WISEdash Homepage | Wisconsin Information System for Education (WISE)

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The ability to turn data into information quickly and easily has become increasingly important in education. As part of DPI’s ongoing effort to support research and analysis that improves educational outcomes, the Department of Public Instruction purchased a suite of tools—called business intelligence, or BI, Tools—that will change the way DPI provides the data we collect back to schools and districts, and the way school and district staff, as well as the public, can access data about Wisconsin public schools.

DPI’s new BI solution, WISEdash, is a combination of tools from a Wisconsin company called VersiFit Software LLC and Microsoft. VersiFit Software LLC is one of the premier P20 education software vendors working with states such as Hawaii and Oregon and with more than 200 K-12 school districts and 4 higher education clients. VersiFit provides data-driven education reform innovations to help states and school districts to promote better student outcomes, improve instruction, reward top educators, and improve school district financial condition.

The goal of WISEdash is to increase access to education data—and, in doing so, enable more data informed decisions—by providing access to an unprecedented number of reports on a variety of topics. DPI believes that multiple indicators of student learning and performance should be incorporated into analysis and decision-making at all levels including the classroom, school and district. WISEdash will enable DPI to provide a plethora of reports and dashboards—in a single location—directly to districts on topics that draw from our longitudinal data system. Eventually, WISEdash will be used to provide public reports in addition to secure reports for district users. The reports and dashboards DPI will provide through WISEdash will help build a better understanding of education performance and outcomes for Wisconsin students, and help inform decisions ensuring every child graduates from high school prepared for both college and career pathways.

WISEdash provides:

a way of organizing our education data (called a data model) that enables easy, intuitive, and smart reporting;
role-based data access and dashboards;
public and secured reporting that can reach a wide variety of users with diverse data needs;
simple ad hoc reporting functionality (choose a district, choose a demographic);
advanced reporting capabilities for power users at the district and state level to create customizable reports; and
professional development resources such as pre-made workbooks to guide use and understanding of tools, dashboards and reports.

WISEdash Documentation
Getting Started: About WISEdash	Document giving a brief summary of WISEdash.
Getting Started: Access to WISEdash	Document describing the steps to get access to WISEdash.
WISEdash Frequently Asked Questions	Webpage listing frequently asked questions from our users with a response from the WISEdash team.
WISEdash User Guide	Summary user guide of WISEdash.
WISEdash ASM Roles	Document detailing the security roles available in WISEdash and their descriptions.
Executive Summary	Overview of the Business Intelligence Solution project.
Project Charter	Detailed project information for the Business Intelligence Solution.
WISEdash User Video-General	WISEdash User Video-Growth

WISEdash Timeline and Updates
May 2013	Adding Additional Data and Dashboards to WISEdash The integration of MAP data and dashboards into WISEdash is in progress! Public version of WISEdash The development of the public version of WISEdash, which will eventually enable DPI to phase WINSS out as our main public reporting tool, is in progress.
January 29, 2013	Adding Additional Data and Dashboards to WISEdash As of this morning High School Completion dashboards have been added to WISEdash.
January 22, 2013	Adding Additional Data and Dashboards to WISEdash As of this morning Postsecondary Enrollment dashboards and ACCESS for ELL dashboards have been added to WISEdash. Next: Graduation Dashboards Then: Value-Added
November 16, 2012	Statewide Rollout Update On October 12^th a communication went out to all districts announcing the statewide rollout of WISEdash. Topics Include: Enrollment, Attendance, WSAS (including the new cut scores), ACT, AP, Growth Also includes a Student Search Also includes definitions for metrics, attributes, and dashboards WISEdash is now available in ASM. This means that the DSA for any district can assign a WISEdash Application Administrator to begin setting users up with access to WISEdash in their district. Three security roles available (Summary, Detail, Econ Dis Analyst). More communication soon regarding the Econ role to provide additional guidance to districts on who to assign this role to. In addition to statewide availability, we are working with the CSN (CESA statewide network) on rollout as well. The rollout schedule in the communication was incorrect/outdated. Each CESA is currently focusing on helping a few specific districts get up and running. Goals for the rollout: Get access, become familiar with WISEdash Next: Curriculum Development DPI has asked the CSN to lead a WISEdash Guided Analysis Workgroup to produce curriculum around WISEdash and data analysis. First meeting of this group was October 30^th. Workgroup includes Judy Sargent, Mary Ann Hudziak, Eric Larsen, Jim Lee, Kari Krakow, and Rebecca Pilon Next: Adding Additional Data and Dashboards to WISEdash The data warehouse team is working on adding additional datasets and dashboards to WISEdash. Topics in progress include: ACCESS ELL, Graduation, and Postsecondary. Next topics for consideration include: School level Value-Added, MAP, and PALS Next: Major Effort Next Effort In Progress: Public, summarized/redacted versions of the dashboard
Beginning September 5, 2012	WISEdash operational for district analysis purposes; Statewide rollout begins Data/Dashboards Available Enrollment and Attendance Assessments (including WSAS, ACT and AP) Student Growth Percentiles Student Profile (only available with a specific security role) Student Search (only available with a specific security role) Intended Users: School and district staff interested in accessing a variety of dashboards and reports populated with their district/school data Secure release only; log in required and available only to school and district staff.
June 2012	On June 7 DPI sent an initial memo out inviting a few districts to paticipate in the WISEdash pilot. On June 19 we sent a next steps memo out to districts who indicated that they would like to participate. We set up our first pilot users on June 21st and are now ready to rollout statewide.

WISEdash Presentation and Communications
Introduction to WISEdash	Presentation giving an overview of data systems and WISEdash in particular. This presentation includes an update on the secured version of WISEdash and introduces the public version.
WISEdash Update Presentation	Brown bag update presentation given to DPI staff on September 12, 2012
Taking a Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS) From Fundamentals to Advanced Capabilities	The development of a statewide longitudinal data system presents a myriad of daunting tasks. Building the advanced user functionalities necessary to truly transform the process by which educators interpret data and then implement that data via their decision-making procedures may appear an interminable goal. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction will demonstrate the fundamental processes and tools it, along with key partners, is currently developing and piloting in several districts across the state. Advanced features include unique presentations of student growth (including statistical projections of growth) and value-added data (including differential effects) at the school, grade and classroom levels. July 12, 2012 25th Annual STATS-DC 2012 Data Conference
Introducing WISEdash	Presentation providing an overview of DPI's Business Intelligence solution. September 14, 2011 State Superintendent's Conference
Introducing DPI's Education Business Intelligence Solution	Presentation providing an overview of DPI's Business Intelligence solution. April 13, 2011 DPI Directors / Assistant Directors Meeting April 7, 2011 State Superintendent's Education Data Advisory Committee (SSEDAC) March 7, 2011 Internal DPI Brown Bag
Pilot Memo	Message to district contacts indicating next steps for participation in the pilot. The memo was sent to those districts who accepted the pilot invitation.
Pilot Memo	Message to District Administrator's, CESA Administrators, and additional district contacts inviting the district to participate in the WISEdash pilot. Districts were nominated by the CESA Administrators.
ConnectEd Issue	October 4, 2011 Message to ConnectEd Subscribers introducing DPI's new Business Intelligence solution. (This issue has been archived.)
External Stakeholder Participation Invitation	May 5, 2011 Message to districts from the Assistant Superintendent for Libraries, Technology, & Community Learning introducing DPI's new Business Intelligence solution. Also invites districts to participate in solution discussions.
Bi-Weekly Mailing	May 4, 2011 Message to District Administrator's from the State Superintendent introducing DPI's new Business Intelligence solution.

Main Contacts
Project Sponsor	Kurt Kiefer Assistant State Superintendent Division for Libraries,Technology, and Community Learning Phone: (608) 266-2205 Email: kurt.kiefer@dpi.wi.gov
Project Manager	Melissa Straw Manager, Data Warehouse & Decision Support Data Warehouse & Reporting (LDS) Phone: (608) 266-1089 Email: melissa.straw@dpi.wi.gov
Business Sponsor	Laura Pinsonneault Director, OEA Office of Educational Accountability (OEA) Phone: (608) 266-1647 Email: laura.pinsonneault@dpi.wi.gov

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Data Warehouse and Decision Support