Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
requirements than others. Even the most progressive states had many data
challenges.
The data entry function for education data was often relegated to a clerical
function and was not the primary job responsibility for that person. Typically,
a school receptionist or principal's secretary was responsible for entering all
student data. This function was performed amid many others: answering the
phone, dealing with parents in the office, and the many other tasks that keep
a school running. From the secretary's perspective, the most important data
elements to be carefully entered included student name, phone number, and
address. These data elements are needed in the daily functions of the school.
However, additional data elements were not being entered as carefully, such
as ethnicity, parent's education level, or specific disability conditions. Many
of these additional characteristics of a student may not be known at the time
a student is enrolled. Additional characteristics about each student may be
added later, as time permits.
When the No Child Left Behind Act was passed, additional data was
required to be submitted to the U.S. Department of Education. This data
would not just be submitted and sit in a database somewhere. It would
be used to grade the performance of each school and district, and would be
shared publicly. The school's performance could also have an impact on
future funding. Needless to say, much more attention is now being paid to the
quality of the data; however, our schools are much better equipped to interact
with children, rather than data. In order to ensure proper reporting of school
performance, each student's data must be accurate and submitted with the
appropriate characteristics. Many school districts and schools now have staff
members dedicated to data entry and validation. Others are providing better
training to those who are involved with data entry.
Many of the challenges facing school districts and states are clearly related
to data quality and data management issues. Now that the data matters,
much more care and attention is paid to how and when data is captured and
maintained. This improved data will also help support better analysis of the
education process itself.
Realizing the Value of Data Quality
At the end of the day, working on data quality is painstaking and sometimes
tedious. It requires attention to detail and tracking down many little details,
and it often feels like a rather thankless job. Others begin to avoid you, taking
alternative routes to get from place to place. Take heart — this process
will
provide value to the organization. For a data warehouse, the worst part is
during the design and development, as all the issues need to be researched and
followed up. Use all the resources at your disposal — data governance group,
MDM group, and data profiling tools — to help you through the process. Once
