Transition from TestWiz to the Education Data Warehouse (EDW)

Over the past 6 years, TestWiz Classic has proven to be an invaluable tool for districts and schools to understand how well students are performing on the learning standards assessed through MCAS. Due to the broader scope of the EDW, the Department will discontinue its support of the TestWiz Classic license for Massachusetts schools for FY 2010. Given the growing number of districts using the EDW and the Department's commitment to incorporate additional data and reporting capabilities into the warehouse, it is not cost-effective for the Department to pay for two MCAS analysis systems in the 2009-2010 school year, especially given the difficult fiscal conditions we face.

Districts do still have the option of purchasing TestWiz licenses directly. Districts interested in continuing their TestWiz Classic licenses, or moving to TestWiz.NET, should contact DataMetrics for pricing information.

Districts should know the following facts about the EDW:

• The EDW is now available to all districts at no additional cost beyond training.
• The EDW contains SIMS and MCAS data for every district in the state from 2002 to the present.
• Over 30 reports are available in the EDW for reviewing MCAS and SIMS data from 2002 to the present.
• Data moves with the student from district to district, providing more timely access to student information; the EDW also provides a "claim student" utility so that districts do not have to wait for the next SIMS collection to include new students in reports.
• Security roles are assigned by districts and enable access to levels of district data based on district-wide permissions, specific schools and, soon, a specific classroom. Districts can manage access and security through the same role-based Directory Administration system used for other ESE online applications.
• Over 30 reports compare data from individual students, schools and districts to state results.
• Districts can load local data, such as student assessments, into the EDW and write reports combining local data with SIMS and MCAS.

The Department, in conjunction with pilot districts, contracted with a professional development provider to produce a curriculum on data use, analysis and reporting using the EDW. The materials for this six-course curriculum, including handbooks and instructor guides, are available to all districts for download from the EDW web portal. The six courses are:

• DW101 - Introduction to the Data Warehouse,
• DW102 - Understanding MCAS,
• DW201 - Informing Instruction with Data,
• DW202 - Multi-Dimensional Analysis,
• DW301 - Report Builder I, and
• DW302 - Report Builder II.

To help districts make the transition from TestWiz to the EDW, the Department will be offering two of the courses, DW101 Introduction to the Education Data Warehouse and DW202 Multi-Dimensional Analysis, at no cost to participants. The training begins in mid-May and continues throughout June. To register, see the course description, dates and times please visit the conference web site http://www.doe.mass.edu/conference/. If additional training is needed, districts can contract directly with professional development providers who are qualified to deliver the EDW curriculum. The list of approved training vendors is on the Education Data Warehouse Homepage: http://www.doe.mass.edu/infoservices/dw/. We hope you take advantage of this EDW free training.

The ESE's Data Warehouse team maintains the system, develops and improves reports and provides user support through phone, email and web conferencing. In addition, several email lists enable districts to communicate with each other to share ideas and provide additional support. More information about the Education Data Warehouse and available resources is available on the public webpage at http://www.doe.mass.edu/infoservices/dw/. The Data Warehouse team can be reached directly at datawarehouse@doe.mass.edu or by phone at 781-338-6820.

The schedule for the release of the 2009 MCAS and AYP results will be provided in the next Commissioner's Update.

Last Updated: May 19, 2009