Stephen Aley Associate Provost and UTEP-TNE Program Manager Case Presentation to the

1. Issues and Challenges in Developing a Data Warehouse Linking University, Community College, and School District Data Stephen Aley Associate Provost and UTEP-TNE Program Manager Case Presentation to the Teachers for a New Era Learning Network Conference October 30-31, 2007 www.academics.utep.edu/tne

2. University of Texas at El Paso • Doctoral granting institution, Research intensive • Student population predominantly from the El Paso area • Teacher preparation is a “closed loop” • Strong inter-Institution Education Partnerships • El Paso Community College (EPCC) • Local ISDs • El Paso Collaborative (K-16) • Building intra-Institution Collaboration • Colleges of Education, Science, and Liberal Arts

3. Role of Teachers for a New Era • Communication and Collaboration • Among Institutions • Within the University • Data • Goal: A data research center for all relevant teacher, student, and pupil data within the “closed loop”

4. Data Warehouse Reality • Over 12,000 UTEP student records (since 1999) • UTEP AND EPCC courses, instructors and grades • Student entry test data (ACT, SAT, Math and English placement) • State-mandated assessments—including teacher certification scores • Survey results (e.g., TNE entry and exit surveys) • Student majors and minors, demographics, campus employment, high schools • Custom data from other education initiatives

5. Data Warehouse Goals Expand current warehouse to include: • Pre-service teacher internship assignments and evaluations • Teacher induction programs • District teachers and pupil performance

6. Role of UTEP “Student Success” Initiative • 10 yr initiative tied to SACS Accreditation • Extension of TNE goals university wide • Vehicle for institutionalization of Data Warehouse • Also a vehicle for developing analysis tools

7. Challenges • Multi-institution Data • Physical location and security • Database design • Different research questions and customized needs • Data Security • Multi-institution data sources, accessibility issues • Mindset of faculty on education research • Multi-disciplinary, scientific rigor • Sustainability • Who owns, supports, maintains, controls, takes responsibility

8. Challenges Within University and with CC, great! With ISDs, not so good. • Multi-institution Data • Physical location and security • Database design • Different research questions and customized needs • Data Security • Multi-institution data sources, accessibility issues • Mindset of faculty on education research • Multi-disciplinary, scientific rigor • Sustainability • Who owns, supports, maintains, controls, takes responsibility Research base – data center, full physical security, firewall support Relational DB. Staffing, design in flux MSQL, three phases of implementation Something of a change for everyone! (educ, sci, social sci) Research University based, Student Success Initiative link

9. Possible Opportunities for Collaboration • Are there common issues and strategies at other institutions pertaining to the creation and sustainability of a comprehensive data warehouse, which pertain to: • Technical concerns, • Access and use, • Maintenance, and • Collaboration with other entities (e.g., community colleges, school districts)? • What can be shared and learned among sites? • What venues might be established for sharing (e.g., TNE website, a listserv)?

10. Request for Feedback and Suggestions • Any experience with granular matching of higher education and K-12 data without the use of Social Security Numbers? What precedents, based on FERPA rulings, may be relevant? • Any experiences with design architecture for a K-16 data system? Centralized data ware house or links to existing databases? What researchers to have access to what data? • Any experience with incentives to encourage faculty interdisciplinary and quantitative research? • How to Support, Sustain, and Institutionalize?