smart tool: data accessibility made easier the cal-pass way

SMART Tool:  Data Accessibility Made Easier

The Cal-PASS Way

How US Education is Supposed to Work

• A seamless transition among segments: k-16

• Well prepared students moving through a pipeline

• Little or no remediation as students transition through the segments

• Students prepared with the skills, knowledge and ability to enter the workforce

A Matter of Misalignment

• According to a recent report issued by the Stanford University Bridge Project:

• “…the coursework between high school and college is not connected; students graduate from high school under one set of standards and, three months later, are required to meet a whole new set of standards in college.”

US Education: A Silo Approach

Troubling Indicators• High HS drop-out rate

– Up to 50% in large urban districts

• Poor transition rates to college– Of every 100 students that start ninth grade, less

than 31 enter college (NCHEMS, 2004)

• Significant remediation needs in higher education– 70% Community Colleges– Almost 50% in California State Universities– Over 30% in University of California

What Groups Are Doing• The Significant Discussions Project recognizes

that the misalignment of curriculum among secondary schools, community colleges, universities, and employers creates barriers to student success, and that collaborative discussions about curriculum alignment across educational sectors are often random and voluntary. Further, few systems are in place to institutionalize or incentivize collaborative work to improve alignment.

What is Cal-PASS?

Facilitates collaboration among primary, secondary and post-secondary institutions on a regional basis

Collects actionable data and reports on student transition and success locally and statewide

Engages intersegmental faculty and other educational leaders across segments in instructional conversations – The PLC model

Implements and evaluates educational innovations throughout the state and works to bring to scale those innovations that demonstrate success

Cal-PASS Statistics Over 400,000,000 records

Up to 15 years of data in some regions

Over 8,000 schools, colleges and university members

Over 250 research studies conducted in the last two years

Sixty-four Professional Learning Councils (1,200+ faculty)

SMART Tool Demonstration• Why invest in this technology?

– Improve access to information– Meet accreditation mandates– Provide information on innovations– Increase faculty access to actionable information

• What is it? OLAP enables users to perform analysis of data in multiple dimensions, thereby providing the insight and understanding they need for better decision making

• Enables a wide variety of users access to data• Web-based for easy access, using familiar point-and-click

action• Some training required• Can be applied in a variety of applications• Roll-out: CC’s, K-12/University, cohort tracking

Questions, Observations…