Arkansas

The following profile is a representation of the Arkansas public education state longitudinal data system (SLDS) as presented through publicly available resources of public primary, secondary and higher education, information made available to the public through the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the Data Quality Campaign, published research articles, other third party internet resources (as noted), and direct contact with state and federal public education officials.   It is not a formal program evaluation.

The information provided is intended for use by academic researchers, state and federal public education policy makers, educators, and student households.

Introduction Evaluation Criteria Governance and Maintenance Data Providers
Funding Researcher Access Public User Portal Legal Statues
DQC Contact Schematic State Response
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Download State Profile ARC Dashboard ARC Website NCES Funding:
2006  2009
2009-ARRA

Introduction

The TrustEd Data System (TrustEd)[1] is Arkansas’s public education state longitudinal data system (SLDS)[2] managed by the Arkansas Research Center (ARC)[3], a state research center created in 2008 through the collaborative efforts of the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE)[4]and the Arkansas Department of Higher Education (ADHE)[5]. TrustEd, created for the purpose of collecting and analyzing Arkansas’s public education data at the individual, course, institution, and system levels, links data records from the breadth of the Arkansas public education systems. The combined data collection systems are part of a nation-wide effort to record granular public education detail over time in order to document the entirety of the students’ education experience. This information is intended to be available for analysis and public policy consideration for the purpose of producing improvements in student learning at elementary, secondary, post-secondary, and higher education levels, and to optimize labor market outcomes, individually and generally.

Arkansas is one of the 47 states having received public funding to create a state longitudinal data system (SLDS). Despite state-to-state differences, each SLDS shares a common purpose of supporting research and analysis with the intent of informing individual, household, and public policy decisions based on standardized criteria.

[1] Information provided by the Arkansas Research Center https://arc.arkansas.gov/trusted
[2] State longitudinal data systems are intended to enhance the ability of states to efficiently and accurately manage, analyze, and use education data https://nces.ed.gov/programs/slds/about_SLDS.asp
[3] Information provided by the Arkansas Research Center https://arc.arkansas.gov/
[4]  The Arkansas Department of Education is a dedicated service agency that provides leadership, support and service to schools, districts and communities http://www.arkansased.gov/about-ade
[5] The Arkansas Department of Higher Education serves
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Evaluation Criteria

This review assesses the overall quality of TrustEd as an SLDS by considering the nature of the organization maintaining the data system, those agencies and institutions providing inputs to the data system, and to which agencies and institutions the data systems’ outputs are available. The assessment also considers the data system’s funding mechanisms, internal and external researcher data accessibility, the quality of the data system’s public user interface (dashboard), and the data system’s current Data Quality Campaign (DQC)[1] ranking. This report considers each of these criteria pertaining to TrustEd and provides contact information to the departments and individuals who maintain and manage the SLDS.

[1] The Data Quality Campaign is a national, nonprofit organization leading the effort to bring every part of the education community together to empower educators, parents, and policymakers with quality information to make decisions that ensure students excel http://dataqualitycampaign.org/
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Governance and Maintenance

TrustEd is operated and maintained by the ARC, a state research center which was jointly created in 2008 by the ADE and the ADHE. The ARC staff operates as a cross agency team to link data between its partners for education related research. The research center conducts this work to provide accurate and meaningful education data to the state’s legislature, its partners, and the state’s general public. The ARC provides the findings of their research to these parties through multiple vehicles, which include reports that summarize and analyze specific research questions and websites that allows users to create customizable, visual models from aggregate level data sets. These findings are intended to inform the state’s key decision makers and the general public about relevant data that will lead to increased understanding of the issues that Arkansas education systems face. [1]

The ARC is governed by the Arkansas Commission for the Coordination of Educational Efforts (ACCEE)[2]. The ACCEE was formed the Arkansas legislature in 2003 to recommend policies to state education agencies to improve coordination between the state’s education systems from pre-kindergarten to higher education. The duties and responsibilities of the ACCEE are to:[3]

  • Recommend policies on concurrent enrollment of high school students in college courses
  • Make recommendations related to a common calendar for all public schools and institutions of higher education
  • Study the various delivery systems of distance learning and recommend ways to improve and make more efficient a delivery system for Arkansas
  • Recommend ways that the public schools, the Department of Education, the Department of Higher Education, and the institutions of higher education can improve working relationships in order to improve the effectiveness of teaching for the public schools
  • Recommend ways of improving the transfer of credit from institution to institution for the benefit of the student. This includes recommendations for improving the transfer from two-year to four-year institutions as well as the transfer among two-year institutions and four-year institutions
  • Make recommendations related to aligning the curriculum from kindergarten through the bachelor’s level in colleges and universities
  • Recommend ways of improving the link between educational efforts and economic development for Arkansas
  • Recommend priorities for the funding of education
  • Review all current scholarship programs of the state and institutions of higher education and make recommendations for improving future scholarship programs
  • Make recommendations related to the future need for remediation of beginning college students
  • Make recommendations to improve science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education from kindergarten through the bachelor’s level in higher education
  • Make recommendations to improve the use of educational technology
  • Recommend any other improvements in education at any level to benefit students and the state

The ACCEE includes the following members:

  • the Director of the Department of Higher Education
  • the Commissioner of Education
  • the Director of the Department of Career Education
  • the Director of the Division of Child Care and Early Childhood Education
  • the Department of Human Services or his or her designee
  • the Director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission
  • the Vice President for Agriculture of the University of Arkansas System
  • the President of the Arkansas Science and Technology Authority
  • the Director of the Department of Information Systems or his or her designee
  • the Governor or the Governor’s designee
  • one public school administrator appointed by the Governor
  • one public school teacher appointed by the Governor
  • one president or chancellor of a four-year university appointed by the Presidents Council
  • one president or chancellor of a two-year college or two-year branch of a four-year university appointed by the council
  • one member of the board of trustees of a four-year university or system of colleges and universities appointed by the council
  • one member of the board of trustees of a two-year college or branch appointed by the council;
  • one member appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate from a list of three nominees submitted by the Executive Director of the Arkansas Education Association
  • one member appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives from a list of three nominees submitted by the Executive Director of the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators
  • one member appointed jointly by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate from a list of three nominees submitted by the Executive Director of the Arkansas School Boards Association
  • one representative of a predominantly black college or university in Arkansas appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives
  • one member appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives who is from the private sector and has an interest in science, technology, engineering, or math

and one member appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate who is from the private sector and has an interest in science, technology, engineering, or math.

[1] Information obtained from the Arkansas Research Center arc.arkansas.gov/
[2] Information obtained from the Arkansas Research Center arc.arkansas.gov/
[3] Information obtained from the Arkansas Research Center https://arc.arkansas.gov/governance/ACCEE
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Data Providers

The ASLDS receives data records from its partners which include state agencies and insitutions. These contributors include the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE), the Arkansas Department of Higher Education (ADHE), the Arkansas Department of Human Services (ADHS)[1], the Arkansas HeadStart program, the Arkansas Department of Career Education (ADCE)[2], and the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services (ADWS)[3]. These partners provide the following data records from their in-house data systems:

  • Arkansas Department of Education – K-12 data records
  • Arkansas Department of Higher Education – Higher-Ed data records
  • Arkansas Department of Human Services – Early Childhood data records
  • Arkansas HeadStart program – Early Childhood data records
  • Arkansas Department of Career Education – Secondary and Post-Secondary data records
  • Arkansas Department of Workforce Services – Labor Force data records

The ARC maintains the data from these partners in a federated system called TrustEd. TrustEd is comprised of three separate components, the TrustEd Identifier Manager system (TIM), the Knowledgebase Identity Manager system (KIM), and their partners’ databases. These systems work in conjunction to link together individual data records from these partners’ databases securely and effectively.

[1] The Arkansas Department of Human Services works to ensure citizens are healthy, safe and enjoying a high quality of life http://humanservices.arkansas.gov/Pages/AboutDHS.aspx
[2] The Arkansas Department of Career Education provides leadership and contributes resources to the serve the career education needs of Arkansas citizens http://ace.arkansas.gov/aboutUs/Pages/default.aspx
[3] The Arkansas Department of Workforce Services enables the state’s workforce to compete in the global economy by linking a comprehensive array of services for employers and job seekers http://dws.arkansas.gov/About/index.htm
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Funding

The ADE applied for federal funding through the Statewide Longitudinal Data System Grant program administered by the Institute of Education Sciences, an agency of the United States Department of Education, in 2006 and 2009 and was awarded three grants, the 2006 SLDS Grant, the 2009 ARRA SLDS Grant, and the 2009 SLDS Grant, for the purpose of developing and enhancing the ASLDS. The 2006 SLDS Grant awarded Arkansas $3,328,503 for the purpose of constructing the foundation components of the ASLDS. This funding was used to pay for the various costs associated with developing a data system, including: personnel costs, travel costs, equipment costs, contractual costs, and indirect costs. The proposed outcomes to be produced using this funding include[1]:

  • Commitment of a unique student identifier strategy
  • Creation of an enterprise-wide data architecture that includes a data model, data dictionary, business rules, and quality assurance procedures
  • Construction and implementation of an integrated data warehouse consisting of a set of coordinated subject-oriented data marts within the context of the Cognos Education Performance Management Solutions (EPMS)
  • Redevelopment or enhancement of existing operational systems
  • Development of an Electronic Transcript System
  • Development of a Business Intelligence tool set that delivers reports, tables, charts or graphs, and spreadsheets that will allow consumers to gain access to the information they need
  • Development of an Information Distribution and Training Program
  • Development of a comprehensive data quality assurance program, including a provision for extensive system testing
  • Establishment of methods for documenting and disseminating lessons learned and best practices with educational leaders, researchers and the community at large

The 2009 SLDS Grant awarded Arkansas $4,967,991 for the purpose of expanding and improving the ASLDS. This funding was used to pay for the various costs associated with developing a data system, including: personnel costs, travel costs, equipment costs, contractual costs, and indirect costs. The proposed outcomes to be produced using this funding include[2]:

  • Implement a modern visualization interface to the Cognos data warehouse using dashboards, visual analysis, and scorecard techniques supplemented by open source initiatives
  • Augment and expand Triand application components that are currently implemented, and extend Target Testing and Curriculum Development features statewide
  • Integrate key data collections related to higher education, teach licensure, teacher professional development, special education and child nutrition into the SLDS, and integrate locally collected assessment data
  • Build a culture of Data Driven Decision Making (DDDM) by engaging Arkansas professional development institutions and others to adopt a DDDM focus to advance best practices
  • Engage the research community to undertake target research on issues of critical concern to state educators, using SLDS data, including results from cross-agency data matches
  • Complete the population of the SLDS and enhance its web-based data dictionary
  • Formalize the program of data quality measurements and conduct data quality audits
  • Establish an expanded body of documentation, standards, policies, and procedures
  • Complete automation of EDFacts and re-implement Arkansas public “AS-IS” website
  • Build an online district data certification and reporting process
  • Develop a web-based collaboration portal for ADE data stewards and district staff
  • Conduct annual evaluations of progress in achieving project goals and objectives

The 2009 ARRA SLDS Grant awarded Arkansas $9,832,689 for the purpose of improving and modernizing its SLDS environment and implementing new technologies and better practices into the ASLDS. This funding was used to pay for the various costs associated with developing a data system, including: personnel costs, travel costs, equipment costs, contractual costs, and indirect costs. The proposed outcomes to be produced using this funding include[3]:

  • Expansion of the Arkansas Research Center (ARC) with participation from ADE; Arkansas educational research, teacher preparation, and educational policy institutions; and higher education, workforce, human services, and health agencies
  • Expansion and acceleration of current work on DDDM and researcher engagement, facilitation of relevant research within each of these agencies and research that requires data from these agencies to be combined
  • Expansion of data-sharing agreements to maximize the amount of data about Pre-K population collected in the SLDS
  • Participation in Arkansas’s new state data-sharing consortium, the Arkansas Education to Employment Tracking and Trends Initiative (AEETT), and development of master data management/entity resolution, “TrustEd”, and service oriented architecture (SOA) based solutions—including focus on NIEM, SIF, and PESC data-exchanged standards—to ensure privacy protection, FERPA compliance, and a high degree of interoperability
  • Completion of a two-phase modernization/standardization upgrade of the SLDS systems architecture, including replacement of 12-year-old statewide school information systems with a new SIF 2.0 compliant SunGard eSchoolPLUS solution, implementation of a state-level Zone Integration Server and restructuring of data exchange based on SOA/SIF standards
  • Implementation of a NEDM-compliant database synchronized to the current ADE production SLDS for use by researchers and data analysts, external data exchanges, and alignment of Arkansas’ data definitions to the NCES Handbook.
[1] Information provided by the Arkansas 2006 SLDS Grant application https://nces.ed.gov/programs/slds/state.asp?stateabbr=AR
[2] Information provided by the Arkansas 2009 SLDS Grant https://nces.ed.gov/programs/slds/state.asp?stateabbr=AR
[3] Information obtained from the Arkansas 2009 ARRA SLDS Grant https://nces.ed.gov/programs/slds/state.asp?stateabbr=AR
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Research Accommodation

The ARC works with individuals and agencies within Arkansas as well as across the nation to conduct education and workforce related research. The ARC utilizes its cross-agency data sharing facilities to generate de-identified datasets for individual researchers, partner agencies and graduate students who are conducting education related research or program evaluations related to the students within the state of Arkansas. These cross-agency, de-identified data sets will only be provided to the agencies or individuals who have an approved research purpose that complies with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and Institutional Review Board (IRB). [1]

Agencies, institutions, or individuals interested in conducting educational research using the de-identified data sets generated by the ARC will need to submit a data request to the center. The data request template can be found on the ARC’s online site and must include the following:

  • Identification information
  • Type of data being requested
  • Research title and topic
  • Proposed research methodology
  • Proposed statistical testing to be used
  • IRB approval status
  • List of all data elements and cohort years being requested
[1] Information obtained from the Arkansas Research Center https://arc.arkansas.gov/what
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Public User Portal

The ARC has created several public user portals, Hive and Quick Looks, for the purpose of providing useful aggregate level data about various education issues to interested parties within the state of Arkansas. However, the ADE has requested for the removal of K-12 data from these portals and has asked the ARC to direct interested parties to its ADE Data Center. The ADE Data Center similarly provides aggregate level data about various education outcomes and issues within the state’s public education system. The ADE also has launched My School Info, its new public reporting portal, which provides diverse built in modules to allow the state’s education stakeholders to make data-informed decisions. These education stakeholders include policy makers, administrators, educators, parents, students and other interested parties within the state of Arkansas. The quality of this portal will be evaluated using several different criteria which include: the user-friendliness of the portal, the extent of data offered by the portal, whether the portal is self-sufficient or relies upon other webpages to provide information, and the extent of customizable reports that can be made using the portal.[1][2]

ADE My School Info Evaluation:

  • User-friendliness:
    • The portal is easily-accessible through the ADE Data Center and is intuitive to use. Its home page explains to users what type of reports may be generated using the portal as well as what type of information can be found within these reports. The portal provides step-by-step instructions to users to aid them while they determine which report they would like to generate.
  • Extend of data offered:
    • The portal offers K-12 data reports on each district and school located within the K-12 public education system. These reports contain a significant amount of aggregate level data for each district and school about the following education categories: Local Education Agency information, Student information, Finance information, Personnel information, State Assessment information, National Assessments information
  • Self-sufficiency of the portal:
    • The portal provides direct access to the district and school reports that can be generated within it. In addition to this, the portal provides a connection to the ADE Data Center and all of the tools, resources and information that can be found within ADE Data Center.
  • Extent of customizable reports that can be created through the portal:
    • The portal allows users to customize reports by deciding whether they would like to look at the education performance and characteristics of the entire state or a particular district or school. The portal then allows uses to choose what information will be provided within the report. Some information available to be selected include cohort year, student demographic characteristics, school personnel composition, and state assessment scores. Once the user has designated what report they would like to view, the report is automatically generated on-site.
[1] Information obtained from the Arkansas Research Center https://arc.arkansas.gov/websites
[2] Information obtained from the ADE My School Info portal https://myschoolinfo.arkansas.gov/
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The ARC was created under the joint governance of the ADE and ADHE after the two agencies were mandated by the Arkansas legislature to increase their data matching collaboration efforts. The ARC adheres to all state and federal regulations pertaining to safe and responsible data use when generating de-identified data sets using the ASLDS. However, the Arkansas legislature has passed no statute which specifically refers to the ASLDS or the ARC.[1]

[1] Information obtained from the Arkansas Research Center https://arc.arkansas.gov/who
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DQC

The Data Quality Campaign (DQC) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan national advocacy organization that evaluates each state’s longitudinal data system to determine how effectively each state uses their data system for education improvement purposes. The DQC’s annual survey, Data for Action (DFA)[1], measures each state’s progress towards implementing the 10 Essential Elements of Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems and the Ten State Actions to Ensure Effective Data Use[2], a set of elements and policy actions proposed to produce quality data systems and increase student achievement within in each state.

Arkansas has currently met each of the 10 essential elements:

  • Element 1 – Statewide student identifier
  • Element 2 – Student-level enrollment data
  • Element 3 – Student-level test data
  • Element 4 – Information on untested students
  • Element 5 – Statewide teacher identifier with a teacher-student match
  • Element 6 – Student-level course completion data
  • Element 7 – Student-level SAT, ACT, and Advanced Placement exam data
  • Element 8 – Student-level graduation and dropout data
  • Element 9 – Ability to match student-level P-12 and higher education data
  • Element 10 – State data audit system

Arkansas has currently met 10 of the 10 state actions:

  • State Action 1 – Link state K-12 data systems with early learning, postsecondary, workforce, and other critical state agency data systems
  • State Action 2 – Create stable, sustainable support for longitudinal data systems
  • State Action 3 – Develop governance structures for longitudinal data systems
  • State Action 4 – Build state data repositories
  • State Action 5 – Provide timely, role-based access to data
  • State Action 6 – Create progress reports with student-level data for educators, students, and parents
  • State Action 7 – Create reports with longitudinal statistics to guide system-level change
  • State Action 8 – Develop a purposeful research agenda
  • State Action 9 – Implement policies and promote practices to build educators’ capacity to use data
  • State Action 10 – Promote strategies to raise awareness of available data

Data Quality Campaign score: 10/10

[1] DQC’s annual survey, Data for Action (DFA), is a powerful tool to inform efforts in education to better use data in decision making. It is a series of analyses that highlight state progress and key priorities to promote the effective use of longitudinal data to improve student achievement
[2] DQC’s 10 Essential Elements of Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems and 10 State Actions to Ensure Effective Data Use provide a roadmap for state policymakers to create a culture of effective data use in which quality data are not only collected but also used to increase student achievement
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Contact

Arkansas Research Center
Greg Holland
Director of Research and Development
Phone: (501) 852-2296
Email: greg.holland@arkansas.gov

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Schematic

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State Response

SLDS stakeholders listed under Contacts (above) have been provided a copy of this State Profile and given an opportunity to provide comments in response.  No comments have been received for this state to date.

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