University Of Arkansas Researchers Create First-Of-Its Kind Database To Benefit School Teachers And Students

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - A first-of-its-kind database created by University of Arkansas researchers and made available to school principals and superintendents in Arkansas will help schools identify their academic strengths and weaknesses and better prepare approximately 450,000 students for future success.

The Educational Data Delivery System (EDDS) was created by Sean Mulvenon and Ronna Turner, professors in the College of Education and Health Professions and co-founders of its Office of Research, Measurement, and Evaluation (ORME). EDDS will help education professionals, teachers and administrators, learn more about the effectiveness of curricula in their individual schools.

"We are already receiving inquiries from other states regarding the possibility of developing similar systems for their use," said Mulvenon.

"Teacher and administrator perceptions of strengths or weaknesses are important, but empirical evidence helps to support the direction ultimately pursued to improve overall student achievement" Mulvenon said. "For example, a group of teachers we worked with believed that low total math scores were the result of poor problem solving skills. However, examination of all the data revealed the problem was more associated with low computational skills."

The Arkansas Department of Education owns the database, but allows access to the data through the ORME web page (orme.uark.edu) for all administrators in Arkansas. The database provides information on approximately 450,000 students enrolled in Arkansas schools. The information available includes individual student performance on standardized tests, both SAT-9 and state mandated benchmark exams, data on subsidized school lunches, special student services received, race, and gender. Each administrator will have access to information specific to only their school or district. The schools already have this information, just not in the powerful format this database will offer.

"We are excited to have a product like EDDS to make available to the public schools in Arkansas. This will help to facilitate implementation of a data-driven decision component in the development of policy and curriculum in Arkansas public schools," said Dr. Woody Cummins, Deputy Director of the Arkansas Department of Education. The idea behind EDDS originated with Arkansas Department of Education staff, University of Arkansas professors, and numerous administrators, principals, and teachers.

The next step is to expand the EDDS database to include additional school and district information such as millage rates, funding levels, and other types of indicators that may further affect classroom learning opportunities. A symposium is planned for this fall to identify the next variables to be included. Any suggestions are welcome and can be sent to ORME using their web page or through the Arkansas Department of Education.

"I believe it is generally recognized that we need to improve the academic performance of students in Arkansas," said Mulvenon. Part of this process is providing a way to empirically assess student academic growth said Turner. EDDS is an informative diagnostic tool designed to provide information, to offer an objective assessment of what is taking place in schools and to help evaluate student achievement.

To support the use of EDDS, the database has a tutorial system that will allow educators to learn how to generate their own statistical data. The development of the database used sophisticated statistical techniques, but the product produced was designed to be user friendly so as to provide information that school officials can use to determine trends, make comparisons, note changes, and identify academic strengths and weaknesses, according to Mulvenon. For example, the data can be used to predict how students are likely to perform on future standardized tests based on their current and past levels of performance. This will help teachers to develop the necessary individualized education plans to address areas identified as weaknesses.

At the classroom level, teachers can use the data provided through EDDS to see how curriculum changes affect student achievement, not just in one year, but over the course of several years. Eventually, the database will contain each student’s comprehensive scholastic record, allowing teachers to assess a student’s overall progress within the Arkansas school system.

The Arkansas Department of Education has asked Mulvenon and Turner to develop an assessment course to support the use of EDDS. The outcome will be a method to obtain a teacher certification in assessment, the first of its kind in education - no states currently have an assessment certification. EDDS has only been available for three weeks, but approximately 150 principals and superintendents have obtained their passwords for access and the researchers anticipate that most of the 1,400 principals and superintendents will obtain access within the next few months.

"We are very excited about EDDS and the contribution this system will make in improving delivery of education in Arkansas" said Turner.

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