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Past and Ongoing
Projects
Click on the links below to see some of the ways Edudata
has helped individuals and institutions access, organize,
and make sense of education data.
Projects
for Parents and Educators
Edudata Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA) Cohort Reports
Mr. Bruce Beairsto, Richmond School District #38
Edudata produced for Richmond a customized FSA Cohort Analysis
Report package that included district and school-level reports.
The reports looked at the FSA Reading, Writing, and Numeracy
test achievement over time of students within the 2003 and
2004 Richmond FSA Cohorts.
Edudata Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA) Cohort Reports
Dr. Rick Erickson, Howe Sound School District #48
Edudata produced for Howe Sound a customized FSA Cohort Analysis
Report package that included district and school-level reports.
The reports looked at the FSA Reading, Writing, and Numeracy
test achievement over time of students within the 2003 and
2004 Howe Sound FSA Cohorts and for sub-groups of male, female,
and First Nations students.
Edudata Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA) Cohort Reports
Mr. Keven Elder, Saanich School District #63
Edudata produced for Saanich a customized, web-based FSA Cohort
Analysis Report package that included district and school-level
reports. The reports looked at the FSA Reading, Writing, and
Numeracy test achievement over time of students within the
2003 and 2004 Saanich FSA Cohorts.
Edudata Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA) Cohort Reports
North Vancouver School District #44
Edudata produced for North Vancouver a customized, web-based
FSA Cohort Analysis Report package that included district
and school-level reports. The reports looked at the FSA Reading,
Writing, and Numeracy test achievement over time of students
within the 2003 and 2004 North Vancouver FSA Cohorts.
FSA Reading Comprehension Performance at the Item
Level
Dean Irvine, Irwin Park Elementary School (School District
45),BC
Mr. Irvine wanted to obtain frequency counts for his 4th-
and 7th-grade students' scores for each of the individual
constructed response (open-ended) questions for the Foundation
Skills Assessment (FSA) Reading Comprehension subtests for
2000, 2001, and 2002. Mr. Irvine also asked Edudata Canada
to indicate the general "subscale category" to which
each individual question belonged (i.e., the specific aspect
of Reading Comprehension assessed by each item) so that he
and the teaching staff at Irwin Park could determine more
clearly their students' reading comprehension strengths and
weaknesses.
Sex Differences in Enrollment in French Immersion
at a BC Secondary School
A. H., Parent Advisory Council member of a Secondary School
in BC
A. H. contacted Edudata Canada after we exhibited at the 2004
British Columbia Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils
(BCCPAC) conference. She was interested in determining if
there were sex differences in the enrollment in French Immersion
programs (during the 1999/2000 to 2003/2004 school years)
of eighth-grade French Immersion students at her student's
secondary school in 1998/1999. Edudata Canada also provided
A.H. with the breakdown of the "feeder schools"
in which the same eighth-grade students were enrolled in 1997/1998.
Projects
for Researchers: Education
Aboriginal Students and Provincially-Examinable Science
Courses
Ms. Jennifer White, First Nations Education Steering Committee
Society (FNESC )
Jennifer White contacted Edudata Canada about answering the
following research question: How many Grade 12 students, who
declared themselves as having Aboriginal background on September
30, 2002, were enrolled in provincially-examinable science
courses in the 2002-2003 school year? Ms. White was interested
particularly in investigating Aboriginal students' enrollment
and performance in Biology 12, Chemistry 12, and Physics 12.
Applied Academic Enrollment Rates
Dr. Jim Gaskell, University of British Columbia (UBC )
Dr. Gaskell is working with Edudata in an effort to gather
information, including related data, on students' public school
performance on British Columbia Ministry of Education-sponsored
annual standardized tests within the realm of Applied Academics.
The project will attempt to examine Applied Academic enrollment
rates by school, district, and gender over the past four years
(1998 - 2001) as well as the corresponding provincial exam
scores where applicable.
BC Aboriginal Students' Performance of the Foundation
Skills Assessment (FSA) Test Items
Ms. Heather Morin, Aboriginal Education Enhancements Branch,
BC Ministry of Education
Ms. Morin is interested in examining the performance of Aboriginal
students, across all districts in the province, on individual
test items of the Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA) numeracy
and reading comprehension subtests. Edudata Canada set up
a secure website for her to access this information, aggregated
at the district level.
Comparability of Test Scores For Non-Aboriginal and
Aboriginal Students
Dr. Bonita Davidson, Former Graduate Student
Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology and Special
Education, UBC
Dr. Davidson explored the validity and comparability of scores
from large-scale assessments across gender, cultural, racial,
or ethnic subgroups. With permission from the BC Ministry
of Education, Edudata Canada supplied Dr. Davidson with Aboriginal
and non-Aboriginal students' scores on the 2000/2001 Foundation
Skills Assessment Numeracy and Reading Comprehension subtests
in order that she could investigate this issue more fully.
Comparison of Students' Scores on the Foundation
Skills Assessment (FSA) and Canadian Test of Basic Skills
(CTBS)
Mr. Bill Angus, Department of Educational and Counselling
Psychology and Special Education, UBC
Mr. Angus hopes to determine "how predictable" FSA
scores are given a history of CTBS testing for students in
the Surrey school district.
Current Uses of Technology in the Faculty of Education
Dr. Gaalen Erickson, UBC
Dr. Erickson is working with Edudata on an institutional self-study
comprised of several inter-related projects to investigate
the current uses of technology in the Faculty of Education
at UBC. The goal is to describe current attitudes, competencies,
and practices of UBC faculty and students in pre-service programs
and projects which have been deliberately designed to include
a broad range of new communications and learning technologies.
Distance Education Study
Dr. Charles Ungerleider, Department of Educational
Studies, UBC
Dr. Ungerleider is conducting an exploratory investigation
of the similarities and differences among three groups of
BC students: 1) those who took only regular courses, 2) those
who took some combination of regular courses and Distance
Education courses, and 3) those who took only Distance Education
courses. Edudata Canada provided Dr. Ungerleider with demographic
and achievement data for the above three groups of students,
over four school years: 1998-99, 1999-00, 2000-01, and 2001-02.
The research will provide a clearer understanding of the characteristics
of students making use of distance learning opportunities
and identify how their educational careers parallel or diverge
from those students who do not take advantage of such opportunities.
Educational Progress of Children from Pre-School
to Early School Years
Dr. Hillel Goelman, UBC
Dr. Goelman is working with Edudata on a research project
exploring the educational progress of children from pre-school
to early school years. The BC government provides diverse
Early Childhood Education (ECE) interventions to foster the
development of preschoolers with special needs. These programs
include the Infant Development Program, Supported Child Care,
Aboriginal Head Start, and Junior Kindergarten programs. This
project will assess the impact of these kinds of programs
on school achievement, their cost-effectiveness, and the impact
on the costs of later remediation and special education programs.
Enrollment Rates and Results by Gender in Grade 11
and 12 Applied Skills Courses
Dr. Stephen Petrina, Department of Curriculum
Studies, UBC
Stephen Petrina and his research group pursued their interest
in applied skills courses by requesting 1999-2000 data output
for enrollment and results by gender for selected Grade 11
and Grade 12 applied skills courses in BC.
Epidemiology of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in
BC and Canada
Dr. Suzanne Lewis, Department of Medical Genetics, UBC
Dr. Lewis has been involved in the creation of the National
Epidemiological Database for the Study of Autism in Canada
(NEDSAC), which involves the collection of anonymous demographic
and diagnostic data from young individuals who have been diagnosed
with (or who are suspected of having) an Autism Spectrum Disorder
(ASD)/Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD). Dr. Lewis approached
Edudata Canada about obtaining various anonymised demographic
variables, collected by the BC Ministry of Education, specific
to each of the individuals schooled in BC in the hopes of
studying the incidence and prevalence of ASD/PDD in British
Columbia.
ESL and Special Education Students in BC
Dr. Colleen Hawkey and Mr. Charlie Naylor, British
Columbia Teachers' Federation (BCTF)
Dr. Hawkey and Mr. Naylor are interested in gaining a better
understanding of teaching and learning conditions in schools
across British Columbia. Their project will assist them in
exploring the changing nature of classroom teaching and learning
with particular emphasis on changes in the frequency of students
identified as having special needs and as speaking English
as a Second Language, at the school and grade levels, over
time.
Exploration of Students' Reading Development in the
3-year Vancouver school board 4-8 Literacy project.
Dr. Theresa Rogers, Department of Language and
Literacy Education, UBC
Dr. Rogers' study involves collaboration with the Vancouver
School Board (VSB), and is designed to study the literacy
development of fourth- to eighth-grade students during a three-year
pilot literacy project. The project includes implementation,
by the school board, of intensive professional development
on comprehension and writing strategies as well as project
evaluation. The project involves 13 schools (8 elementary,
5 secondary). As part of the project, the VSB has requested
the development of an Informal Reading Inventory of Comprehension
Strategies (IRIS) to evaluate Years 2 and 3 of the program.
In addition, they have requested secondary analysis of this
data and of data from the Canadian Achievement Test (CAT)
in Reading which they administered for Years 1-3, and data
from their own developed and administered writing assessment.
Factors in Music Participation and Academic Achievement
of Grade 12 Students
Dr. Peter Gouzouasis, Department of Curriculum Studies,
UBC
Dr. Gouzouasis is conducting a study on the relationships
between music participation and various facets of academic
achievement on a large scale. Edudata has been assisting him
in gathering datasets about Grade 12 student course enrollment
and academic outcome information in the province of British
Columbia , designing appropriate study methods and performing
data analysis procedures. Edudata also participated in the
interpretation of the results and the final written analysis
of the findings.
Gender Differences in Students' Perceptions about
and Achievement in Language Arts
Ms. Stephanie Versteege, University
of Victoria
The purpose of Ms. Versteege's research was to examine the
issue of gender differences found in students' perceived self-efficacy,
attribution style, expectancy-value, and academic achievement
in Language Arts. Of specific interest was whether recent
increases in boys' language arts achievement have resulted
in commensurate changes in their achievement-related beliefs.
Edudata Canada assisted Ms. Versteege in obtaining the Foundation
Skills Assessment scores for each of her study participants.
Identifying Content and Cognitive Skills that Produce
Gender Differences in Mathematics: A Demonstration of the
Multidimensionality-Based DIF Analysis
Dr. Mark J. Gierl, Department of Department of Educational
Psychology,
University of Alberta
Dr. Mark Gierl is studying the gender differences in mathematics
using a multidimensionality-based DIF framework. Edudata provided
Dr. Gierl with the item-level datasets for the past three
years on the BC provincial Foundation Skills Assessment tests
to facilitate the testing of the model.
Influences of Students' Attitudes and Performance
Dr. Kadriye Ercikan, UBC
Dr. Ercikan is working with Edudata to gather information
about the 1995 British Columbia Assessment of Mathematics
and Science in order to study how grade level, gender, and
other demographic factors influence students' attitudes and
performance.
Information Technology 11 and 12
Gary Rupert, Teacher Education Office, UBC
UBC's Teacher Education Office allows teacher trainees to
specialize in Computer Science. Mr. Rupert contacted Edudata
Canada because he was interested in determining the province-wide
counts of students, across five school years, enrolled in
Information Technology 11 or 12 (the Ministry of Education
courses most similar to Computer Science). Mr. Rupert requested
this information because he suspected that the count of students
enrolled in Info Tech 12 would be much lower than those enrolled
in Info Tech 11. Results confirmed his hypothesis.
IRT Analysis of Students' Provincial Examination
Scores
Dr. Don Klinger, Queen's University
Dr. Klinger is interested in whether large-scale standardized
assessment for different student populations measures equally
and discriminates between individuals with different ability
levels. To this end, Edudata Canada created for him SPSS files,
each containing individual students' scores for each of the
multiple choice questions for various provincially-examinable
courses (Applied Mathematics, Principles of Mathematics, English,
and Technical and Professional Communications) for four school
years, so that he may conduct analyses of the scores using
IRT.
Longitudinal Literacy Achievement Study
Dr. Linda Siegel, UBC
Dr. Siegel is investigating the literacy achievement of students
in the North Vancouver School District (SD 44). Her research
team originally collected data from a cohort of students in
Kindergarten (fall term) in 1997-1998. Data were also collected
subsequently as the cohort reached the end of their Kindergarten
year (spring term, 1997-1998), Grade 1 (1998-1999), Grade
2 (1999-2000), Grade 3 (2000-2001), Grade 4 (2001-2002), and
Grade 5 (2002-2003), respectively. For each testing period,
data were entered into their own, separate SPSS file. Dr.
Siegel approached Edudata Canada about merging the above seven
data files into one master/longitudinal file. Because Dr.
Siegel's seven files did not contain unique identifiers for
individual students (such as case numbers), merging was performed
on a probabilistic basis.
Ranking BC Secondary Schools
Ms. Stephanie Barclay-McKeown, Department of
Educational and Counselling Psychology and Special Education,
UBC
Ms. Barclay-McKeown is interested in investigating in depth
the statistical methodology used by the Fraser Institute for
ranking BC secondary schools' academic achievement in a study
by the Institute entitled "Report Card on British Columbia's
Secondary Schools" (Cowley & Easton, March 2004).
School Choice
Dr. Jane Gaskell , UBC
Dr. Gaskell is working with Edudata in an effort to gather
information to initiate a longitudinal study following Grade
7 students during high school stage, in order to assess a)
how much school choice students have for their secondary studies;
and b) whether school choice influences students' school performance.
School Retention of Aboriginal Students in BC Public
Schools
Ms. Cheryl Aman, Ph.D. Student, Department of Educational
Studies, UBC
Ms. Aman is investigating the school retention and school
performance of Aboriginal students in public schools from
varied geographical locations across British Columbia . The
major aim of the study is to determine the community/geographical
contexts in which 1) improvement in the Foundation Skills
Assessment scores; and 2) improvement in the 6-year completion
rates for Aboriginal students occurs. With permission from
the BC Ministry of Education, Edudata Canada was able to provide
Ms. Aman with the data necessary to explore her research question
in detail.
Skills Policy and Social Group Interests in British
Columbia, 1990-2004
Mr. John Meredith, Ph.D. Student, Department of Educational
Studies, UBC
Mr. Meredith is investigating the characteristics and educational
pathways of BC students who participate in Trades training.
The research will consider participants in Secondary School
Apprenticeship (SSA), as well as current and former BC K-12
students who enroll directly in adult apprenticeship. With
permission from the BC Ministry of Education, Edudata Canada
will be able to provide Mr. Meredith with some of the data
necessary to explore his research question in detail.
UBC Students and French Immersion Enrollment
Mr. Walter Sudmant, Director, Planning and Institutional
Research, UBC
Mr. Sudmant asked Edudata Canada to provide him with information
about the frequencies of first-year UBC undergraduate students
in 2003-2004 who were enrolled in any type of French Immersion
program in British Columbia during the previous school year
(2002-2003). He was interested specifically in determining
the frequencies of UBC's students enrolled in the following
BC French Immersion programs: Programme Francophone, Core
French, Early French Immersion, and Late French Immersion.
Projects
for Researchers: Interdisciplinary
Are a student's educational outcomes influenced by
the socio-economic characteristics of his or her schoolmates?
Jane Friesen, Simon Fraser University (SFU )
Jane Friesen, a Professor of Economics from SFU, requested
enrollment statistics of Grade 12 BC students aggregated by
postal code and by public secondary school from Edudata to
analyze in combination with publicly available assessment
data, specifically English 12 and Math 12 provincial results.
The client produced approximations of the socio-economic characteristics
by linking students' postal codes to related Census Enumeration
Areas (CEA) to attribute to each student the average socioeconomic
characteristics of families living in the CEA in which that
student resides. Using all of the collected information, she
hopes to answer the research question: "Are a student's
educational outcomes influenced by the socio-economic characteristics
of his or her schoolmates?"
Choice and Competition: Evidence from British Columbia
Ms. Winnie Chan & Dr. Robert McMillan, Department
of Economics, University of Toronto
Ms. Chan 's and Dr. Millan's research has two foci. Their
first project, "Understanding the effects of greater choice
on public school performance", involves exploring how BC students
perform in public schools that are located in the vicinity
of newly-opened private (independent) schools. The second
project, "Understanding public versus private school choice",
involves using rich microdata to understand how households
choose where to live and where to send their children to school,
allowing an understanding of some of the factors that determine
the size of the 'market' of a given private school and the
extent to which private schools compete with different public
schools.
Educational Performance and Attrition of BC's Aboriginal
Students
Dr. Michael Chandler, University of British Columbia (UBC
)
Dr. Chandler is working in consultation with Edudata in order
to gather information about aboriginal students' performance
on British Columbia Ministry of Education-sponsored annual
standardized tests, as well as aboriginal students' attrition
rates, both to be examined at the Native band level.
Educational Status of Aboriginal Students of Squamish
Nation Descent
Dr. Shirley McBride, Independent Consultant for
McBride Management
Dr. Shirley McBride used data from Edudata to complement a
larger project on students of Squamish Nation descent. Cross-tabulations
on gender and special education provided a backdrop of the
current educational status and needs of students of Squamish
Nation descent. The goal of the project is to analyze the
current services being delivered to students of Squamish Nation
descent through various means, either by school districts
or by the Band directly, and to identify possible future actions
which might be taken to a) enable the Band to have better
information about the students they serve and b) identify
some trends which will require attention in the near and longer
term. This research will discover ways that the Squamish Nation
Education Department might better serve its students and work
more effectively with the schools and districts in which the
students are enrolled.
Exploring the Impact of Students' Relative Age on
Educational Outcomes
Dr. Kelly Bedard, Department of Economics; University
of California, Santa Barbara
Dr. Bedard is interested in exploring how the age of British
Columbian students, relative to other students in their grade,
impacts the probability of grade retention in the elementary
grades, middle school grades, and high school grades. She
is also interested in examining if relatively young students
are more likely to drop out of high school, and if relatively
older students are more likely to qualify for university entrance.
How are Aboriginal Students' Educational Outcomes
Affected by the Efforts of Aboriginal Bands in BC?
Dr. Michael Chandler, Psychology Department,
UBC
Using educational data obtained from Edudata, Dr. Michael
Chandler's project will provide an in-depth quantitative account
of National Aboriginal band efforts to exercise control and
influence of educational outcomes of Aboriginal students.
Dr. Chandler will survey all first nation bands in BC to determine
how they have been "restoring" and regaining control
over their culture and compare that with student outcomes
as measured by retention and graduation rates.
How are Aboriginal Students' Educational Outcomes
Affected by Programs from BC School Districts
?
Julie Desroches, PhD Candidate in Clinical Psychology,
SFU
The purpose of Julie Desroches's doctoral thesis in psychology
is to determine whether efforts by public school districts
to address Aboriginal education (i.e. efforts to address,
increase, or improve curriculum content, programming, and
funding specifically aimed towards Aboriginal students, or
towards the increased awareness of Aboriginal issues) are
associated with lower Aboriginal student drop-out rates, higher
Aboriginal graduation rates, and higher likelihood of completing
a Dogwood Degree rather than a School Leaving Certificate.
Longitudinal Analysis of Filipino Youth in Vancouver
Schools
Dr. Gerry Pratt, Professor, Department of Geography, UBC
Dr. Pratt is investigating the experiences of Filipino youth
who are re-united with their mothers after extended separation
while their mothers are registered in the Canadian federal
government's Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP). She approached
Edudata Canada about obtaining data necessary to explore this
issue in more detail. Edudata Canada is also conducting all
of Dr. Pratt's data analysis.
Predictive Value of Academic Records for Schizophrenia
Centre for Complex Disorders, Vancouver General Hospital
(VGH)
Human Neuropsychology Laboratory, SFU
Researchers from the Human Neuropsychology Laboratory, Department
of Psychology at SFU and the Centre for Complex Disorders
at VGH have initiated a study that will involve 150 young
adults who have shown initial symptoms of schizophrenia psychosis
and 50 young adults who have never shown symptoms of psychosis.
The experimental participants will be identified through the
Early Psychosis Intervention Program, administered by researchers
at the Department of Psychiatry at the University of British
Columbia and the VGH. Researchers from SFU plan to match educational
records with health information, ensuring all participants'
identities are protected. SFU researchers will investigate
the predictive value of academic records in assessing the
risk for psychosis. This information will further educate
researchers and professionals about the risk factors associated
with schizophrenia and perhaps eventually lead to a better
understanding of the risk markers for the development of the
disorder.
Regional Variations in Stimulant Therapy
Dr. Anton Miller, Division of Developmental Pediatrics,
UBC
Dr. Miller is working in consultation with Edudata in order
to gather information, including related data, on students'
public school performance on British Columbia Ministry of
Education-sponsored annual standardized tests within the realm
of geographic barriers such as LHAs.
Projects
for Data Owners
INSTRUCTIONAL TOOLS Edudata is developing
a project designed to make available appropriate and interesting
data that would assist university research methodology instructors
in delivering their course material. For this project, Edudata
will use data from such sources as the 2000 and 2001 British
Columbia Foundation Skills Assessments (FSA), the 1995 British
Columbia Assessment of Mathematics and Science, and the 1993,
1994, and 1996 School Achievement Indicator Program (SAIP).
Child and Youth Developmental Trajectories Research
Unit's (CYDTRU's) Exploration of Normative Trajectories
Dr. Clyde Hertzman, Principal Investigator, Human Early
Learning Partnership (HELP), UBC
HELP is working towards developing an understanding of how
different environments in schools, families and communities
interact with biological predispositions in children, resulting
in a diverse range of developmental trajectories. To this
end, HELP has collected information on social, emotional,
cognitive, communication and physical development for almost
100% of BC's kindergarten children using the Early Development
Instrument (EDI). The purpose of this project is to track
the subsequent educational trajectories of children who have
been assessed using the EDI.
Early Development Index (EDI) Catalogue
Michele Wiens, Human Early Learning Program (HELP)
Edudata is working closely with researchers from HELP to document
and catalogue the variables that are used in the EDI. HELP
has collected data from Kindergarten-age children using the
EDI starting in 2000 in a variety of school districts around
the province. Each year, additional school districts have
become involved and currently all of the BC school districts
have ties to this project. The EDI project aims to provide
school districts and communities with information about their
preschool population, specifically in five domains: physical
health and well-being, social competence, emotional maturity,
language and cognitive development, and communication skills
and general knowledge.
Health and Education Crosswalk
The Centre for Health Service and Policy Research
(CHSPR), UBC
CHSPR and Edudata have collaborated in the construction of
a health and education "crosswalk." This crosswalk
can be used to link datasets from different domains -- health
and education, for approved research projects that require
both health and education data to address their objectives.
Manitoba Education Data Catalogue
Marni Brownell, The Manitoba Centre for Health Policy and
Evaluation (MCHP),
John VanWalleghem, Manitoba Department of Education, Training
and Youth
The Manitoba Centre for Health Policy and Evaluation (MCHP)
want to develop a knowledge repository to handle data, document
research methods, and facilitate both internal communication
and collaboration with other sites. The data include health
care contacts, Vital Statistics and Census information, and
education data from the Manitoba Department of Education,
Training and Youth. Adding education data (enrollment, examination,
reading recovery, and other assessment data) to the repository
will enhance the capacity of the Centre to answer questions
about the health and well-being of Manitobans. For the data
to be used by researchers, the MCHP has contracted Edudata
to create a data-map, document and catalogue the variables
using a web-based search engine, and create a catalogue users'
guide.
Population Health and Learning Observatory (PHLO): A Resource
to Improve Health, Quality of Life, and Productivity for Canada
Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI)
Edudata is partnering with the Centre for Health Services
& Policy Research (CHSPR), the Human Early Learning Program
(HELP), and the School of Occupational and Environmental Health
Research (SOEH) in a multi-million dollar grant awarded by
the CFI to help support cutting-edge research infrastructure
in areas of strategic importance to Canada such as health,
the environment, sustainable communities, and the new knowledge
economy. PHLO was founded in 2004 to advance collaborative
research, training, and data resources that will foster unique
insights into human health, learning, and well-being.
Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)
2003 Thematic Reports 1 and 2
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD)
The OECD has commissioned Edudata to prepare two reports on
the results of PISA 2003. The focus of PISA 2003 is on mathematical
literacy, with reading literacy and science being included
at a less in-depth level. An assessment of problem-solving
skills is included as a new element. Edudata is currently
managing an international consortium of researchers and data,
mathematics, and policy experts. This consortium is presently
working on two thematic reports due for OECD publication in
2006: Mathematical Literacy: Student Performance and Engagement
and Teaching and Learning Strategies.
School Achievement Indicators Program (SAIP)
Dr. Robert Crocker, Memorial University
SAIP is a cyclical program of pan-Canadian assessments of
student achievement in mathematics (1997, 2001), science (1996,
1999), and reading & writing (1998), conducted by CMEC.
Edudata is currently producing a user guide that introduces
SAIP 2001 data by student, teacher, and school themes. Relevant
concepts in assessing student performance will be also described.
The database offers opportunity for comparative research.
School District Performance Plan Implementation
North Vancouver School District , BC
The North Vancouver School District is working with Edudata
in an effort to build a database and information plan. The
BC Provincial Government has mandated performance targets
for school achievement for all BC school districts. The North
Vancouver School District has established baselines and targets
for reading and mathematics performance, Aboriginal success
rates, and safe and caring environments.
School System Traits and Outcomes of Schooling in Germany
and Canada (PISA 2000)
German Institute for International Educational Research
Edudata has partnered with the German Institute for International
Educational Research on a project to compare the relationships
between school systems and outcomes of K-12 schooling in Germany
and Canada.
Tracking Education Career Path and Employment Status of
BC Teachers of Aboriginal Ancestry
BC Ministries of Education, Advanced Education, and Children,
Aboriginal and Women's Services
The BC Ministry of Education commissioned Edudata to analyse
trends in participation and graduation rates of Aboriginal
students in teacher education programs at BC post-secondary
institutions, as well as transition rates of these students
to employment in the teaching profession and retention rates
for those in the profession. Edudata will further explore
key factors that influence individual Aboriginal students'
experiences and decisions in their teacher training, transition
to employment, and retention in the profession. This research
study will result in a report outlining the study's findings
and recommending strategies on how to increase the number
of qualified Aboriginal teachers in the BC public education
system and how to better collect data for tracking Aboriginal
students in teacher education programs and transition to and
retention in employment.
Understanding the Ethics behind Secondary Research
Canadian Language and Literacy Research Network (CLLRNet)
The central goal behind CLLRNet is to improve the language
and literacy skills of Canadian children. The broad objective
is to understand the development of good language and literacy
skills and apply this knowledge to facilitate the language,
communication, and literacy programs and practices of Canada
's children. Edudata is partnering with CLLRNet to produce
information packages for CLLRNet researchers and Research
Ethics Boards (REBs), informing these groups of governmental
and national funding agencies' policies surrounding secondary
research. The information packages are intended to promote
secondary research and support CLLRNet researchers' secondary
research submissions to their REBs; as a national network,
CLLRNet researchers hope to accomplish more than as individual
investigators.
Website, Communication Forum and Catalogue Creation
Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD)
The MCFD contracted Edudata to create two websites. One is
used by the Centre for Practice & Applied Research (C-PAR)
Ministry employees and the other is for both C-PAR researchers
and researchers external to the Ministry. As part of the website
creation, Edudata produced and monitored a private and secure
communication tool called a blog for use by Ministry project
leaders to discuss specific development areas. Edudata created
a data map that captured all of the MCFD data sources, catalogued
specific Ministry data collection systems, such as Intake
and Child Services (I&CS) and RAP (Resources and Payment),
and generated a user-friendly search engine for the catalogues.
Clients
Comments
Edudata was terrific. They produced a CD for me with
data from the BC Ministry of Education on student enrollment
over time, linked to achievement indicators. It allowed me
to link my qualitative case studies on school choice to quantitative
data, and made the study much stronger. I hope more researchers
take advantage of what Edudata has to offer.
Dr. Jane Gaskell
Dean, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education ( OISE )
Edudata's team of professionals made it possible for
us to better understand how to maximize the use of our own
education data.. Edudata's impressive efforts in working with
us to build an education data warehouse have meant that we
are better prepared to continue strengthening our evidence-based
teaching and learning programs.
Dr. Robin C. Brayne
Superintendent of Schools, North Vancouver
Edudata's excellent service and resources were instrumental
in bridging a valued liaison between the BC Regional Research
Team in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) and the BC Ministry
of Education. Our research agreement and sharing of data with
the Ministry presents a pivotal and major expansion of our
anonymized epidemiologic studies amongst school-age children
with ASD. I cannot thank Edudata enough for its superb contribution
and incredibly responsive and fastidious support. This much-needed
and very helpful partnership has been a resoundingly positive
experience.
Dr. Suzanne Lewis, Clinical Associate Professor
Department of Medical Genetics, UBC
Edudata has facilitated and expedited my research. In
particular, I am very grateful to the knowledgeable staff
at Edudata for their helpful technical advice and assistance.
Dr. Charles Ungerleider, Professor
Department of Educational Studies, UBC
Thank you so much for your research on the issue of retention
in grade in BC Primary classes. I have not been able to get
this information elsewhere and you were friendly, cooperative
and efficient. What a great resource! You were so positive
and helpful. Thanks again...
Dr. Merrilee Thompson
Early Childhood Education, Faculty of Education, UBC
Many thanks for the data you and Jennifer provided about
provincial high school registrations. It was a pleasure to
work with Jennifer and I appreciated your quick response to
the initial question. The information has been very helpful
in helping us come to terms with the courses involved. It's
great to have access to such a rich source of data.
Gary Rupert, Program Coordinator
Teacher Education Office, Faculty of Education, UBC
"Edudata delivered the information I needed on schedule,
in an easy to understand format, and for a reasonable price.
The data analyst had a good understanding of my data needs
and followed through with the project in a pleasant and professional
manner. I would happily work with Edudata again."
Jennifer White, Communications Officer
First Nations Education Steering Committee
"I was very impressed with the professionalism demonstrated
by the two Data analysts, Jennifer Lloyd and Andrea Hartshorne,
I worked with at Edudata. They were both extremely helpful
and worked very hard to compile my rather large data request.
Thank you both very much for your help and encouragement!"
Stephanie Barclay McKeown
Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology and Special
Education, UBC
“In ten years of working with various organizations,
both in Canada and the United States, in the process of accessing
data, I have never had a better experience than with Edudata
and Jennifer Lloyd. Jennifer was extremely helpful at all
stages of the process, from writing the application to the
Ministry of Education to request access to the data, all the
way through making sure that the data I received could adequately
address my questions of interest. If all data agencies were
this efficient my job would be substantially easier.”
Dr. Kelly Bedard
Dept. of Economics, University of California, Santa Barbara
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