Data Swap: From State Data Manager to IDC Technical Assistance Provider

00:00:01.52 >> You're listening to "A Date With Data" with your host, Amy Bitterman.

00:00:07.34 >> Hey. It's Amy, and I'm so excited to be hosting "A Date With Data." I'll be chatting with state and district special education staff who, just like you, are dealing with IDEA data every day.

00:00:19.50 >> "A Date With Data" is brought to you by the IDEA Data Center.

00:00:24.61 >> Welcome to another episode of "A Date With Data." I am joined by several former data managers who are now IDC technical assistance providers. Austen Ferrier, Kelley Blas, and Kristen DeSalvatore were all data managers up until a few months ago, and they’re going to share their experience moving from being a data manager to helping build the capacity of data managers and other state staff to improve the quality of IDEA data. Welcome to all three of you.

To get things started, it would be great if each of you could briefly introduce yourselves—how long you were in the role as a data manager and what you’re doing now. Kelley, would you like to start us off?

00:01:09.05 >> Sure. Thank you, Amy. My name is Kelley Blas, and I was a data manager at the Department of Public Instruction in North Carolina. I was there for 17 years as the data manager, and the last few years as the SPP/APR coordinator. I’m very happy to have joined IDC as a state liaison and technical assistance provider, and I love working with states.

00:01:35.64 >> Great. Thanks, Kelley. Kristen, would you like to say hello?

00:01:39.35 >> Hello, everyone. I’m Kristen DeSalvatore, and I was the data manager at the New York State Education Department for about 11 years. In that role, I also served as an [indistinct] coordinator. In my role at IDC now, I provide technical assistance and support to states and LEAs related to the collection and reporting of education data, especially special education IDEA data.

00:02:08.19 >> Wonderful. Austen?

00:02:10.19 >> Yes, thank you for that introduction, Amy. Afternoon, everybody. My name is Austen Ferrier. I am the former IDEA Part B data manager for the Florida Department of Education. I was in that role for about a year and six or seven months. Since transitioning to IDC, I’ve been focusing on CAs and 618 data.

00:02:36.26 >> Great. Thank you. It’s wonderful to have all three of you, and I’m excited to now be able to work with you on the IDC and technical assistance side. I got to know all of you when you were data managers, so I’m really thrilled to have you onboard.

To get things going, I’m wondering if you could reflect on your time as data managers and share advice for newer data managers. Austen, you were in that role most recently, so it’s a newer experience for you. Kelley, do you want to kick things off?

00:03:21.54 >> Sure. When I thought about advice for new data managers, one of the first things that came to mind was to use all of the technical assistance resources available. When I started 17 years ago, I wasn’t really aware of what resources existed. Now there are many more supports, including IDC’s website and state liaisons.

I would encourage newer folks to invite their state liaison to walk them through the resources available. Another recommendation is to plan out your year—when data are collected, when analysis needs to happen, when submissions are due—and build a calendar unique to your state. Not every state collects at the same time, but deadlines to OSEP are the same. Having a calendar helped me plan work periods and even personal time off.

00:04:50.06 >> Yeah. Kristen, do you want to share some advice?

00:04:53.72 >> Sure. I’m going to echo what Kelley said about IDC resources. Make time to explore what’s available and reach out to your state liaison regularly. Like Kelley, I didn’t realize the depth of support that was available, and I wish that I had.

I would also encourage people to network and collaborate within your agency and find allies in the Office of Special Education and the data shop—people you can count on to help you get the work done.

And lastly: don’t be afraid of OSEP. They’re not out to get you. They have rules and regulations they must follow, and they’re guided by IDEA law. Keep in mind that everyone has the same goal: improving outcomes and experiences for students with disabilities. That should be the foundation of the work.

00:06:21.45 >> That’s great to keep in mind, especially for newer staff who may be intimidated by OSEP. They can be a resource and a partner. Austen, what advice do you have?

00:06:38.69 >> I want to echo what both Kelley and Kristen shared, especially what Kristen said about remembering that this all comes back to students. We can get inundated with timelines, messages from OSEP, and emails, but what really clicked for me as a new data manager was that the work supports providing a free appropriate public education for students.

When you see a number in a spreadsheet or a visualization, remember that it represents a real student and a real person. Another recommendation: if you have the chance, attend an IDC Interactive Institute, summit, or other IDC events. My first SPP/APR Summit opened up a whole new world beyond my state’s lens and showed the level of collaboration and support that’s available. If your state allows it, I strongly recommend attending those in-person events.

And finally, IDC’s data manager connection groups and data quality peer groups can be incredibly valuable. The safe spaces for collaboration are amazing. Those conversations helped build my state’s capacity and knowledge base.

00:08:56.86 >> What I’m hearing as a theme is collaboration and relationship building—because in a state you may feel isolated, and a lot of work lives in your head. Working across your SEA and connecting with other data managers is such an important part of the role.

Now that you’ve transitioned out of the data manager role, Kristen, what’s something you’re going to miss about being a data manager?

00:09:33.63 >> I’m going to miss the collaboration with my colleagues in the data shop at NYSED and the staff in the Office of Special Education. As a data manager, I was often a bridge between separate offices, and I worked hard to build data literacy in the Office of Special Education. I made strong connections, and I’ll miss that.

I’ll also miss working with the data itself. Even though it’s numbers on a spreadsheet, the work can influence practices and policies that have the potential to make a difference for students—even at the individual level. That’s something I’ll miss.

00:10:50.73 >> Thanks. Austen, what about you?

00:10:53.98 >> I’ll echo what Kristen said about collaboration. One of the biggest things I’ll miss at the SEA level was my connection with LEA exceptional education directors. I was a phone call away from almost every director in Florida, and that connection helped lessen the distance between the state and LEAs and strengthen trust.

They could call me anytime with data questions—even down to the school level. Seeing that kind of direct assistance have an immediate impact is something I’ll miss. I’ll also miss working with individuals at the state level who were deeply passionate and committed—people focused on outreach and community engagement even beyond their jobs. They were rock stars, and I fed off that energy.

00:12:21.34 >> Mm-hmm. Kelley, what will you miss?

00:12:26.55 >> It’s funny—we all seem to miss similar things. I’ll miss the friends I made across the Department of Public Instruction, but especially the relationships with LEAs. After 17 years and being involved in building our special education data system, you develop strong connections. LEAs knew they could contact me, and I could often help with a workaround or a trick to get their data in correctly. Those calls were always gratifying because they trusted that you’d help figure it out.

And definitely the data. I’m a data geek at heart. I’ll miss working with large data sets, understanding how everything fits together, and presenting data visually in ways that make sense to districts.

00:13:41.01 >> A lot of similarities. As you move into your roles at IDC, the states you work with will become like your districts were—calling you, and building those relationships in new ways.

We touched on this already, but is there anything you wish you had known more specifically about IDC and what IDC does, including services offered by IDC and other TA centers? Austen, would you like to start?

00:14:18.98 >> Yes. I want to re-emphasize that IDC creates a safe space. IDC is not punitive. IDC is not looking to ding you on your data. It’s pure assistance—a holistic look at state processes, focused on helping. Keep that in mind, approach it positively, and know that IDC staff understand where you’re coming from because we’ve been in those roles.

00:15:16.08 >> Yeah, absolutely. Kelley, what would you add?

00:15:25.34 >> One thing I didn’t realize before joining IDC was just how many ways IDC and other TA centers can support states. For example, I’ll be going to a state next month to help facilitate a stakeholder meeting around changes to their Indicator 4 methodology. I wish I had known those supports were available when I was a data manager.

And I’ll say it again: safe space. For a long time, I worried that sharing too much with TA centers might feel like airing dirty laundry. But these centers exist to support improvement and strengthen data. Understanding that changes the whole concept of technical assistance.

00:17:06.18 >> Great. Kristen, anything to add?

00:17:11.04 >> Kelley and Austen covered most of what I would say. One thing I didn’t fully understand was how important it is to attend the conferences and institutes that IDC offers and pays for states to attend. In New York, travel was hard, but when we were finally able to attend Interactive Institute 2023, it was mind-blowing. We realized how much we had missed in terms of in-person technical assistance, collaboration, and networking. I highly recommend that data managers—especially newer ones—work hard to attend the in-person events.

00:18:19.61 >> There really is a wealth of expertise across IDC and other TA centers, and we want to make sure states and newer staff are aware of what’s available.

Looking forward, IDC often talks about being a “data quality influencer.” You were certainly data quality influencers as data managers. What are you excited about in your new role in terms of being a data quality influencer? Kelley, do you want to start?

00:19:09.72 >> My mind is always spinning on what I could have used as a data manager. At IDC, part of the focus is creating tools and resources to help states analyze and display data and make meaningful change. It’s exciting to think about what I needed and to help develop tools—for example, for significant disproportionality or the indicators—that support analysis and data displays for improvement.

00:19:53.13 >> Thanks. And who better than former data managers to help turn those ideas into tools and resources. Kristen, what are you envisioning in your role as a data quality influencer?

00:20:25.65 >> As you said, states will become our LEAs or districts in many ways. I’m looking forward to providing one-on-one technical assistance to states, updating existing resources to reflect new guidance and practices, and creating new resources based on what I know would have been helpful when I was a data manager.

I’m also excited to be on the other side with a deep understanding of the workload and the volume of information data managers must process and get right. IDEA data are high-stakes, and if there is one area where you want to be a data quality influencer, it’s special education IDEA data. I’m excited to be part of that work.

00:21:50.25 >> Great. Austen, how do you see yourself being a data quality influencer now?

00:22:02.51 >> When I think about this, the word empathy keeps coming to mind. We’ve submitted in EMAPS, we’ve worked through February deadlines, and we’ve experienced the pressure—emails asking for quick updates and information that needs to be translated for different audiences.

Having gone through the submission process helps me understand what SEA data managers are experiencing—the deadlines, the navigation of OSEP guidelines, and state policies and legislation. That experience helps me approach conversations with states in a way that reminds them: we’ve been in these roles, we know how you feel, and we’re going to do our best to support your work and data submissions.

00:23:26.18 >> That makes so much sense. Thank you all for sharing your experiences—both as data managers and in your new roles at IDC. We’re very grateful to have you.

00:23:59.55 >> To access podcast resources, submit questions related to today’s episode, or share ideas for future topics, visit the Podcast page on the IDC website at IDEAdata.org.