KEDUC: Kansas Educational Data Users Consortium
The Kansas State Department of Education received a grant from the United States Department of Education—Institute for Educational Statistics to construct a longitudinal data system (LDS). The KU Institute was contracted to develop, manage, and sustain a consortium of Kansas educational agencies that are most important to using data in professional education.
KEDUC (Kansas Educational Data Users Consortium) was created in January, 2008 with its aim being to: Maximize the value of quality longitudinal education data in Kansas. This is done primarily through the creation of three committees: Research Agenda; Professional Development; and Communications.
The Charter Members of KEDUC are: Kansas State Department of Education; Kansas State Board of Regents; Kansas State University; and Kansas University. The Affiliate Members are: Emporia State University; Fort Hays State University; Pittsburg State University; Wichita State University; Kansas Association of School Boards; Kansas Action for Children; Kansas Association of School Administrators; Kansas Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development; Kansas Staff Development Council; and Kansas Association for Secondary School Principals.
For more information about KEDUC please see this PowerPoint presentation.
QUESTIONS REGARDING DATA SETS
Assessment
Q: When the data warehouse is fully operational, will we be able to access student assessment data?
A: De-identified student assessment data will be available to approved users in data marts, built from data in the data warehouse.
Q: Will the type of assessment taken be indicated for students with disabilities (general education, general education with accommodations, Kansas Assessment of Modified Measures [KAMM], the Kansas Alternate Assessment [alternate])?
A: The assessment type will be indicated for each student for the following:
• General assessment (Accommodations are changes in the way tests are given that do not change what is being tested. No indication is given for accommodations made on the general assessment.)
• KAMM (This assessment is based on modified achievement standards.)
• Alternate (The alternate assessment, based on extended standards, is developed for a small number of students with disabilities who cannot take general statewide tests even with accommodations.)
Q: Will the data sets enable users to compare the scores of sub-groups across different state assessments?
A: In addition to data for all students, student assessment data are already available for each of the state assessments by the following variables:
• Socioeconomic status designation (full price, reduced price, free lunch)
• Disability designation (disability/no disability)
• English language learner designation (ELL/not ELL)
• Race/ethnicity
• Gender
These data are aggregate scores by sub-group. If your study requires following the same students in a sub-group across tests and/or years or placing students into a sub-group not currently reported, there will be access to de-identified individual student data for approved users.
Q: Will the assessment data sets enable users to track the performance of sub-group across several years?
A: Student data will be de-identified in such a way that sub-groups can be tracked across years.
Q: Will the student assessment data include Pre-K measures?
A: The Kansas State Assessments begin at grade three. Pre-K measures are collected by various programs but are not universal and are not included in the data warehouse.
Q: Will assessment data be available at the item response level, or only for total test scores?
A: The KSDE assessment data will not be available at the item response level. Student assessment data will be available by equated score and by proficiency level.
Student Information
Q: Will the type of instructional placement be available for students with disabilities (e.g., in general education classroom with no direct support, in general education classroom with a special education co-teacher, in general education classroom with a special education paraprofessional, in a resource room, etc.)?
A: It is anticipated that this information will be available in the fall of 2010.
Q: Are itinerant students tracked as they move between schools?
A: A school submits EXIT records and claims students as the students move from and to the school, so there is some indication of mobility. However, the Kansas Individual Data on Students (KIDS) system is not a real-time student tracking system, but a collection of snapshots for reporting purposes. Therefore, some student movement is missed. Any day to day tracking is done at the school and district level. Only the final set of ENRL, TEST, TITL, MILT, EOYA, and EXIT records from the collection system will be pulled into the data warehouse.
• ENRL: September 20 enrollment
• TEST: represents the student’s status/demographics on the day of the assessment
• TITL: student information for Title program reporting (December 1 status)
• MILT: military dependent student information for funding (February 20 enrollment)
• EOYA: end of year accountability, including attendance and membership
• EXIT documentation of student exits including the date and reason for the exit
For additional information on KIDS, see www.ksde.org/kids/
Q: Is information about ethnic heritage of parents and grandparents, international travel, and languages spoken collected?
A: The student’s first language is collected in the KIDS system. Since KSDE collects only data that are required by state and federal legislation, none of the other variables mentioned are collected for Kansas students. If a study requires additional data, the researcher must collect it at the school level.
Q: Does the student data include any health measures?
A: No health measures are collected.
Teacher Information
Q: Are you able to track professional roles for `transition coordinator` or `transition specialist`?
A: Teacher Education and Licensure data contain codes for special education licensure areas, but ‘transition’ is not a licensure area and would not be included.
Program Personnel
Eason, Ph. D., Becky
Title: Associate Director, Institute
785-864-0579
E-mail Profile
Hedden, Jared
Title: Coordinator
785-864-9623
E-mail
Miller, Ed. D., Allan
Title: Principal Investigator
785-864-9629
E-mail