Building an Ecosystem of Support: An Evaluation of North Dakota’s Community School Programs

Community school programs respond to students’ nonacademic needs so that they can focus on their learning. This session highlights a collaboration of organizations across North Dakota as they implement two community school programs. A shared evaluation plan supports the implementation of the two programs and will provide data to improve services provided to students

Help Wanted: a lead state workforce official

Help Wanted: A lead state workforce official is a review of Ohio's multi-agency state workforce structure and a blueprint for strengthening workforce development in Ohio. CRP found that the state faces a deficit of workers with the 21st century education and skills needed by employers. In Ohio, 46% of Ohio adults ages 18 to 64 -- 3.3 million -- have no postsecondary education, a figure worse than 35 other states. The report identifies over $2 billion in state and federal resources, administered by at least nine state agencies, that directly and indirectly support workforce development in Ohio. Although important steps have been taken to reorganize, coordinate, and put a greater focus on workforce development, a leadership gap remains. The report recommends that Ohio name a lead state workforce official and that a primary goal of this official should be filling "middle skill" jobs: those that require more than a high school diploma, but less than a four-year degree. This should be done by (1) meeting the current and future needs of employers, (2) supporting success for adults in education and training, and (3) establishing state policy and a national presence. The report includes detailed recommendations in each of these areas. Included in the report are examples of how several other states have aligned roles, programs, and resources to elevate workforce development and examples of successful local and regional workforce development initiatives in southwest, central, and northeast Ohio. Funding for the report was provided by The Joyce Foundation as part of the national Working Poor Families Project

Beyond Good Intentions: Using Data to Promote Economic Opportunity

Outlines the need for better data collection and analyses to help the District of Columbia track, evaluate, and improve economic development programs and make evidence-based budgetary and policy decisions. Makes recommendations for various city agencies

EDUCATION POLICIES AND MIGRATION REALITIES: UTILIZING A STATE LONGITUDINAL DATA SYSTEM TO UNDERSTAND THE DYNAMICS OF MIGRATION CHOICES FOR COLLEGE GRADUATES FROM APPALACHIAN KENTUCKY

Census data indicates people with higher levels of education are leaving Appalachian Kentucky as they do in other rural areas. Aside from anecdotal information and primarily qualitative community studies, there is little quantitative evidence of the factors which may influence these migration decisions. State policies and regional efforts to increase educational attainment of people in the region have focused on producing more college degrees however may be contributing to the out-migration of those with higher levels of education. The study incorporates community level data with demographic, academic, and employment data from a cohort of 2005-06 college graduates from Appalachian Kentucky. The study includes an analysis of migration rates for a variety of different types of graduates and a set of three complimentary logistic regression models developed to understand the impact of individual demographic and academic factors, factors about the communities where these graduates came from, and the factors related to the communities where they went after completing their degrees and credentials to predict likelihood of migrating. This study builds upon previous efforts by providing extensive, externally validated data about a large population of individuals. It leverages sociological, demographic, and neoclassical microeconomic research methods and leverages data from Kentucky\u27s statewide longitudinal data system to serve as an illustration for how these systems can be used for complex statistical analyses

Competing in the Federal Race to the Top

The federal Race to the Top is a national competition between states intended to support education reform and innovation in classrooms. States at the forefront of school reform are eligible to compete for $4.3 billion in Race to the Top grants. Since this is a competitive grant, it is possible that some states will not receive awards, and President Obama assures that “politics won’t come into play.

Interpreting Race to the Top TNTP Summary and Analysis of USDE Draft Guidelines

This report outlines the U.S. Department of Education's (USDE) "Race to the Top" Fund (RTT) application and selection process, summarizes the USDE application and overall selection criteria for RTT funding, and provides a checklist that states and districts can use to determine their own eligibility based on the four assurance areas and overall selection criteria. The report also provides a criteria summary for each of the four assurance areas; -- standards and assessments, data systems to support instruction, great teachers and leaders, and turning around struggling schools -- and provides an analysis of states' current competitiveness for RTT funding

Will I Get In? Using Predictive Analytics to Develop Student-Facing Tools to Estimate University Admissions Decisions

A sizable number of low-income high school graduates enroll in colleges less selective than their academic qualifications would allow or forgo postsecondary altogether despite being college-ready. One potential cause of this “undermatching” is that some students have limited access to information about their college options. We hypothesize that providing students with more and better information about the relationship between their academic preparation and college options may promote college-going. The purpose of this study was to develop a predictive model of admissions to public 4-year institutions using data from Texas’ statewide longitudinal data system in order to build a student-facing tool that predicts admissions decisions. We sought to include only variables for which students have some control over, namely academic characteristics, but compared the predictive accuracy of this reduced model to more complex models that include demographic variables commonly used in higher education research. We show the reduced model successfully predicts admissions decisions for approximately 85% of applications. The addition of demographic variables, despite showing a statistically significant better fit of the data, do not substantively change the predictive accuracy of the model. We include a demonstration of a data visualization tool built on this predictive model using the open-source R statistical software that can be used by students, parents, and educators. We also discuss causes for both optimism and caution when using predictive modeling to develop student-facing tools

Improving School Accountability in California

Proposes a value-added model for assessing schools that measures contributions to student learning based on whether average test scores are higher or lower than expected, given prior achievement and other characteristics. Outlines implementation issues

Barreiras para o Sucesso? O Papel das Estruturas de Colaboração e Governo Estadual nos Conselhos P-20

Collaboration between K-12 and higher education sectors has not been as productive as participants and policy leaders would like – especially in an era of emphasis on college readiness and completion, which requires such collaboration. Various mechanisms have been used to foster collaboration including state P-20 (early learning through higher education) councils, however these have not always produced the results participants desire and research on why this is so is limited. This study utilizes state education governance and inter-organizational relations literatures to hypothesize that structural barriers to collaboration prevent P-20 councils from reaching their potential. This comparative case study of three state P-20 councils finds that state education governance structures may erect barriers to collaboration. However, this research also shows that P-20 councils, if thoughtfully structured, can help ameliorate these barriers.La colaboración entre los sectores de educación superior y los de educación básica no ha sido tan productiva comosus participantes y líderes políticos les gustaría – especialmente en una era de énfasis en la preparación para ingresar y completar la universidad, que requiere este tipo de colaboración. Varios mecanismos se han utilizado para fomentar la colaboración incluyendo consejos estaduales de coordinación entre los diferentes niveles (P-20=del preescolar a laeducación superior) sin embargo, estos no siempre han producido los resultados que los participantes desean y la investigación sobre por qué esto es así, es limitada. Este estudio utiliza la literatura sobre gobernanza de la educación estatal y de relaciones inter-organizacionales, para analizar la hipótesis de que las barreras estructurales a la colaboración impiden a los consejos P-20 de alcanzar su potencial. Este estudio de caso comparativo de tres consejos estaduales P-20 concluye que las estructuras de gobernanza de educación estatales pueden erigir barreras a la colaboración. Sin embargo, esta investigación también muestra que concejos P-20, si son estructurados cuidadosamente, pueden ayudar a eliminar estas barreras.A colaboração entre os sectores do ensino superior e educação básica não tem sido tão produtiva quanto seus participantes e líderes políticos gostariam – especialmente em uma época de ênfase na preparação para entrar e completar os estudos superiores, que requer este tipo de colaboração. Vários mecanismos têm sido utilizados para promover a colaboração incluindo conselhos estaduais P-20 de coordenação entre os diferentes níveis (P-20 = pré-escolar ao ensino superior), mas estes nem sempre têm produzido os resultados que os participantes querem e investigação sobre o porquê isto é assim, é limitada. Este estudo utiliza a literatura sobre a governança da educação estadual e relações inter-organizacionais, para analisar a hipótese de que as barreiras estruturais à colaboração evitam que os conselhos P-20 realizem o seu potencial. Este estudo de caso comparativo de três conselhos estatais P-20 conclui que as estruturas de governação de educação dos estados podem erigir barreiras à colaboração. No entanto, a pesquisa também mostra que conselhos P-20, se forem cuidadosamente estruturados, podem ajudar a remover essas barreiras

Quality Data is Key to Improving Education

The Data Quality Campaign (DQC) has been focused since 2005 on advocating for states to build robust state longitudinal data systems (SLDS). While states have made great progress in their data infrastructure, and should continue to emphasize this work, t data systems alone will not improve outcomes. It is time for both DQC and states to focus on building capacity to use the information that these systems are producing at every level – from classrooms to state houses. To impact system performance and student achievement, the ingrained culture must be replaced with one that focuses on data use for continuous improvement. The effective use of data to inform decisions, provide transparency, improve the measurement of outcomes, and fuel continuous improvement will not come to fruition unless there is a system wide focus on building capacity around the collection, analysis, dissemination, and use of this data, including through research