NOVEMBER 2010
Cal-PASS paves a road out of the data wastelands
With our state in such sorry shape, this owl has been flapping his way across California, looking for signs of a more hopeful future. After putting aside my fears about our frightening finances and grim government, I have indeed found something to hoot about: Cal-PASS, the California Partnership for Achieving Student Success.
I know you’re wondering why Cal-PASS and why now? This owl believes that educators lack a mirror, a way to see their work reflected clearly and without distortion. That mirror can be data, framed in a meaningful context and presented in revealing ways. This owl’s hunch is that those who work so hard in the world of schooling can work smarter if they see themselves more clearly in the mirror that is data. Cal-PASS, a relatively new state-funded data-collection effort that tracks students from kindergarten through college, just might be the mirror that provides evidence of results.
CAL-PASS: THE VOLUNTARY DATA COMMONS
At an October 19 education data conference in Mountain View hosted by The Education Trust—West, the Silicon Valley Education Foundation and the Silver Giving Foundation, I joined 80 other curious souls to hear the executive director of Cal-PASS, Brad Phillips, speak. Phillips described the wonders of voluntary data sharing among K-12 and colleges, and the ethos of share and share alike: if you give, you get. Voluntary sharing of student-level data, all of it anonymous to make the FERPA police happy, makes it possible to answer questions such as:
• What percentage of the class of 2007 who entered community college completed two years of study and earned an AA degree?
• Of those who earned an AA , how many continued their studies at a four-year college?
• How many of our seniors who earned As or Bs in high school English landed in remedial English in their first year at CSU?
The answers to these questions, which span the divide that normally separates K-12 from higher education, can reveal serious misalignments between the two worlds. One consequence of misalignment is remediation. This is an expensive consequence, and the cost is borne both by individuals and the system.
Going back to the English class example, Cal-PASS’s Phillips told this story. Not long ago in San Diego, one of the 64 Cal-PASS regional/topical PLCs (professional learning communities) met and compared notes on the question of curriculum for English in high school, community college and CSU/UC. Members brought textbooks and lesson plans to compare what each system was teaching. Lo and behold, high schools were teaching literature, community colleges were teaching writing, and the CSU/UC systems were mixing rhetoric and literature. No wonder, he exclaimed, that so many students were landing in remediation classes in community colleges. The exit requirements from high school had little to do with the entrance requirements of community colleges.
These are the "aha!" moments many educators have been waiting for. With two-thirds of K-12 districts now participating in Cal-PASS, and most public colleges already in the mix, no one needs to wait any longer. Because Cal-PASS started in the community college world, its roots are strongest in that soil. But if your district is among the one-third who is not yet participating, give the Cal-PASS folks a call. Just ring Michelle Kalina at (916) 759-2486.
LEAP CASTLE WALLS BY ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS
Cal-PASS can help participants see what happens to their students after they graduate. But the barrier that divides K-12 from higher education is just one hurdle that Cal-PASS can help you clear. Cal-PASS can also bridge the barrier that separates an elementary district from a high school district or a middle school from a high school.
Districts are like castles, if you will, in a medieval countryside. They govern themselves with rules that are likely to differ. Their board members rarely know each other. Their knowledge often remains within their castles. They mint their own coins (academic credit). They communicate when their scribes send messengers castle to castle. Their moats are wide (email spam filters are their alligators), and their drawbridge is rarely lowered. Cal-PASS creates a city out of these castles, encouraging trade (students and data moving freely among them) , lowering tariffs (the cost of trade across boundaries), and enabling everyone to see what each castle’s "money" (academic credits) is worth.
Cal-PASS has also lowered the barrier to use. At the Oct. 19 conference this owl attended, Brad demonstrated a new, simpler method of querying their data. This is what they call their Standardized Metrics for Analysis, Reporting, and Tracking system, or SMART technology, and it lets people with questions find their own answers. No programming skills are needed. No need to submit report requests to someone else. With 30 minutes of training, you can ask questions of this powerful data set and put its answer engine to work. This short video (which should have been titled "The Data Whisperer") explains more.
Brad is looking for K-12 districts to join the Cal-PASS pilot group now. Reach him at (619) 933-7489 or his research leader, Terrence Willett, at (831) 277-2690.
THE IRONY OF Cal-PASS’S SUCCESS
This owl finds it ironic that Cal-PASS’s voluntary data commons is picking up steam at exactly the same moment that the involuntary data mandate that is CALPADS has fallen so far behind. CALPADS’s trials and tribulations are visible to all, and the Sacramento Bee ran a story in September that concluded it was fully one year behind schedule. CALPADS folks are still struggling to simply affirm the October 2009 enrollment and graduation and dropout rates. So the tremendous value that CALPADS promised has yet to be realized. This is despite the power of the CDE, IBM, state law, and many millions of dollars.
Cal-PASS, on the other hand, was a modest effort with little money that asked for volunteers to contribute anonymized student data: transcripts, enrollment, classroom grades, CST results, the works. It built this in roughly half the time that CALPADS has been alive, at a fraction of the cost. And it is delivering value now. The combination of collaboration and the entrepreneurial spirit have carried the day.
WHERE DOES THIS LEAVE CALIFORNIA?
This is the good news. The sad news is that California still lags many states in data savvy. The model for Cal-PASS, Florida’s longitudinal student data system, has been around for two decades. Jay Pfeiffer, the leader of Florida’s system, has trekked to California and met with legislators and educators. The story he tells is one of clear-headed political thinking, primitive hardware (IBM 360), and pragmatic leadership in command.
The longitudinal student data system used in Texas is also miles ahead of California’s. At a lunchtime talk at the October 19 conference, Lori Fey of the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation showed us slides of student-level data before implementation of the Texas Student Data System and after. TSDS is available to every educator in Texas with access privileges. Its architecture lets districts hook into the state system, and build customized views of their own—a clever way to reconcile the needs of independent districts and a state system.
If you want to look yourself at the beginning of the new Texas student information system, jump right in. It includes many features that we in California have been dreaming about for years. While San Francisco’s Giants might have beaten the Texas Rangers in this World Series, clearly the Texas Department of Education is trouncing the California Department of Education in student data access. (Texas’ development plan calls for a gradual roll-out, with full deployment complete by 2015.)
HOOTING AND HOLLERING
This old owl doesn’t get excited often. But I’m hooting with excitement now. Cal-PASS is happening now. It is one road that points toward a wiser future, one where district and school leaders can steer their institutions with their eyes wide open. Even if California as a state is lagging and struggling, you are free to steer your ship on an independent course. We urge you to use your freedom to call Cal-PASS this week.
REFERENCES
This owl lives at School Wise Press and wants to hear your story. Call Steve Rees at (415) 337-7971 x206.
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