Recommendation 1 - Centralization

Build toward Centralization, Standardization, and Interoperability of Data Resources

The majority of this audit’s recommendations belong to this theme. While the pain points staff expressed pertained to specific systems and operations, most were underpinned by an understanding that data processes could be more efficient and effective, were they more unified. The sections below identify high-level recommendations stemming from those pain points, as well as specific examples of each.

Implement a Centralized Data Warehouse, Using the Ed-Fi Data Standard, to Manage Storage, Validation, and Analysis of Common Data Resources

Fragmentation and duplication of data collection and management was the largest and most consistent pain point identified by AIU staff during Data Ecosystem interviews. That is, many program teams collect the same information–sometimes even for the same students–as other programs; this causes several problems:

  • Duplicated effort, on behalf of AIU staff, to gather the same information multiple times.
  • Multiple “sources of truth”–different programs may have different values for the same data point for the same student (e.g., address, enrollment details), without any nexus of validation for this data.
  • Duplicated effort for external stakeholders–typically client school staff such as teachers, principals, secretaries–who may provide the same information to the AIU multiple times.
  • The use of varied and homegrown data systems to manage the same information across teams leads to increased “technical debt” incurred to support duplicative systems, often requiring either…
    • A program staff member to dedicate considerable time away from their daily responsibilities to learn and manage the data system (for some programs, the departure of this point person has left the team unable to make system updates).
    • Technology Services staff to dedicate limited support capacity to upskill in a wide variety of systems that serve the same purpose, often resulting in slower or less effective technical support, updates, and development resources.

While these problems generally pertain to internal AIU operations, client schools face a mirrored challenge in their own data management operations, which are compounded at points of information exchange with the AIU. That is, school A may use Infinite Campus as their SIS, Prosoft as their ERP, and IEP Writer as their special education system, while school B uses PowerSchool products for all three systems. In this example, school A and school B cannot easily share data resources, such as exports, reports, or analysis tools, with one another; further, AIU program teams supporting both schools in exporting data for program purposes (e.g., student attendance information) must either provide separate process support to each school to export student data or must manually transform the data from both schools before importing to the AIU-side system of record.

Implementation of a centralized data warehouse would mitigate these problems for AIU teams

A data warehouse provides a single storage location and a single storage format (i.e., common data definitions) for data flowing in from multiple sources. Co-locating data from multiple sources provides 4 advantages over the current state described above:

  1. Data Validation - With common data points being stored in the same location and same format, database queries can be used to compare potential duplicate records, conflicting information (e.g., different spellings of the same student name), and even potentially missing information across operational areas.
  2. Analytical Capability - Pushing data from current data systems–which often comprise collections of spreadsheets or file systems that are difficult to analyze comprehensively–to a centralized data warehouse would enable more sophisticated analysis of program data, leveraging relational database structures and efficient query development to answer questions about student performance, historical trends, and relationships between data elements.
  3. Efficient Reporting - By leveraging a common data standard in a data warehouse, the AIU could take advantage of a single frontend reporting system built upon that data standard. Such a solution would give all participating program teams access to a single, secure interface for data visualization and report building.
  4. Efficient Support - Custom data queries, validations, and visualizations constitute the most common data services requests across program teams. Use of a data warehouse would greatly improve the efficiency with which these resources are developed, as queries would be written against a common data format and visualizations and other resources could be shared across functional teams. That is, an enrollment summary dashboard developed for the ESL team, for example, could be easily replicated for the Non-Public Schools Program without a full dashboard redesign.

A “data hub” shared services model would scale these benefits to school districts

Most school districts face the same challenges described above, and while many would likewise benefit from a data warehouse solution, few districts have the resources or capacity to implement a data warehouse themselves.

By selecting a data warehousing solution that leverages a unified data format, such as the Ed-Fi Data Standard, compatible with common data systems adopted by districts (e.g., Skyward, PowerSchool, Infinite Campus, etc.), the AIU could offer the same solution as a service for school districts.

In this model, a given district would continue using their current “frontend” systems for data entry, and these systems would send data to the district’s data warehouse. Because the data warehouse would share the same format and data definitions as the AIU data warehouse, resources such as validation queries, dashboards, and reporting interfaces developed for AIU purposes could be replicated at the district level (and vice versa).

Crucially, “shared services” the AIU provides to districts, such as Technology Services, Business Office, Special Education, Communications, and other functions, could leverage the common data infrastructure to scale resources across service districts, meaning any tool developed for one shared service district using the data hub could be easily ported to any other participating district.

Adopt a data standard to enhance consistency, accessibility, and utility of common data resources

Data stored in disparate or duplicative systems is not the sole source of the challenges described above: importantly, the variety of systems is a challenge because each system has its own schema for data storage and management. This means that exports from like systems cannot be compared with one another without first transforming the data to match.

Data standards are used across many industries to form a common language for data storage, exports, and imports, creating broad efficiencies, enabling systems to “talk to each other,” and improving organizations’ capacity to make meaningful use of their information assets.

Develop a centralized data quality validation platform

Nearly all AIU program teams complete pre-submission data validation processes for their state and federal reporting obligations. Development of a centralized data validation platform would help teams correct missing or inaccurate data proactively, addressing issues before submission time. Additionally, many teams’ data checks are imperative for program operations, ensuring that services have been provided, outreach has been conducted, etc.

This report recommends adoption of a central data validation platform with three components:

  1. Rule Development - “Data Stewards” within any given program team should be empowered to define data validation “rules” constituting the logic needed to return records of concern from the program team’s data source(s). This logic may be implemented through SQL queries or API calls to a given source system. Each rule should serve a distinct purpose, which could range from identifying erroneous data entries to querying a “to-do” list of records to address for a given task.
  2. Data Viewer - A secure data viewer portal should enable data users to review the individual records for any data validation rule they are associated with.
  3. Notifications - Users should receive proactive notice of data validation errors–for example, through a daily summary email listing the count of records for each rule they are associated with and a link to securely review these records.

A platform encompassing the above principles would, in addition to improving data quality, increase the feasibility of providing data support to users of the 203 individual systems in the AIU data environment. While technical staff would still need to be familiar enough with each source system to write validation rule queries at data stewards’ requests, managing data, rule logic, users, and notifications through a single platform would make technical support manageable within existing staff capacity.

Migrate spreadsheet- and file-based processes to use database or enterprise system solutions

Many AIU teams rely on spreadsheet- or file-based solutions for everyday data management needs. These resources surpass paper processes in efficiency, searchability, consistency, and other aspects; however, they lack the security, scalability, relational integrity, and flexibility that more sophisticated database and enterprise systems offer. The sections below provide specific recommendations, based on stakeholder interviews, in alignment with a general effort to transition to more robust data system solutions where possible.

Adopt and implement a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform

Many program teams identified the need for a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform as a high priority among their data needs. A CRM provides a single platform for managing customer entity (e.g., LEA) details, points of contact, and interactions with those points of contact over time.

The AIU’s multi-faceted service relationship with many LEAs drives the need for a CRM. A given school district may work with the AIU Finance team to support their business office functions, for example, while AIU Training and Consultation (TAC) staff provide professional development for that district’s teachers and AIU specialists such as hearing support teachers and physical therapists push in to support that district’s students. Often, AIU service overlaps occur within teams or departments, such that a handful of AIU staff who work together are, independently of one another, collaborating with contacts at the same school district.

Several teams in DEA interviews cited examples like the one above, noting a lack of visibility into contacts other staff members and departments have with LEAs. Using a CRM to track key contacts at each school district and to note significant interactions–e.g., trainings, services offered/accepted/declined, etc.–would improve the consistency of the AIU’s messaging to client districts and would enable a big-picture view of a given district’s involvement with AIU services.

Evaluation of a CRM is a current Strategic Plan goal and is underway as of 2024, as a collaborative effort between Marketing and Strategic Communications (MarCom), Technology Services, and other departments.

Identify and implement a consolidated event registration platform

Staff members, particularly from several teams within the Teaching and Learning (TAL) division, identified the need for a consolidated event registration platform for participants in AIU-hosted events and trainings. A single point-of-entry for event registrations would improve the user experience for event registrants while enabling AIU staff to see trends in event registrations over time. This benefit would affect many teams, from Continuing Professional Education, to TransformED, to Training and Consultation (TAC), and more.

Currently, the sign-up platform for a given AIU event varies depending on the person or team hosting and is typically a Google Form or Microsoft Form. These suffice for gathering basic registrant information each time but impose limitations in that…

  • These sign-up forms are not aware of the participant’s other registrations (i.e. basic info must be re-entered every time);
  • AIU staff do not have a view into the bigger picture of event attendance;
  • Useful directory information collected through the form is not automatically linked to any master repository;
  • Dynamic content, such as presentation materials, pre-reading, and relevant file attachments, must be delivered to participants through a separate medium, potentially decreasing engagement.

Team-Specific System Recommendations

While the above recommendations apply broadly, the list below enumerates a sample of team-specific action items pertaining to this recommendation area:

  • Update Evaluation, Grants, and Data (EGD) user data entry portals (such as the ECYEH data collection portal) to modernize user experience, improve security, and enhance data management functionality for grant reporting/evaluation.
  • Upgrade Family Literacy access database back end from .accdb file format to SQL Server to support multi-user access, faster offsite access, and enhancement of role-based security, data entry options, and data reporting capabilities.
  • Adopt a SIS or SIS-like application system to manage key data elements in the Non-Public Schools Program (NPSP), such as student demographic information, enrollment, screening results, and case notes.
  • Migrate the School-Based ACCESS Program (SBAP) database backend from .accdb (MS Access) file format to a SQL Server database in order to improve performance over VPN, enable more powerful query design needed for data exports, and lay the foundation for automated data validation processes and future interface improvements.
  • Build data integration between PA Educator System and Taleo Talent Management Platform to reduce administrative overhead required for information exchange between systems.
  • Create and deploy an updated contract management and approval system, leveraging existing licensing and tools such as Microsoft PowerAutomate and PowerApps in order to improve consistency and efficiency in the drafting and approval process.
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