| ACS |
American Community Survey |
data/system |
US Census Bureau data collection instrument/product to supplement decennial census with annual and 5-year rolling averages for more timely data |
| AOC |
Administrative Office of the Courts |
organization |
Administrative Office of the Courts maintains the statewide electronic court records database for all cases (criminal, juvenile offender, and infraction cases filed with charge data) seen by courts in Washington State (excluding King County as of 2019). |
| CCSP |
Child Care Subsidy Programs |
program |
Working Connections Child Care and Seasonal Child Care are collectively referred to as Child Care Subsidy Programs (CCSP). CCSP assists eligible low-income working families by promoting access to childcare and after-school programs that help prepare their children to succeed in school. DCYF is the designated lead for setting CCSP eligibility and payment thresholds, while the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) is responsible for delivering CCSP services, determining children’s CCSP eligibility, and authorizing payments for CCSP services. |
| CEDARS |
Comprehensive Education Data and Research System |
data/system |
The Comprehensive Education Data and Research System (CEDARS) contains data reported to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) by each school district in Washington. This information covers the majority of administrative data intake for all school districts, covering topics ranging from enrollment to discipline. |
| CFC |
Community First Choice or Caseload Forecast Council |
organization |
The Caseload Forecast Council (CFC) forecasts the entitlement caseloads for the State of Washington. Their official forecasts guide the development of the Governor's budget document and the Washington Legislature's omnibus biennial appropriations act. |
| COP |
Council of Presidents |
organization |
Council of Presidents is a professional organization that represents Washington's six public baccalaureate degree granting college and universities (that is, the six public four-year higher education institutions). |
| COSF |
Child Outcomes Summary Form |
data/system |
Form used by ESIT program staff to record participant outcomes at program entry and exit. |
| DCYF |
Department of Children, Youth, and Families |
organization |
DCYF focuses on the well-being of children to ensure that "Washington state’s children and youth grow up safe and healthy—thriving physically, emotionally and academically, nurtured by family and community." Created by HB 1661 in 2017, combined the functions of DEL, and the Children’s Administration and Juvenile Rehabilitation from DSHS. |
| DEL |
Department of Early Learning |
organization |
State agency that absorbed into the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) in July 2018. |
| DOC |
Department of Corrections |
organization |
Department of Corrections is the agency that manages the system of corrections for the entire state. DOC maintains information for people incarcerated in Washington State facilitaties and for people under community supervision in Washington State. |
| DOH |
Department of Health |
organization |
Department of Health is the state agency that provides comprehensive public health programs, assessments, and services throughout communities in Washington State. |
| DSHS |
Department of Social and Health Services |
organization |
Department of Social and Health Services is the state agency that provide resources and supports for aging and long-term care needs, individuals with disabilities, behavioral health services, vocational rehabilitation services, economic services, and financial services. |
| ECEAP |
Early Childhood Educational Assistance Program |
program |
The State of Washington provides preschool to three- and four-year old, low-income children through the Early Childhood Educational Assistance Program (ECEAP). DCYF oversees the program, which served 14,000 children at more than 390 locations during the 2019-20 school year. ECEAP's data system is called ELMS. |
| ELMS |
Early Learning Management System |
data/system |
The Early Learning Management System (ELMS) is the data system for the Department of Children, Youth, and Families' (DCYF) Early Childhood Educational Assistance Program (ECEAP). |
| EPP |
WA Educator Preparation Program |
program |
Washington State's Professional Educator Standards Board oversees the Educator Preparation Program and establishes the policies and requirements for preparing and certifying educators in the state. ERDC administers the collection of EPP data from program providers across the state. |
| ERDC |
Education Research & Data Center |
organization |
The Education Research & Data Center (ERDC) was established by legislation in 2007 and works with partner agencies to conduct analyses to inform the decision-making of Washington legislators, educational institutions, researchers, families, and students. ERDC’s mission is to develop longitudinal information spanning the preschool to workforce system, in order to facilitate analyses, provide meaningful reports, collaborate on education research, and share data in ways that protect the privacy of students. |
| ESD |
Employment Security Department |
organization |
ESD provides services related to unemployment benefits and insurance. This is a valuable resource for data on the employment outcomes of high school and postsecondary graduates. |
| ESIT |
Early Support for Infants and Toddlers |
program |
The Washington State Early Support for Infants and Toddlers (ESIT) program provides individualized and quality early intervention services to young children (birth to three years old) who have disabilities or developmental delays. The Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) oversees the ESIT program, in accordance with the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Part C. |
| FERPA |
Family Education Rights Privacy Act |
other |
FERPA refers to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. This act outlines the conditions when ERDC can share education data without individual/student consent. The most common exceptions for ERDC cross-sector data are 1) the audit and evaluation exception or 2) the studies exception. |
| HCA |
Health Care Authority |
organization |
Health Care Authority is the state's largest health care purchaser and the designated authorities for Medicaid and behavioral health resources in Washington. |
| IDEA |
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act |
other |
DCYF oversees the ESIT program in accordance with Part C of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. IDEA guarantees the right to a free public education for all children ages 3 to 21, and Part C specifically references early intervention programs for infants and toddlers with disabilities between birth to 36 months old. |
| IE |
Institutional Education |
program |
K-12 program in Washington State that provides K-12 basic education services to incarcerated and formerly incarcerated juveniles in residential habilitation centers, long-term juvenile institutions, community facilities, county detention centers, county and city jails, and Deparment of Corrections facilities. |
| IPEDS |
Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System |
data/system |
Data system administered by the U.S. Department of Education. |
| K-12 |
Kindergarten to Grade 12 |
other |
Acronym to describe the various elementary, middle, and high school levels of the U.S. education system from Kindergarten through Grades 1 to 12. |
| LEA |
Local Education Agency |
organization |
U.S. Department of Education term for school district. |
| LNI |
Department of Labor & Industries |
organization |
LNI is the state agency dedicated to the safety, health, and security of Washington's 3.3 million workers. One of the agency’s roles is to collect applicant information from US Department of Labor apprenticeship programs. |
| MERIT |
Managed Education and Registry Information Tool |
data/system |
Workforce registry for early learning professionals in Washington. |
| NBPTS |
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards |
organization |
Housed within Washington State University's College of Education, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that maintains a national voluntary certification system of teaching standards. |
| NCES |
National Center for Education Statistics |
organization |
The primary statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Education. |
| NSC |
National Student Clearinghouse |
data/system |
Collects student level post-secondary education information |
| ODS |
Operational Data Store (aka data warehouse) |
data/system |
Technical term for ERDC's P20W Data System, where P20W data is de-identified and prepared for analysis. |
| OIAA |
Office of Innovation, Alignment and Accountability |
organization |
Office housed within DCYF that originated from the passage of House Bill 1661 (HB 1661) that created DCYF. It focuses on implementing systemic reform and collaboration in DCYF. |
| OSPI |
Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction |
organization |
OSPI is the primary agency that oversees public K12 education in Washington. OSPI allocates funding and provides resources and technical assistance so every student receives a high-quality public education. |
| P20W |
Preschool to Grade 20 to Workforce |
other |
"Preschool to Grade 20 to Workforce" |
| PCHEES |
Public Centralized Higher Education Enrollment System |
data/system |
Data collection system for the 6 WA public postsecondary institutions, housed in OFM |
| QRIS |
Quality Rating and Improvement System |
data/system |
A federally developed tool that can be used by states and community organizations to assess and improve the quality of early learning services and education programs. |
| SBCTC |
State Board for Community & Technical Colleges |
organization |
SBCTC advocates, coordinates and directs Washington state’s system of public community and technical colleges. The Board collects student data from each member school and then shares it with ERDC. |
| SEA |
State Education Agency |
organization |
U.S. Department of Education term for OSPI |
| SLDS |
Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems |
data/system |
Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems are data systems that contain multiple sectors of data linked together across many years and are typically referenced as data systems maintained or developed by state education agencies. |
| STARS |
State Training Registry System |
data/system |
precursor to MERIT |
| TANF |
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families |
program |
The Department of Social and Health Services' Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program provides temporary monthly cash payments based on family size and income to eligible families in Washington State. |
| TSGold |
Teaching Strategies Gold |
data/system |
Teaching Strategies GOLD (TSGold) is a formative observational assessment tool used in the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP). The Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (WaKIDS) assessment is a subset of the TSGold assessment. |
| WaKIDS |
Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills |
data/system |
Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (WaKIDS) is a legislatively mandated assessment as part of state-funded, full-day kindergarten and is administered by OSPI. The WaKIDS evaluation is an observational assessment that happens at the start of the school year. When children enter kindergarten, their teachers conduct the assessment to determine if each child is kindergarten-ready. |
| WCCC |
Working Connections Child Care |
program |
Working Connections Child Care (WCCC) is one program that falls under Child Care Subsidy Programs (CCSP). WCCC aids in subsidizing the cost of childcare for eligible children in Washington. |
| WSAC |
Washington Student Achievement Council |
organization |
WSAC provides strategic planning, oversight, advocacy, and program administration to support increased student success and higher levels of educational attainment in Washington. WSAC collects financial aid award data from Washington Public Colleges and Universities and provides an aggregated financial aid (unit record) dataset to ERDC. |
| WSIRB |
Washington State Institutional Review Board |
organization |
The Washington State Institutional Review Board is tasked with reviewing all human subjects research to ensure that ethical, privacy, and other considerations are properly evaluated. |
