Tracking Student Progression: The State of the States
| Title: | Tracking Student Progression: The State of the States |
| Author: | Ewell, Peter T. Boeke, Marianne |
| Date: | 2006 |
| Catalog #: | |
| Price: | FREE |
 |
|
| Description: |
In April 2003, the Lumina Foundation published a comprehensive inventory of state-level
Student Unit Record (SUR) capacity prepared by the National Center for Higher Education
Management Systems (Ewell, Schild and Paulson 2003). The primary intent of this effort was to
examine the feasibility of linking student data drawn from multiple states to track students on a
national basis. Since that time, interest in SUR databases has evolved considerably. On the one
hand, the need for states to develop capable K-12 databases to meet the reporting requirements of
No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has stimulated vigorous efforts to design and implement new
systems, as well as a national Data Quality Campaign (DQC) to promote best practice in this
arena. This report presents the results of a new fifty-state inventory of state SUR
capacity undertaken by NCHEMS with further Lumina support. In addition to the topics of data
element coverage and analytical capability addressed by the 2002 survey, the current inventory
examines more closely how states are linking SUR data with other data sources and how they are using the resulting information. It also examines some of the cross-cutting issues that states are
facing in this arena and how they are addressing them. Results are presented in six sections. The
first section describes the methodology used by NCHEMS to conduct the 50-state survey and
analyze its results. The second presents results on the overall status of state and system-level
SURs on a number of dimensions, including the proportion of states that have such databases and
their overall capabilities. The third takes these findings to a finer level of detail by examining
the specific data elements contained in these systems and the extent of definitional commonality
across systems. It also examines the capacity of states to generate a “common core” of data
elements suitable for consistent tracking. The fourth section examines the most common
applications of state SUR data through regular reporting. The fifth section presents cross-cutting
challenges and issues, while the report’s final section provides some recommendations for
moving forward. Additional information including SUR Report Tables and individual state reports can be found at http://www.nchems.org/c2sp/sur/ |