Arkansas achieves insight with its SAS® powered longitudinal data system

University researchers provide crucial student, system assessments, saving the state millions of dollars in outsourcing costs

The University of Arkansas' National Office for Research on Measurement and Evaluation Systems (NORMES) was established to help address a need for improved student assessment and evaluation practices in the state's school systems. To help identify best educational practices and curriculum interventions that contribute to increased student achievement, NORMES used SAS® Business Analytics software to develop a longitudinal data system (LDS) – the Educational Data Delivery System (EDDS). Recognized by the US Department of Education and the Council of Chief State School Officers as a model program for the collection and dissemination of educational data, the system collects and reports student data and distributes it online to Arkansas state educators.

According to Sean Mulvenon, PhD, Professor of Educational Statistics and Director of NORMES at the University of Arkansas, EDDS was developed to support the Arkansas Department of Education, and was started more than a decade ago when he used a $500 grant to survey school principals and superintendents on what their pressing needs were. What he found was an urgent need for data management and modeling, statistics and education analysis.

"I approached the Arkansas Department of Education and told them I was with the education statistics program at the University of Arkansas and didn't have any resources," explains Mulvenon, whose research organization now receives approximately $1 million annually in state funding. "I told them that if they were to give us the opportunity to show them how we could help with data modeling and architecture, and design data collection and quality processes, we could become an asset to them. At the same time, they would be providing the university with the resources to grow its graduate program. As a result, we've been able to create a master's and PhD program in educational statistics within the Department of Curriculum and Instruction (CIED). The Educational Statistics and Research Methods (ESRM) degree program through NORMES has 16 of the 25 graduate assistants in CIED. The funding for NORMES benefits the university, our college, department, and the state by providing an opportunity to develop graduates for the K-12 system. Overall, it has allowed us to be better academics and study things we wouldn't normally have been able to."

Why SAS?
"If you're going to do data management, you have to use SAS," says Mulvenon. "One of the biggest lines of rhetoric you will hear from people using other statistical software packages is that they will do the same thing as SAS. But if you've never programmed in SAS, how do you know? The truth of the matter is that in the last year, I've received over a million dollars in funding because we can program and do data management in SAS. If all you have is software to point and click with, then you're not even an analyst; you're just someone who points and clicks."

Using SAS Data Integration Server, SAS BI Server and SAS® Enterprise Guide® – part of the SAS Business Analytics Framework – NORMES has developed EDDS to support the state's K-12 reporting and analysis requirements. Providing data management, data quality, reporting and analysis, the system collects and cleanses data and generates nearly 50 reports annually – providing analysis of state performance scores on required benchmark state exams and No Child Left Behind Act school evaluations and performance reports. Distributed via the Internet, NORMES makes certain data and reports available on its website for the public, as well as through an authorized, private access portal for educators to view and analyze data and reports.

Advantages and flexibility
"The program's advantage to the state is that it is more economical for us to do the work compared to private companies," he continues. "We handle all the standardized achievement and testing data and serve as a research arm investigating what is happening in the K-12 educational system. Our value, as professors of educational statistics, is that we can provide a lot of information and be candid and objective about questions, such as whether programs and curriculum are working, or what the implications of changing policy might be."

With the flexibility to apply the analysis and reporting capabilities of the LDS in a multitude of ways, Mulvenon's NORMES research office and ESRM program are part of a consortium of 16 school districts in northern Arkansas conducting a thorough evaluation of student achievement growth models to determine which of several identified methods may be the most valid in predicting student achievement.

Recent research projects by NORMES include a grade inflation study related to the No Child Left Behind Act, which looked at whether students were college-ready. Comparing grade point averages with the act's exam results, Mulvenon's team developed metrics to study whether schools were inflating grades, how they were inflating grades and whether it was a systemic issue.

"It is hoped that research on the issue, which examined the implications of several methods for evaluating college readiness, may be used as a model during reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). What's essential about this approach is that it's academics trying to identify an effective approach with limited political or financial interests," explains Mulvenon. "If (US Education) Secretary (Arne) Duncan's goal of getting higher education involved is true, this is a great example of how to achieve that goal. Further, it's a perfect example of how higher education can support K-12 efforts."

Effective insight
Not only does the state benefit from having dedicated research academics provide their reporting and analysis, it is also realizing a significant ROI on the $1 million in annual funding it gives to the university.

"Early on we discovered that testing companies were charging schools $500 each, and $2,000 per district, for raw data files," says Mulvenon. "To save the state nearly $2 million annually, we provided the data to schools and districts at no cost to them, but as part of our service for the Arkansas Department of Education. We also volunteered to do all the state report cards, which probably saves the state millions. The model in Arkansas saves the state money, and it's more efficient having higher education involved versus outsourcing to private firms.

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