Date specified: Tuesday, 02-Dec-2014 08:55:34 EST

1.2.4 Develop Data Inventory Schedule - Summary

Summarize the Inventory Schedule

As of November 30, 2013, the Department of Education's Data Inventory contains detailed information for 33 Data Series, and 223 component "Studies" (collections).  The metadata for these data assets were taken from the Department's Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) information collection submissions to the Office of Management and Budget and from data dictionaries or electronic codebooks where available.  By November 30, 2014, the Department anticipates expanding and enriching the Data Inventory with information and metadata on additional existing collections, as resources allow.  By that date, the Department will also have established and implemented new data governance policies and procedures to ensure that all new data assets are entered into the Data Inventory as part of the information collection clearance process.

1.2.5 Develop Data Inventory Schedule - Milestones

1.2.6 Develop Customer Feedback Process

Describe the agency's process to engage with customers

 The Department engages with the education community and interested developers and entrepreneurs through social media outlets and the ED official Homeroom Blog. More than 150 of America's entrepreneurs, software developers, education experts, and policy makers came together October 9, 2012, for an Education Datapalooza at the White House. The gathering was a chance to celebrate new products, services, and apps--all built with freely available data from the government and other sources--that have the potential to help American students succeed and that empower students and their families to make informed educational decisions. See videos of talks from Education Datapalooza 2012 at http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhdwy3ASoEfm1QeH0kfNnLWUqv4lE1pPs. The Department held two data jams at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University in December 2013. The Data Jams focused on data related to postsecondary education and led up to a second Education Datapalooza. For Education Datapalooza 2014 on January 15,2014, more than 600 people packed into an auditorium to discuss innovation in higher education. The gathering was a response to President Obama's call this past August to improve value and affordability in postsecondary education, in which he outlined an ambitious plan that included a major focus on innovation. Datapalooza participants gathered to celebrate innovative products, apps, websites, and other tools to help students get to and through postsecondary education. Many of the tools help students and families navigate the college choice and selection process. Others focus on improving teaching and learning, especially in ways that leverage technology to improve online and classroom-based instruction. Videos from talks from Education Datapalooza 2014 are at http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhdwy3ASoEfkNJ_7ffaaYOhQmi61oLFLX. The goal of the Education Data Jams and Datapalooza is to spark interest and collaboration among entrepreneurs and developers in creating apps and other digital tools to facilitate easier access to higher education information for prospective and current college students.

1.2.7 Develop Data Publication Process

Describe the agency's data publication process

Much of the information collected by the Department of Education is protected by the privacy or confidentiality provisions of one or more federal statutes. These include: The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), The Education Sciences Reform Act (ESRA), and The Privacy Act of 1974. To help ensure that the Department does not release any information that would violate the privacy of students or other individuals in violation of these statutes, the Department has implemented a disclosure review process for its public data releases.  Information collections containing data protected by one or more of these statutes are reviewed and approved for release by one of the Department's disclosure review boards, prior to their release to the public.