The Massachusetts Early Indicator Index Project

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The Massachusetts Early Indicator Index Project

• Vladimir Hyppolite

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Current State of Early Warning Index

• Department of Early Education Care (DEEC)
• EWI system in the planning stages
• Need Identified- Early childhood experts believe
  that the probability of high school drop out
  starts before kindergarten due to
• Inadequate access to quality pre-school education
• Family risk factors (limited English proficiency,
  unstable or low income, health issues)
• Attendance rate of children enrolled in early
  care
• Department of Elementary Secondary Education
  (DESE)
• EWI system began as 2008 pilot in 24 urban
  districts for incoming 9th graders. It is now
  available to districts statewide
• Started with 8 indicators but now four used 8th
  grade attendance, MCAS scaled scores (English
  Math), age as of Sept 1, number of in/out of
  school suspensions
• Districts use EWI to mitigate high school dropout
  risks by targeting students for enrollment into
  existing programs and creating new policies that
  can improve outcomes

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Early Indicator Index (2009-10 version)
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SLDS Early Warning Index Project

• Goals Outcomes
• Create a EWI model that
• Provides student level risk indicators that span
  birth to 16
• Focuses on students falling off track for their
  level rather than just at-risk for not graduating
  high school on-time
• Is based on national research from experts in
  risk identification for early childhood care and
  k-12 education
• Uses linked student data from the MA birth to 16
  longitudinal data systems project being developed
  through SLDS
• Deliver an EWI system integrated with the
  birth-16 data systems
• Provide educators useable information that inform
  decisions on interventions that help at risk
  students stay on track
• Resource permitting, evaluate incorporating
  college dropout indicators
• Challenges
• Reliance on data collected in existing systems
• Do EEC, ESE and DHE systems capture the same data
  elements
• Quality of data entered in each agencies systems
• Data sharing MOUs between agencies