Data is really useful. It can illuminate, clarify, and put into context realities that we miss by communicating the same facts via text. The college access and success field uses data to great effect on a daily basis. Data have transformed K-12 districts and schools practices in myriad ways in recent decades. Similar data-related practices can have a huge impact on the ways districts and schools prepare students to successfully make postsecondary transitions.
NCAN has compiled a number of resources related to key topics around improving the use of data for changing students' postsecondary outcomes. This evolving list of resources focuses on best practices and case studies related to using postsecondary outcomes data to improve postsecondary advising, including the use of National Student Clearinghouse data.
The National Student Clearinghouse is a great source of student-level data on postsecondary outcomes.
Districts and schools can sign up for the StudentTracker for High Schools service ($425 per high school per year). If your district or school doesn't have a Student
Tracker account yet, it's step one for better understanding students' postsecondary outcomes.
What Do High School Leaders Know About Their Students’ Paths After High School? Not Enough. Too
few high school principals have access to data that helps them understand how their students fare after leaving high school, according to findings from the RAND American School Leader Panel. Almost a third of school leaders report no access to
data on whether their students enrolled in a two- or four-year college. And, a majority report they have no details on whether students required remediation after entering postsecondary education.
From Tails to Heads: Momentum Metrics for Postsecondary Applications - The Momentum Metrics offer "a framework for a new set of postsecondary transition
metrics for states and communities to prioritize in order to help more students successfully move to and through higher education. Collectively, the “Momentum Metrics” identified in the report represent eight of the most predictive indicators
of postsecondary preparation, retention, and success."
StriveTogetherreleased a very handy Data Sharing Playbookthat
is intended to “help community organizations effectively partner with schools on data-driven ways to improve education outcomes. This resource includes seven principles about how to begin and grow a data-driven initiative, as well as practical
resources to help communities implement complex data partnerships with schools and other community partners.”
"Data sharing agreement” is a phrase that can cause apprehension, bewilderment, and anxiousness. The process of setting up an agreement between two parties, be they schools, districts, or non-profit entities is one that can be confusing
and complicated. Fortunately, the William T. Grant Foundation’sResearch-Practice Partnerships series has an entire module devoted to Developing Data Sharing Agreements,
which includes guiding questions, work samples, and other related documents.
"Data sharing agreement” is a phrase that can cause apprehension, bewilderment, and anxiousness. The process of setting up an agreement between two parties, be they schools, districts, or non-profit entities is one
that can be confusing and complicated. Fortunately, the William T. Grant Foundation’sResearch-Practice Partnerships series has an entire module devoted to Developing Data Sharing Agreements,
which includes guiding questions, work samples, and other related documents.
StriveTogetherreleased a very handy Data Sharing Playbookthat
is intended to “help community organizations effectively partner with schools on data-driven ways to improve education outcomes. This resource includes seven principles about how to begin and grow a data-driven initiative, as well as practical
resources to help communities implement complex data partnerships with schools and other community partners.”
The Strategic Data Project has a Toolkit for Effective Data Use. The toolkit is “a resource guide
for education agency analysts who collect and analyze data on student achievement. Completing the toolkit produces a set of basic, yet essential, human capital and college-going analyses that every education agency should have as a foundation
to inform strategic management and policy decisions.” It includes dummy data sets and step-by-step directions for data cleaning using Stata software. This resource is not a light undertaking, but it could give a fledgling analyst some more experience
with key data skills.
Also of note from the SDP is the
“Strategic Use of Data Rubric,”which can be used “as a basis for gathering evidence of data use across the organization allows educational
leaders to identify specific areas for improvement and highlight specific steps to move the organization toward using data more strategically.”
Public Profit has a handy resource called “Dabbling in the Data” which offers “field-tested ways for teams to make meaning of data, including refreshers
on key concepts for rigorous analysis techniques. These collaborative, team-centered activities teach how to analyze data in a meaningful way, engaging the group in rich discussions to interpret the data. More importantly, Dabbling helps teams
determine how to respond to what they find. Dabbling in the Data provides step-by-step guidance on 15 different approaches, organized into five sections: distribution, change over time, contribution, categories, and communicating findings.”
Breaking data down by student characteristics, whether they be demographic or service-driven, can identify hidden income and outcome gaps that programs would want to address. The Annie E. Casey Foundation has a short post on
why disaggregation and data presentation both matter when organizations use data to address equity issues.
The Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN) has a good piece titled “Better Than Cake: Using Data to Celebrate Team Wins.” Data isn’t just for
external audiences; it can be used as an internal motivator and congratulator. Programs are collecting a lot of data these days; how is your program using that data to point out what you’re doing right? This is sage advice: “Just as we hope to
make our supporters feel like they are a part of something greater by sharing data on what they’ve helped us achieve, let us also remember the people by our side who want the same thing.”
James E. McCoy, superintendent of Lee County Public Schools in Alabama, has a short but sweet reminder that comes from the K-12 context but is applicable to NCAN members as well. This is his advice (just
substitute “advisor” for “teacher” for your college access and success program): “Teachers need tools that allow them more time to teach, not add time to updating databases and spreadsheets. These tools need to be easy to use as well. There
is proof that evidence boards make a difference in confirming a student’s progress or identifying a plan when the student is struggling. Transparency can create a space for healthy competition.”
It can be tough to encounter people and organizations who are skeptical about the transformational power of using data effectively. This report from the Future of Privacy Forum provides
19 snapshots of times in the K-16 system when analyzing data helped to change things up. “This report highlights the ways that newly available technology, data, and analytical techniques can create better educational outcomes. It presents concrete
examples from Pre-K through higher education of how education data can be used to benefit students, the education system, and society-at-large.”
Making Big Data Useful Rather Than Scary for Teachers: "Blaché and Hall were looking at the district’s new teacher dashboards — curated collections
of data with student-level information directly useful to teachers. The Hollis teachers’ introduction to the dashboard took less than five minutes, and then they were set free to explore the data and strategize in groups. This type of collaboration,
built around data, is rare in U.S. public schools. But maybe not for long."
Common Measures Quick References: Two short documents listing all of NCAN's Common Measures and the abbreviated citations to the research related to them. One covers NCAN’s "Access"
and "Success" Common Measures while another covers a set of Middle School Indicators. Also be sure to check out the Common Measures Handbook that dives deeper into each indicator.
From Tails to Heads: Momentum Metrics for Postsecondary Applications - The Momentum Metrics offer "a framework for a new set of postsecondary transition
metrics for states and communities to prioritize in order to help more students successfully move to and through higher education. Collectively, the “Momentum Metrics” identified in the report represent eight of the most predictive indicators
of postsecondary preparation, retention, and success."
The National Student Clearinghouse is a great source of student postsecondary data, especially when organizations use their StudentTracker service to look up enrollments and completions. Unfortunately, programs often report
trouble matching their students with the Clearinghouse’s records. There are many reasons why this might happen, and “The Missing Manual: Using National Student Clearinghouse Data”by
Dr. Susan Dynarski and her colleagues attempts to clear some of these up. This paper is a very useful NSC resource and includes history, institutional coverage, issues around suppressed records because of privacy laws, typographic errors, and
finally “a discussion of practical issues for program evaluators using NSC data.”
