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Setting the Standard�Best Practices for

Managing and Reporting Data

Justin Mehr�Collier County Public Schools

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THE NECESSITY OF DATA MANAGEMENT

Trust depends on consistency�Without a centralized system/process, work is duplicated, numbers are mismatched, and confidence is gone.

Decisions are being made without insight�Good systems provide early warning indicators and evidence that leaders can rely on.

Districts are being asked harder questions

Questions that require longitudinal tracking and advanced analytics that spreadsheets cannot do reliably.

Automation Process

COLLIER COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

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NECESSARY COMPONENTS

2. Archive Location

1. FTP Server

  • A central point for vendors to place data
  • Microsoft Server or Linux are typically used for the Operating System
  • Use “jail break” or “chroot jail” method
  • Files provided by vendors can be archived in a location for auditing and recovery
  • Typical structure used is Administration and Year
  • PowerShell can be used for automating the imports of scores and archiving the scores

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3. Database

  • For data storage and developing reports
  • Suggestions: SQL Server, PostgreSQL, Oracle, MongoDB

COLLIER COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

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NECESSARY COMPONENTS

4. PowerShell

  • A scripting language used for automation and configuration

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NECESSARY COMPONENTS

5. Integrated Development Environment (IDE)

  • Code or jobs can be developed here to help automate your process
  • Suggestions: Visual Studio, PyCharm, IntelliJ IDEA, Eclipse

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NECESSARY COMPONENTS

6. REPORTING PLATFORM

  • Once processes are in place and data are ingested, you can work on visuals!

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DATA SOURCES

  • Test Scores
  • Student Information System (SIS)
  • Florida Department of Education (FLDOE)
  • Renaissance provides FAST test scores for grades K – 2
  • Cambium provides statewide assessment scores for grades 3 – 10 and EOCs
  • All test scores are downloaded nightly
  • FOCUS is the SIS for Collier County Public Schools
  • The SIS automatically takes a snapshot of student information the day before each testing window opens
  • Survey Databases are used for tracking student attributes (ELL, ESE, Accommodations)
  • Files are provided with information needed for calculating School Grades
  • The FLDOE website provides guides to calculate School Grades (FLDOE Website)

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CREATE USEFUL REPORTS

  • School Ranking
  • School Grade Estimates
  • Data provided by the FLDOE can be used to compare our schools to each other as well as others in the state with similar characteristics.
  • The data from Cambium and Renaissance can be used together with a snapshot of student information from SIS to estimate School Grades
  • Our estimates for 2024-2025 School Grades were accurate within 0.25%
  • Return on Investment
  • Determining usage and progress for students in applications for progress monitoring may help determine ROI.

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CREATE USEFUL REPORTS

  • Test Analysis: Up-to-date reporting for subject-area assessments and benchmarks

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ONCE COMPONENTS ARE IN PLACE

  • Communicate with your data sources/vendors to set up automation
  • Develop Processes
  • Share data and visualizations with stakeholders and listen to their needs
  • Develop research!
  • Renaissance
  • Cambium
  • College Board
  • Houghton-Mifflin Harcourt
  • Lexia
  • iReady
  • FLDOE (ShareFile)
  • McGraw-Hill
    • Developing queries, scripts, jobs, etc. creates consistency in how data is imported, modified, and calculated, and presented.
    • Create Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to document Processes
  • Gather feedback on what teachers and principals need - they use the data the most!

COLLIER COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS