New Hampshire Department of Education SLDS Grant CDF #84.372

Over the past decade, the NHDOE data needs have shifted dramatically from merely fulfilling various federal and state legislative mandates for reporting to driving the decision-making process at the individual, family, school, state, and federal levels. Today the need for adaptive data warehousing models is crucial in gaining added business insight, providing better access to key information, and facilitating reporting and analysis. The NHDOE has identified three projects that will transform and enhance its current SLDS into a "Next Generation" SLDS with improved data availability and accessibility. The NHDOE seeks SLDS grant funding through the infrastructure priority to support these projects/improvements:

Project 1: Purchase and deploy a Statewide Student Information System (SSIS). The goal of this project is to save the state and districts money and create a reliable, secure, responsive software environment to collect and share more timely educational data for improved analysis. The NHDOE expects the outcome of this project to be more efficient data collection and validation processes with data available on-demand.

Project 2: Adopt the Common Education Data Standards (CEDS) model and deploy the Generate tool. The goal of this project is to align the current SLDS data elements to the CEDS data model. A second goal is to deploy the Generate tool to simplify and automate IDEA, SPP/APR, and EdFacts reporting. The NHDOE expects the outcome of this project to be increased consistency, accuracy, and sustainability of federal reporting.

Project 3: Expand iPlatform functionality, a Tableau-based, self-service analytics portal. This project's goal is to add more indicators and analytics to iPlatform. The NHDOE expects the outcome of this project to be vastly improved Business Intelligence (BI) analytics for educators, policymakers, and the general public. This will result in increased understanding and greater data transparency of New Hampshire's educational landscape.

The NHDOE maintains a governance structure that positions it for success. The Department's fully formed Data Governance Program will ensure that the highest quality data are collected, protected, used, and made available to key stakeholders both within and outside the government. This will foster a data-use culture due to improved availability, linking, and use of educational data in the state. The NHDOE has increased its staff and budgeted funds to sustain the projects. The accomplishments of the NHDOE in this area have been well received across numerous state agencies, many of which have endorsed this grant application. A letter from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services envisions that the proposed SLDS upgrades will help their department develop a "more holistic system of care to meet the needs of our at-risk youth." Many other letters voice broad support for this grant and serve as a powerful testament that the NHDOE is well-positioned to maximize the capacity of its current SLDS.