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June 15, 2002
The Administrator's Guide to Data-Driven Decision Making (cont'd)
Resources For Data-driven Decision Making
The key to effective decision support is knowing what you want to do with the data you're collecting and then deciding on the best resources to meet those goals. Here are the three major types of products and services available.
Student Information Systems log transactional data, such as students' contact information, attendance, grades, and demographic information. Some also offer standards-based assessments with reports and analysis. For a full list of information management tools, see our accountability directory.
Analytical and Mining Tools perform complex calculations to show relationships between student achievement and a multitude of selected variables. These are the thinking engines of decision making. They do the math so that the clearest information is available to the human decision maker. Basic analytical tools study relationships, patterns, and gaps in student data, while more advanced mining tools execute sophisticated statistical analyses. Some high-end mining tool operations include aggregation or roll-up, disaggregation or drill-down, selection, and pivot. A properly implemented data mining tool would allow a principal, for example, to compare the performance of students in various classes against their teachers' attendance and then to drill down in each group by other factors such as gender, primary home language, or number of years the student has been in the district.
PowerPlay, (800) 637-7447
Brio Performance Suite, (800) 879-2746
DB2 Intelligent Miner, (800) 426-4968
SPSS Inc., (800) 543-2185
WebFOCUS, (800) 969-INFO
Data Warehouses store copies of data housed in student information systems. Aside from housing data, their highly specialized functions include combining disparate databases and distributing periodic or real-time reports.
eScholar, (914) 989-2910
DB2 Warehouse Manager, (800) 426-4968
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