In this digital age, how do institutions know what documents to accept and from whom? This year's school closures, distance learning, online education, and other upheavals have made it even more critical for institutions to ensure that they are accepting official academic records from valid sources. Typically, receiving official documents…

Data analytics is undergoing an evolution through effective data use to support both operational and learning analytics models. However, this evolution will require that institutional leaders transform their data systems to best support the needs of application modeling and use their intuition to help drive the development of better analytical…

State databases offer researchers the opportunity to conduct research using data collected by states. These databases contain financial, demographic, and accountability data. Accessing and acquiring data from these repositories, though, can offer challenges to scholars interested in conducting research. This brief describes the type of data…

As communicated via a November 2017 memo (see ED610130), the Vermont Agency of Education (AOE), in collaboration with their implementation vendor Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH), has been working to finalize the design, development, and testing of a Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS). Through its Vertical Reporting processes, the SLDS will…

This article details the process the authors--a doctoral student at the time, and a faculty member--engaged in to change the ways the University of Iowa (UI) asks for and reports student name, gender pronouns, sex, and gender identity. The UI Inclusive Student Records Initiative raises implications for practice and research. Two focus groups--one…

A data breach occurs when a cyberhacker physically gains access to files on a computer or remotely bypasses a network's security system, gaining access to data, and stealing sensitive information. Remote network security breaches are a common method for taking sensitive information from companies. The confidential information can then be sold on…

National College Access Network (NCAN) has heard repeatedly and consistently over the years that one of the best aspects of network membership is the ability to collaborate with and learn from other members. In an effort to further the transfer of ideas, in the summer of 2016 NCAN hosted a series of four Idea Incubators across the country, which…

With over 37 million residents, California is the most populous state in the country. California's primary and secondary schools enroll over 6.2 million students,1 and there are 3.4 million undergraduates attending 683 postsecondary institutions in California. Yet, because of the lack of a strong data infrastructure, we are unable to answer basic…

The Education Program Provider Chair's objective was to create a student legacy artifact archival retrieval system. The goal was to have the database system operational by Spring Semester, 2019. The purpose of the new system was to house and index student and pre-service candidate product across performance levels reflective of the program's key…

Educational authorities and policymakers are increasingly focused on protecting student privacy while using data to inform program and policy decisions. Data from more than one government agency is often analyzed to more holistically inform these decisions. This has led to the development of integrated data systems (IDSs) that allow linkage of…

Sharing longitudinal student record data and merging data from different sources is critical to addressing important questions being asked of higher education. The Multiple-Institution Database for Investigating Engineering Longitudinal Development (MIDFIELD) is a multi-institution, longitudinal, student record level dataset that is used to answer…

Across the country, collaborative efforts are bringing together a variety of organizations that work with school-age children and youth, including out-of-school time programs and nonprofit service agencies, to improve educational outcomes in their communities. However, linking activities to outcomes can be a particular problem for nonprofit…

Faced with rising demand for information about early childhood programs, states need to find tools and strategies to monitor the progress of and to identify high-quality early childhood programs. In response, REL Mid-Atlantic convened a regional workgroup for state personnel who work with the systems containing early childhood data. The workgroup…

The Texas Education Agency developed the 2015 Texas State Plan to Ensure Equitable Access to Excellent Educators as part of a U.S. Department of Education (ED) requirement that states develop plans to ensure that all students have equal access to a quality education, regardless of race, ethnicity, or family income. Texas has had an equity plan in…

Thanks to intelligent solutions, schools, colleges, and universities no longer need to manage user account life cycles by using scripts or tedious manual procedures. The solutions house the scripts and manual procedures. Accounts can be automatically created, modified, or deleted in all applications within the school. This article describes how an…