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A HYPOTHESIS: HOW TO FIX THE BROKEN DATA FEEDBACK LOOP IN EDUCATION

September 2021

Demand

Systems

Governance

Use

Channel unmet demand for data from key stakeholders through…

Modernize data systems across the education-to-workforce ecosystem via…

Strengthen governance within �and across data systems through…

Facilitate robust use of data systems via…

…to engage them as partners to advocate for improving data systems to help solve real-world problems in education, which builds public trust.

…to ensure the necessary infrastructure is available to readily connect supply and demand for data from stakeholders.

…to enable a catalytic release of data by lowering impedance and cost to access while rigorously protecting student privacy.

…to dramatically speed up the cycle of data- and evidence-driven innovation and improvement in education.

Using Data for Systems Change

Strategically address gaps in the education-to-workforce data ecosystem in the US so practitioners and policymakers have the information they need to answer critical questions to implement evidence-based reforms to equitably improve education outcomes for students of color and low-income students.

Critical questions and use cases
Data funder community
Data campaigns and advocacy

Data standards and metrics
System infrastructure
Data interoperability and linkages

Data safeguarding
Data stewardship
Data access and interfaces

Analytic and research capacity
Data dashboards and tools
Data and evidence dissemination

Last Updated:

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	ACCESS		PROGRESSION	COMPLETION	COST		POST-COLLEGE OUTCOMES
PERFORMANCE	▪ Enrollment		▪ Credit Accumulation	▪ Transfer	▪ Net Price		▪ Employment
			▪ Credit Completion	▪ Graduation	▪ Unmet Need		▪ Earnings
			▪ Gateway Course Completion	▪ Success	▪ Cumulative Debt		▪ Loan Repayment (from IPEDS)
			▪ Program of Study Selection	▪ Completers			▪ Graduate Education
			▪ Retention				▪ Learning Outcomes
			▪ Persistence
EFFICIENCY	▪ Expenditures per Student (w/IPEDS)		▪ Cost of Uncompleted Credits	▪ Time to Credential	▪ Student Share of Cost (from IPEDS)		▪ Earnings Threshold
			▪ Gateway Completion Costs
				▪ Credits to Credential
					▪ Expenditures per Completion (w/IPEDS)

			▪ Change in Revenue from Change in Retention (w/ IPEDS)
				▪ Costs of Excess Credits


				▪ Completions/Student

EQUITY	▪ Enrollment by at least:		▪ Progression (blue) by at least:	▪ Completion (blue) by at least:	▪ Cost by at least:		▪ Post-college outcomes by at least:
	Preparation		Preparation	Preparation	Economic Status		Economic Status
	Economic Status		Economic Status	Economic Status	Age		Age
	Age		Age	Age	Race/Ethnicity		Race/Ethnicity
	Race/Ethnicity		Race/Ethnicity	Race/Ethnicity	Completion Status		Completion Status
Key Student Characteristics				Key Institutional Characteristics
▪ Enrollment Status		▪ Economic Status		▪ Sector		▪ Selectivity (IPEDS)
▪ Attendance Pattern		▪ Race/Ethnicity		▪ Level		▪ Diversity
▪ Degree-Seeking Status		▪ Age		▪ Degree/Program Mix		▪ MSI Status (IPEDS, other)
▪ Program of Study		▪ Gender		▪ Size		▪ Nontraditional Populations
▪ Academic Preparation		▪ First-Generation Status		▪ Resources (IPEDS only)		▪ Modality

POSTSECONDARY METRICS FRAMEWORK

Source: Toward Convergence: A Technical Guide for the Postsecondary Metrics Framework (IHEP, May 2016)

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DIALOGUE ON DEMOCRATIZING DATA

The Power of Data to Transform Student Success

Data is a critical enabler to improving student success. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has established a new US Programs Data team that seeks support a comprehensive education-workforce data ecosystem that ensures more Black and Latino students and student from low-income backgrounds graduate high school and obtain postsecondary credentials of value, so that they have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to thrive in the workforce.

Taking a data-driven approach to student success is essential to implementing effective student success initiatives that support ALL students. As discussed during the session, when federal graduation rate data is focused on first-time student who enroll full-time in the Fall, yet nearly half of all Colorado postsecondary students enroll part-time, our ability to understand the drivers of student success are constrained. In your role as trustees, it is important to understand not just how a specific data point contributes to an institution's understanding of progress and it is equally vital to ask who is missing from these data systems.

Without comprehensive data, we make decisions that may only represent a subset of the learners we seek to serve.

Toward Convergence: A Technical Guide for the Postsecondary Metrics Framework (IHEP, May 2016): Drawing on lessons learned �from a decade of efforts to collect and use better data, Toward Convergence provides important, foundational details �that support and build on the findings outlined in Answering �the Call and enumerates the technical details of the metrics framework.
National Student Clearinghouse Postsecondary Data Partnership which provides dynamic dashboards that include detailed data on early momentum metrics (first-year credit completion; credit accumulation; gateway course completion and lagging indicators (transfer; credential completion), all disaggregated by race/ethnicity, Pell grant status and a host of other student demographics.
Data Quality Campaign Infographic on how State and Local Governments can Use Federal Funding for Education Data
Improving Data Infrastructure to Meet Student and Learner Information Needs: Housed on the Day One website, this paper provides a case for strengthening state data systems.
Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes Explorer: Produced by researcher at the U.S. Census Bureau, PSEO provides earnings and employment outcomes for college and university graduates by degree level, degree major and post-secondary institution.

Meeting Reflections

Resources