A Microsoft Word version of this letter is available for download and PRINTING.

February 1, 2010

To the Administrator Addressed

Subject:  Texas Student Data System and Stakeholder Feedback

The purpose of this letter is to introduce you to the Texas Education Agency’s new vision for a comprehensive, statewide data system and to request your attendance at stakeholder forums this spring.  The stakeholder forums, which will be held at regional Education Service Centers across the state over the next four months, will gather input from administrators, principals and educators that will be used to design the new statewide data system. 

Background:  The agency’s new vision – the Texas Student Data System (TSDS) will allow educators and policymakers the ability to collect, submit and access education data in practical and powerful ways.  The goals of the system are to:

1. Create academic dashboards and early warning systems that help teachers and administrators ensure that every student reaches his/her potential
2. Alleviate the data collection burden on school districts and improve data quality
3. Integrate key data into TEA’s P–20 data warehouse, known as the Texas Public Education Information Resource (TPEIR), to better understand students’ preparedness to contribute to the 21st-century workforce.

The new data system has five major system components:

• District Connections Database (DCD);
• Certified PEIMS data store;
• Texas Public Education Information Resource (TPEIR);
• Business intelligence tools; and
• State-sponsored student information system (SIS).

Full deployment of the solution and all five components will occur over the next five years, depending on the availability of funding, and other key resources.  However, incremental improvements are expected to be realized throughout this timeframe.

Stakeholder Feedback:  A critical first step in the project design is feedback from users of the new system, including teachers, campus, district, and regional leaders, and PEIMS Coordinators.  Our objective is to design user-friendly reports, tools, and screens that will provide the different users of the system with timely and pertinent information about student achievement and campus and district performance so that teachers and administrators can make more informed decisions to impact student achievement. 

The Texas Education Agency and a number of Education Service Centers will be sponsoring a series of stakeholder feedback sessions across the state in the following topic areas:

• Presenting the TSDS solution and soliciting feedback
• Reviewing proposed features and functionality of the educational dashboard tools
• Collecting input on content of the dashboard tools and reports
• Collecting input on stakeholder requirements for a state-sponsored SIS

Options to Participate:  Stakeholder sessions will be designed for teachers, campus principals, PEIMS Coordinators, and district administrators.  We encourage you to send a representative of each of these groups to the forums or have them provide feedback through one of the other options listed below.

• TEA will host 8 regional forums over the next four months (see Attachment A for details on locations, dates, and RSVP instructions), and CPE credits will be available
• For those who cannot make a regional forum, there will be one or more webinars, the first one scheduled for Friday, April 16, 2010
• There is also a new project website which contains key documents, and provides an opportunity to give feedback (www.texasstudentdatasystem.org)

If you or your staff are planning to attend a regional forum, it will be important to RSVP soon to ensure your attendance.  If you have any questions regarding this letter, please feel free to contact TEA’s Statewide Data Initiatives Program at (512) 936-2383.
 
Redesigning the state’s longitudinal data system is a major undertaking, and feedback from school districts is critical to the successful implementation of this project.  Thank you in advance for providing input and for working with the agency over the next five years on the Texas Student Data System.

Sincerely,

Robert Scott
Commissioner of Education

Attachment A - TSDS Regional Forums