Functional Statements > Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development

C. PERFORMANCE INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SERVICE

The Performance Information Management Service (PIMS) is responsible for ensuring that existing and future performance based education related data is available and aids all levels of the policy, planning and decision-making process. The Department's objectives cannot be achieved without a robust, effective data management system supported by the right policies, processes, and information systems. Further, an essential principle of No Child Left Behind is that meaningful student performance data must be available to parents, educators, policy makers, and the public. This data is critical to parents and educators in assessing student academic performance and in making the right choices about how best to educate the nation's children. The broad functions of PIMS can be categorized as data: definition, use, development, and reporting and cross-functional integration. The Director, PIMS oversees the functions and works in partnership with elements of OCFO, OCIO, OM and the POCs. The Director, PIMS reports directly to the Assistant Secretary, OPEPD.

In carrying out its lead responsibilities, the Performance Information Management Service:

• Identifies and evaluates the current data and information requirements of the Department and its principal offices and programs, focusing first on student academic performance data.
• Oversees the development of common definitions for shared data elements among programs, Principal Offices, the National Center for Education Statistics, OCIO, and OM.
• Coordinates with OCIO and OM to ensure the Department’s data definition, collection and maintenance procedures conform to government information management requirements.
• Assesses the performance and capability of the Department’s current processes and information systems, focusing first on the efficient collection, effective analysis and assessment, and timely communication and use of student academic performance data.
• Provides review of all Department electronic data collections and of all Department data analysis software and advises the Assistant Secretary and Chief Information Officer on these issues.
• Develops, recommends, and implements solutions to inadequacies in the current data and information planning systems.
• In conjunction with the Policy and Program Studies Service, develops, recommends, and implements standards for the analysis, assessment, and timely communication of student academic performance data and other data used in the Department.
• Rationalizes the data requirements of the Department, focusing first on consolidating and simplifying all data collection processes and eliminating duplicate or unnecessary data requirements and collection processes.
• Champions the acceptance and use of the data and information management systems throughout the Department, including each of its principal offices.
• Develops, recommends, and implements programs to drive the acceptance and use of the data management system by the states, focusing on adoption of the system by all 50 states.
• Identifies the future information requirements of the Department and its principal offices and programs and develops plans for the collection, analysis, and communication of such data.
• Ensures that the data and information management systems become and remain relevant, easy to use, cost effective, and responsive to the requirements of Department decision makers and other users.
• Develops, recommends, and implements a measurement system to monitor and report on the execution of these requirements.
• Assists Department programs and offices in developing and maintaining detailed statements of their information requirements in collaboration with the Office for Management, the Budget Service, the National Center for Education Statistics, and the Office of the Chief Information Officer.
• Coordinates the development and maintenance of EDFacts - a common repository of educational program performance information provided by State Education Agencies and other grantees.
• Coordinates the development and maintenance of ancillary survey systems to efficiently collect program-specific or evaluative information supplemental to EDFacts.
• Coordinates the development and maintenance of user-friendly tools to access system information for program management, performance reporting, accountability, and benchmarking.
• Collaborates with all Principal Offices and other agencies collecting data from educational institutions to reduce, rationalize, align, and connect all federal data repositories and collections.

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