A much-anticipated $45 million project to post school data on a public Web site has been delayed by at least a month while state officials comb through the first version of the database to assure its accuracy.
The project鈥檚 directors added a four-week review period after state officials voiced fears that the data could be wrong and might unfairly portray the quality of their schools, according to officials involved in the project.
鈥淲e want to make sure that the data that鈥檚 included and the [analysis provided] are things that states feel comfortable with,鈥� said Scott S. Montgomery, the chief of staff for the Council of Chief State School Officers.
The project is setting out to produce a Web site that will include a host of education data, including student achievement, school finance, and demographics. The search tools on the new site will allow users to research just about all of the inputs and outcomes of a school and compare that data to other schools in their states.
The Washington-based CCSSO and its partners decided to delay the Web site鈥檚 launch until next month after hearing state officials鈥� complaints about the potential for problems, Mr. Montgomery said.
After hearing those concerns, the CCSSO added the review period to the original schedule of work done by the school evaluation division of Standard & Poor鈥檚.
State officials started reviewing versions of the Web site last week. Each state will have two weeks to scour the proposed site.
鈥淲e decided to do some more outreach to make sure they are well aware of what鈥檚 going to be on the site this spring,鈥� said Susan N. Shafer, the director of marketing and communications for the school evaluation division of the New York City-based financial-analysis firm.
But one of the most vocal critics of the project said he was unlikely to be mollified during the review period. Although the Web site will provide a wealth of information, it won鈥檛 necessarily be helpful in providing information to help schools improve, said Douglas D. Christensen, Nebraska鈥檚 education commissioner.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 see any value in this information,鈥� Mr. Christensen said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 another top-down approach. It鈥檚 another cookie-cutter approach.鈥�
Wait and See
Others are supporting the database, but are waiting to see what it looks like.
鈥淲e鈥檙e all cautious because people do make comparisons that aren鈥檛 necessarily the way data should be used,鈥� said Jo Lynne DeMary, Virginia鈥檚 superintendent of education.
The 91制片厂视频 Data Partnership started when two prominent foundations agreed to underwrite plans by the CCSSO and Standard & Poor鈥檚 to post school data online and make it available to all for free.
School-level achievement data are becoming increasingly available through federal and non profit partnerships.
September 2003:
President Bush announces the School Information Partnership, which is to publish student-achievement data from every public school in the nation at .
November 2003:
The Council of Chief State School Officers enters into an agreement with Standard & Poor鈥檚 to produce a separate Web site that will publish state, district, and school data.
January 2004:
The School Information Partnership posts data from six states at .
September 2004:
The School Information Partnership posts data from seven states, bringing the total to 49 states.
January 2005:
The 91制片厂视频 Data Partnership delays the launch of its Web site so state officials have a chance to thoroughly review the data on it.
Spring 2005:
The 91制片厂视频 Data Partnership plans to launch its Web site.
SOURCE: 91制片厂视频 Week
The development of the Web site is financed with $45 million from the Broad Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The funding is scheduled to last until early 2007. After that, the funders expect the Web site would continue with maintenance paid for by the states or other sources.
鈥淲e think it鈥檚 offering the most comprehensive analysis of education performance data ever in one place,鈥� said Pia Saengswang, the project鈥檚 director for the Los Angeles-based Broad Foundation.
When it is completed, the Web site will include a wide range of school data, including test scores, spending information, and student demographics. The data will be available at the school, district, and state levels.
It will also publish the calculations of S&P鈥檚 Return on Investment Index, which considers a school鈥檚 student performance, demographics, and spending to measure the school鈥檚 success.
Standard & Poor鈥檚 created similar Web sites for Michigan and Pennsylvania and has refined some of its work for the national site, said Ms. Shafer of S&P.
Standard & Poor鈥檚, the CCSSO, and the funders agreed to pursue project in the fall of 2003, and S&P began work on it late last year after the final details had been negotiated.
The original plan was to launch the site in January. The Web site鈥檚 address is not yet publicly available.
Last fall, CCSSO members started expressing worries about the project. They were concerned that the Web site would allow users to compare student achievement across states鈥攕omething they say would be unfair because each state has a different standards and testing system. They also questioned S&P鈥檚 method for calculating its Return on Spending Index.
The CCSSO鈥檚 Mr. Montgomery said some of the concerns were unfounded. For example, the Web site will not compare schools across state boundaries because each school has unique circumstances, he said.
The only data that users can compare across states, he said, are those that are common across the states, such as results from the National Assessment of 91制片厂视频al Progress and U.S. Census figures on non-academic data.
To address concerns about the spending index, the partnership decided to offer CCSSO members a preview of the site and the chance to request changes. State officials started reviewing versions of the Web site last week.
Delaware officials have found several inaccuracies in the state鈥檚 data, which would have caused major problems if they hadn鈥檛 been caught during the review, said Valerie A. Woodruff, the state鈥檚 education secretary.
Living With Data
While the reservations of some state officials about the project center around specific details, another concern is the increased scrutiny that comes when new information becomes publicly available.
鈥淲e all underestimate the culture shock that鈥檚 involved with data,鈥� said Dale Mann, a professor emeritus of education policy at Teachers College, Columbia University. Mr. Mann served as a paid consultant on a portion of the project that helped states improve the quality of their databases.
Despite the concerns, he said, 鈥渋t is preferable to the way we鈥檝e always done business before without data.鈥�
The 91制片厂视频 Data Partnership is the second such national project for Standard & Poor鈥檚. The company鈥檚 first national project produced a Web site with student-achievement data for public schools in 49 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, but not the full range of other data that the project under development will include. Nebraska didn鈥檛 provide data to Standard & Poor鈥檚 for the first project, but the Web site refers users to data on the state鈥檚 site.
The Broad Foundation and the U.S. Department of 91制片厂视频 paid for that $60 million project, the School Information Partnership.
