Data Teams, Best Practices

Importance of Submitting School and District Data

The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) is the state agency that oversees public education and libraries in Wisconsin. Our mission is to advance equitable, transformative, and sustainable educational experiences that develop learners, schools, libraries, and communities in Wisconsin. 

DPI is also the state agency responsible for informing schools and districts of the student and staff data that is required for each school year by state statutes and Federal law. DPI staff work directly with the staff in our educational agencies:

• Keep them informed of data reporting needs and timing of data submission
• Provide training to support data reporting
• Communicate data quality alerts
• Assist with data quality troubleshooting

The Department of Public Instruction recommends districts cultivate a team of people who understand the programs, data, business rules, use of the data for state and federal reporting, and local policies to coordinate data reporting. Data teams can offer insight and expertise in their data area, be involved in clarifying data submission guidelines, and assist with data review and issue resolution. Collaborating with the currently designated WISEdata contact on these efforts will increase awareness at the local level and help to ensure better quality data.

Data submitted by schools tells the story of the students and staff it represents, so accurate data tells the best story. A high-functioning data team, focused on accurate and timely data reporting, is a key part of the action plan to achieve your data goals. 

Our goal at DPI? Engaged Learners Creating a Better Wisconsin Together.

Education data is a primary tool to find out if our students, schools, and policies are working effectively for all students. Over time the data shows the results of changes we make in schools, letting us track progress and adjust our practices for improved learning results of all Wisconsin students. 

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When Does School Data Matter Most?

All the time! Data is reported to DPI year-round; however, there are specific times during the school year when accurate data reporting is a premium priority. 

The December Student Snapshot and the May Demographics Snapshot create a static collection of data. All types of researchers use this data to analyze education outcomes in Wisconsin, including accountability report cards. DPI encourages data teams to meet at the start of each term and several times throughout the year to review the data, tend to data quality, and address any technical issues like validation errors.

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What Does a Data Team Do?

School data teams focus deeply on all aspects of the data cycle: 

• submitting and reporting student and staff data; 
• disaggregating and analyzing the data; 
• performing data quality adjustments; 
• finding pain points and bright spots within data groups; 
• locating the root causes; and 
• implementing action plans to improve results.

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Who is on a Data Team?

Data lives in cycles. Data teams support all phases of a data cycle. Generally, a school data team (either at the school or district level) typically consists of a data team leader, curriculum and instruction leaders, special education directors, data specialists, and other educators engaged in the process.

Two Sides of a Data Team

There are two sides to the data team coin: 

• the team focused on submitting the most accurate data possible. 
• the team focused on analyzing the reported data, then creating and implementing action plans to improve education outcomes. 

Focus on Data Submission

The Department of Public Instruction recommends districts cultivate a team of people who understand the programs, data, business rules, use of the data for state and federal reporting, and local policies to coordinate data reporting. Data teams can offer insight and expertise in their data area, be involved in clarifying data submission guidelines, and assist with data review and issue resolution. Collaborating with the currently designated WISEdata contact on these efforts will increase awareness at the local level and help to ensure better quality data.

• Insight and Expertise: Gather a team of experts, one lead per data area, to ensure comprehensive and accurate data submissions.
• Involvement: Additional help with data submission guidelines and access for data entry reduces the workload for smaller schools or districts.
• Review and Issue Resolution: Meet at the start of each term and several times throughout the year to review the data, tend to data quality, and address any technical issues like validation errors.

Using WISE Tools to Create Teams that Cover Your Data

Data reporting throughout the school year is done through multiple WISE applications. Our WISE tools help you know what data topics you are responsible for focusing on for accurate and timely data reporting.

WISEadmin Portal Administrator Acknowledgment 

The Administrator Acknowledgment screen in WISEadmin provides a series of promissory sections to be acknowledged by the district or Choice school security administrator. By clicking the checkboxes, they accept responsibility for the accuracy and integrity of the data they submit for state and Federal reporting purposes.

WISEadmin Portal Snapshot Acknowledgment

The Snapshot Acknowledgment requires administrators to confirm the data team members who will focus on specific data:

• Enrollment count data
  • Public schools: 3rd Friday of September 
  • private school enrollment
• October 1 Child Count (special education)
• Career Education
• Graduation (Completion), Discipline, Dropouts, and Attendance
• Student Demographics

Although these data aspects are not covered in WISEadmin, your data team should also have team members who focus on:

• Roster (coursework) 
• State standardized tests
• AP exams
• Educator licensing

Focus on Continuous Improvement

The other side of a data team is analyzing the resulting data. Local school and district data team members are key to the work of continuous improvement by studying data and acting on that data to improve educational outcomes. Data that is used frequently will also be of higher quality. 

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Data and Funding 

If you’re looking for answers to the question, “Why is data reporting so important?”  one primary answer is funding. Data submitted for the December snapshot and other reporting can be critical to your funding in many ways. 

DPI uses data you submit for many school finance purposes, such as:  

Calculating Allocations for Federal Grants. 

For example, the Third Friday in September (TFS) enrollment counts are included in the formula to calculate allocations for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Flow-through, and Perkins Career and Technical Education grants. The PI-1207 report enrollment data submitted by private schools are also included in the IDEA Flow-through formula to calculate allocations for school districts. ACCESS test data is used to calculate Title III-A allocations. The September Audited Pupil Report is used to determine if Independent Charter Schools qualify for a mid-year adjustment to their IDEA and Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) formula grant allocations. 

Driving Logic in WISEgrants Grant Applications to Ensure Funds are used According to Federal Law. 

Data submitted through WISEdata can be used for private school proportional share calculations for the ESEA and IDEA formula grants. Data can be used to determine the minimum or maximum amounts that can be used for certain spending categories under each grant. Under IDEA, validations will check how many students have a program association added for “Coordinated Early Intervening Services” in your Student Information System to determine how much can or must be spent for these services.

Ensuring Compliance Requirements. 

TFS and October 1 Child Count are used to calculate whether expenditures remain relatively consistent from year to year for both IDEA and ESEA Maintenance of Effort (MOE).   

Fulfilling Reporting Requirements at the Federal Level. 

Data submitted through WISEdata and WISEgrants are used for the Consolidated State Performance Report (CSPR) submitted annually to the U.S. Department of Education to assess program performance and monitor implementation of ESEA grants.

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