Colorado

The following profile is a representation of the Colorado 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 RISE Dashboard RISE Website NCES Funding:
2007   2009

Introduction

The Colorado Relevant Information to Strengthen Education System (RISE)[1] is Colorado’s public education state longitudinal data system (SLDS)[2] managed by the Colorado Department of Education (CDE)[3]. The RISE, created for the purpose of collecting and analyzing Colorado public education data at the individual, course, institution, and system levels, aggregates data records from the breadth of the Colorado public education collection 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 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.

Colorado 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] The Colorado Relevant Information to Strengthen Education System is managed by the Colorado Department of Education https://www.cde.state.co.us/rise
[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] The Colorado Department of Education provides leadership, resources, support and accountability to the state’s public education system http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdecomm/aboutcde
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Evaluation Criteria

This review assesses the overall quality of the RISE 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 systems current Data Quality Campaign (DQC)[1] ranking. This report considers each of these criteria pertaining to the RISE and provides contact information to the departments and individuals who maintain and manage the RISE.

[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
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Governance and Maintenance

The RISE is actively managed and maintained by the Colorado Department of Education (CDE), the state department tasked with supervising Colorado’s public primary and secondary education system. CDE has a state-assigned mandate to provide accurate and meaningful education data to the state’s legislature, government agencies, and the general public. All CDE decisions and operations pertaining to data governance and usage are determined by the Data Management Committee[1]. The Data Management Committee is a council comprised of the department members who manage and analyze the data records contained within RISE as well as the department’s other data systems. This committee facilitates communication between all departments that share data contained within these systems, develops data sharing agreements for any data requests addresses to the CDE, and ensure that the CDE’s data is used properly in accordance with state and federal regulations.

CDE sought to meet their state-assigned data mandate by developing RISE in 2007 with federal funding provided by the State Longitudinal Data Systems Grant Program[2]. CDE created RISE in order to enhance the state government’s ability to efficiently and accurately analyze education data and to use this data to make data-driven decisions to improve student learning within the state of Colorado. According to CDE, RISE is nearing the end of the development process but it not yet fully operational. The K-12 data collection portion of the system has been completed but the higher-education data collection and workforce statistics collection portions of the system have not been incorporated.

[1] Information provided by the Colorado Department of Education https://www.cde.state.co.us/cdereval/datagovernance
[2] Information provided by the Colorado Department of Education https://www.cde.state.co.us/slds/faq
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Data Providers

Once complete, RISE will receive data records from several different Colorado state agencies and institutions. These contributors include CDE, the Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDHE)[1] and the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE)[2].  These state agencies and institutions will provide the following data records to RISE from their own in-house data systems:

  • Colorado Department of Education – K-12 data records
  • Colorado Department of Higher Education – Higher-Ed data records
  • Colorado Department of Labor and Employment – Workforce data records

CDE has the authority to collect data from all public primary and secondary education institutions in the state of Colorado. This data is collected through the Data Pipeline system, the system through which local education agencies submit data records to CDE. The Data Pipeline system is one of the first completed components of the state’s SLDS project and serves as the K-12 data collection portion of RISE[3]. Local education agencies are required to submit their data records to the CDE through the Data Pipeline system six times during the full academic year. These data records include student, staff, district, finance and special education information and provide the Data Pipeline system with a wide range of information about the characteristics and performance of each local education agency. In regards to RISE, the most important of these data records is the student information due to the fact that an SLDS is required to track the progress and outcomes of students as they travel through the state’s education system.

The Data Pipeline system assigns a state assigned student identification variable (SASID) to each student data record when they are initially submitted into the system. This means that each student is assigned a unique identifier variable that corresponds solely to their identity. The SASID process is a necessary component for a data system to be considered an SLDS. Through this process, RISE tracks each individual student in Colorado’s public primary and secondary education system from the point which they enter the education system till the point they exit the education system. This allows RISE to develop a robust collection of information pertaining to the educational progress and outcomes of each Colorado student in the public primary and secondary education system[4].

When RISE is complete, it will also receive data records from the data systems operated by CDHE, CDLE and CDHS. Each of these contributors assign their own unique identifier variables to the individuals recorded in their data systems. CDHE tracks students in the Colorado higher-education system through use of its Student Unit Record Data System (SURDS) which operates similarly to CDE’s Data Pipeline system. When a student enters into the Colorado higher education system, they are assigned a SURDS identification number that acts as the unique identifier variable for that student. This SURDS identification number stays with students throughout their higher education experience and allows CHDE to track the progress and outcomes of these students as they travel through the state’s higher education system. One goal of the state’s SLDS project will be to link the SURDS identification variable with the SASID identification process within RISE. This will allow RISE to follow students from the beginning of their education process through the inevitable end of that process, creating a longitudinal data system that offers invaluable information to parties interested in the educational outcomes of Colorado students. Once CDHE’s data records are successfully incorporated and linked in RISE, the next goal of the SLDS project will be to link CDLE’s data records to the student data records contained within RISE. CDLE collects data records that analyze the current state of Colorado’s economy and the citizens who make up the state’s workforce[5].

[1] The Colorado Department of Higher Education provides access to high-quality, affordable education for all Colorado residents that is student-centered, quality driven and performance based http://highered.colorado.gov/CCHE/Mission.html
[2] The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment provides and up-to-date picture of the economy to help decision making https://www.colorado.gov/cdle
[3] Information provided by the Colorado Department of Education https://www.cde.state.co.us/datapipeline/cde_dp_fact_sheet
[4] See ref. 9
[5] See ref. 6
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Funding

CDE received federal funding through the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), an agency of the United States Department of Education, in 2007 and 2009. CDE applied for federal funding in 2007 and was awarded $4,244,519 for the purpose of further developing and improving the state’s student reporting system. This funding was used to pay for the various costs associated with the development of 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]:

  • Data warehouse expansion
    • Immediate expansion needs:
      • Longitudinal projections and detailed student-level analysis
      • Graduation/drop-out data (student level)
      • Migrant/homeless data (student level)
      • Teacher statistics/licensure (teacher level detail)
      • Special education (student level)
    • Automation of federal data submissions files
    • Creation of comprehensive data dictionary
  • Automate transcript/student data transfer between local agencies and between local education agencies and higher-education
  • Rapid expansion of local data analysis and reporting
    • Wider access to data reporting/analysis
    • Professional development/training opportunities

CDE applied for federal funding in 2009 and was awarded $17,409,117 for the purpose of creating a state P-20W longitudinal data system. This funding was used to pay for the various costs associated with the creation of 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]:

  • SchoolView Capture: Data gathering and collections
    • Ensure that P-20 student-focused data is effectively and efficiently collected across multiple sources
  • SchoolView Link: Cross agency interoperability
    • Ensure that data are effectively shared and exchanged across multiple state agencies and LEAs
  • SchoolView Provide: Performance platform
    • Ensure that stakeholder users are provided with understandable, timely and reliable information
[1] Information provided by the Colorado 2007 SLDS Grant https://nces.ed.gov/programs/slds/pdf/Colorado2007.pdf
[2] Information provided by the Colorado 2009 SLDS Grant https://nces.ed.gov/programs/slds/pdf/Colorado2009.pdf
[3] Information provided by the Colorado Department of Education https://www.cde.state.co.us/research/researchanddatarequests
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Research Accommodation

The Accountability and Data Analysis Unit (ADAU) of the CDE has the responsibility of reviewing data requests from interested parties for individual student-level data contained within RISE. The ADAU asks that interested parties submit a data request form containing the following information[1]:

  • General Overview
    • Date of request
    • Date data is needed
    • Date data use ends
  • Requestor contact information
    • Name
    • Email Address
    • Phone Number
    • Organization
    • Affiliated Organizations or Funding Sources
    • Address
  • Additional parties with access to data
    • Name
    • Organizations
    • Purpose for assessing data
    • Organization type
  • Intended data use
    • Description of the purpose for requesting data
    • Explanation of why the requested information is required to be personally identifiable
    • Explanation of any analysis or research that will be conducted using the data
    • Explanation of how your use of data will benefit CDE or Colorado children
  • Specific data requested
    • Does data need to be longitudinally linked?
    • What type of identifier do you need?
    • What data collection?
    • Years and grades required
    • School districts or schools
    • Variables
      • Assessment variables
      • Demographic variables
    • School/district information
  • Additional commitments that must be agreed upon
    • The request will be subject to the approval of the Commissioner of Education and the State Board of Education
    • Interested party must provide Institutional Review Board approval if their request is for research
    • Interested party must sign a Data Sharing Agreement that contains CDE’s privacy and security requirements
    • Interested party must submit verification of completed data privacy/security training
    • Interested party must acknowledge that CDE’s data request process may take many months for approval and ensure that the data request is submitted with enough time to complete that process

ADAU requires interested parties to submit complete data request forms to DataRequests@cde.state.co.us. ADAU will initially review the data request to verify that the above specifications are met. ADAU will submit verified data requests to the Commissioner of Education and the State Board of Education for final review. The Commissioner of Education and the State Board of Education ultimately decide if the data request will be accepted or denied.

[1] Information provided by the Colorado Department of Education https://www.cde.state.co.us/research/researchanddatarequests
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Public User Portal

The RISE online public user portal, labeled SchoolView, is solely operated by CDE for the purpose of providing useful aggregate level data about various education issues to interested parties within the state of Colorado. These parties include administrators, educators, policy makers, parents, students and other parties interested in education outcomes within the state of Colorado. The quality of the SchoolView 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 created using the portal[1].

  • User-friendliness:
    • SchoolView is straight forward to use, the home page of the portal explains what data tools are available within the platform and the intended uses for these tools. Each data tools are provided with a comprehensive overview which defines what data is accessible through the tool and explains how to properly access this data. The home page of the portal also lists additional resources that can be used to access student learning in the state of Colorado. These resources include other education data bases, data-education tutorials, education performance reports, and various school and district information sources.
  • Extent of data offered:
    • SchoolView Data Center – Provides profiles of individual schools and districts as well as state education data, including district and school performance frameworks, performance results, enrollment, disciplinary actions and other related information
  • SchoolView Colorado Growth Model – Provides growth data for Colorado’s public schools, including individual school and district growth reports
  • SchoolView District and School Dashboard – Provides state data for district and school staff to support effective systems analysis and improvement planning
  • SchoolView Data Lab – Provides query opportunities to analyze results of Colorado’s achievement and growth data by school, district, state, and demographics
  • SchoolView Colorado Education Statistics – Provides downloads of annual education statistics including graduation, dropout, suspension/expulsion and enrollment rates
  • Self-sufficiency of SchoolView portal:
    • The SchoolView portal provides direct access to each of the data tools listed on its home page. In addition to this information, the portal lists a number of quick links to related education resources to analyze Colorado student learning.
  • Extent of customizable reports that can be created using the SchoolView portal:
    • The SchoolView portal allows interested parties to create customizable aggregate student level reports using the SchoolView Data Lab Report Tool. This tool allows the user to change several input variables to specify the type of education information they would like to view. These variables include the academic graduation year of a student cohort, various outcome measures to evaluate student performance, class subjects and school districts. This tool also provides users with the option of assigning demographic and socioeconomic grouping variables to increase the specificity of a report.
[1] Information provided by the Colorado Department of Education’s SchoolView online portal https://www.cde.state.co.us/schoolview
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In 2013, the Colorado legislature passed statute 22.11.501, requiring CDE to administer, manage and maintain a comprehensive data collection and reporting system for collecting and reporting education data. This statute mandates which public education institutions CDE will receive from, the security protocols CDE must follow to protect student privacy, and CDE’s duties and responsibilities with regard to the state data reporting system.[1]

[1] Information provided by Colorado Revised Statutes 22.11.501 http://tornado.state.co.us/gov_dir/leg_dir/olls/2013TitlePrintouts/CRS%20Title%2022%20(2013).pdf
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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.

Colorado 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

Colorado has currently met 8 of the 10 state actions:

  • 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 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

It should be noted that the Data Quality Campaign assessed each state’s progress towards completing the state actions in 2014. At that time, Colorado had failed to meet the following two state actions:

  • State Action 1 – Link state K-12 data systems with early learning, workforce, and other critical state agency data systems
  • State Action 5 – Provide timely, role-based access to data

Data Quality Campaign score: 8/10

[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

Accountability and Data Analysis Unit
Kelly Stritzinger, Administrative Lead
Email: stritzinger_k@cde.state.co.us
Phone: 303-866-6108

Assessment Unit
Margo Allen, Administrative Lead
Email: allen_m@cde.state.co.us
Phone: 303-866-6929

Data Services Office
Dennis St. Hilaire, Administrative Lead
Email: st.hilaire_d@cde.state.co.us
Phone: 303-866-6840

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Schematic

This schematic is offered to provide a simplified, visual presentation of the RISE and the channels through which data flows into and out of the SLDS. The entities on the far left side of the schematic represent the data record providers to the RISE. The entities in the middle of the schematic represent the RISE data system and public user portal. The entities on the far right side of the schematic represent the parties intended to receive benefits from the outputs generated by the RISE.

Colorado

 

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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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