State of Louisiana Department of Education STATS-DC 2012 Data Conference July 13, 2012

Agenda Define the Challenge Options Available Option Selected Benefits Outcome Additional Uses How did it help the LDOE?

Define the Challenge The Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) had a need to track students transferring between public schools and charter schools in the New Orleans region. Some students were exiting one organization and then registering at a new school days later, thereby interrupting the delivery of classroom instruction to the students.

Define the Challenge Needed to quickly and efficiently collect student data from districts and Charter School organizations within the New Orleans area. The SIS data was hosted at various sites both in Louisiana and outside the State. Multiple SIS vendors involved. Needed enrollment, attendance and discipline data on a daily basis.

Options Available Modify existing DOE collection systems Too much work required and would take too long. Too much burden on the districts, both time and money. Implement Vertical SIF Too much work, too complex and too much time. Buying and implementing a SEA SIS Long-term option, not valid for this need, expensive. OtisEd’s Vertical Data Submitter (aka “Data Pump”) Quick, simple and inexpensive option. Already owned the product.

Option Selected: Data Pump A Single Purpose “App” Serves one function Quickly and efficiently harvests data Moves data from source to target quickly Has the ability to follow a “data manifest” The manifest states: > What data are to be picked-up and delivered, > From where, > To where and > At what frequency.

Benefits Very Small Footprint The Data Pump sits near the source and can access the source data tables directly Extract a part or all of the source data, based on the “manifest” Compresses the data Encrypts the data Transports the data to a Secure FTP server “Data Receiver” picks it up Stages it into Warehouse Deletes the copy on the Secure FTP server.

Data Pump Configuration NOPS LEA Charter ABC Charter 123 LEA or Charter n LEDRS * SLDS Secure FTP Server “Data Pump” 1)Extract 2)Compress 3)Encrypt Firewall Data Warehouse Scheduled Extract Firewall * LEDRS – Louisiana Education Data Repository System

Outcome Using the “Data Pump,” we were able to connect to and collect data almost immediately. (In some cases, as quickly as 1 hour) It brought over the data required to manage the problem with exiting students. With this simple app, the LDOE was able to support and assist local school districts with a difficult problem. The separate LEAs and Charters were not able to solve this problem on their own, and the LDOE SLDS was able to play a part to manage this subset of students.

Additional Uses The LDOE plans on using the data pump to collect data from all the districts, across the state. In time, it will replace the majority of the in-house data collection systems, providing benefits by: > Reducing the burden on the districts for submitting data. > Refocusing state resources currently working on annual. collection systems to spend more time analyzing data and. less time on data compliance. > Having access to timely and complete data at the state’s. fingertips.

Additional Uses It will provide us the benefits of having a State SIS at a fraction of the cost. We will be able to retask the SEA resources to analyze data rather then collect data for Compliance Reporting. Allows the LEAs to pick a SIS vendor of their choice instead of the state dictating which SIS they should use. It is simple to set up and use.

Presenters Mr. James McMahon IT Deputy Director Louisiana Department of Education Mr. Kamal Kumar Otis Educational Systems (917)