THE CNMI Public School System “has made tremendous progress” toward the goals of the State Longitudinal Data System or SLDS grant project, according to U.S. Department of Education grant program manager Nancy Sharkey.
Sharkey, along with SLDS program analyst Amanda Musick, state support team point of contact Corey Chatis and Privacy Technical Assistance Center or PTAC student privacy analyst Brittani Fairchild visited CNMI public schools in October 2021.
While in the CNMI, they assessed the school system’s implementation of the SLDS grant project, “Advance CNMI: Leveraging Data Power for Greater Success.” Its goal is to establish a highly effective SLDS infrastructure, and shift the use of data from compliance to accountability and strategic instructional usage.
Sharkey said CNMI PSS has made tremendous progress toward the grant goals and is changing “business as usual” in education.
For his part, PTAC Director Ross Lemke said of all the districts where he has presented, the CNMI is the only entity with 100% Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act training for its district staff.
Annette Pladevega Sablan, project director of CNMI PSS SLDS, said the visiting federal officials noted the following key accomplishments:
1) The launch of a pilot Early Warning System or EWS in reading through an early learning workgroup, which was implemented from October 2020 to June 2021.
2) The prioritization of EWS needs and indicators to flag students who show signs of needing intervention. This was accomplished in July 2020.
3) The establishment of the scope of work and yearly deliverables for an SLDS infrastructure vendor, and a review of policies and processes related to data governance from July 2020 to April 2021.
4) The development of a stakeholder engagement plan to involve users in guiding, improving, and sustaining the SLDS. This was done in October 2020.
5) PSS’ acceptance into the highly competitive Strategic Data Project at the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University, from June 2020 to August 2022.
6) The SLDS project director’s acceptance as a Strategic Data Project agency fellow from June 2020 to August 2022.
7) Continued participation in highly engaging modules that support the development of SLDS data dashboards for educators and by educators from September 2020 to August 2022.
In fiscal year 2021-2022, PSS was provided with $688,881 in federal funds for a data management and central data intake storage project.
According to Education Commissioner Alfred B. Ada, this project “links the data systems of Head Start, PSS and Northern Marianas College into one seamless education data storage system with central intake and cloud-based storage.”
Of the total amount received by PSS for the project, $212,305 has been spent and $301,623 encumbered. There is still a $174,953 fund balance for the SLDS, PSS said.
