Cross-State Data Work Group

Improving the analysis and use of data and performance measures has been a central focus for Achieving the Dream. Achieving the Dream states have consistently prioritized improving their data capacity. Many states have enacted sweeping changes, moving from disconnected and manual data collection processes to highly sophisticated data systems that link across sectors, including K-12 and workforce outcomes.

The Cross-State Data Work Group (CSDWG) has been a hallmark activity for Achieving the Dream.  Data experts from the state teams in Connecticut, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, and Virginia came together at the beginning of Achieving the Dream to address inadequacies in the ways that completion is measured for community college students.  The group’s state data leads, who now represent 12 states, have formed a powerful network of professionals learning from one another’s experiences and sharing their progress and challenges.

The CSDWG developed a more accurate set of completion measures, and then integrated those measures into the national conversation about alternatives to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). Table 1 provides an overview of the CSDWG’s approach.

Achieving the Dream also became an early leader in applying the milestone concept to improving policy, practice, and outcomes in community colleges across the country.  Subsequently, the work group moved on to defining and collecting intermediate benchmarks that provide additional information for improving student outcomes.  Cross-state collaboration and an intensive, multi-year commitment have made this work group uniquely productive and successful.

Now that the conversation about the importance of accurately collecting and analyzing data has progressed so far nationally, the CSDWG is considering how to tackle the next frontier in data:  how to help states make better use of data to drive continuous institutional improvement. 

Jeremy Offenstein and Nancy Shulock describe the success of the CSDWG in the publication, "Taking the Next Step: The Promise of Intermediate Measure for Meeting Postsecondary Completion Goals."