Data Collection: Types and Tools

Data Collection for School Improvement

	There are four types of data collected for school improvement purposes:  demographic, achievement, process, and perception.
	Carefully review the type of data and examples of each that your building could collect to support school improvement efforts.   Consider how your school improvement efforts can aid your building in  preparing for tech readiness.

Demographic Data

The demographic data collected by a school building include information on students and staff.  This includes enrollment, attendance, status, involvement, mobility, and participation rates for courses or programs.  Some sources of demographic data include MISchoolData, a local data warehouse, a student information system, or other sources. 

Achievement Data

Achievement data collected by a building may include student performance on state tests (e.g. MEAP, MME, MIAccess, MEAP-Access, etc.), or nationally normed tests (PLAN, Explore, NWEA, ACT, PSAT, ITBS, DIBELS, etc.).  Local assessments can also be used to report achievement data.  These could include grade level testing, common end-of-course assessments, performance on MLPP, DRA testing or other locally developed reading assessments.

Two great sources for student achievement data are a local data warehouse or MISchoolData.

Process Data

Process data involves the reporting of "how we do business around here", or the rules, guidelines, and protocols in place to guide the building's operations. 

Perception Data

Perception data involves gathering the opinions, comments, and recommendations about our school building from stakeholders.  These stakeholders include parents, teachers/staff, community members, and students.  There are a variety of tools used to collect this data, including the use of online survey or assessment tools like Google Forms, Survey Monkey, PollEverywhere, Socrative. 

Creating Perception Surveys

Consider the perception data you could collect for your own classroom.  Students, Parents, or Colleagues can share their perceptions to help you improve your instructional practice.  Consider questions about technology use outside of the classroom, or how often stakeholders use of your classroom website. 

Create your own online survey gathering the perceptions about technology use of stakeholders.  Consider using Google Forms with the following "How To" guide from "Data Reference Points for the Michigan School Improvement Process: Manual for Data Inquiry and Access, 3rd ed." 

Click on the "Google Forms" image above to access the file.

Sample Survey for parents about technology use by student (feel free to edit/modify or create your own questions):

• How often you visit our classroom website?
  • (choices could include never, daily, once a week, a couple times a week, etc.)
  • (if you do not have a classroom website, substitute "school" website)

• How often does your child use the Internet at home?
  • (choices could include never/no access, daily, once a week, a couple times a week, etc.)

• Does your child have access to a computer or portable mobile device at home?
  • (choices could include yes, no)

• What is the primary use of technology by your child at home?  
  • (choices could include games, research, etc.)

• What comments or concerns do you have about student use of technology in the classroom?
• (this could be an open ended comment box to gather opinions 

Legalities of Data:FERPA/HIPAA Compliance

Access to data requires FERPA/HIPAA compliance.

To access local information down to the student level, you will need to request a login on the MISchoolData portal.  With a login, the portal provides users with access to the K-12 and special education information, as well as the Data4SS dynamic inquiry tools to further explore school performance. Educators may receive a login after providing proof of educational affiliation and completing FERPA/HIPAA compliance procedures through their Intermediate School District, Regional Educational Service District, or Agency.  For further information, or to find out your ISD/RESD/RESA contact is, email the Help Desk at help@misd.net.  FERPA/HIPAA samples can be found at the Data4ss.org professional development resources.

Using MISchoolData for Data Inquiry and Access

Introduction to MISchoolData

Review the presentation "Introduction to MISchoolData". 

Early Childhood

K-12 Dashboard

The Kindergarten - 12th Grade area of the portal contains a variety of information to assist in data collection.  Dashboard & Accountability Scorecard: District Best Practices, Top to Bottom Ranking, and Scorecard Summary District School Information: District Definitions, Quick Facts, and Statewide Openings and Closings Student Counts: Student Counts (including attention, retention, and mobility), Graduation/Dropout Rates, and Non-Resident Status (e.g. school's of choice) Student Testing: MEAP, MME, MI-Access, ACT College Readiness, and Studfents Not Tested Postsecondary Outcomes: College Enrollment, Student Enrollment with 24 credits, and College Remedial Coursework Career and Technical Education: Program Enrollments Staffing Information: Educator Effectiveness Ratings Financial Information: District Financial Profiles

K-12: Student Counts

	Locate Student counts, graduation/dropout rate, retentions, attendance, student mobility, and non-resident status.   Use the "edit Report" button to change report settings.

K-12 Student Testing

	Select the test (e.g. MEAP, MI-Access, MME, ACT College Readiness, or Students Not Tested).
View the reports in a variety of ways: Snapshot, Trend, or Entity Breakdown.

Postsecondary Summary

The College Enrollment by High School report shows the number of Michigan public high school graduates who enrolled as an undergraduate in a U.S. Institution of Higher Education (IHE). The data is important because education beyond high school helps secure high-quality employment in a competitive, rapidly changing job market. This data is also important to schools working to adequately prepare students for post-secondary success.

Workforce

	The workforce section of the portal provides information about workforce readiness opportunities (other than college) offered after a student leaves the traditional school setting.

Special Education

	A variety of information is available on the public side of the Special Education section of the portal.  To obtain student level data using the Special Education Inquiries, you must have a login.
The Special Education Data Portraits reports reflect state, intermediate school district, and local district level data from the federally-required annual special education child counts. The data elements reported here include those submitted to the U.S. Department of Education each February.

Data Tools for School Improvement

	With a login, the "Data Tools for School Improvement" menu is an option.  Within this report, you can access a variety of information, including the Priority/Focus School Status, Performance at a Glance, and Demographic and Statistical information. Select the "Achievement SES Scatterplot" or "School Research" for more information.
Review the Performance at a Glance for snapshots of state assessment scores.	Check out the enrollment, class sizes, staffing, and participation rates in the Demographic and Statistical Information section.

Other

Other: Annual Education Report

	The Annual Education Report includes Student Assessment, Accountability, Teacher Quality, and the NAEP Scores.  The AER requires a login and is the source for district reporting of transparency information on their website.

Other: D4SS Dynamic Inquiries

The Data For Student Success dynamic inquiries include Proficiency, Students Near Proficiency, and Comparative Item Analysis to name just a few.  These dynamic inquiry tools require a login. You can also check out the professional development resources.

Tour Take-Aways

	Access the MISchoolData portal and complete the GDocs version of the "Tour" worksheet. Record your take-away's about the portal on your local school data. Make a COPY of the Google Doc, or download the .pdf or Word .doc versions.

Additional Resources: Navigation and Help

For additional help in navigating the MISchoolData portal, or the school improvement reports shown in this section, visit the Macomb FSI website to review Chapters 5 and 10.

You are now ready to move on to the next activity: Perception Survey