DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION – OFFICE OF THE CHIEF DATA OFFICER

GOVERNOR EMERGENCY EDUCATION RELIEF (GEER) ANNUAL PERFORMANCE DATA ANALYSIS

CASE STUDY

Introduction

Nationwide Data Collection & Analysis

The Department of Education (ED) Office of the Chief Data Officer (OCDO) supports education policy development and implementation of the goals of the ED Data Strategy to use best available evidence obtained through bata-based analysis to inform education policy. This is done through conducting new data collection and analyses, conducting secondary analyses of existing datasets, reviewing previous research, and making data accessible to policymakers, staff, and the public. OCDO also supports program management and improvement by advising on the collection, quality, and use of data, analyzing data in collaboration with program offices and other relevant stakeholders. 

United States Department of Education Seal

CASE STUDY

Survey Data Analysis & Reporting

Challenge

To support the quickly evolving education policy landscape with reliable analysis and reporting as it relates to the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund (GEER), ED requires external capacity to develop and administer new data collections; conduct data assembly and analyses; design and conduct data analyses; support work on improving data quality and performance measures; prepare research summaries and various reports; and manage the data lifecycle.

Solution

Our subject-matter experts calculate an overview of GEER grant availability and expenditures by state; analyze how Local Education Agency (LEA) and Institute of Higher Education subaward allocations are used and populations served with these funds; analyze related entity subawards and their use of funds, including public and non-public K-12 schools served with GEER funds; and analyze GEER grant allocations used for education-related incentive programs, such as vouchers or scholarship programs.

Business Impact

More than 150 measures related to GEER fund expenditures are analyzed, including nationwide estimates of expenditures and by state across reporting periods; awards to Local Education Agencies (LEA) and Institutes of Higher Education (IHE) and their allowable uses, such as for purchasing educational technology, mental health services and supports, and student internet access; considerations related to COVID, including purchasing tests and access to health screening, safe school reopening, and supporting distance learning; and financial aid grants and addressing the impact of lost instructional time. Our analysis involves computation of nearly 500 data points annually to address specific research questions.

Total grant amount allocated to Governors analyzed nationwide, and by LEAs and IHEs

4.2 + billion

Annual research questions analyzed

50

GEER measures analyzed nationwide, and by LEAs an IHEs

150

Data points analyzed

500

project notes

The trends we analyze cover a range of activities related to data management and strategic use of data, which support the Department of Education’s Office of the Chief Data Officer’s Strategic Plan. Research questions are designed to present a comprehensive understanding of the nature of GEER grant allocations and use of funds using descriptive analysis to sum reported data across respondents or subcategories of respondents by relevant variables; to calculate percentage change year-to-year; and determine whether there are statistically significant differences in year-to-year data.