As the federal government appears poised to pull back on collecting and disseminating educational data, it's increasingly critical that information collected and maintained by states and local districts is available to inform policy.
"This type of research is not partisan or political," said Kevin Stange, co-director of the University of Michigan's Education Policy Initiative. "We want to help children succeed, so we want to know what works. If it doesn't, we also want to know that because we don't want to spend money on a big program that is not effective."
The Michigan Education Data Center, part of U-M's Education Policy Initiative, acts as a clearinghouse for educational data. Stange offers two specific examples of how data distributed by the initiative is helping to shape the education landscape.
First, more than half the school districts across Michigan offer transitional kindergarten, a state-funded program that provides an additional year of early education before traditional kindergarten for children who need an extra year to develop social, emotional and academic skills. Research supported by MEDC has found this program expands access to early childhood education, significantly improves kindergarten readiness and leads to better math scores through third grade.
On the other end of the education continuum, data from MEDC has provided important information about one of Michigan's largest state-run financial aid programs, the Tuition Incentive Program, which provides tuition assistance to community college students who have received Medicaid at some point in their lives.
Research conducted by Stange and supported by the MEDC found only 14% of eligible high school graduates and 29% of eligible community college students use the program, largely because many students don't realize they are eligible. Their research has prompted the agency to increase efforts to educate students and schools.
"The state doesn't have the resources to do this type of analysis because they are busy running the program," Stange said. "Absent this research, we're blind to know what works and what doesn't, or whether there are more effective or cost-effective ways to achieve the same goals."
This analysis is based on a story originally written by Sheri Hall for the Ford School of Public Policy.
