Data warehousing is a pet peave of mine. It seems like we never have the data we want or need when we want or need it. In this week’s reading a quote popped out at me, “But we were never quite sure we were collecting the necessary data, had no appropriate storage system to house the vast amount of information and had no acceptable way to connect our data sets to determine relationships and trends. Further, data were not easily readable and usable by staff, parents and students. Without a functional data system, we were unable to use our data to make the instructional and program decisions necessary to raise student achievement.” This is very true and not only do we need the information to keep our children safe, but we also need the information to make sure our students are getting the instructional programs based on their needs.
We need all three tiers of data the state is asking us to collect and we need to make sure it’s warehoused in a system where all district officials needing access to the data can find the information they need in a timely manner. This is not always the case and school districts need to get better about it. The data can be secure and given out to those with proper credentials and this is still important to remain in effect, but we’ve got to get the information to those that need it in a more timely manner.
Thompson, T., & Gould, K. (2005, April). A homegrown design for data warehousing. School Administrator, 62.4.
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