Leaders from 40 states gather to discuss how to collect employment outcome data
When more than 100 leaders from 40 states gathered this spring for a meeting to discuss how to collect and use employment outcome data, their aim wasn’t just to talk to one another. They were hoping to figure out how to get their state data systems talking across state lines, too.
The meeting of the Postsecondary Employment Outcomes Coalition brought together the organization’s network of postsecondary leaders from colleges, universities, state agencies, and other institutions to share information in partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau. The members of the coalition also are partnering with Strada to pursue improvements to their education-to-employment data systems aligned to the Clear Outcomes elements of the State Opportunity Index.
Meeting participants engaged in a variety of sessions, including an update from the Census Bureau, and a discussion on standards for data to facilitate intrastate exchange and access. Between sessions, the hallways and small meeting rooms were filled with people networking and sharing ideas and experiences.
That kind of partnership was on full display at the session hosted by the State Noncredit Data Project, an initiative developed by the Rutgers University’s Education and Employment Research Center and key partners at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, the University of Michigan, the University of California, Irvine, and state-based postsecondary and workforce agencies around the country, to help states define and collect data on noncredit learning, a rapidly growing area of postsecondary education. The researchers and state leaders in the room agreed that, despite the growing interest in noncredit education programs, quality data on the effectiveness and value of these programs are hard to come by. Because many states are just beginning to build a data infrastructure for noncredit education and nondegree credentials, state partnerships are crucially important.
Session presenters Michelle Van Noy, director of the Education and Employment Research Center at Rutgers, and Paula Nissen, director of the Institutional Research Collaborative in Iowa, shared information about SNDP research and detailed their efforts to better understand the influence these programs are having on the education-to-employment landscape. “States have been making progress in building up their noncredit data systems, but it has been a journey to develop these systems," Van Noy said. “Our team is trying to support their work and share their experiences with other leaders."
SNDP research focuses on state noncredit data in a range of contexts, including examining governance structures related to nondegree credential data in eight states to assess their influence on policy and legislation. They also are developing a taxonomy for noncredit data that includes operational definitions and a consistent framework.
Both presenters underscored the importance of investing in and sharing these data. At a time when other data sources are being affected by changes in the federal government, states need to work together to build a noncredit data infrastructure that will serve students, institutions, and employers.
Through the SNDP’s research and taxonomy development, the Rutgers team has laid out a roadmap for the states engaged in this work, including inventorying current noncredit data, prioritizing data elements to build over time, ensuring missions are reflected in the data, and selecting a data platform that allows for interconnectivity.
Its recent report across multiple states and their noncredit data offers several recommendations for states:
- Strive for more complete data on students and programs through consistent definitions and greater engagement with institutions.
- Use data to understand and promote alignment with mission and funding opportunities.
- Build the noncredit data infrastructure across data systems at the state level to reflect the broader ecosystem of credentials and providers.
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