Director of School Improvement earns national award

Mickey Garrison, Director of School Improvement, Oregon Education Enterprise Steering Committee, Receives DQC 2009 Leadership Award

Washington, DC —  Mickey Garrison, Director of School Improvement, Oregon Education Enterprise Steering Committee, is the 2009 State Data Director of the Year. Garrison was given the award today by the Data Quality Campaign (DQC) during its Annual Meeting & Progress Report. The DQC, a national partnership to improve the quality, accessibility and use of data in education, recognized Garrison and winners in two other categories for their critical leadership role in changing the culture around data use for continuous improvement. The DQC also released the results of its first survey of all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico on progress toward implementing the DQC 10 Actions to Ensure Effective Use of Data.

The DQC accepted nominations from across the country for leaders in the field of longitudinal data systems at the local and state levels.

As the School Improvement Director, Mickey Garrison is guiding the multitude of stakeholder groups in the Oregon education system to collaboratively implement a statewide plan for school improvement. At the heart of her reform efforts is the Oregon DATA Project, for which she serves as training director. “Garrison is the driving force behind Oregon’s efforts to successfully build a sustainable statewide framework that gives all educators the capacity to use data to improve teaching and learning,” said DQC Executive Director Aimee Rogstad Guidera.

The professional development program is designed around three strands and has already been implemented statewide, reaching a total of 122 districts and 842 educators between 2008 and May 2009. 

The three strands are:

• Creating a Culture of Data Quality, which was provided to 25 districts and 105 participants;
• Using Data to Improve Learning in Districts and Schools, which was presented at nine regional workshops with 342 participants from 81 districts; and
• Using Data to Improve Learning in the Classroom, which reached 524 participants in 87 districts.

In addition to the comprehensive professional development program targeting the district, building, and classroom levels, Garrison has developed strong partnerships with the Oregon School Boards Association and the Oregon Education Association to further integrate the training around the effective use of data through all levels of the profession. Most recently, she helped secure a $3.6 million Institute of Education Sciences Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems grant to work with the state’s seven institutions of higher education to incorporate the data-use training modules into courses offered as part of each institution's teacher-training program. Topics include: Formative Evaluation; Evaluation Statistics and Growth Models; Large Scale Database Analytics; and e-Learning and Differentiated Instruction. Garrison has also ensured that all of this work is continuously informed by a rigorous evaluation plan.

Additionally, the DQC recognized exemplary state leaders who are changing the culture around data use. Four Illinois policymakers received the DQC Policymaker of the Year award: Judy Erwin, Executive Director of the Illinois Board of Higher Education, State Superintendent Christopher Koch, Geoffrey Obrzut, President of the Illinois Community College Board, and State Senator Heather Steans worked collaboratively to pass a law requiring the state to collect student records and integrate the data with instructional management tools that will improve instruction and enhance educational decision-making.

Peter Gorman, Superintendent, Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District, was recognized as the District Data Leader of the Year.To learn more about the award winners or to nominate a state or local leader for a 2010 DQC Leadership Award, please visit our website at www.DataQualityCampaign.org.