Minnesota’s P-20 Statewide Longitudinal Education Data System (SLEDS)

1. Minnesota’s P-20 Statewide Longitudinal Education Data System (SLEDS) Minnesota Office of Higher Education April 2010

2. What is SLEDS? • The Statewide Longitudinal Education Data System (SLEDS) will: • Compile student education data from pre-kindergarten through completion of postsecondary education and into workforce. • Match data from: • Minnesota Department of Education, • Minnesota Office of Higher Education, and • Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.

3. Why create SLEDS? • Creating a statewide student longitudinal data system has been a goal for Minnesota state legislators, state agencies and the governor for several years. • National organizations have supported state efforts to create these data systems. • The federal government required states to create these data systems to receive fiscal stabilization funds in 2009.

4. What are federal requirements? Federal requirements specify state systems must be able to: (i) identify factors that correlate to students' ability to successfully engage in and complete postsecondary-level general education coursework without the need for prior developmental coursework; (ii) identify factors to increase the percentage of low-income and minority students who are academically prepared to enter and successfully complete postsecondary-level general education coursework; and (iii) use the data in the system to otherwise inform education policy and practice in order to better align State academic content standards, and curricula, with the demands of postsecondary education, the 21st century workforce, and the Armed Forces. The America Competes Act

5. What is the vision of SLEDS? • To link currently available data • K-12 enrollment and high school graduation data • Postsecondary enrollment and completion data • Employment / workforce data • To conduct research • Identify predictors of long-term student success • Design targeted improvement strategies in programs • Improve data driven decision making • Meet federal funding requirements

6. What types of student data will be included? • Attendance (school or college name) • Demographic (age, gender, race) • Enrollment (grade level, year of graduation) • Academic performance and testing (test scores, # of credits enrolled) • Special Services (free and reduced price lunch eligible, gifted/talented, English language learner)

7. What research can be done using SLEDS? • System Performance Analysis • Who participates in higher education upon high school graduation? • Who does not participate? Why? • Educational Attainment Gap Analysis • What are the retention, graduation and completion rates by racial/ethnic groups? Geographic areas? • Program and Intervention Analysis • What courses, curriculum and programs lead to college participation and completion?

8. What are the legal issues? • Minnesota Data Practices Act • Identifies categories of individual data that can be shared • Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) • Restricts an education institution’s ability to disclose data • Restricts MDE and OHE’s ability to redisclose student data • MDE and OHE Data Sharing Agreement • Defines student data to be provided by each agency • Specifies linkage and usage of student data as required by FERPA • OHE Enrollment Data Sharing Agreement with higher education institutions • Defines data to be provided by higher education institutions • Specifies OHE’s usage of the data as required by FERPA

9. P-20 Education Partnership Who will govern SLEDS? SLEDS Governance Committee SLEDS Data Advisory Committee SLEDS Research Committee SLEDS System Coordinators SLEDS IT Staff Minnesota Office of Higher Education Minnesota Department of Education SLEDS State Data Center

10. What are SLEDS committee responsibilities? • Governance Committee • Evaluate research requests • Appoint research and data advisory committee members • Research Committee • Develop and evaluate proposed research • Provide technical expertise • Data Advisory Committee • Review technical specifications of data requests • Provide technical expertise on data structure, linkages, user interfaces

11. What are the organizational responsibilities? • State Agencies – MDE, OHE, DEED, OET • Maintain student confidentiality during data linkage • Maintain data integrity of new data system • Identify and conduct research for state level policy making using SLEDS data • Postsecondary Institutions • Provide postsecondary education data to OHE • Serve as objective reviewers of state level research • Identify and conduct research using SLEDS data

12. What are the next steps? • Share the vision of a longitudinal data system • Appointment of committee members by Minnesota’s P-20 Education Partnership • Establish data sharing protocols • Develop technical specifications and construct data system • Formalize research agenda

13. Need more information? Minnesota Office of Higher Education http://www.ohe.state.mn.us Agency initiatives: Minnesota P-20 Statewide Longitudinal Educational Data System