenditures in this area include the funding of resources to support the following outcomes: Data Warehouse Expansion (Enterprise Data Management Strategy) Colorado Transcript Support & Implementation Colorado Growth Model Development & Support EDFacts File Submission COGNOS Implementation & Support Identity Management Implementation & Support SharePoint Implementation & Support Training & Support (Videos) Project Management b. Budget Discrepancies: The CDE did not request any formal changes to the budget in the last year. The changes to the budget are reflected in the GRADS360 Budget tab. 7. Construction: The CDE does not have any funding associated with this category a. Expenditures: Not Applicable b. Budget Discrepancies: Not Applicable 8. Other: The CDE does not have any funding associated with this category a. Expenditures: Not Applicable b. Budget Discrepancies: Not Applicable 9. Total: Left blank per submittal directions a. Expenditures: b. Budget Discrepancies: Page 12
10. Indirect Costs: a. Expenditures: The CDE has a standard formula that is applied to all the contracts meeting the spending thresholds. To date, the CDE has shown a credit in this area. b. Budget Discrepancies: No funding was initially assigned to this area. Any additional funding would require a shift from the contractual budget. The changes to the budget are reflected in the GRADS360 Budget tab. 11. Training Stipends: The CDE does not have any funding associated with this category a. Expenditures: Not Applicable b. Budget Discrepancies: Not Applicable B. EXPLANATION OF NON-SLDS GRANT FUNDED SPENDING The CDE has provided its best estimate on the amount of Non-SLDS Grant budget that is spent toward the support of the Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS). The CDE IMS group has an annual budget of just over five (5) million dollars. Based on the review of the expenditures we believe the CDE spends nearly a third of that budget in direct support of the SLDS. This amount has varied from year to year but we believe it is a good estimate as defined by your request. Page 13