Mississippi data governance committee advances MSIS course‑code overhaul; approves routine business

Deborah Donovan, chair of the Data Governance Committee at the Mississippi Department of Education, convened the committee Feb. 29 and led approval of routine business before turning to program updates. The committee approved the November minutes and the meeting agenda and later set future meeting dates for July 17 and Nov. 13, 2024.

Wendy Clemons, leading the course code work group, described the course‑code modernization effort as a "mammoth" project and said the State Board recently revised Policy 28.2 to stop requiring a static printed course code manual. Clemons said the change will allow the department to use MSIS data to provide a searchable, on‑demand course code catalog on the MDE website so district staff can filter and find course codes by subject, grade level or endorsement. "It will not be antiquated, it will be on demand," Clemons said, adding the tool will be accessible from multiple pages such as elementary and secondary education and may be housed on an OTSS landing page.

Clemons said the modernization work is tied to multiple data types coming into MSIS — student and organization data from vendors PowerSchool and Central Access, scheduling, assessment and discipline data, and later work area codes that capture staff employment assignments. She thanked staff and partners for the concentrated effort over December, January and February to ready data for the 2024–25 school year. "We've made great strides," Clemons said, and she singled out Lemuel Eubanks, who is overseeing parts of the data cleanup effort.

Committee members asked about where the new catalog would be hosted; Clemons said the department had not finalized a landing page and would work with OTSS and program offices to choose an appropriate site once the vendor‑sorted data are returned. Leticia Johnson raised the question of which program office would maintain the resource for staff without MSIS access; Clemons said the department will select and communicate a landing location and create links from related pages.

Donna Hales reported on data‑sharing activity since the committee's November meeting, saying four agreements had been executed or extended, including arrangements with ABCTE and Teach for America for annual performance reports and renewed agreements with Mississippi State RCU for CTE data and approved case studies.

After the briefings the committee approved two future meeting dates. Donna Hales moved to approve the proposed July and November dates and Joanne Malone seconded; the committee voted in favor. The meeting adjourned after closing remarks from Donovan.

The committee did not take formal policy votes beyond routine approvals during this session. Next steps cited by staff include finalizing vendor data returns, determining the hosting location for the searchable course code catalog, and beginning subsequent work on work area (staff assignment) codes.