The USC Rossier EdPolicy Hub (the Hub) has received a $1 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to create a network of Local Education Agencies (LEAs) across Southern California focused on improving student outcomes. Using the new Education-to-Workforce (E-W) Indicator Framework, USC researchers will work with network members to provide actionable insights into the drivers of educational and workforce outcomes for students.
Led by Jon Fullerton, research professor and executive director of the USC Rossier EdPolicy Hub, this project will support LEAs in using their data to identify collective challenges, developing strategies to overcome these challenges and tracking the outcomes.
Harnessing the E-W framework, district members will analyze and improve outcomes related to E-W essential questions in one (or both) of two areas:
- Identifying and removing barriers facing their students in the preparation for and transition to college and successful entry into the workforce (e.g., student attendance, grading policies, successfully completing A-G requirements, successful navigation of the application process, postsecondary matriculation and persistence, etc.).
- Solving teacher workforce challenges to ensure students equitable access to high-quality teachers and courses that prepare them for success (e.g., teacher recruitment, retention, placement, which students enroll in higher level courses and how does this differ across groups, etc.).
Leveraging district data sources, USC researchers will provide participants with diagnostic analyses highlighting which students are most impacted and potential drivers of why these challenges arise. With design and evaluation support from Hub researchers, participating districts will design and execute relevant strategies and interventions intended to improve outcomes in an equitable manner. The network members will share the implications of their data and the results interventions with one another and with other LEAs throughout Southern California.
Through leveraging the Ed-Fi data standard, data definitions will be consistent across network participants. This consistency will allow USC researchers to execute standardized analyses across LEAs that will help participating districts better understand which challenges are common across districts, which are unique, and the root causes behind them, as well as inform potential solutions.
“Districts can make tremendous improvements for students by keeping focused on the right outcome indictors, leveraging the data they already have, and learning from one another. This new network will help districts in Southern California better understand policies and practices that can be implemented to ensure all students have the opportunity to reach their full academic and career potential, said Jon Fullerton. “We are grateful to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for supporting the USC Rossier EdPolicy Hub to create the Education to Workforce Network.”
Jon Fullerton
- Research Professor
