Information for State Agencies
HigherEd.org has assisted the U.S. Department of Education and its National Center for Education Statistics in a variety of projects, from building online software applications to conducting technical review panels to preparing special data tabulations and studies.
Institutional data measurement
Two tool sets demonstrate what can be developed for knowledge management (KM) software solutions at the state level. Both may be applied to different state data needs, including institution performance measure data as well as unit record data.
- IPEDS Data Analysis System (DAS)
- The DAS does not require users to know very much about your state's particular variables or value labels. It lets them create aggregate tables that sum, average, and count different variables of interest.
- The DAS model can also be used to help state agencies such as SHEEOs (state higher education executive officers) and system offices create customized, aggregate reports about unit record and other data.
- IPEDS Dataset Cutting Tool(DCT)
- The DCT is geared more for users who want to manipulate state data collections using other statistical tools such as SAS, SPSS, and STATA. The DCT allows users to create customized datasets for their unique use. In addition to the data, it provides a customized data dictionary, programs for reading the data into SAS, SPSS, or STATA, and a special spreadsheet file that includes value labels.
- For creating state restricted site licenses, the Dataset Cutting Tool is especially powerful for creating custom datasets and is a model for helping power users create sophisticated programs. It is often difficult for users to keep track of changes in variable titles, names, and their associated value labels. The DCT does this automatically and also merges data when appropriate across different tables so that users can have a single spreadsheet or table of data to analyze.
- A version of the DCT is currently being developed for a unit record data collection for the state of Virginia about teachers being prepared in schools of education. This model can be expanded for many other purposes and states.
User-friendly KM tools
HigherEd.org can also produce more user-friendly knowledge management (KM) tools to to help users compare institutional peer comparisons within states and understand your data.
- IPEDS Executive Peer Tool (ExPT)
- The ExPT demonstrates an approach where users select the variables of interest and the software does the work for them of comparing data and generating meaningful graphics.
Secure data collection tools
In addition to promoting effective use of the data, HigherEd.org has been involved in extensive data collection efforts. The Lumina, CDSX, and TPA efforts described below demonstrate HigherEd.org's capability for developing a secure, complex data collection to meet different state agency needs.
- Lumina Foundation Noncredit Data Collection
- The company has developed online data collection tools to collect state and institution-level data about noncredit course activities as part of a Lumina Foundation study.
- HigherEd.org is currently conducting a follow up study about instructional costs, also funded by the Lumina Foundation, with surveys of states and institutions.
- Common Data Set Exchange (CDSX)
- The CDSX is another exciting example of a HigherEd.org data collection with wide appeal for state agencies. This involves over a thousand data elements, in 10 tables, about admissions data. The CDSX application collects data from participating institutions and lets them create customized datasets and generate PDF and HTML versions of their Common Data Set for a particular year.
- Virginia Teacher Pipeline Application (TPA)
- Another online data collection effort by HigherEd.org has been developed for the Virginia Teacher Pipeline Application. This effort involves the collection of individually-identifiable student unit record data about teachers as they progress through schools of education and alternative licensure programs in Virginia. The application is being developed by HigherEd.org and will be housed at the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV).
For more information, please contact:
John Milam at jmilam@highered.org or telephone 540.722.6060
