Presentation to SHEEO/NCES Data Conference

1. Presentation toSHEEO/NCESData Conference Charles McGrew Director, Information & Research Spring 2008

2. Kentucky’s Data Base system • Comprehensive Data Base (CDB) system originated in 1977. • Cornerstone of the state’s accountability system for postsecondary education. • All public universities and two-year institutions. • 20 independent (AIKCU) universities. Presentation to Transition Committee on Education

3. Kentucky’s Data Base system • Student demographics • Course taking activity • Grades • Degrees and credentials • Transfer information • High school records • Undergraduate, graduate, and professional students Presentation to Transition Committee on Education

4. Kentucky’s Data Base system Data Quality • Discontinued staff on-site audits roughly 10 years ago. • Data quality issues arose: • Over 12 years, 14,000 students were enrolled that never seemed to start as “first-time” students anywhere. • Instances where one institution said it was impossible to identify groups of students as residents or non-residents. • Hundreds of students at one institution appeared to earn 90+ credit hours in their first year. Presentation to Transition Committee on Education

5. Kentucky Postsecondary Education Data System (KPEDS) Implementation Fall 2008

6. Kentucky’s Data Base system How can we Improve Data Quality? • Meetings with institutional staff and discussion of data quality and linkages with funding. • Traditional on-site audits. • More advanced error checks through record matches over time and across institutions. Presentation to Transition Committee on Education

7. Kentucky’s Data Base system Findings • None of the public institutions had actual policies governing data quality. • Institutional staff had varying levels of understanding of how data was collected, entered into the systems, and verified. • Most institutions assumed data in their systems were correct until a student “caught” an error and brought it to their attention. • Data (IR) staff and those entering the actual information had very little contact. • They really don’t like the term “audit”. Presentation to Transition Committee on Education

8. Data Quality Policy Implementation: November 2007

9. Kentucky’s Data Base system Data Quality Policy • Each institution is required to develop and submit their own data quality policy or a report outlining all the processes in place to ensure data is collected and entered into the system correctly which are due May 2008. • Development of new, advanced edits that compare data across time and across institutions. • Limitation of fields that the Council will ultimately check. • Every other year, institutions must conduct their own data quality check beginning in 2009. Presentation to Transition Committee on Education

10. Kentucky’s Data Base system Data Quality Policy • After identifying the subset of “critical data elements”, data will not be accepted for students without all these fields completed. • Beginning in 2010, the Council staff will visit a number of institutions each year to conduct a brief data quality check on-site. • Limited to 100 cases of student data with verification of a limited number of the more important variables. • Schools and students are not necessarily selected at random. Presentation to Transition Committee on Education

11. Kentucky’s Data Base system What do you do with the results? • Institutional data quality checks and results from the Council staff checks will be presented publicly to the Council. • Institutions’ presidents are answerable for questions and findings. • Possible public reports on the state of data quality. • Fiscal implications. Presentation to Transition Committee on Education

12. Thank You Charles McGrew Director, Information & Research Spring 2008 Charles.mcgrew@ky.gov http://cpe.ky.gov/info