Pennsylvania faces greater data needs and challenges in reaching requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) and state objectives than most, if not all, other states. The Pennsylvania Pathways to Performance strategic plan created a vision and roadmap to improve the situation. Central to this plan is the establishment of the Pennsylvania Information Management System (PIMS) to address substantial gaps in Pennsylvania Department of Education's (PDE) capacity to harness data to support NCLB and state priorities.
PIMS will include two main sub-systems:
- A Vertical Reporting System that will:
- complete the state student ID assignment process;
- strengthen all existing PDE data collections from local education agencies (LEAs); and
- fully enable the School Interoperability Framework (SIF) for districts that are ready to benefit from it, but not rely on SIF for districts not yet ready.
- A Longitudinal Data Management System that will include:
- an initial, agency-wide data warehouse;
- a set of four data marts optimized for key user types;
- a learning resource exchange to provide careful alignment of standards, assessments, eligible content, curriculum, instructional practices and resources; and
- a common student level pK-16 identifier and initial participation in the National Transcript Center.
With the aid of an IES State-wide Longitudinal Data System grant, PDE will build on its foundation and significant investment over the past 24 months. Using grant funds, PDE will put in place a statewide, SIF-enabled, unique pK-16 student record management and vertical reporting system through which quality data and a state-of-the-art learning resource exchange can be available to educators, students, parents, policymakers and other stakeholders. The available data and resources will be of timely use in supporting teaching and learning, eliminating performance gaps between subgroups of students, and contributing to improving achievement of all students.
Progress To Date—Pennsylvania has launched the PAsecureID initiative that will establish the foundation on which we can build PIMS. PAsecureID has three primary objectives:
- Assign ID's to Pennsylvania's 1.8 million k-12 students – July 2006
- Ensure all 800k PSSA student records have a PAsecureID – Spring 2006
- Create a foundation for PIMS
