Using Data to Further the Work of College Access and Success
Earlier this fall, we initiated a series of Data Convenings supporting the work of college access and success. Our goal for these convenings was to create alignment, collaboration, and dialogue across organizations and with our key stakeholders in the field of college access. Bringing together data, research, and program professionals, each conversation focused on metrics and measurements for this work – how we make and use them, and how they can help (and sometimes fail) us.
Read on to see more information and a recording of each of the conversations in the series. If you are interested in learning more about the data convenings or about our approach to using data at SL Network, contact Aaron Hawn, Director of Research and Evaluation.
Common Metrics, Uncommon Solutions
This conversation focused on capturing metrics for success in the landscape of college access and success, featuring panelists Dr. Farhad Asghad, program officer at Carnegie Corporation; Bill DeBaun, director of research and evaluation at NCAN; and Jon Roure, Executive VP and Chief of Innovation at SL Network.
Visualizing the NSC
Dr. Kelly Bay-Meyer and Jake Fournier from GuidEd Insight joined us for an in-depth conversation about the GuidEd Insight visualization platform. The platform was built to integrate National Student Clearinghouse and other student data to inform the actions that drive college success. GuidEd Insight makes equity a priority, with tools to inform college success for students of color, first-generation students, and students impacted by poverty. They also discussed how to tackle challenges of data integration, wrangling with NSC data, and building usable analytics for different types of organizations and users.
Open Source Analytics for College Success
In this conversation, we were joined by Jared Knowles, President of Civilytics Consulting. Jared’s work has been central to the Harvard Strategic Data Project’s Open SDP toolkit, a project to create open-source tools for analyzing patterns and trends along the education pipeline, from high school graduation, to seamless college transition, to college enrollment, and persistence in college. Originally conceived as a tool for use by school districts, the OpenSDP toolkit may prove a valuable analytical resource, an exemplar of collaborative work, and analytics community for College Success organizations as well.
