Initiatives
Data Analysis, Evaluation and Technical Assistance Unit
In April 2009, the Center for Educational Partnerships (CEP), University of California, Merced launched the Data Analysis, Evaluations and Technical Assistance (DAETA) unit at CEP who are tasked with developing practices and procedures that ensure all students have equal opportunities to graduate and have access to the widest array of post-secondary options.
The core motivation of the work that DAETA envisioned involved a two-phase procedure, meant to penetrate every aspect of a district's operation. The first phase emphasized placing students in appropriate courses to be the utmost prepared to graduate college and be career ready. The second phase of this effort focuses on increasing the number of students who are eligible to apply to four-year colleges and universities. The influence of DAETA's work is evident in the way partnered districts have gone as far as re-designing their district's summer school program to afford students many post-secondary options.
Prior to 2009, CEP's DAETA unit's consisted of analyzing student data to identify students performing at proficient or advanced levels on state standardized tests but had a GPA lower than 2.0. As a result of these analyses, school leaders uncovered individual obstacles that students faced which directed them to offer more resources to students to help them stay on track – or get back – on target for graduation. Additional efforts consisted of counselors analyzing students' transcripts to identify deficiencies in meeting the A-G course pattern as well as the district's graduation requirements. As a result of these efforts, counselors can identify students in grades 9-12 with graduation credit deficiencies that could hold them back from graduating high school.
To help address these warning indicators, CEP partners with the University of California Office of the President to analyze all district partners' transcripts electronically through its Transcript Evaluation Service (TES) for the specific purpose of measuring A-G completion rates by grade level for all students. This data is uploaded to A-G Monitoring Tool, which is typically introduced and accessible to counselors. One facet of the A-G Monitoring Tool is allowing counselors to identify students who are on track to graduate and are close to meeting the minimum A-G courses. Once identified, counselors can provide appropriate scheduling interventions to ensure that students graduate having the greatest number of postsecondary choices from the widest array of options.
More importantly, district staff can identify site and district wide practices and procedures that have a limiting effect on the number of students who graduate college and are career ready. While there are other tools that CEP has created to advance our initiatives, the overarching motivation for all the tools is that students deserve an equal opportunity to graduate and have the greatest number of post-secondary choices from the widest array of options. In partnership with district stakeholders, CEP will continue working towards graduation and professional preparedness by offering tools to identify site- and district-wide practices and procedures that may limit the success of their student body.
Data Systems
A-G Monitoring Tool
The A-G Course Monitoring tool tracks the A-G completion status for students in grades 9-12. It then assigns the appropriate status of On-Track, Subject Borderline, or Off-Track based on the TES benchmarks established by the University of California.
A student's A-G status is determined by validation rules, course repeats, and all other appropriate articulation rules from the University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU). The tool automates a previously manual process by analyzing the student transcripts based on pooled rules to determine whether the student is on-track for A-G.
Then the tool generates an Individual Academic Plan (IAP) for every student, outlining their progress towards completing the UC and CSU approved A-G subject requirements. The user can then run various queries that helps inform master schedules, class scheduling, student support interventions necessary for students to progress and complete the required UC and CSU courses for UC and CSU eligibility.
Counseling Data Dashboard
The Counseling Data Dashboard stores numerous metrics that supports the district and practitioners' assessment of students' progression from grades 7-12 in the following areas:
- Graduation
- A-G Completion
- Credit Recovery Enrollment and Completion
- Early Warning System
- FAFSA Submission
- Post-secondary Application, Admission, and Enrollment
- Other Relevant and Overarching Indicators
The dashboard serves as a check and balance for the district and practitioners to ensure that student data is documented and reported accurately. Real-time data is available through individual indicators that can be disaggregated by subgroups and/or grade level(s) to assess the students' progress. The access to data that can be further disaggregated helps inform districts and practitioners of trends that need to be addressed to increase student success for all students.
A-G Manual Match Tool
The A-G Manual Match tool helps identify courses that are not granted A-G credit and inconsistencies with transcript abbreviations or course titles that reflect incorrectly on the master schedule or student transcripts. The identification of mismatched information allows districts to identify and document practices hindering students' post-secondary readiness and options.
FAFSA Monitoring Tool
The FAFSA Monitoring tool provides the district and school site(s) a summary of FAFSA completion for 12th-grade students. Practitioners can assess FAFSA submission, submission with errors, and incomplete submissions where student support is needed. In partnership with the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC) , the tool can import student data that helps practitioners identify the students in need of support to meet the FAFSA and income verification deadline(s).
IHE Dashboard
The Institution of Higher Education (IHE) Dashboard generates student profiles based on their post-secondary readiness for K-12 practitioners' efficient assessment. Students' post-secondary goals are entered in the database: application, admission, and enrollment.
The dashboard triggers alerts on the matriculation steps students have not completed to enroll at their selected post-secondary institution. This information is used by practitioners to prioritize the students who require immediate support to streamline their transition to and enrollment at a post-secondary institution.
The dashboard can store qualitative data collected through student surveys on their post-secondary preparation, intent, and required support and services to reach career goals.
Early Identification and Intervention System (EIIS) Tool
The Early Identification and Intervention System (EIIS) tool is designed to serve as an early warning system that helps administrators and practitioners identify at-risk students, triggering a call to action. The tool provides a comprehensive profile of students who are at-risk in real-time.
The EIIS tool provides practitioners with the profiles of students who are social-emotionally and academically at-risk in real-time. This information triggers the implementation of a district's Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) Framework.
WE Will! Data Tool
The WE Will! data tool originated from a collaborative initiative aimed at addressing systemic barriers and bridging educational gaps for students in under-resourced schools within Merced, Stanislaus, and San Joaquin Counties. This tool was then developed to streamline the process of application, review, and reporting for both the reviewers of the application and the applicants to ensure that aspiring projects that aligned with WE Will! values are efficiently funded.
For the reviewer of applications from partners, the tool offers a wide array of features that allow them to review submitted applications and keep track of project metrics of the awarded partners. With an administrative access to each partner's application submission, the data tool takes away logistical burdens of maintaining a large pool of applications so they can prioritize WeWill!'s core values of supporting students at under-resourced schools.
For partnered applicants, the data tool provides a structured way to both submit their applications and subsequently, the reporting that comes with being awarded funding. WeWill!'s dedication to their operative values means that awarded partners are responsible for reporting their progress cyclically. The narrative and data reporting feature aims to ease the operational strain for partners by providing them a structured portal for their reporting and reminders of their next deadline for reporting.
Finally, both the administrative and applicant users have access to a dashboard that displays aggregated data with a more digestible visual to help them in accessing a project's progress. The administrative users will have access to the aggregated data of all the awarded project's data while partners will only have access to their own project's information.
Partnerships
Sacramento City Unified School District
(2017 - Present)A-G Improvement Partnerships
- Le Grand High School District
- Madera Unified School District
- Dinuba Unified School DIstrict