1. Becky Smerdon Council of Great City Schools October 21, 2010
Early Warning Indicator Development for DC Public Schools: Lessons for Establishing a Foundation for Data Use in Schools
Becky Smerdon
Council of Great City Schools
October 21, 2010

2. Background: Types of Indicators
Early Warning Indicator

7. DCPS Context Desire for Early Warning Indicator, need for it BUT
Data system was a work-in-progress
Absenteeism underreported
Transcript data highly suspicious
About ¼ of students had three years of data

8. Change of Direction: How are Data Collected and Used?
Schools do a better job of collecting data when there are clear guidelines for collection and quality control and someone, with the skills and time, is responsible for collection and reporting
Teachers are more likely to use data that they perceive will help them teach to their students
Using data for decisionmaking is a learned skill

9. Recommendations to ensure that valid, reliable information is being collected
Establish common, standardized definitions and coding procedures across the school district for collected data;
Establish a set of validation rules that are applied to submitted data prior to formally accepting the data;
Perform statistical checks on data submitted by schools;
Establish a system for investigating the accuracy of data flagged by the statistical checks;
Create standards for the percent of departing students that schools must be able to locate;
Conduct on-site data quality checks at a number of schools each quarter;
Determine and provide supports needed for schools to ensure the collection and submission of accurate and complete information (staff, computers, training, etc);
Impose consequences on schools that do a poor job of collecting and submitting accurate and complete information.
Adapted from the Data Quality Campaign’s Survey Elements:

10. National High School Center Tool
Using an Early Warning Indicator Tool 7-Step Implementation Guide For more information,