The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), with support from the Governor and in partnership with the Department of Labor and Industry (L&I), Department of Human Services (DHS), Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE), and the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL), is pleased to submit this proposal to the U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences State Longitudinal Data System (SLDS) grant competition CDFA #84.372. This proposal seeks to build on Pennsylvania’s existing SLDS, the Pennsylvania Information Management System (PIMS) and the Early Warning System (EWS). Expanding access to education data for students, parents, teachers, administrators, and policymakers is critical to achieving Governor Wolf’s goal to create “Jobs that Pay, Schools that Teach, and Government that Works.”
Proposed initiatives will improve PDE’s capacity and impact in the following focus areas:
Instructional Support: Expansion of PDE’s evidence-based EWS into an enhanced Educator Dashboard. The Dashboard will be expanded to include Early Childhood student level data, as well as include new data cutting tools. PDE will develop and share training resources through a toolkit, the annual Data Summit, and PDE’s website to help support organizational development around the use of for Priority and Focus Schools.
Evaluation and Research: Expansion of PDE’s capacity to conduct evaluation and research to inform program and policy decisions, and to increase stakeholder capacity to analyze and apply data in a timely, meaningful way through a public facing One Stop Data Shop. These critical initiatives will improve Pennsylvania’s ability to turn data into insights and insights into classroom-, district-, and state level actions that ensure all students have the opportunity to receive an education that allows them to reach their full potential. In particular, the state’s commitment and plan to support educators and administrators in Focus and Priority Schools is vital to achieve the turnaround goals identified in PDE’s most recent Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Flexibility Waiver. Pennsylvania believes this is critical to creating a strong public education system that expands economic opportunities and strengthens schools and communities across the commonwealth. Through these initiatives, Pennsylvania will build on best practices for data integration and linking systems, and will meet the required capabilities and components of a P-16+ longitudinal data system.
In short, this grant will provide the right data to those who need it to make decisions affecting Pennsylvania’s learners.
