North Dakota Data Utilization Project

North Dakota Department of Public Instruction R372A150042 Project Title: North Dakota is seeking federal funding to expand their current SLDS to provide usable data to stakeholders at all levels (K12schools post-secondary institutions state agencies and policy makers) Project Description: The North Dakota Data Utilization Project (Data UP) works to improve data literacy and use for current and pre-service teachers, improve use of student-level longitudinal data to increase college readiness and completion, and promote strategies designed to support data-driven decisions to better meet workforce demand and improve workforce supply and demand policy development. To that end, the project addresses two priorities for State Longitudinal Data System (SLDS) data use: Instructional Support and College and Career Readiness. The applicant is the North Dakota Department of Public instruction and the agency responsible for the direction and implementation of the grant is the In formation Technology Department SLDS with oversight by the Executive Steering Committee. To address the Instructional Support priority, the project will provid e data literacy and utilization training for both in-service teachers and students studying to become teachers. A formal plan for teacher data utilization based on the A+ Inquiry Framework will be developed and implemented for teachers throughout North Dakota. Teacher education programs will develop modules to help teacher education students learn how to effectively use SLDS an d other data to improve student learning and achievement. The SLDS portal used by teachers in the state will also be expanded to allow increased interactivity and a training site used by college preparation programs and for professional development. To address the College and Career Readiness priority, the project will support the improvement of college student retention and achievement rates and better me et the state’s workforce needs. Three primary strategies or objectives are designed to meet this priority. The first is to improve postsecondary retention. Data UP will a) provide the university system with student risk factor data specific to each type of college, b) identify retention rate factors for North Dakota college students, and c) develop interventions and strategies to support retention at the colleges. The second is to increase college achievement rates. Data UP wil l a) develop a crosswalk of the degree programs offered through the ND University System to identify potential stackable certificates and degrees, b) expand the pilot program for reverse transfer wherein students may earn a supporting degree or certificate after transfer to a more advanced degree, and c) engage students who are at risk for dropping out or have already dropped out to assist them with degree completion. The third is to better address workforce demands in the state. Data UP will a) develop a crosswalk of CIP and SOC codes so that colleges can identify certificate and degrees that meet high work-force demand areas, b) build supply/demand data marts to assist university and labor market researchers, c) recruit students in the univers ity system to the ND workforce, and d) use data to improve consumer information and research.