Alabama School Connection » Education Data

Student Privacy and Education Technology – What You Need to Know (Or Should At Least Be Asking)

What kind of information is your child sharing through the education technology used in your child’s school or classroom? What procedure did your child’s teacher, school, or district go through to ensure that the chosen education technology is using your child’s...

Posted On Oct 02 2014

, By Trisha Powell Crain

Is It Still 2002 for Alabama’s Schoolchildren?

If you look at what we’re spending for Alabama’s children to be educated in our public schools, you might think it is. With renewed discussion about how Alabama is second only to Wisconsin in cuts to spending on public education since 2008 (the zenith of public...

Posted On Jul 24 2014

, By Trisha Powell Crain

Protecting Student Privacy: FERPA and PPRA Notification Requirements

Student privacy. Protecting educational records. Hot topic these days. There are only a couple of ways parents can impact who has access to their child’s educational records in a public school. One of those opportunities comes at the beginning of the school year when...

Posted On Jul 21 2014

, By Trisha Powell Crain

We Don’t Need No Federal Dollars for Education! Or Do We?

So goes the battle cry. Particularly now that it’s election season. Candidates opine about the good old days before the United States Department of Education (USDOE) existed. Candidates enlighten us with how we Alabamians would be so much better off if we could just...

Posted On Jun 24 2014

, By Trisha Powell Crain

Class of 2013 Remediation Rates: 2- and 4-Year College Breakdown

We recently looked at the remediation rates for the class of 2013. In the initial examination of those rates, I couldn’t help but notice that in many cases there was a tremendous difference in remediation rates among the 2- and 4-year Alabama college enrollees graduating...

Posted On May 26 2014

, By Trisha Powell Crain

Not Just the Problems of Other People’s Children

This provocative new study from Harvard’s Program on Education Policy and Governance and Education Next debunks the myth that “other people’s children” are the ones who are lagging behind where achievement measures are concerned. That myth is pervasive and one...

Posted On May 14 2014

, By Trisha Powell Crain

Remediation Rates for the Class of 2013

With high school graduation ceremonies beginning soon, and students contemplating their next steps, now is a good time to look back at the Class of 2013 to see how prepared they were for their first year of college in Alabama. We have only one real, publicly-available measure...

Posted On May 12 2014

, By Trisha Powell Crain

ACT Assessments – What You Need to Know

Annual standardized testing season is here. The ACT Aspire and ACT Plus Writing will be administered to Alabama’s public school students later this month. Here’s what you need to know. ACT has a full suite of tests to assess where a student’s achievement is in...

Posted On Apr 09 2014

, By Trisha Powell Crain

Senate’s Attempt to Takeover K-12 Education: Public Hearing Tuesday, March 11

Thirteen members of the Alabama Senate have come together to attempt what can only be called a takeover of K-12 public education. They all are sponsors of SB443. A public hearing has been called for Tuesday, March 11, at 10:00 a.m. in Montgomery in Room 304 (which does not have...

Posted On Mar 06 2014

, By Trisha Powell Crain

High School Graduates: Reflective of the Population Living There?

After reviewing the 4-year high school graduation rates for the class of 2013, the question came to mind: what is the percentage of students that graduated in 2013 compared with the population living within the school district’s geographic boundaries? In other words: are...

Posted On Feb 26 2014

, By Trisha Powell Crain

The Hidden Cost of Public Education – Part 1: Dues and Fees

Families with children enrolled in Alabama’s K-12 public schools are footing more of the cost of public education than they were in 2007. Until now, the numbers showing exactly how much more have evaded public view. Over the next few weeks, Alabama’s state legislators...

Posted On Feb 06 2014

, By Trisha Powell Crain

Web Site Redo for Alabama State Department of Education

Looks like the Secret Decoder Ring I developed over the years in order to find all of the good stuff on the current Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE) web site is about to be rendered useless. State Superintendent Dr. Tommy Bice, in a January 21 meeting with ALSDE...

Posted On Feb 02 2014

, By Trisha Powell Crain

Tools to Measure and Compare Students and Schools in Alabama

As legislators grapple with how much money to allocate to our public schools, and the public grapples with whether public schools are the right place to educate their children, and educators work to prove their effectiveness, one thing has become crystal clear: we need better...

Posted On Jan 20 2014

, By Trisha Powell Crain

Where to Get Daily News About K-12 Education in Alabama

Where do you get your daily news for K-12 public education in Alabama? Do you wait for it to come across your internet feed? Hunt for it on al.com or your local newspaper or digital news site? Check your Twitter feed? Coverage of K-12 education news is inconsistent in Alabama,...

Posted On Dec 22 2013

, By Trisha Powell Crain

Alabama Isn’t Last in Everything Education – See for Yourself

EdSource, a nonpartisan California nonprofit founded in 1977, has created and shared an amazing data visualization tool to allow folks to compare education data variables among states. It’s called “States in Motion”. What is it? From their web site: How does...

Posted On Nov 24 2013

, By Trisha Powell Crain

Test Scores? Who Cares?

The used-to-be-counted-as-something-but-don’t-matter-this-year standardized test scores from Spring 2013 are now available to view. But don’t attempt any analysis unless you have a few extra hours to compile your own spreadsheets. The standardized testing ritual is...

Posted On Nov 17 2013

, By Trisha Powell Crain

Data Privacy on the State Board Agenda Again

The appointment of a Chief State Data Privacy Officer is on the State Board of Education’s (SBOE) Thursday Work Session agenda. State Superintendent Dr. Tommy Bice was obviously serious when he said the SBOE adoption of a Data Use and Governance Policy at the regular...

Posted On Oct 23 2013

, By Trisha Powell Crain

Who’s Doing a Great Job Sharing Information with the Public? The Alabama State Department of Education

Did the headline catch you off-guard? I thought it might. Well, it’s true. I’ve been around these parts my whole life, and I have never seen a public education entity, state or local, more willing to share meaningful information with the public than the folks...

Posted On Oct 10 2013

, By Trisha Powell Crain

Monitoring of School Districts by the ALSDE – What Are They Looking For?

While we are on the subject of education data, ed data, let’s take a look at what ed data the ALSDE is looking for when they monitor our local schools and school districts. Part of the ed data life cycle includes being accountable, right? It is important to understand in...

Posted On Oct 03 2013

, By Trisha Powell Crain

What Data Is Collected on Our School Children and How Is That Data Governed?

So just what data DO our public schools collect on our children? How is it housed? How, to whom, and in what form is it reported? These are data privacy issues and are burning questions in education in Alabama. This is a longer-than-average post, but stick with it, and you will...

Posted On Sep 30 2013

, By Trisha Powell Crain

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