STRONG FOUNDATIONS 2016
Christina Whitfield – Associate Vice President
John Armstrong – Policy Analyst
To our Data Providers:
STATE HIGHER EDUCATION EXECUTIVE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
STATE HIGHER EDUCATION EXECUTIVE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
2010 Original Report
• Research Question
What are the characteristics and uses of state-level
postsecondary student unit record systems (SURS)?
• KEY FINDINGS
– A growing number of agencies (19) were collecting
data from independent (private, not-for-profit)
institutions.
– Social Security Number was the primary ID used in
most agencies.
– Agencies challenged by managing external data
requests and developing interfaces for public access
to SUR data.
STATE HIGHER EDUCATION EXECUTIVE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
2012 Update
• Focused on Data Sharing Practices
• KEY FINDINGS
– Data sharing between agencies grew rapidly from
2010 to 2012, either through P-20 data
warehouses or federated models
– 28 postsecondary agencies had access to K-12 and
workforce data elements
STATE HIGHER EDUCATION EXECUTIVE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
Purpose of 2016 Report
• What data are collected by higher education
agencies?
• More importantly, how are these data used to
inform policy?
STATE HIGHER EDUCATION EXECUTIVE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
2016 Report – Exemplar States
Arkansas – Privacy and security
Massachusetts – K-12 connections
North Carolina – Teacher preparation
South Dakota – Data visualization
Tennessee – Performance funding
Texas – Strategic planning
Washington – Workforce connections
STATE HIGHER EDUCATION EXECUTIVE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
STATE HIGHER EDUCATION EXECUTIVE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
FINDINGS - General Uses of SURSs
Generating reports and statistics (internal and external)
56/58
Decision / policymaking
54/58
Research
53/58
Cross-sector collaboration (K12, labor, etc.)
51/58
Consumer information
43/58
External Reporting (Complete College America, Achieving
the Dream, SREB, etc.)
39/58
STATE HIGHER EDUCATION EXECUTIVE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
Independent
Proprietary
Tribal
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•
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•
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•
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•
•
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•
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AK, AZ, CA, HI, ID, IN, KS, LA, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NY,
NC, ND, RI, UT, VT, WV, WI, WY
PA
GA, ME, MS, OR, SD
5
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5
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4
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4
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4
3
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Total number of elements
4-Year Public
MN, WA
NJ, OH
AR, SC
MA, TN, TX
NM
AL, CO, CT
FL
IL
KY, MD, OK, VA
State
Other
2-Year Public
FINDINGS - Institutional Coverage
•
3
3
3
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3
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•
•
2
1
STATE HIGHER EDUCATION EXECUTIVE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
FINDINGS – K-12 Linkages
STATE HIGHER EDUCATION EXECUTIVE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
FINDINGS – Workforce Linkages
STATE HIGHER EDUCATION EXECUTIVE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
Warehouse vs. Federated Model
• 28 states confirmed the presence of a P20W
warehouse in their state.
• Some states without a “warehouse” still
combine data sets from across sectors via a
federated model.
STATE HIGHER EDUCATION EXECUTIVE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
FINDINGS – K-12 and Workforce
STATE HIGHER EDUCATION EXECUTIVE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
FINDINGS – Early Childhood
STATE HIGHER EDUCATION EXECUTIVE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
FINDINGS – Overall Linkages
Linkages
2010
2012
2016
K-12
20
36
45
Workforce
23
27
44
STATE HIGHER EDUCATION EXECUTIVE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
FINDINGS – Financial Aid Data
• Most agencies collect dependency status,
family income and a variety of financial aid
categories (merit, need, state, federal,
institutional…)
• Fewer agencies have access to cumulative
debt (9), net price (7), and loan repayment
status (2).
STATE HIGHER EDUCATION EXECUTIVE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
EFFECTIVE USE CASE – Performance
Funding
• 26 agencies use a performance formula. 20
use their SURS to support this effort.
• Tennessee was one of the first states to adopt
100% performance funding:
– Differentiated by sector/institution
– Multiple measures of student success
– Multiple years of data
– Weight for selected subpopulations
STATE HIGHER EDUCATION EXECUTIVE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
EFFECTIVE USE CASE – Workforce Data
• 39 agencies link SURS data to workforce data
• Most frequently-available data elements:
– Quarter of employment
– Wages
– NAICS code
• Rare/high value data elements:
– Hours worked (8 agencies)
– SOC codes (5 agencies)
• California Community Colleges “College Wage Tracker”
• Washington Earnings Report and Dashboard
STATE HIGHER EDUCATION EXECUTIVE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
EFFECTIVE USE CASE - Remediation
• 40 SURs in 35 states collect remedial or
developmental education information
• Minnesota – “Getting Prepared”
• West Virginia – Link to Master Plan
• Survey respondents also mention data on
college readiness indicators used to flag which
students require remediation
STATE HIGHER EDUCATION EXECUTIVE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
STATE HIGHER EDUCATION EXECUTIVE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
EFFECTIVE USE CASE – Teacher
Effectiveness
• Only 3 respondents indicated that they used
their SUR to evaluate teacher effectiveness.
• NORTH CAROLINA –Ed Prep Dashboards
• TENNESSEE – Report Card
• Many efforts in states to better determine
teacher effectiveness are happening at SEAs.
STATE HIGHER EDUCATION EXECUTIVE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
THREE NECESSARY CONDITIONS FOR
EFFECTIVE USE
• Ensure privacy and security:
– FERPA
– Data governance
– Limit access to PII
– Role-based access
– IT Security
– Data usage protocols
STATE HIGHER EDUCATION EXECUTIVE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
THREE NECESSARY CONDITIONS FOR
EFFECTIVE USE
• Address perceived barriers:
– Resources
– FERPA (?)
– Data quality/data integration
– “I don't believe we have any barriers, we have
challenges . . .”
STATE HIGHER EDUCATION EXECUTIVE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
THREE NECESSARY CONDITIONS FOR
EFFECTIVE USE
• Promote sustainability:
– Technology
– Funding
– Relationship with governance entities
– Data quality/data structures
STATE HIGHER EDUCATION EXECUTIVE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
VALUE OF SURS
• Efficient reporting and consistent information
• Analyses of student success
• Informed policy development
STATE HIGHER EDUCATION EXECUTIVE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
VALUE OF SURS
• “It would be difficult to overstate the
advantages of a unified data system like ours.”
• “The greatest value has been in providing
information to policymakers on all aspects of
higher education.”
• “Our SURS has helped our state transition
from anecdotal decision-making to more factbased, data-driven decision-making.”
STATE HIGHER EDUCATION EXECUTIVE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
RECOMMENDATIONS
• Tie SUR data to Strategic Planning
• Engage agency leadership in SUR projects
• Address privacy concerns head on
• Others?
STATE HIGHER EDUCATION EXECUTIVE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
STATE HIGHER EDUCATION EXECUTIVE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
Christina Whitfield is Director of Research and
Policy Analysis at the Kentucky Community and
Technical College System (KCTCS). She leads
planning, accountability, and institutional
research processes for Kentucky’s 16 public-2year institutions. Her responsibilities at KCTCS
include fulfilling federal and state reporting
requirements, monitoring progress toward
strategic plan goals, and overseeing
development of the KCTCS enterprise data
warehouse. Prior to joining KCTCS in 2004,
Christina served as Senior Associate for
Research and Associate for Academic Affairs at
the Kentucky Cuuncil on Postsecondary
Education, and as a policy consultant for the
Kentucky School Boards Association. Christina
earned her B.A. at the Unviersity of Kentucky
and her master’s degree and Ph.D. in history at
the University of Minnesota.
STATE HIGHER EDUCATION EXECUTIVE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
Breakout Discussion
Share with your group:
• How has your SURS added the most value to your state?
• What factors made that success possible?
Report Out:
• 3-5 conditions necessary to promote effective use of SURS
Group Assignments:
Red: Learning Center
Green: Mingle
Yellow: Lobby
Orange: Room 200
STATE HIGHER EDUCATION EXECUTIVE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION