SDP Convening 2017: Full Schedule

Communities around the world are embracing the philosophy of "open" to crowdsource knowledge and resources to fuel solutions to intractable problems. The 2017 SDP Convening will be about sharing data tools, research, ideas, and insights in order to make our own collective work better for kids. Join us from May 17 - 19, 2017 at the Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel (606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210).

12:00pm EDT

Registration

Grab your badge and some swag. Mix and mingle. Say hello to your SDP hosts.

Wednesday May 17, 2017 12:00pm - 3:00pm EDT
3rd Floor 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

3:00pm EDT

Opening Remarks

What is happening across the SDP network? Why this convening, now? What is "OpenSDP" and how can we strengthen our community this week and beyond?

Speakers

Miriam Greenberg

SDP Director, Strategic Data Project

Miriam is the Director of the Strategic Data Project overseeing the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University's efforts to build and sustain data-driven leadership and research capacity in education systems and organizations. She provides direction and support for... Read More →

Wednesday May 17, 2017 3:00pm - 3:15pm EDT
Pacific A-E Boston Renaissance Waterfront Hotel

General Session

3:30pm EDT

Affinity Group Session: Alumni

Speakers

Sylvia Zelaya

Outreach Manager, Center for Education Policy Research, Strategic Data Project

Wednesday May 17, 2017 3:30pm - 5:15pm EDT
Pacific F-H 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Affinity

3:30pm EDT

Affinity Group Session: Cohort 7 Fellows

Data analysts inform. But do they inspire?

In this session, we’ll explore high-impact editorial and communications techniques that analysts can use to frame their work and share their findings. This discussion is designed to support fellows’ development as communicators for maximum influence.

How can analysts ensure their analyses inspire action and advance important goals? What does “great writing” mean in the context of SDP’s work? In our discussion, we'll explore principles and examples of strong writing and examine strengths and opportunities in a case study (see the attached presentation). This is an unplugged session, driven by your active participation.

Speakers

Kathleen Carroll

Editor, Kathleen Carroll Communications

Kathleen Carroll is an editor and writer specializing in education policy and research, including at Education Next, New Leaders, and Grantmakers for Education. A former journalist, she was the founding Publications Editor at TNTP. Her work is focused on making the complex clear for... Read More →

Miriam Greenberg

SDP Director, Strategic Data Project

SDP USD Capstone pdf

C7CapstoneConveningSession KC pptx

Wednesday May 17, 2017 3:30pm - 5:15pm EDT
Atlantic 1 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Affinity

3:30pm EDT

Affinity Group Session: Cohort 8 Fellows

Speakers

Rebecca Marshall

Senior Manager, SDP, Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard

Rebecca is the education programs manager at the Center for Education Policy Research (CEPR) at Harvard University. In this role, she manages the Strategic Data Project Fellowship, which works with education agencies to find and train data leaders to uncover trends, measure solutions... Read More →

Day1 Cohort 8 Fellows Affinity pptx

C8 Capstone Proposal Guide docx

Cohort 8 Capstone Guidelines docx

Wednesday May 17, 2017 3:30pm - 5:15pm EDT
Caspian 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Affinity

3:30pm EDT

Affinity Group Session: Supervisors and Guests

When is failure acceptable? And how can we create space for failure while also holding ourselves and our team members accountable? A case study of the Patient Safety Initiative at Children’s Hospital will guide conversation around how and when we can create an environment in which it is acceptable to fail without compromising accountability. This session will also feature a refresher on the SDP Fellowship timeline and high-level updates on Fellows’ work.

Moderators

Alison Guerriero

Partnerships Manager, Center for Education Policy Research

As the partnerships manager, Alison Guerriero supports internal organizational planning and works closely with the Strategic Data Project (SDP), managing SDP partner relationships and recruitment. Prior to CEPR, Alison worked at Strategy Matters, where she oversaw the business development... Read More →

Speakers

Jennie Weiner

Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership, Neag School of Education/ UConn

I am an Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership at the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut. My scholarship focuses on issues of educational leadership and organizational change particularly in chronically underperforming schools and districts. I am also... Read More →

SDPConvening2017 SessionDetail G007 pdf

SDP Convening 2017 Sups and Guests Affinity Session pdf

Wednesday May 17, 2017 3:30pm - 5:15pm EDT
Atlantic 2-3 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Affinity

5:30pm EDT

Open Book: Louis Gomez, 'Learning to Improve: How America's Schools Can Get Better at Getting Better'

Limited Capacity filling up

Link to session resource library: https://sites.google.com/view/sdpconvening2017/open-book-louis-gomez

The Open Book session is a chance to engage with the ideas of a notable author who hopes to improve the education sector. As a field, education has largely failed to learn from experience. Time after time, promising education reforms fall short of their goals and are abandoned as other promising ideas take their place. In Learning to Improve, the authors argue for a new approach. Rather than “implementing fast and learning slow,” they believe educators should adopt a more rigorous approach to improvement that allows the field to “learn fast to implement well.” Using ideas borrowed from improvement science, Louis Gomez, Professor of Education and Information Sciences at UCLA, will share how a process of disciplined inquiry can be combined with the use of networks to identify, adapt, and successfully scale up promising interventions in education.

Moderators

Corinne Herlihy

Director of Research Operations, CEPR

Speakers

Louis Gomez

Senior Partner, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching

Louis Gomez holds the MacArthur Chair in Digital Media and Learning in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California Los Angeles. Gomez has served since 2008 as a senior partner at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching... Read More →

Wednesday May 17, 2017 5:30pm - 6:15pm EDT
Atlantic 1 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Concurrent Session Plenary

5:30pm EDT

Open Book: Rick Hess, 'Letters to a Young Education Reformer'

Limited Capacity seats available

Link to session resource library: https://sites.google.com/view/sdpconvening2017/open-book-rick-hess

The Open Book session is a chance to engage with the ideas of a notable author who hopes to improve the education sector. In Letters to a Young Education Reformer, Rick Hess distills knowledge from twenty-five years of working in and around school reform. Inspired by his conversations with young, would-be reformers who are passionate about transforming education, the book offers a window into Hess’s thinking about what education reform is and should be.

Moderators

Jon Fullerton

Executive Director, Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University

Jon Fullerton is the executive director of CEPR. Jon has extensive experience working with policymakers and executives in designing and implementing organizational change and improvements. Before coming to Harvard, Jon served as the Board of Education’s director of budget and financial... Read More →

Speakers

Frederick Hess

Director of Education Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute

Frederick M. Hess is a resident scholar and the director of Education Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he works on K–12 and higher education issues. He is also the author of the popular Education Week blog “Rick Hess Straight Up” and has served as executive editor of Education Next since 2001... Read More →

Wednesday May 17, 2017 5:30pm - 6:15pm EDT
Atlantic 2-3 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Concurrent Session Plenary

7:00pm EDT

Dinner and Open Mic

Join us for dinner, drinks and laughs at Laugh Boston. Some late night karaoke may also be in the mix. Sponsored in partnership with Panorama Education.

Wednesday May 17, 2017 7:00pm - 10:00pm EDT
Laugh Boston 425 Summer St, Boston, MA 02210

8:00am EDT

Breakfast

Thursday May 18, 2017 8:00am - 8:45am EDT
Pacific A-E Boston Renaissance Waterfront Hotel

8:45am EDT

Morning Welcome

Thursday May 18, 2017 8:45am - 9:00am EDT
Pacific A-E Boston Renaissance Waterfront Hotel

General Session

9:15am EDT

Ed-Fi For All: Using open source data standards and technology to support teachers and students

Limited Capacity filling up

Link to session resource library: https://sites.google.com/view/sdpconvening2017/c014-ed-fi-for-all

Does your organization struggle to transform disjointed datasets into consistent formats they can analyze and use for decision making?

This session will provide you with an overview of the Ed-Fi standard and technology. We'll discuss how a data standard can help reduce data cleaning and improve data quality, and specifically how Tulsa Schools and the TNTP are leveraging the Ed-Fi standard and open source technology to address these challenges. Collaborate with your peers to develop strategies to articulate the value and rationale of leveraging a standard, and create an action plan to use a standard.

Speakers

Katherine Durlacher

Analyst, The New Teacher Project (TNTP)

Katherine is an analyst for TNTP. She works with a number of school transformation (turnaround) contracts nationwide. Katherine oversees data collection, analysis and research for these contracts and is truly interested in diving into what works in school transformation. She is... Read More →

Stephen Fedore

CIAO, Tulsa Public Schools

Stephen Fedore (Hoch) started his education career in 2009 as an elementary teacher at Hartford Public Schools in Connecticut. In 2013, Stephen joined the team at Tulsa Public Schools as the Harvard Strategic Data Project Fellow, managing the implementation of value added, designing... Read More →

Penelope Madry

Product Director, The New Teacher Project (TNTP)

Penelope is responsible for the hosted products TNTP has built internally to support our programs, and is working to advance the Teacher Talent extension to the Ed-Fi data standard that TNTP built in collaboration with Educuity. TNTP built a Teacher Talent extension to the Ed-Fi data... Read More →

SDPConvening2017 SessionDetail C014 pdf

Thursday May 18, 2017 9:15am - 10:45am EDT
Atlantic 3 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Concurrent Session, Data Governance

9:15am EDT

Open Dashboards: Creating Interactive Dashboards Using R Shiny

Limited Capacity filling up

Link to session resource library: https://sites.google.com/view/sdpconvening2017/c010-open-dashboards-r-shiny

Have you ever wondered what alternatives there are to Tableau for interactive graphics? R Shiny is one of the most powerful data visualization tools available and it’s FREE.

This session will help you learn to make your own interactive graph with user controls. During the session you will have the opportunity to practice using three hands-on exercises, where you will be guided through writing your own code step by step using an on-screen tutorial.

Speakers

Lauren Dahlin

Sr. Research Analyst, Center for Education Policy Research

Lauren Dahlin is a senior research analyst at CEPR. Prior to joining CEPR, Lauren was a research associate at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, where she worked on quantitative studies of welfare programs and the elderly poor. She also worked on quantitative projects... Read More →

SDPConvening2017 SessionDetail C010 pdf

Thursday May 18, 2017 9:15am - 10:45am EDT
Atlantic 2 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Concurrent Session, Tools

9:15am EDT

Open Minds: SEL Research and Progress

Limited Capacity filling up

Link to session resource library: https://sites.google.com/view/sdpconvening2017/c020-open-minds-sel-research

How do you even begin to measure social-emotional learning, that catch-all term for so many skills and behaviors? In this session, a leading innovator in measuring SEL will open up the hood and workshop with participants how they decided to measure these nebulous constructs. Participants will hear about “roads not taken,” and how early design decisions influence what practitioners are able to use these tools and insights for.

Speakers

Samuel Moulton

Director of Research, Panorama Education

Brian Rainville

Director of Educator Engagement, Panorama Education

Brian Rainville is the Director of Educator Engagement at Panorama Education. A teacher for six years, Brian taught kindergarten, first and third grades and served as a Teacher Leader and Curriculum Writer before being named Baltimore City Schools’ Teacher of the Year for 2010... Read More →

SDPConvening2017 SessionDetail C020 pdf

Thursday May 18, 2017 9:15am - 10:45am EDT
Caspian 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Concurrent Session, Policy

9:15am EDT

Open Tools: Evaluation with the Rapid Cycle Evaluation (RCE) Coach

Limited Capacity filling up

Link to session resource library: https://sites.google.com/view/sdpconvening2017/c002-open-tools-rce-coach

Would you like to know what works faster? This session will introduce rapid cycle evaluation (RCE), a powerful, fast method for testing which education interventions are effective and should be adopted or discontinued at scale. Presenters will share lessons-learned from two school districts’ implementation of RCEs.

Attendees will also participate in a hands-on exercise conducting a simple RCE using the free RCE Coach toolkit, which supports agencies at all stages of the RCE process and allows users to publicly share evaluation results.

Speakers

Erin Dillon

Researcher, Mathematica Policy Research

Erin Dillon is a researcher at Mathematica Policy Research, where she conducts evaluations of education programs, ranging from multi-year evaluations of career-technical education programs to rapid-cycle evaluations of reading technology applications. Prior to joining Mathematica... Read More →

Matthew Lenard

Director, Data Strategy and Analytics, Wake County Public School System

I am the Director of Data Strategy and Analytics at the Wake County Public School System in Cary, NC. I joined Wake County in 2012 as a Cohort 3 Strategic Data Project Fellow. I conducts various program evaluations, including randomized control trials and quasi-experimental evaluations... Read More →

SDPConvening2017 SessionDetail C002 pdf

vocabulous file for rce coach 5000 csv

sdpconvening 2017 RCECoach pptx

Thursday May 18, 2017 9:15am - 10:45am EDT
Pacific H 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Concurrent Session, Evaluation

9:15am EDT

Opening the Floodgates: How to Leverage Your Role as ESSA Finally Rolls Out

Limited Capacity filling up

Link to session resource library: https://sites.google.com/view/sdpconvening2017/c019-opening-the-floodgates-essa

Are you ready for ESSA implementation? Even before its regulations were stripped, the process of ESSA planning has been catalyzing for some and agonizing for others. In this session, participants will hear from a district that “bet big” on ESSA. They will share how these plans changed the way they frame their work and navigate their path forward. Attendees will be challenged to identify “guiding principles” and to respond to political and policy challenges in a manner that reflects those principles.

Speakers

Matthew Linick

Executive Director of Research and Evaluation, Cleveland Metropolitan School District

Research, evaluation, school districts, etc.

Michele Pomerantz

Education Policy and Labor Liaison, Cleveland Metropolitan School District

Michele is a devoted, life-long educator currently serving the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (“CMSD”) as its Education Policy and Labor Liaison.Prior to Michele’s current position with CMSD, she dedicated 22 years teaching first grade students within CMSD’s learning... Read More →

SDPConvening2017 SessionDetail C019 pdf

Thursday May 18, 2017 9:15am - 10:45am EDT
Pacific G 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Concurrent Session, Leadership

9:15am EDT

Thinking Like a Storyteller: Open Lessons from Data Journalism

Limited Capacity filling up

Link to session resource library: https://sites.google.com/view/sdpconvening2017/c004-data-journalism

We often hear that our analyses should “tell a story,” but how can data scientists become better storytellers? Analytical training emphasizes technical skills. Our familiarity with the complexities of our data can discourage us from simple storylines and clear narratives. In contrast, data journalists are motivated by stories first and can model for us how to tell better stories with data.

During this session, we will look to cutting edge examples of data journalism and examine what makes these data stories effective. Attendees will leave with a refined understanding of what a data “product” should be and will learn how to apply this understanding to work in their context using available tools.

Speakers

Dave Moyer

Strategy Consultant, Kamehameha Schools

Sabrina Yusuf

KIPP Foundation, Director of Insight & Analytics

SDPConvening2017 SessionDetail C004 pdf

Thursday May 18, 2017 9:15am - 10:45am EDT
Atlantic 1 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Concurrent Session, Communication

11:00am EDT

Open Debate: The Obama to Trump Transition in Education Policy

We are at a turning point in federal education policy. The recent change in administration will bring new policies, new leaders and new opportunities to us all. Join us in a spirited debate with two education thought-leaders across the aisle, Rick Hess and Carmel Martin, in evaluating the Obama administation's education impact on education and examining what's to come. Moderated by Politico writer, Caitlin Emma.

Link to session resource library: https://sites.google.com/view/sdpconvening2017/open-debate

Moderators

Caitlin Emma

Reporter, Politico

Caitlin is a reporter for POLITICO, covering federal K-12 education policy, politics and national trends. Caitlin was the regular author of POLITICO’s daily education newsletter, Morning Education, for more than two years. She’s currently following school choice policies endorsed... Read More →

Speakers

Frederick Hess

Director of Education Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute

Carmel Martin

Executive Vice President of Policy, Center for American Progress

Carmel Martin is the Executive Vice President for Policy at American Progress. She manages policy across issue areas and is a key member of CAP’s executive team.Before joining American Progress, Martin was the assistant secretary for planning, evaluation, and policy development... Read More →

Thursday May 18, 2017 11:00am - 11:45am EDT
Pacific A-E Boston Renaissance Waterfront Hotel

Plenary

11:45am EDT

Lunch

Thursday May 18, 2017 11:45am - 12:45pm EDT
Pacific A-E Boston Renaissance Waterfront Hotel

12:45pm EDT

Capstone Presentation – Building a Culture of Data Use for Leaders: Pro-”tool”-cols for the Trade

Limited Capacity filling up

Link to session resource library: https://sites.google.com/view/sdpconvening2017/c112-pro-tool-cols-for-the-trade

Learn to influence leaders’ data mindsets and behaviors by practicing data protocols.

Sean Berkstresser, Manager of District Performance at Tulsa Public Schools; Kelly Branaman, Associate Superintendent at Archdiocese of Washington Catholic Schools Office; and Alyssa Reinhart at Syracuse City School District implemented data reports, structures and processes to build the capacity of their agencies’ leaders to analyze data.

Attendees will experience data protocols that facilitate the analysis and interpretation of data and provide a procedure for making decisions and taking action through goal-setting.

Fellows

Sean Berkstresser

Executive Director of Information and Analytics, Tulsa Public Schools

As Executive Director of Information and Analytics, Sean’s work helps Tulsa Public Schools realize its vision of utilizing data as a strategic asset to improve student outcomes as well as supporting district staff to leverage modern tools and applications to better serve students... Read More →

Kelly Branaman

Associate Superintendent, Archdiocese of Washington

Alyssa Reinhart

Director, Education Practice, Project Evident

Cohort 7 Data Fellow

SDPConvening2017 SessionDetail C112 pdf

Thursday May 18, 2017 12:45pm - 2:00pm EDT
Atlantic 3 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Concurrent Session, Capstone Presentation

12:45pm EDT

Capstone Presentation – Data Dashboards: Start to Finish

Limited Capacity filling up

Link to session resource library: https://sites.google.com/view/sdpconvening2017/c109-data-dashboards

How can educational organizations allocate resources to, develop, design, roll out and train users on data dashboards?

Kathryn Johnson, Data Fellow at Mississippi Department of Education, developed resources to help non-technical users understand, interact and become comfortable with new data dashboards. Michael Lamont, Executive Director of Data and Information Group at Atlanta Public Schools, created a guide to best practices for design. Judith Penny, Executive Director of Accountability and Research at Guilford County Schools invested stakeholders and developed a new data dashboard. Suchint Sarangarm, Deputy Superintendent at Hobbs Municipal Schools, created a data dashboard to ensure user-friendly data communication.

This session will share best practices from these four SDP Fellows’ data dashboards projects at four stages of this iterative process.

Fellows

Kathryn Johnson

Academic Program Assessment Manager, University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville

Michael LaMont

ED - Data + Information Group, Atlanta Public Schools

Executive Director - Data + Information Group

Judy Penny

Executive Director, Accountability & Research, Guilford County Schools (sponsored by Say Yes)

Suchint Sarangarm

Associate Superintendent, Hobbs Municipal Schools

I like to work on educational data analysis to improve instruction in the classroom.

SDPConvening2017 SessionDetail C109 pdf

Thursday May 18, 2017 12:45pm - 2:00pm EDT
Pacific H 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Concurrent Session, Capstone Presentation

12:45pm EDT

Capstone Presentation – Data Visualization to Improve Teacher Preparation

Limited Capacity seats available

Link to session resource library: https://sites.google.com/view/sdpconvening2017/c104-data-viz-for-teacher-prep

How do you manage and present teacher preparation data in a way that preparation program providers can readily understand and use to make decisions?

Angela Tombari, Research Analyst at Kentucky Center for Education Workforce Statistics, collaborated with stakeholders statewide to revise a Teacher Prep Feedback Report, foreground the information that is most useful for supporting the report’s intended impact. Paul Tuss, Director of the Center for Teacher Quality at California State University, planned and implemented a new data system designed to strengthen the capacity for assessing the quality and effectiveness of teacher preparation programs across 23 university campuses.

In this session, these SDP Fellows will discuss the challenges of data visualization choices and their implication for data use by different stakeholders.

Fellows

Angela Tombari

Research Analyst, Kentucky Center for Education Workforce Statistics

Paul Tuss

Director, CSU Chancellor's Office/EdQ Center

I am the director of the California State University Educator Quality Center. I live in Sacramento, CA where I ride my bike everyday and have a hard time knowing when to turn around and head home. My favorite season is spring, my favorite color is red, and my favorite cardinal direction... Read More →

SDPConvening2017 SessionDetail C104 pdf

Thursday May 18, 2017 12:45pm - 2:00pm EDT
Mediterranean 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Concurrent Session, Capstone Presentation

12:45pm EDT

Capstone Presentation – Discerning Racial Inequities in Schools: Racial and Cultural Mismatches

Limited Capacity filling up

Link to session resource library: https://sites.google.com/view/sdpconvening2017/c103-discerning-racial-inequities

Learn about the central importance of educational initiatives that explicitly promote racial justice.

Akisha Jones, Strategic Data Project Fellow at Guilford County Schools, created a predictive model that determined the relationship between teacher race and disproportionate discipline referrals for Black students. Ryan Pfleger, Manager of Data Analysis at Newark Public Schools, created a flexible rubric that supports culturally sustaining pedagogy.

In this session, the findings from these two research projects will initiate an open conversation about racial inequities in schools through the lens of racial and cultural mismatches between students, teachers and curriculum.

Fellows

Akisha Jones

Research Assistant Professor, Center for Research in Education and Social Policy (University of Delaware)

Ryan Pfleger

Data Fellow, Newark Public Schools

SDPConvening2017 SessionDetail C103 pdf

Thursday May 18, 2017 12:45pm - 2:00pm EDT
Atlantic 1 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Concurrent Session, Capstone Presentation

12:45pm EDT

Capstone Presentation – Pathways to Success: Using Student Data to Increase Career and College Readiness

Limited Capacity filling up

Link to session resource library: https://sites.google.com/view/sdpconvening2017/c111-using-student-data

What metrics are predictive of students’ postsecondary and workforce readiness? How can we use high school data to optimize students’ college placement? How can accountability measures incentivize a focus on college readiness? What are the employment outcomes for college graduates?

In this session, Emily Passias, Director of the Office of Career-Technical Education at the Ohio Department of Education; Scott Secamiglio, Research Analyst at the Kentucky Center for Education Workforce Statistics; and Eric VandenBerk, Researcher/Data Scientist at Minneapolis Public Schools will present their findings from projects that address these questions.

Attendees will discuss school, district and state level work on college and workforce readiness metrics.

Fellows

Eric Vanden Berk

Data Scientist, Minneapolis Public Schools

Emily Passias, PhD

Director, Office of CTE, ODE

Scott Secamiglio

President, KYVA Analytics

SDPConvening2017 SessionDetail C111 pdf

Thursday May 18, 2017 12:45pm - 2:00pm EDT
Atlantic 2 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Concurrent Session, Capstone Presentation

12:45pm EDT

Capstone Presentation – Program Evaluation of Student and Teacher-Based Interventions

Limited Capacity full

Link to session resource library: https://sites.google.com/view/sdpconvening2017/c108-program-evaluation

How can educational organizations intervene with students and teachers to improve student outcomes? How can they evaluate the effectiveness of these interventions?

Paul Marshall, Project Coordinator for Student Growth, North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, examined the effects of a 3rd grade summer reading intervention for students currently below grade-level. Brittany Mauney, Senior Education Association for Educator Data and Analytics at the Delaware Department of Education, examined the effect of a monetary bonus on the retention of “Highly Effective” teachers in high-need schools. Rafi Nolan-Abrahamian, Data Fellow at Fort Wayne Community Schools, examined the effects of Response to Intervention (RTI) on Tier 2 students.

This session will provide an overview of these three SDP Fellow capstone projects, each of which examines the effectiveness of a student or teacher-based intervention.

Fellows

Paul Marshall

Project Coordinator for Student Growth, North Carolina Department of Public Instruction

Brittany Mauney

Chief of Staff, Gradient Learning

Rafi Nolan-Abrahamian

Data Fellow, Fort Wayne Community Schools

SDPConvening2017 SessionDetail C108 pdf

Thursday May 18, 2017 12:45pm - 2:00pm EDT
Pacific F 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Concurrent Session, Capstone Presentation

2:15pm EDT

Never Judge a Book by Its Cover: Building an Evidence Base on (Open and Closed) Instructional Materials

Limited Capacity filling up

Link to session resource library: https://sites.google.com/view/sdpconvening2017/c008-never-judge-a-book

Each year, schools and districts spend roughly $12 billion on textbooks and other instructional materials. How much do we know about whether these large investments pay off for students?

Panelists in this moderated discussion will examine the research agenda on instructional materials, including efforts to understand content alignment, adoption and use, and, ultimately, the impact of specific materials on students’ academic performance. Participants will explore how these questions are evolving in the age of the Common Core, amidst the growth of open educational resources (OER). This session will consider how emerging evidence can inform decisions by key stakeholders, including the districts who purchase materials and the publishers who create them.

Speakers

David Blazar

Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Education Policy Research

David Blazar is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He received his doctorate from Harvard in 2016 in quantitative policy analysis in education, with a disciplinary focus in economics. His research and teaching interests include education policy... Read More →

David Blazar

Assistant Professor, University of Maryland College Park

David Blazar is an Assistant Professor of Education Policy and Economics at the University of Maryland. His research examines teacher labor markets, with a focus on professional learning, organizational contexts of schools and districts, and accountability policy. Current projects... Read More →

Eric Hirsch

Executive Director, EdReports

High quality, standards aligned curriculum

Morgan Polikoff

Associate Professor, University of Southern California, Rossier School of Education

Conversation Starter: Which states and districts are most effectively implementing Common Core?Morgan Polikoff is an assistant professor of education at the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education. His research focuses on the design and effects of standards... Read More →

SDPConvening2017 SessionDetail C008 pdf

Thursday May 18, 2017 2:15pm - 3:45pm EDT
Atlantic 3 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Concurrent Session, Evaluation

2:15pm EDT

Open Community: Using Git to Promote Collaboration and Reproducible Research

Limited Capacity seats available

Link to session resource library: https://sites.google.com/view/sdpconvening2017/c006-open-community-github

Get to know Git. This session will describe collaborative tools and strategies for managing teams and workflows. This session will focus on leveraging the version control system, Git, and the largest hosted service for Git users, GitHub, with common tools used by SDP Fellows Python, R, RStudio, Stata, and SQL. After the presentations and demonstrations, attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and share their experiences and practices. Also, this session will prepare you to “Git” ready for OpenSDP.

Feel free to keep track of the work we are doing to prepare and see how we are leveraging this tool to develop our session by viewing the repository at :
https://github.com/wbuchanan/sdpConvening2017

We also just posted our pre-work. We piloted the pre-work with one of the session participants and anticipate it taking 10-20 minutes tops. Although it isn't that difficult, you should do this before heading to convening since it includes installing Git and you may need to get permissions from your IT shop to install the software. You can find instructions and annotated screenshots for the prework here:
https://github.com/wbuchanan/sdpConvening2017/blob/prework/prework.md

Speakers

Jason Becker

Chief Product Officer, Allovue

Jason Becker is the Chief Product Officer at Allovue. His work includes changing how resources are managed by schools and districts and meeting the needs of school business officials, administrators, and the public through Allovue's software products. Jason is interested in understanding... Read More →

Billy Buchanan

Director, Office of Grants, Research, Accountability, & Data (GRAD), Fayette County Public Schools

I am the current Director of the Office of Grants, Research, Accountability, & Data (GRAD) for the second largest school district in Kentucky (Fayette County Public Schools) and a cohort V alum. I've developed several programs for the Stata community primarily centered around data... Read More →

Daphne Jenkins

Data Engineer, Fayette County Public Schools

Nathan Trenholm

Founding Partner, Data Insight Partners

SDPConvening2017 SessionDetail C006 pdf

Thursday May 18, 2017 2:15pm - 3:45pm EDT
Pacific H 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Concurrent Session, Data Governance

2:15pm EDT

Open Feedback Loop: Data, Observation, and Feedback Cycles at Achievement First

Limited Capacity filling up

Link to session resource library: https://sites.google.com/view/sdpconvening2017/c012-open-feedback-loop

How can a school systems use data to effectively design and improve instruction? This session will explore how Achievement First dramatically improved the consistency and quality of classroom cultures, laying the foundation for unprecedented levels of student engagement and learning, by leveraging observation and feedback data cycles. Using the case study of Achievement First, this session will provide a practical example of data driven change and highlight best practices for data leaders in partnering on cross functional initiatives.

Speakers

Maura Bonanni

Vice President, Achievement First

Amber Mackay

Vice President, Chief Operating Officer of Strategy, Achievement First

SDPConvening2017 SessionDetail C012 pdf

Thursday May 18, 2017 2:15pm - 3:45pm EDT
Caspian 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Concurrent Session, Human Capital

2:15pm EDT

Open Fire: Amplifying Your Data with Advocacy

Limited Capacity seats available

Link to session resource library: https://sites.google.com/view/sdpconvening2017/c009-open-fire-data-advocacy

How can you sustain and expand an analytics agenda in a shifting political climate? This panel presentation and discussion session will seek to equip participants with the advocacy skills needed to amplify their data and research efforts to have a greater impact on policy and implementation.

With Congress rolling back Obama-era school, district, and teacher prep accountability regulations, and state legislatures following suit, some critical aspects of the work spearheaded by data leaders across the country are at risk. In these challenging times, the most effective data leaders are skilled in leveraging advocacy techniques to maximize the impact of their work.

Speakers

Atnre Alleyne

Executive Director, DelawareCAN

Atnre’s passion for education and community development was shaped by his experiences living and working in Camden, NJ. He served as the vice president of the board for a community bank, analyzed crime data to help Camden Police with crime suppression efforts and developed performance... Read More →

Paige Kowalski

Executive Vice President, Data Quality Campaign

Conversation Starter: How do we better communicate our policy priorities to teachers and parents? Paige Kowalski is the Executive Vice President for the Data Quality Campaign (DQC) where she manages efforts to support state policymakers in understanding their roles and responsibilities... Read More →

Shanna Ricketts

Director of Data Analytics, Gwinnett County Public Schools

Position at Company ABC.

SDPConvening2017 SessionDetail C009 pdf

Thursday May 18, 2017 2:15pm - 3:45pm EDT
Atlantic 1 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Concurrent Session, Communication

2:15pm EDT

Open Road: From Advanced Coursetaking to College Success

Limited Capacity filling up

Link to session resource library: https://sites.google.com/view/sdpconvening2017/c001-open-road-advanced-coursetaking

How do advanced coursetaking patterns relate to students’ likelihood of college matriculation and success? SDP alumni in Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) share their findings from an extension of the college-going diagnostic developed in partnership with SDP. Participants will learn how WCPSS and CEPR operationalized AB and IB data into student-level indicators, and they will develop a plan for exploring the state of advanced coursetaking patterns at home.

Speakers

Darryl Hill

Managing Director, HCM Strategists

Rodney Hughes

Assistant Professor, West Virginia University

Rodney P. Hughes is an assistant professor of higher education administration at West Virginia University. His areas of study include college access and affordability, labor economics, data use in education, and college and university governance. His courses at West Virginia University... Read More →

Matthew Lenard

Director, Data Strategy and Analytics, Wake County Public School System

SDPConvening2017 SessionDetail C001 pdf

SDP convening open road identifying data docx

SDP convening open road developing a plan docx

college board 2006 pdf

college board 2016 pdf

smith hurwitz avery 2015 pdf

ACT 2009 pdf

Thursday May 18, 2017 2:15pm - 3:45pm EDT
Pacific G 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Concurrent Session, Policy

2:15pm EDT

Open Tools: Using Google ‘Cheaps’ for Quality Dashboards and Reporting

Limited Capacity filling up

Link to session resource library: https://sites.google.com/view/sdpconvening2017/c011-open-tools-google-cheaps

Why do we invest in expensive dashboard software and vendor partners, when Google gives us free, nimble tools for our reporting? Google Sheets offers a cost-effective way for agencies without the funding or dedicated personnel resources to implement tools like: centrally-based updateable reports and dashboards, navigable data visualizations, and real-time data updates. In this session, you will explore and learn about the high-leverage, free, user-friendly tools that Google has to offer. You will take a look at some sample reports, and think through what could be of use to you and your organization.

Speakers

Christopher Leake

National Senior Vice President, Teach For America

SDPConvening2017 SessionDetail C011 pdf

Thursday May 18, 2017 2:15pm - 3:45pm EDT
Pacific F 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Concurrent Session, Tools

2:15pm EDT

Open Wallets: Education Finance and ESSA

Limited Capacity seats available

Link to session resource library: https://sites.google.com/view/sdpconvening2017/c013-open-wallets-essa-ed-finance

With the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) states and districts face new responsibilities with regard to financial reporting. Done right, the new reporting could bring transparency and aid in the alignment of resources and priorities. Ignored, there could be significant unintended consequences that will affect services to students. This session will allow you to develop vital knowledge about ESSA to bring back to your fellowship organization.

Speakers

Melissa Junge

Partner, Federal Education Group, PLLC

Melissa Junge is a co-founder of the Federal Education Group, which provides strategic advice, compliance counseling, implementation assistance, and training to states and school districts on how to use and manage federal grants to support K-12 programs.

Bi Vuong

Director, Proving Ground, CEPR Proving Ground

* Proving Ground* Continuous Improvement* Strategy and Strategic Planning* Finance and Budget* ESSA

SDPConvening2017 SessionDetail C013 pdf

Thursday May 18, 2017 2:15pm - 3:45pm EDT
Mediterranean 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Concurrent Session, Leadership

4:15pm EDT

Open Forum: Roundtables

View the roundtables online here.

Join a table to dig into the questions with which others across the network are grappling. For 45 minutes, participants will have an intimate opportunity to share challenges, ideas, and progress around the open questions of our time.

Thursday May 18, 2017 4:15pm - 5:00pm EDT
Pacific A-E Atlantic 1-3 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

General Session

6:30pm EDT

Dinner and Reception

Thursday May 18, 2017 6:30pm - 8:30pm EDT
Pacific A-E Boston Renaissance Waterfront Hotel

8:00am EDT

Alumni Breakfast

Speakers

Sylvia Zelaya

Outreach Manager, Center for Education Policy Research, Strategic Data Project

Friday May 19, 2017 8:00am - 8:45am EDT
Atlantic 1 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

8:00am EDT

Breakfast

Friday May 19, 2017 8:00am - 8:45am EDT
Pacific A-E Boston Renaissance Waterfront Hotel

8:45am EDT

Morning Welcome

Friday May 19, 2017 8:45am - 9:00am EDT
Pacific A-E Boston Renaissance Waterfront Hotel

General Session

9:00am EDT

How 'Open' Can Make a Real Impact in Education, or Lessons from the College Scorecard

When serving as the Chief Digital Services Officer for the US Department of Education, Lisa Gelobter spearheaded efforts to make college information accessible. She saw that students and families needed clear, reliable data to to make educated decisions about whether and where to go to college, and so the DOE set out to "make people’s lives better by providing them with the tools and information to make more informed choices and get the best bang for buck college choice." With that, she brought the philosophy of "going open" to education policy administration. How do open projects work? What are the risks and rewards? How can we push the envelope to build data and technology tools for good? Lisa will share her experiences and insights leading digital projects for the nation.

Link to session resource library: https://sites.google.com/view/sdpconvening2017/keynote-address

Speakers

Lisa Gelobter

Former Chief Digital Service Officer, U.S. Department of Education, The White House (44th Administration)

Lisa Gelobter served as the Chief Digital Service Officer for the U.S. Department of Education in the Digital Service department of the White House under President Obama. Lisa oversaw the development of the open source College Scorecard.

Friday May 19, 2017 9:00am - 9:45am EDT
Pacific A-E Boston Renaissance Waterfront Hotel

Plenary

10:00am EDT

Cracking Open Machine Learning for Education Data Strategists

Limited Capacity filling up

Link to session resource library: https://sites.google.com/view/sdpconvening2017/c005-machine-learning

What is all this talk about Machine Learning? This session will present machine learning methods in terms that make them accessible with an illustrative, real-life case study for context. Attendees will leave with the knowledge and resources to continue learning how to apply the principles of Machine Learning to solve problems and create tools within their own district or organization.

Speakers

Tom Hay

Lead Product Manager, ConsenSys

I'm Director of ConsenSys Academy. We build educational products to teach about the blockchain. Former Director of Data Strategy @ Uplift Education, former Associate @ Booz Allen Hamilton. SDP Alumni - Cohort 6.

SDPConvening2017 SessionDetail C005 pdf

Machine Learning Presentation, SDP Convening May 2017 html

Friday May 19, 2017 10:00am - 11:30am EDT
Mediterranean 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Concurrent Session, Tools

10:00am EDT

Open Access: Evaluating Strategies for College Access and Success

Limited Capacity filling up

Link to session resource library: https://sites.google.com/view/sdpconvening2017/c018-open-access-college-access-and-success

How do you provide students with the proper supports to ensure they enroll and succeed in college? This session will showcase two very different interventions that support students into and through college. Session leaders will discuss how data has been used to construct, inform, guide, and study features of the two interventions. The audience will also have an opportunity to ask questions and dig deeper into the contextual and implementation factors that have contributed to their success. Ultimately, we hope participants will leave the session equipped with insights and ideas for how they can introduce or modify college access and success interventions in their own contexts.

Speakers

Antoniya Owens

Program Officer, The Boston Foundation

Antoniya Owens is a program officer at the Boston Foundation, where she leads grantmaking, civic, and research activities in support of the Foundation’s K-12 and college completion strategies. Prior to joining the Foundation, Antoniya was a project director and a research manager... Read More →

Lindsay Page

Assistant Professor, University of Pittsburgh

Lindsay C. Page is an assistant professor of research methodology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Education. Her work focuses on quantitative methods and their application to questions regarding the effectiveness of educational policies and programs across the pre-school... Read More →

SDPConvening2017 SessionDetail C018 pdf

Friday May 19, 2017 10:00am - 11:30am EDT
Pacific F 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Concurrent Session, Policy

10:00am EDT

Open Agenda: Developing a Research Agenda in Your Education Agency

Limited Capacity seats available

Link to session resource library: https://sites.google.com/view/sdpconvening2017/c003-open-research-agenda

Have you ever wondered how other school systems and organizations develop their research agendas? This session will help participants create a personalized roadmap to develop and execute a research agenda. Session leaders will provide tips and tools for prioritizing a set of research questions, identifying relevant literature, clarifying data needs, and establishing a research calendar and timelines. In addition, we will provide a brief overview of open source resources to aide in data analysis and advice on tailoring presentation of findings for various audiences.

Speakers

Billy Buchanan

Director, Office of Grants, Research, Accountability, & Data (GRAD), Fayette County Public Schools

Cara Jackson

Evaluation Specialist, Montgomery County Public Schools, MD

Evaluation Specialist

Bart Liguori

Reasearch Division Manager, Legislative Research Commission, Office of Education Accountability

State Legislatures Education Research

SDPConvening2017 SessionDetail C003 pdf

sdpconvening 2017 jackson pptx

Friday May 19, 2017 10:00am - 11:30am EDT
Atlantic 1 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Concurrent Session, Leadership

10:00am EDT

Open and Early: Sounding the Alarm Using Warning and Success Indicator Systems

Limited Capacity filling up

Link to session resource library: https://sites.google.com/view/sdpconvening2017/c022-open-and-early-warning-indicators

How do different school systems and organizations approach graduation and college & career readiness indicators (e.g., on-track and off-track)? What other indicators are out there? In this session, we will discuss indicator and response systems from across the country and share insight on how we might improve them. Joanna Fox, Senior Policy Analyst and Deputy Director at the Johns Hopkins Everyone Graduates Center and Jenny Nagaoka, Deputy Director of the University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research, will lead a dialogue with attendees.

Speakers

Joanna Fox

Deputy Director, Everyone Graduates Center, Johns Hopkins University

School and district improvement. School, district and state policies to raise graduation rates and college and career readiness. A next generation of K-12 indicator and response systems in which the focus is on getting more students to succeed in the first two post-secondary year... Read More →

Jenny Nagaoka

Deputy Director, University of Chicago Consortium on School Research

Jenny Nagaoka is the Deputy Director of the University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research, where she has conducted research for the past 15 years. Her research interests focus on policy and practice in urban education reform, particularly using data to connect research... Read More →

SDPConvening2017 SessionDetail C022 pdf

Friday May 19, 2017 10:00am - 11:30am EDT
Pacific G-H 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Concurrent Session

10:00am EDT

Open and Shut: Connecting Effective Data Use to Strong Data Privacy

Limited Capacity seats available

Link to session resource library: https://sites.google.com/view/sdpconvening2017/c017-open-and-shut-data-privacy

When are data privacy and effective data use in tension? How do we set up our systems for both student protection and progress? This session will guide you through the tools and resources available for implementing good data privacy policies and practices, from collection to use.

Through a series of small group discussions, you will gain an understanding of the legal and contractual, policy, and practice considerations for effectively connecting strong data privacy with effective data use. You will have the opportunity to engage with leading data privacy experts, dig into the some of the most complex aspects of student privacy, and learn about available resources and frameworks to ensure their district is using data well.

Speakers

Rachel Anderson

Associate Director, Federal Policy & Advocacy, Data Quality Campaign

Rachel leads Data Quality Campaign’s work to foster an effective role for the federal government in supporting education data use. She convenes and collaborates with partners and policymakers to analyze and develop constructive education data legislation at all levels. Rachel’s... Read More →

Bill Fitzgerald

Director, Privacy Evaluation Initiative, Common Sense Media

Prior to joining Common Sense, Bill started and ran FunnyMonkey, an open-source development shop focused on education, open educational resources, and peer-based learning. Prior to that, he worked as a classroom teacher for 16 years. At Common Sense, Bill directs the Privacy Evaluation... Read More →

Leah Plunkett

Fellow/ Assoc. Prof. & Academic Success Director, Berkman Klein/ UNH Law

Leah A. Plunkett is a Fellow with the Youth & Media team at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University and an Associate Professor of Legal Skills & Director of Academic Success at University of New Hampshire School of Law. As a member of the Youth and Media... Read More →

Steve Smith

CIO, Cambridge Public Schools & Student Data Privacy Consortium

Mr.Steve Smith, has twenty five + years of CIO/CTO experience in rural and urban, large and small, school districts in New England, the last 15 years as CIO of Cambridge Public Schools. Recently Mr. Smith has spent a great deal of time navigating student privacy issues. He has represented... Read More →

Amelia Vance

Director of Education Privacy, Future of Privacy Forum

Amelia is Policy Counsel at the Future of Privacy Forum. She leads FPF’s work to ensure the responsible use of student data and education technology in schools, helping educators with resources and information, and seeking inputs from all stakeholders to ensure students succeed.Prior... Read More →

SDPConvening2017 SessionDetail C017 pdf

Friday May 19, 2017 10:00am - 11:30am EDT
Atlantic 3 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Concurrent Session, Data Governance

10:00am EDT

Open Data: Do Stakeholders Actually Use Data Dashboards?

Limited Capacity filling up

Link to session resource library: https://sites.google.com/view/sdpconvening2017/c016-do-stakeholders-use-dashboards

How do you know that your data dashboards are being used as intended? Is there anything you can do to ensure that school-based practitioners use data dashboards effectively? This session will be framed by a comparison of frequent challenges between intended data use (by the district or state) and actual data use (by school leaders and teachers). We will walk participants through this framework using three recently launched APS data dashboards. This session will allow you to develop strategies to apply improvement science methodology for problem diagnosis and develop a more meaningful approach to data tool development for the end user.

Speakers

Gayle Burnett

Exective Director, Atlanta Public School

Michael LaMont

ED - Data + Information Group, Atlanta Public Schools

Executive Director - Data + Information Group

Hannah Page

Performance Data Manager, Atlanta Public Schools

Hannah Page is the Performance Data Manager for Atlanta Public Schools charter and partner schools. In this role, she serves as the liaison between the Research and Evaluation group and schools. Previously, as a policy analyst at the Governor's Office of Student Achievement in Atlanta... Read More →

Shanna Ricketts

Director of Data Analytics, Gwinnett County Public Schools

Position at Company ABC.

SDPConvening2017 SessionDetail C016 pdf

Washing Hands A Gawande pdf

Friday May 19, 2017 10:00am - 11:30am EDT
Atlantic 2 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Concurrent Session, Communication

11:30am EDT

Lunch

Friday May 19, 2017 11:30am - 12:15pm EDT
Pacific A-E Boston Renaissance Waterfront Hotel

12:15pm EDT

Getting to know OpenSDP

Over the past decade, the amount of data available to school systems has grown tremendously. In addition, the methods and techniques available at the frontiers of research on education policy have been steadily expanding. Unfortunately, data analysts in different school systems are often concerned with similar questions, yet only rarely can they benefit from analyses or tools that others have developed. The same analyses to answer the same question may be developed tens or even hundreds of times across agencies. Currently, there is no easy way for analysts in one agency to leverage analysts’ in other agencies skills and knowledge. OpenSDP is an initiative developed by the Strategic Data Project to address this challenge and build a community of analysts accessing and sharing code to answer mission critical questions about education. Join us in learning more about the pilot tool and thinking about how you can be a contributor and user.

Required for Fellows, Open to All

Speakers

Lauren Dahlin

Sr. Research Analyst, Center for Education Policy Research

Miriam Greenberg

SDP Director, Strategic Data Project

Jared Knowles

President, Civilytics Consulting LLC

Jared Knowles is currently the president of Civilytics Consulting, LLC. He founded Civilytics Consulting to pursue his passion of providing high quality public performance metrics for government services that are comparable nationwide. He also provides an array of consulting services... Read More →

Meg Nipson

Research Manager, Center for Education Policy Research

Meg Nipson is a research manager at the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University, where she works with school systems and state education departments to help them answer policy-relevant questions using their own data. She currently works on CEPR’s multi-state textbook... Read More →

Friday May 19, 2017 12:15pm - 1:15pm EDT
Pacific A-E Boston Renaissance Waterfront Hotel

Plenary

1:30pm EDT

Capstone Presentation – A ‘Fitbit’ for Effective Learners

Limited Capacity seats available

Link to session resource library: https://sites.google.com/view/sdpconvening2017/c101-fitbit-for-effective-learners

SDP Fellow, David Jansen, Director of Software and Information Solutions at Fresno Unified School District, created a game-like mobile app that provides students with real-time performance data.

How can other organizations that are simultaneously in need of innovation but fearful of change adopt disruptive technologies?

In this session, David will share lessons learned and strategies for taking a potentially disruptive solution from inception to release. Attendees will receive a research brief that supports the adoption, extension, study, and scaling up of the ideas, tools, and data captured in this capstone project.

Fellows

David Jansen

‎Director, Software and Information Solutions, Fresno Unified School District

SDPConvening2017 SessionDetail C101 pdf

Friday May 19, 2017 1:30pm - 2:45pm EDT
Atlantic 3 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Concurrent Session, Capstone Presentation

1:30pm EDT

Capstone Presentation – College Readiness & Access Program Implementation Lessons 101

Limited Capacity seats available

Link to session resource library: https://sites.google.com/view/sdpconvening2017/c107-college-access-readiness-program-implementation

What are the challenges and successes experienced by urban districts implementing college readiness and access programs?

Monique Gagnon, Administrator of Research and Evaluation at San Jose Unified School District, developed a new accountability system for middle school that focuses on social-emotional learning and academic indicators. Janell Chery, Director of Research and Analysis at ImpactTulsa, analyzed successes and challenges from interventions to increase awareness of FAFSA and raise completion rates within Tulsa County high schools in Oklahoma. Richard Brown, Chief Research Scientist at National Math + Science Initiative, assessed implementation fidelity in a randomized control trial of an intervention to increase participation in Advanced Placement (AP) programs.
In small groups, these SDP Fellows will share the lessons learned at their organizations and lead attendees in reflection about their own agencies.

Fellows

Richard Brown

Chief Research Scientist, National Math + Science Initiative

Janell Chery

Director of Research & Analysis, ImpactTulsa

I'm a New Yorker by birth and now live in Oklahoma- great conversation starter! My passion is increasing equity within education and underserved communities.

Monique Gagnon

Administrator, Research and Evaluation, San Jose Unified School District

SDPConvening2017 SessionDetail C107 pdf

Friday May 19, 2017 1:30pm - 2:45pm EDT
Pacific F 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Concurrent Session, Capstone Presentation

1:30pm EDT

Capstone Presentation – Enhancing Organizational Capacity and Competence to Assess and Improve Program Effectiveness

Limited Capacity filling up

Link to session resource library: https://sites.google.com/view/sdpconvening2017/c105-enhancing-organizational-capacity

Learn how to support a data-informed, shared leadership organizational culture and how this cultural shift can be adapted to a local school district, a regional service provider and a state agency.

Buddy Harris, Director of the Office of Innovation at the Ohio Department of Education, initiated data-based decision making for dropout prevention and recovery schools. Tom Reed, Executive Director of Educational Service Center of Central Ohio, determined how to assess and leverage the collective data intelligence of a data team. Suzanne Wulach, Manager of Data, Research and Evaluation at Newark Public Schools, implemented a school-based continuous improvement cycle.

Using these SDP Fellows’ findings, this session’s three concurrent roundtable presentations each describe insights into organizational capacity to assess and improve program effectiveness.

Fellows

Buddy Harris

Director, Office of Innovation, Ohio Department of Education

Thomas Reed

Executive Director, ESC of Central Ohio

Executive Director

Suzanne Wulach

Director of Program Learning, OneGoal

I am a Cohort 7 Data Fellow who now works as a Director of Program Learning at OneGoal. My work focuses on college and career readiness, human centered design, culturally responsive pedagogy, blended learning, and classroom conditions that support social-emotional learning. I collaborate... Read More →

SDPConvening2017 SessionDetail C105 pdf

Friday May 19, 2017 1:30pm - 2:45pm EDT
Atlantic 2 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Concurrent Session, Capstone Presentation

1:30pm EDT

Capstone Presentation – Overcoming Stakeholder Knowledge Gaps to Promote Culture Change

Limited Capacity seats available

Link to session resource library: https://sites.google.com/view/sdpconvening2017/c110-overcoming-knowledge-gaps

How do value-added models affect teachers’ overall evaluation? Why should we measure students’ perceptions? Why should we be investing in a new performance management framework?

Chris Cutrona, Analyst at Miami-Dade County Public Schools responded to stakeholder needs following the implementation of value-added measures in teacher evaluation. Jennifer DeNeal, Project Coordinator for Educator Effectiveness at North Carolina Department of Public Instruction invested stakeholders in a state-wide expansion of student perception surveys. Matthew Pahl, Director of Policy, Innovation, and Measurement Division at New Mexico Public Education Department, led the implementation of a new performance management system.

These three SDP Fellows will lead roundtable discussions on how they encountered and addressed stakeholder concerns and knowledge gaps to promote culture change in their organizations.

Fellows

Chris Cutrona

Data Strategist, Miami-Dade County Public Schools

Jennifer DeNeal

Project Coordinator for Educator Effectiveness, North Carolina Department of Public Instruction

Matthew Pahl

Director of Policy, Innovation and Measurement, New Mexico Public Education Department

SDPConvening2017 SessionDetail C110 pdf

Friday May 19, 2017 1:30pm - 2:45pm EDT
Caspian 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Concurrent Session, Capstone Presentation

1:30pm EDT

Capstone Presentation – Speed Data’ing

Limited Capacity filling up

Link to session resource library: https://sites.google.com/view/sdpconvening2017/c102-speed-dataing

Most education leaders value data analysis but rarely use it. Why is there a disconnect? In this session, three SDP Fellows address how the transaction costs of preparing, accessing, and connecting data contribute to that disconnect by reducing the productivity of data resources.

David Hersh, Senior Director of Strategic Analytics at Camden City Public Schools, will share how to reduce the transaction cost of making connections between disparate data points. Alex Spurrier, Research Analyst at Kentucky Department of Education, will share how to reduce the transaction cost of preparing data for use. Ryan Wilson, Director of Data and Assessment at Kettle Moraine School District, will share how to reduce the transaction cost of accessing and analyzing data.

Fellows

David Hersh

Senior Director Strategic Analytics, Camden City School District

Alex Spurrier

Associate Partner, Bellwether Education Partners

Ryan Wilson

Director of Data and Assessment, Kettle Moraine School District

SDPConvening2017 SessionDetail C102 pdf

Friday May 19, 2017 1:30pm - 2:45pm EDT
Atlantic 1 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Concurrent Session, Capstone Presentation

1:30pm EDT

Capstone Presentation – The Challenge of Evaluating Non-Cognitive Skills

Limited Capacity filling up

Link to session resource library: https://sites.google.com/view/sdpconvening2017/c106-the-challenge-of-non-cognitive

With the new requirement of a non-academic fifth indicator in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and research supporting the importance of non-cognitive skills for students’ long term outcomes, educational organizations are wondering how to measure and effectively and accurately communicate about these skills. This session will share the work of three SDP fellow projects.

Karyn Lewis, Data Fellow at Education Northwest, created a guide to the uses of social emotional learning (SEL) data, including what it can and cannot tell the education practice and policy communities. Dawn Oliver, South Area School Office Director at Houston Independent School District, evaluated linked learning (career pathways) models, including implementation and data collection successes and challenges. Le Shaun Quander-Mosely, Director for Assessment and Research at the Archdiocese of Washington Catholic Schools Office, defined a Catholic Identity (CI) construct that can be used to identify indicators of Catholic culture in Catholic schools.

Fellows

Karyn Lewis

Senior Researcher, Education Northwest | REL Northwest

Dawn Oliver

School Improvement/Turnaround, Spring ISD

School Improvement/Turnaround

Le Shaun Quander-Mosley

Director for Assessment and Research, Archdiocese of Washington

SDPConvening2017 SessionDetail C106 pdf

Friday May 19, 2017 1:30pm - 2:45pm EDT
Pacific G-H 606 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Concurrent Session, Capstone Presentation

2:45pm EDT

Closing Remarks

It's the close of another convening. In one last act of "open," weigh in on next year's theme and our collective path forward. Join Faculty Director Thomas J. Kane for some parting thoughts to carry forward into your work.

Speakers

David Blazar

Assistant Professor, University of Maryland College Park

Friday May 19, 2017 2:45pm - 3:00pm EDT
Pacific A-E Boston Renaissance Waterfront Hotel

General Session