Expertise | Grant Development

Arkansas Department of Education:
Statewide Longitudinal Data System Grants

Arkansas educators review data from participating schools, using the state's longitudinal data system.

In early 2005, the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) asked Metis Associates to help develop a grant application in response to a U.S. Department of Education Institute for Educational Sciences (IES) announcement of competitive Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems (LDS) grants being made available to state education authorities. The IES initiative aimed to help states better manage and more effectively use individual student data for decision-making and reporting—ultimately to facilitate research to improve learning and achievement by all students. Metis worked closely with ADE administrators and external vendors to design and prepare the grant application. In November 2005, Arkansas learned that it was one of 13 state education authorities to have been awarded this highly competitive grant, in the amount of $3.3 million over three years.

The requirements outlined in the IES grant application were comprehensive and demanding, addressing the widest range of technical and functional capabilities. In assisting the ADE to build the LDS, Metis conducted in-depth research into its K-12 information systems environment, national standards, and best practices in the field, and reviewed the status of work that was already under way to address many of these grant objectives. Based on the use of Cognos data warehouse technologies, the new LDS that Metis helped to design brings together nearly all education data in a common environment. Moreover, the system uses a new unique student identifier, so that cross-system and cross-year data are immediately accessible.

In 2008, Metis helped the ADE secure a second three-year LDS grant from IES, which will enable the state to extend the data to young people from kindergarten through age 20 and focus on improved strategies to help teachers and administrators use these data to enhance teaching and learning. Metis will continue to assist the ADE in implementing this system, providing project-management support, data-quality assurance, and evaluation services.