Headlines in the Midlands
South Carolina awarded $14.9 million grant to improve student data systems network
COLUMBIA, SC - May 24, 2010 - The South Carolina Department of Education has been awarded a multimillion-dollar federal grant that will help the state's educators improve student achievement, teacher performance and school quality, the Institute of Education Sciences announced today.
The competitive $14.9 million three-year grant is the nation's sixth-largest among 19 award winners. It will help South Carolina design, develop and implement a statewide longitudinal data system – creating the foundation for integrating K-12 data systems with early childhood data systems, other human service systems, postsecondary data
systems and workforce data systems.
"This announcement couldn't have come at a better time," said State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex. "It will allow us to bring together data in ways that we've not been able to do before. When this grant is fully implemented, we'll be able to send data directly to teacher and principal desktops, and that will impact the way students are taught and the way they learn."
The state's proposal expands the current student data system to create the South Carolina Longitudinal Information Center for Education (SLICE), which meets federal requirements for collaboration with institutions and agencies of higher education in the state. It will include new data sources and quality control and will create a statewide system for teachers and principals who need information to make immediate decisions about student learning.
SLICE will produce two important products:
- The resources for South Carolina to take educational information technology to the next levels – analysis and application of data in addressing educational needs and issues.
- Strategies and resources that can be replicated in other states.
SLICE will provide high-quality data to help educators and policymakers in their efforts to address the distribution of effective teachers and education leaders, the use of rigorous standards and assessments, and the transformation of struggling schools – all of which are critical factors in improving learner performance.
In addition to South Carolina, other state grants went to
- Arkansas ($9.8 million);
- Colorado ($17.4 million);
- Florida ($10 million);
- Illinois ($11.9 million);
- Kansas ($9.1 million);
- Maine ($7.3 million);
- Massachusetts ($13 million);
- Michigan ($10.6 million);
- Minnesota ($12.4 million);
- Mississippi ($7.6 million);
- New York ($19.7 million);
- Ohio ($5.1 million);
- Oregon ($10.5 million);
- Pennsylvania ($14.3 million);
- Texas ($18.2 million);
- Utah ($9.6 million);
- Virginia ($17.5 million);
- Washington ($17.3 million); and
- Wisconsin ($13.8 million).
South Carolina and the other grantees were selected in a competition based on the merit of the applicants' proposals and the funding available for the program. An independent peer review panel evaluated the proposals on aspects such as need for the project, project goals and outcomes, activities and timeline, management and governance, and personnel and financial resources.
