DQC’s Latest Resources

State leaders have a responsibility to use their statewide longitudinal data systems (SLDSs) to help students, communities, and leaders make decisions about education to workforce pathways and outcomes. Many states are already meeting this responsibility by easing transitions from high school to postsecondary opportunities and improving data linkages across sectors to better understand individuals’ outcomes.

Our latest resources outline state work that is being done to reach these goals and provide policymakers with the tools and understanding they need to accomplish this work in their states.

Driver’s License Data Can Help States Better Understand Education and Workforce Pathways
This new state implementation guide from DQC and the Data Integration Support Center (DISC) at WestEd aims to help state leaders understand the utility and risk of including driver’s license data in their SLDSs, and answers questions about protecting data privacy while improving the quality of data access across the education to workforce spectrum. Read the full resource.

Data Sharing to Help Students After High School: The Why and How for Education Leaders
This brief addresses the benefits of initiatives that use data to help students ease transitions as they pursue postsecondary education or workforce training, the challenges of implementing these initiatives, and how state agencies and institutions of higher education can navigate FERPA compliance during implementation. Read the full resource.

The So What Blog Series

Anticipation of a possible executive order to dismantle the US Department of Education (ED) has caused disruption and confusion across all parts of education. In the latest edition of “The So What,” Jenn Bell-Ellwanger and Paige Kowalski share what’s top of mind for them as states and education leaders brace for upheaval:

Removing the key supports that ED provides to states, especially without a plan, hinders states in their ability to support students.
Data is the very essence of the federal role in the state-driven American education ecosystem.
Without ED, states would have to navigate a complex web of federal agencies to answer questions, requiring capacity that states do not have.

Read the latest on the DQC blog.