VT Census Case Studies : Arkansas Longitudinal Education Data

Created by berk, last modified by ziemer on 09 Jun 2015

Variables included in the Dataset:

K-12

  • Demographics
  • School
  • District
  • Attendance/Dropout
  • Grades/GPA
  • Courses
  • Test scores
  • ACT/SAT
  • Disciplinary action
  • Teacher info (salaries, etc.)

Higher Education

  • Demographics
  • Type of college
  • Enrollment
  • Courses
  • Major (Generally speaking)
  • Grades
  • Tuition/Scholarships

Workforce

  • Demographics
  • Salary
  • Industry

Link: https://adedata.arkansas.gov/#data 

 

Date Inventory Completed: 5/27/2015

Screening

  • Is there data available for 2013?
  • Can we access the data by August 15th? Unclear

Does this dataset appear to meet our needs for the Census study? UNDECIDED

Explanation: 

Review committee meets once a month to review data requests. Their next meeting is on July 16th. If a data request is approved, an MOU must be signed and data will then be linked. The extent of this process is dependent on the scope of the project and the amount of data requested. Spoke to a Department staff member who indicated that most data requests ask for specific student groups rather than all students in the system. 


Full Inventory 

Purpose

  • What is the purpose of the organization collecting the data?

“The Statewide Information System (SIS) implements the provisions of several Arkansas General Assembly enactments which mandate that the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) make extensive use of information technology at the state and local levels to provide accurate and timely information to policy makers and to reduce the state  reporting burden.”

  • Who else uses the data? (make a note if they sell the data to companies)

Educators, policy makers, teachers, parents, school districts, and “anyone interested in official data from ADE”

Description

  • What is the general topic of the data?
  • K-12 Student Information
  • Higher Education Student Information
  • Workforce Information
  • Longitudinal Education Information (includes K-12, Higher Ed, and/or Workforce)

 

  • What are the earliest and latest dates for which data is available? 

2007-2013 for most data. Some data is available from 2004 to 2015. 

  • How soon after a reference period ends can a data source be prepared and provided? 

There is a very detailed submission cycle (provided in the meta data codebook) that outlines what information schools are required to submit when. As far as how long it takes the data source to be prepared and provided, since the latest data available is from the 2012-2013, it looks like it take a little over a year.

 

Method

  • What is the data collection method (portal, other)? 

Arkansas School districts are required to submit required information through the Arkansas Public School Computer Network (APSCN).

  • What is the raw source of the collected data (teacher, superintendent)? 

It only says that records must be submitted by each district, not specifically who.

 

Selectivity (conversely, the representativeness)

  • What is the universe (e.g., population) that the data represents?

K-12 for public schools and well as public higher education institutions. Private K-12 schools need only report how many students attend them. It does not appear the private higher education institutions are required to report any data.

 

Stability/Coherence

  • Note any changes to the universe of data being captured (e.g., including private schools). 

Unknown

  • Note any changes to the data capture method or sources of data.

Unknown

 

Metadata

  • Is there a description of each variable in the source along with their valid values?

Yes

  • Are there unique IDs for unique elements that can be used for linking data?

Yes

  • Can K-12 be linked to higher ed or higher ed to workforce?

Yes, K-12 can be linked to higher ed.

 

Accuracy

  • Any known sources of error?

Unknown

  • Describe any quality control checks performed by the state (or data manager). 

Both the ADE and APSCN are in charge of making sure that all districts report their data in time.

 

Accessibility

  • How is the school-level data accessed (note if it needs to be screen scraped)? 

School-level data is available in extensive summary reports conducted by ADE and will need to be screen-scraped.

 

  • How is the student-level data accessed? 

Data request must submitted with IRB approval, at most one document uploaded containing any previous sample reports for reference.

  • Note if IRB is needed or any other restrictions on accessing data. 

IRB approval must be submitted with data request

  • Any records or fields collected, but not included in data source?

Unknown

  • Cost? - One time or annual or project based payment?

Unknown

 

Privacy and security

  • Note any confidentiality policies or legal limitations other than FERPA:

N/A

  • What do they consider personally identifiable information?

Student names


Research

  • What research has been done with this dataset? 

These data sets have mainly been used for the purpose of creating accountability reports, school performance report cards, and statewide system reports. No explicit 3rd research was mentioned.

  • Research links: 

https://adedata.arkansas.gov/sis/docs/sisman1415.pdf 


Describe any other notes you have or any gaps/concerns you see with this dataset: No outstanding concerns that vary from the usual issues of redistricting and teachers entering incorrect information.