Projects
Data Collection Software
- Virginia Teacher Data Warehouse/Teacher Pipeline Application
- Working in conjunction with the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV), HigherEd.org is involved in two parallel projects about teacher training and data quality for the state. Half of this effort is contracted through Radford University, the other through The College of William and Mary. HigherEd.org is responsible as the subcontractor for building a unit record data collection and analysis system for SCHEV to track teachers as they are trained in schools of education and alternative licensure programs. This involves a complex Web database application system, with upload, editing, and reporting features. The results of the individual student data will be supplemented with a series of five surveys of teachers, alumni, employers, working conditions, and teacher development programs. The data will eventually be tied to student outcomes with SOL testing and to tax and employment data. In addition to the Teacher Pipeline Application collecting unit record data and the creation of five ongoing Web-based surveys, HigherEd.org is also developing a specialized version of its IPEDS Dataset Cutting Tool for SCHEV to use in creating customized restricted license datasets for research use. HigherEd.org also developed and maintains the project web site, housed at http://highered.org/teal.
- IPEDS Combined Data Allocation
- The purpose of this 2005-06 contract was to analyze, develop, and incorporate institutional feedback about an allocation scheme to proportionally distribute IPEDS data across institutions that share program participation agreements and have parent/child reporting relationships. The resulting data file of allocation factors and documented methods allows user to more accurately compare institutions and systems. Without an allocation scheme, institutional comparisons are always suspect because of incomparable data that are at different levels of aggregation. HigherEd.org conducted interviews with key informants, reviewed the literature, and proposed an analysis plan to the National Council for Educational Statistics (NCES), which after approval was used to create a data file of proposed factors and methods. The Research Triangle Institute (RTI) was subcontracted to use its IPEDS Help Desk to contact institutions to confirm or submit new factors, using a Web application designed by HigherEd.org.
- Allocation factors and methodologies were analyzed and recommended for all three IPEDS HR surveys. Additional analysis was conducted of the IDX relationships and collection eligibility for the Staff and Faculty Salaries surveys. The resulting allocation data file was submitted to National Council on Education Statistics (NCES), edited and reviewed for data integrity before approval, then incorporated into the IPEDS database. Allocation factors and methods are now available for 2004 in the IPEDS PAS. These allocation factors must be considered when conducting data validity studies for the IPEDS HR surveys. HigherEd.org has this critical experience for applying factors as needed, as required by the statement of work.
- Derived Variables for IPEDS
- HigherEd.org provided leadership in 2004-05 for a National Council on Education Statistics (NCES) technical review panel and, as part of followup activities, developed a comprehensive set of IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education System) derived/calculated variables for 2002, 2003, and 2004. These variables are currently being incorporated by NCES into the IPEDS Peer Analysis System (PAS). Numerous HR variables were developed, though the need for these has been reduced somewhat with the ongoing creation of subtotals as part of ongoing improvement of the PAS software. As part of the IPEDS Enhancements contract for 2005-06, HigherEd.org has designed a special console application to create and apply calculations for new derived variables, but this software cannot be designed and implemented until the new IPEDS 2 database architecture is fully tested and in place.
- Common Data Set Exchange (CDSX)
- HigherEd.org designed and from 2003 to 2005 maintained the Common Data Set Exchange (CDSX) to facilitate online exchange of Common Data Set (CDS) data and to provide useful and timely peer analyses for participating institutions. In 2005, 390 institutions participated in this free data exchange, which was partially funded by the Carnegie Foundation. HigherEd.org developed the CDSX based on previous work funded by NCES for the VIOLIN project. A help desk was maintained to respond to phone and email questions and to provide technical support. Approximately one-thousand data variables were collected online and made available in customized datasets for internal use by institutional researchers for 2002, 2003, and 2004. The CDS includes some HR-related data. Due to lack of continued funding, this free service to the institutional research community was discontinued, though the software is still maintained to allow existing users access to their data. The CDSX offered a special $50 annual fee that allowed institutions to dynamically generate both a PDF and an HTML version of the CDS, as well as a special URL for public hosting. Discussions are underway to turn this project over to an AIR-affiliated group to continue this important collection.
- Lumina Foundation Study of Noncredit Course Activity
- Funded through the University of Virginia by the Lumina Foundation, HigherEd.org staff conducted a two-year national study of non-credit course activity. This work has included an examination of ways that non-credit data are collected and stored in administrative information systems at the institution level, as well as various state, national and association organizations. Data were collected online with email and phone follow up with a sample of all Title IV schools. A total of 1,262 schools supplied data for a 60% response rate. The results were published in a New Directions for Higher Education monograph (Milam, 2005).
Other project areas:
©2006 HigherEd.org, Inc. All Rights Reserved