Kansas

The following profile is a representation of the Kansas 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 KSLDS Dashboard KSLDS Website NCES Funding:
2007   2009
2009-ARRA

Introduction

The Kansas Statewide Longitudinal Data System (KSLDS)[1] is Kansas’s public education state longitudinal data system (SLDS)[2]. The KSLDS is a federated data system operated through partnerships between several Kansas state agencies, including the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE), the Kansas Board of Regents (KBOR) and the Kansas Department of Labor (KDOL). The Kansas State Board of Education (KSBE) and the KSBOR govern the KSLDS. The KSLDS, created for the purpose of linking and analyzing Kansas public education data at the individual, course, institution, and system level, combines data records from the breadth of the Kansas public education and workforce systems. This data linkage process is 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.

Kansas 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 Kansas Statewide Longitudinal Data System is a federated data system the links data records from several state education and workforce agencies to analyze and improve education workforce outcomes in Kansas http://www.workforcedqc.org/state-solutions/kansas
[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
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Evaluation Criteria

This review assesses the overall quality of the KSLDS 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 the KSLDS 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

The KSLDS is a federated data system, through which data from participating agencies, the KSDE, KBOR and KDOL, ae temporarily linked. These linked data records are not collected into a centralized data warehouse nor maintained in an external data center of any sort. Each participating agency maintains their own in-house data systems and adheres to a governing body that oversees the operations of these data systems. The KSBE and KBOR are the two state boards that oversee Kansas education and have an integral position in the oversight of the KSLDS. [1]

The KSBE consists of 10 elected members, each representing a district comprised of four contiguous senatorial districts. These members serve four-year terms with an overlapping schedule. Every other year, the KSBE reorganizes to elect a chairmen and vice-chairmen. The board also appoints a Commissioner of Education who serves as its executive director. The KSBE strives to create an education environment in Kansas that prepares its students for lifelong success through rigorous, quality academic instruction, career training, and character development. [2]

The KBOR is the governing board of Kansas’s six universities and the statewide coordinating board for the state’s 32 public higher education institutions (six state universities, one municipal university, nineteen community colleges, and six technical colleges). The board administers the state’s student financial aid, adult education, high school equivalency, and career and technical education programs. The KBOR is comprised of nine members and strives to pursue measurable continuous improvement in the quality and effectiveness of the public postsecondary educational system in Kansas, while expanding participation for all qualified Kansas citizens. [3]

[1] Information provided by the Kansas 2009 ARRA SLDS Grant application https://nces.ed.gov/programs/slds/pdf/Kansas2009-ARRA.pdf
[2] Information obtained from the Kansas Department of Education’s online site http://www.ksde.org/Board
[3] Information obtained from the Kansas Board of Regent’s online site  http://www.kansasregents.org/about/policies-by-laws-missions/missions
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Data Providers

The KSLDS links data records provided by each of its participating agencies, the KSDE, KBOR, and KDOL that have established data sharing agreements with each other. These agencies provide the following data records: [1]

  • Kansas State Department of Education – K-12 data records
  • Kansas Board of Regents – Higher-Ed data records
  • Kansas Department of Labor – Workforce data records

The KSDE provides data records to the KSLDS through its K-12 state longitudinal data system, the Kansas Individual Data on Students system (KIDS). The KIDS was implemented by the KSDE in 2004 to meet the reporting requirements of the Federal No Chile Left Behind legislation. The KIDS system assigns a unique, randomly generated state identification number for every student attending accredited public or private schools in the state of Kansas. This ID number follows the student throughout their PK-12 education in the Kansas schools system. The KIDS system maintains strict student confidentiality measures to ensure that personally identifiable information is handled with the upmost safety and security. [2]

The KBOR provides data records to the KSLDS through the Kansas Higher Education Reporting System (KHERS). The KHERS is an aggregated data system maintained by the KBOR that collects data records from all public higher education institutions operating in Kansas. This includes Kansas’s six state universities, one municipal university, 19 community colleges, and six technical colleges. The KHERS contains a wide range of information on Kansas’s higher education system such as enrollment headcounts, graduation rates, and student demographics. The KHERS is specifically managed by the Data, Research and Planning (DRP) unit of the KBOR. The DRP unit is responsible for providing data analysis support for the data-driven decision making activities of the KBOR. These responsibilities include: [3]

  • The development of an integrated system of postsecondary data collection, data maintenance, data analysis, and reporting.
  • The coordination of integrated postsecondary education data system coordination between all higher education institutions in Kansas.
  • Reviewing all current higher education reports and developing electronics means of collecting and reporting these data.

The KDOL provides data records to the KSLDS through its in-house data system which collects employment and wage information about Kansas citizens. This data system contains a wealth of information pertaining to Kansas’s labor force such as wage rates, employment outcomes, work experience and work expectations. [4]

[1] Information obtained from the Workforce Data Quality Campaign http://www.workforcedqc.org/state-solutions/kansas
[2] Information obtained from the Kansas Information on Students’ online site http://kidsweb.ksde.org/
[3] Information obtained from the Kansas Board of Regents’ online site http://www.kansasregents.org/data/about_data_research_planning
[4] Information obtained from the Kansas Department of Labor’s online site https://www.dol.ks.gov
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Funding

The KSDE 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 2007 and 2009. The KSDE was awarded three federal grants, the 2007 SLDS Grant, the 2009 SLDS Grant, and the 2009 ARRA SLDS Grant for the purpose of enhancing Kansas’s SLDS. The 2007 SLDS Grant awarded Kansas $3,834,976 for developing the foundational components of the KSLDS. These funds were used to pay for the various costs associated with the development of a data system, including: personnel costs, fringe benefits, travel costs, equipment costs, supplies costs, contractual costs, and other costs. The outcomes to be produced using this funding include:[1]

  • Enhancing Kansas’s Enterprise Data System
    • Enhance student tracking, including dropouts:
      • Implement tracking of claims and exits using SIF technology
      • Investigate electronic transcripts for Kansas public and private schools
    • Enable study of impact on achievement of course sequencing, programs, and teacher preparation:
      • Implement Standard State Course Codes (SSCC)
      • Include State Student IDs and student master data management (MDM) procedures in Migrant data collection application
      • Establish educator IDs and integrate educator applications
      • Load student-level program data (historical and on-going) into EDS and update the Enterprise Metadata repository
      • Enhance Student Data Collection to collect Courses Completed for each high school student

The 2009 SLDS Grant awarded Kansas $3,911,792 for the purpose of improving the quality of the KSLDS and data interoperability between participating state agency’s data systems. These funds were used to pay for the various costs associated with the development of a data system, including: personnel costs, fringe benefits, travel costs, equipment costs, supplies costs, contractual costs, and indirect costs. The outcomes to be produced using this funding include: [2]

  • Provide secure access to integrated, quality education data
    • Continuously improve data quality and security
    • Connect data systems
  • Increase state capacity to use longitudinal data to improve student achievement
    • Make the use of data to inform decisions part of everyday practice for education leaders
    • Increase the amount and quality of education research in Kansas

The 2009 ARRA SLDS Grant awarded Kansas $9,060,442 for the purpose of expanding the abilities and functionalities of the KSLDS. These funds were used to pay for the various costs associated with the development of a data system, including: personnel costs, fringe benefits, travel costs, equipment costs, supplies costs, contractual costs, and indirect costs. The outcome to be produced using this funding include: [3]

  • Expand the ability of the state longitudinal data system to link across the P-20 education pipeline and across state agencies
  • Ensure that data can be accessed, analyzed, and used; and communicate data to all stakeholders to promote continuous improvement
  • Build the capacity of educators to use the system to develop expertise in effective practices
  • Use academic and behavioral data to inform instructional decisions and evaluate the effect of these decisions on student learning
  • Build the capacity of other stakeholders to use longitudinal data for effective decision making

The KBOR also receives funding from the state, part of which is used to sustain the KSLDS. In 2015, the KBOR received $4.5 million from the state, about $550,000 more than it has received in previous years. [4]

[1] Information obtained from the Kansas 2007 SLDS Grant application https://nces.ed.gov/programs/slds/pdf/Kansas2007.pdf
[2] Information obtained from the Kansas 2009 SLDS Grant application https://nces.ed.gov/programs/slds/pdf/Kansas2009.pdf
[3] Information obtained from the Kansas 2009 ARRA SLDS Grant application https://nces.ed.gov/programs/slds/pdf/Kansas2009-ARRA.pdf
[4] Information obtained from the Workforce Data Quality Campaign http://www.workforcedqc.org/news/blog/how-states-have-secured-sustainable-funding-data-systems
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Research Accommodation

Researches interested in analyzing the data linked through the KSLDS must submit a data request to the KSDE. Data requests to the KSDE must contain the following information:

  • Contact name
  • Contact email and phone number
  • Researcher affiliation
  • When the data is needed by
  • Detailed description about the purpose of the research
  • Requested format of data
  • Indication if researcher needs individual level data
  • Explanation of the public benefit of this research

The KSDE aims to fill all data requests within 30-45 days, however, resource and data availability can delay this process. A KSDE will contact the data requestor within 5 days of a data request being submitted to the agency to verify the request has been received, request any additional information or clarification needed, and provide an internal tracking number to the requestor.

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Public User Portal

The KSLDS has no public user portal that can be accessed by the general public. However, the participating agencies that provide data records to the KSLDS have created public user portals containing some of the information available through the KSLDS. This includes the Kansas Labor Information Center, Kansas DegreeStats, and the Kansas Career Navigator.

The Kansas Labor Information Center is a job search, career assessment, and labor market information system operated by the KDOL. The Kansas Labor Information Center provides industry, income and wages, labor force, population, occupation, and employment outlook information to Kansas citizens. Kansas DegreeStats is a interactive online tool that reviews costs and earnings data from real Kansas graduates for each undergraduate degree program offered at a public university in Kansas. Kansas DegreeStats is operated by the KBOR. It was built in 2016 in response to interest expressed by the Kansas legislature to require a ‘degree prospectus’ be published for each postsecondary degree program in Kansas. The Kansas Career Navigator is an intuitive dashboard intended to aid in the selection of education and training programs, access workforce training providers, analyze performance information and labor market information. The Kansas Career Navigator contains occupation and college program information to inform Kansas citizens about high demand, high wage occupations currently demanded within the state. It also contains high school career pathways information that helps Kansas students discover high school and college courses and opportunities that provide knowledge and experience in high demand occupations The Kansas Career Navigator is jointly operated by the KSDE, KBOR and KDOL.[1][2][3]

[1] Information obtained from the Kansas Labor Information Center https://klic.dol.ks.gov/vosnet/Default.aspx
[2] Information obtained from the Kansas Board of Regents’ online site http://www.ksdegreestats.org/about.jsp
[3] Information obtained from the Kansas Career Navigator http://kscareernav.gov/
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The Kansas legislature has no created any statutes that specifically address the KSLDS, however, the legislature created a standard definition of a “State longitudinal student data system”. According the legislature:

“’Statewide longitudinal student data system’ means any student data system maintained by the department [KSDE] which assigns a state identification number for each student who attends an accredited public or private school in Kansas and uses the state identification number to collect student data” (L. 2014, ch. 124, Statute 2, July 1.)[1]

[1] Information obtained from Kansas Legislative Sessions http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2017_18/statute//072_000_0000_chapter/072_062_0000_article/072_062_0016_section/072_062_0016_k/
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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.

Kansas 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

Kansas has currently met 9 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 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

Kansas has failed to meet the following state actions:

  • State Action 5 – Provide timely, role-based access to data

Data Quality Campaign score: 9/10

Please note that the DQC conducted this evaluation in 2014.

[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

Kansas State Department of Education
Information Technology Team Director
Lane Wiley
Email: lwiley@ksde.org
Phone: 785-296-7931

Kansas Board of Regents
http://www.kansasregents.org/about/contact

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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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