ARIZONA STUDENT LONGITUDINAL DATA SYSTEM (AZ-SLDS)
GOOD DATA TO MAKE GOOD DECISIONS
Superintendent Huppenthal is committed to ensuring that parents and educators have access to the best information possible upon which to base educational decisions for their children and students.
As part of that commitment, he has lead the Arizona Department of Education in the creation of a unique partnership with the Arizona State University and the Maricopa County Education Service Agency to pool human and capital resources to transform the state’s existing education data warehouse into a powerful, user-friendly statewide longitudinal education data system.
Once launched, this redesigned student data system will provide parents, teachers and school leaders with the information they need to make the informed, strategic decisions necessary to increase student academic growth and enhance student learning environments. Better information leads to better decisions, which ultimately will lead to a better education for all of Arizona’s children.
WHAT IS AZ-SLDS?
The Arizona Student Longitudinal Data System (AZ-SLDS) is intended to enhance the ability of Local Education and State Agencies to efficiently and accurately manage, analyze, and use education data, including individual student records. The AZ-SLDS developed will help state government, districts, schools, and teachers make data-driven decisions to improve student learning, as well as facilitate research to increase student achievement and close achievement gaps.
The Arizona Department of Education (ADE), Arizona State University (ASU) and the Maricopa County Education Service Agency (MCESA) had entered into a unique partnership to develop the Arizona Student Longitudinal Data System (AZ-SLDS). The three organizations, with the support of Governor Jan Brewer’s office, will pool their human and capital resources to develop and implement a statewide longitudinal education data system. This student data system will provide teachers and school leaders with the information they need to make the informed, strategic decisions necessary to increase student academic growth and enhance student learning environments.
Superintendent Huppenthal is committed to ensuring that parents and educators have access to the best information possible upon which to base educational decisions for their children and students.
As part of that commitment, he has lead the Arizona Department of Education in the creation of a unique partnership with the Arizona State University and the Maricopa County Education Service Agency to pool human and capital resources to transform the state’s existing education data warehouse into a powerful, user-friendly statewide longitudinal education data system.
Once launched, this redesigned student data system will provide parents, teachers and school leaders with the information they need to make the informed, strategic decisions necessary to increase student academic growth and enhance student learning environments. Better information leads to better decisions, which ultimately will lead to a better education for all of Arizona’s children.
PRESS RELEASE MAY 23, 2011:
Arizona Department of Education Announces Innovative Partnership to Develop Arizona Student Longitudinal Data System
“Other states have invested tens of millions of dollars in their technology systems. Unfortunately, we don’t have those resources available to us,” said Superintendent Huppenthal. “By sharing talent and resources, ADE, ASU and MCESA can together build a state-of-the-art student longitudinal data system that provides powerful student-level data to our school districts and charter schools. This knowledge will empower educators with the ability to make data-driven decisions to improve student achievement.”
The AZ-SLDS is intended to enhance the ability of K-12 education agencies, universities, and other members of the education community to efficiently and effectively manage, analyze, and use education data. The AZ-SLDS developed will help state government, districts, universities, schools, and teachers make data-driven decisions to improve student learning, as well as facilitate research to increase academic growth and close achievement gaps
“We value our partnership with ADE and MCESA in working together to improve student achievement,” said Dr. Virginia McElyea, Executive Director (FSC) Office of Innovation Partnership – Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Arizona State University. “Specifically, we are leveraging our human and fiscal resources to develop a student longitudinal data system that will benefit all educators in Arizona’s schools.”
Specifically the AZ-SLDS collaboration will develop a system that:
1. Associates teacher and principal assignment data to student achievement data.
2. Connects student performance achievement data to each eligible teachers’ and principal’s performance incentive with payroll and human resource systems.
3. Integrates an open-standard based identity management solution that rigorously validates the user’s credentials and ensures the user is exposed to data and functionality that they are authorized to view.
4. Provides portals and other gateways to provide system administrators, teachers, and principals (and other appropriate staff) the requisite level of transparency necessary to review accuracy of their specific information (e.g., verification of student roster, verification of performance award, etc.).
5. Produces student, teacher, school and district academic growth calculations using a variety of methodologies.
6. Imports student, teacher, school and district data from a number of different sources – source files, relational data bases, student information systems, etc.
7. Captures and transforms data where appropriate to support transactional data stores, data warehouses or other technologies as required.
8. Integrates data visualization or dashboards to communicate information clearly and effectively through graphical means as well other reporting mechanisms such as text files, custom queries, standardized outputs, etc.
9. Tracks and reports on the associated costs of hardware, software, people, facilities, etc. for both the program, districts and all aspects of the AZ-SLDS program.
“We are pleased to be able to extend the reach of our work in this area, most notably through our Rewarding Excellence in Instruction and Leadership (REIL) initiative, to support this statewide priority aimed at benefitting students and teachers throughout Arizona,” said Dr. Don Covey, who, as Maricopa County Superintendent of Schools, leads the Maricopa County Education Service Agency (MCESA). “This collaborative effort exemplifies the belief upon which REIL was built: With the right team, the right tools and the right talent, we can achieve real change for students.”
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Arizona Department of Education, Arizona State University, and Maricopa County Education Service Agency, Team up to Develop New Student Data SystemPhoenix, AZ, May 23, 2011– Today, Superintendent of Public Instruction John Huppenthal announced that the Arizona Department of Education (ADE), Arizona State University (ASU) and the Maricopa County Education Service Agency (MCESA) had entered into a unique partnership to develop the Arizona Student Longitudinal Data System (AZ-SLDS). The three organizations, with the support of Governor Jan Brewer’s office, will pool their human and capital resources to develop and implement a statewide longitudinal education data system. This student data system will provide teachers and school leaders with the information they need to make the informed, strategic decisions necessary to increase student academic growth and enhance student learning environments.
