In the US, over half the districts and charter schools have fewer than 1,000 students. 85% have fewer than 10,000 students. Do these schools have the resources and scale to afford modern data analysis systems, or will "big data" leave these small schools behind? Across the US, almost half the students are served by a district or charter school with under 10,000 students. Schools this size, and even many larger ones, rarely have the financial means to implement modern data analysis systems, while many larger schools have spent millions on advanced technology to drive academic achievement and operational efficiency. In fact, many small schools struggle with simple operational and accountability reporting. Is it acceptable for big data to leave the small schools behind? What can be done? In this talk we will explore these challenges and get feedback from the audience on current challenges and potential solutions, including: federal and state initiatives such as State Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS), notably the Texas Student Data System; services provided through Regional Education Agencies / Service Centers; and the impact of emerging free or low cost data standards and software tools.

1. No School Left Behind by Big Data
Melissa Oshman, Chief Information Officer
& Adam Warner, Assistant Director
Technology & Data Services
Region 10 Education Service Center
Richardson, Texas
technology.region10.org© Copyright 2013 Education Service Center Region 10

2. • Do small schools need "big data" too?
• Is "big data" leaving small schools behind?
• What are some ways that small schools with
small budgets can take advantage of the latest
technologies to analyze their academic and
operational data?
• Key Questions

3. LEA Enrollment Range
• Local Education Agency Demographics#ofLEAs
Data Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics,
Common Core of Data (CCD), "Local Education Agency (School District) Universe Survey",
2010-11 v.2a; "Public Elementary/Secondary School Universe Survey", 2010-11 v.2a.

4. • Local Education Agency Demographics
Data Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics,
Common Core of Data (CCD), "Local Education Agency (School District) Universe Survey",
2010-11 v.2a; "Public Elementary/Secondary School Universe Survey", 2010-11 v.2a.

5. • For small schools, “big data” can be quite small in terms
of size
• For this discussion we will use the term “big data” to
encompass the full spectrum of data analysis, from
simple operational reporting on small datasets to
complex causal analysis with huge datasets
"Big data are high volume, high velocity, and/or high variety
information assets that require new forms of processing to
enable enhanced decision making, insight discovery and
process optimization."
•What Is “Big Data”?
Douglas, Laney. "The Importance of 'Big Data': A Definition". Gartner.
Retrieved 21 June 2012. via Wikipedia: “Big Data”

6. • Small schools are subject to the same accountability standards as
large ones
• Their students will face the same 21st Century, globalized world
•Do Small Schools Need Big Data Too?
• Their teachers and
administrators face many of
the same challenges, but
without the economies of scale
that larger LEAs enjoy,
particularly with regards to
technology tools and support
• They also typically enjoy less
administrative staffing, where
technological automation could
provide a huge help

7. • Many small schools struggle with simple
operational and federal/state
accountability reporting
• Very few have made serious ventures
into business intelligence or data
warehousing, much less advanced causal
analysis from typical “big data”
datasets
• Most large urban/suburban schools
have spent millions in the past decade
on advanced technology to drive
academic achievement and operational
efficiency
•Is “Big Data" Leaving Small Schools Behind?

8. What are some ways that small schools with
small budgets can take advantage of the
latest technologies to analyze their academic
and operational data?

9. The federal Department of Education’s
Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems
(SLDS) grants, as well as private national
foundations, have made huge impacts.
(see: http://nces.ed.gov/programs/slds/)
To the right is a great example – just a
small sample web page from the
StudentGPSTM dashboards that will be
provided to all Texas LEAs over the next
few years as a cooperative project
between the Texas Education Agency and
the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, also
with a large portion of funding from
federal SLDS grants.
More info at
www.texasstudentdatasystem.org
• State & Federal Initiatives
Source: Ed-Fi Alliance website, www.ed-fi.org

10. Most states have some type of
regional education services
agency that essentially helps
schools in their area pool
resources for better services and
products than they could afford
on their own. These particularly
help small rural schools and
urban charter schools.
Texas’ 20 Education Service
Centers, whose regions are
shown to the left, are a great
example. Many of them provide
tools and services to help
overcome the technology equity
gap.
• Regional Resources
Source: Texas Education Agency website,
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/regional_services/esc/

11. A variety of free and low cost technology
tools have emerged in the past few years
that schools and vendors can leverage to
bring down the cost of data tools.
Traditional vendors such as Oracle and
Microsoft offer powerful tools at
reasonable prices, even free in some
cases. Open source vendors such as
Talend, Pentaho, MySQL, NoSQL, and
many others are also helping to
democratize the space.
Perhaps more importantly, free open
source education data standards are
emerging that can help vendors make
applications easily repeatable across
many schools, even with different source
systems.
• Emerging Low-Cost Technology
Ed-Fi logo used under license from the Ed-Fi Alliance, www.ed-fi.org

12. Melissa Oshman serves as CIO for Region 10. Prior to Region 10 she served four years
as the Director of Technology with Southside ISD in San Antonio, a district with an enrollment
of 5,000 students. Melissa also served for four years as Director of Technology for Van Vleck
ISD, a rural school district with a student population of approximately 1,000. Melissa began
her career at Van Vleck as a Digital Graphics Teacher. She hold a Bachelor of Science degree in
Information Systems Technology from the University of Houston and a Master’s in Information
Technology/Information Assurance from the University of Texas, San Antonio.
Adam Warner serves as Asst. Director for Technology & Data Services at Region 10. He
has specialized in Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing for over fifteen years, working
in both the public and private sectors. Since joining Region 10 in 2009 he has led a team to
develop low-cost data analytics and BI products, as well as managed hosting and support of
the Limited Production Release phase of the Texas Student Data System. He holds a degree in
Industrial Engineering from Texas A&M University.
• About Us
Region 10 Education Service Center is one of 20 regional service centers established by the Texas State
Legislature in 1967 for the purpose of providing services to the school districts within a defined geographic
region. Regional service centers are non-regulatory, have no taxing authority, and provide services for which
participation is voluntary on the part of the local school district. Region 10 Education Service Center, located
in Richardson, provides services that impact more than 650,000 students and 53,000 educators in 80 public
school districts, 31 Charter Schools, and numerous private schools in the 8 counties (and portions of a 9th) in
north Texas that comprise the Region 10 Service Area. About 50 of these are under 1,000 students, and
another 40 are less than 5,000. For more info on Region 10 see www.region10.org.
Email: melissa.oshman@region10.org
Email: adam.warner@region10.org
technology.region10.org