Changing Data Requirements: Irregularities in Learning Make Comparisons Impossible
Changing Data Requirements
Irregularities in Learning Make Comparisons Impossible
The Western New York Regional Information Center’s (WNYRIC) Data Warehouse provides component districts with a unified system of collecting data and creates a pipeline for reporting that data to the NYS Education Department (NYSED). This student and staff data is used for a variety of NYSED reporting requirements, as well as to provide reporting to inform instructional changes.
During the 2020-21 school year, as a result of the pandemic, some of the data districts were asked to submit drastically changed. One of these changes was the reporting of student attendance. New reporting guidelines from NYSED required districts to collect not just the number of students who were absent on a daily basis, but also the number of students present and their learning modality – either remote or in-person. The collection of this data was compounded in complexity by the fact that not every district’s model of handling pandemic-related closures and quarantines was the same for the 2020-21 school year.
“Comparing data from district to district was not the same anymore because every district is using a different learning model,” Jill Schottman, Data Warehouse Support specialist explained.
Other factors facing districts regarding their data was an increase in chronic absenteeism and the dramatic decrease in the number of students taking 2020-21 Grade 3-8 ELA, Math and Science assessments and Regents exams.
Because of the changes to the assessments, NYSED was very late in releasing the 3-8 ELA and Math data in the Fall.
“This year more than others, districts cannot compare their data to other districts’ data. The irregularities and disruption in the testing cycle mean that this year’s data cannot be accurately used for large-scale comparisons,” Schottman said.
The data can still be used on the individual level to be sure students receive the supports they need.
For the 2021-22 school year, the data collection impacts from the pandemic continue. Digital resource gaps became more evident. Districts, charters and BOCES are now required to request parents and guardians to respond to a digital equity survey for each child and submit the data to NYSED using data warehouses like WNYRICs.
“Everyone on the Data Warehouse Support Team comes from an educational background. The experience of working with students means we have the mission in mind – we know all of the data represents real children in schools and that this data impacts those students,” Jill Schottman.
If you have questions about the Data Warehouse, or how to generate data reports for your district, please reach out to the team. Contact them at dataview@e1b.org.