Purpose
The Massachusetts Education-to-Career (E2C) Research and Data Hub brings together data and research about how children and students progress from early care and education settings, through their K-12 education, and into higher education and the workforce. The E2C Hub serves educators, students and families, policymakers, and researchers by making data and research easier to find, use, and understand. In doing so, the goal of the Hub is to increase evidence-based decision making and promote practices that lead to better and more equitable outcomes.
The E2C Hub builds on the Commonwealth’s existing longitudinal data system by (1) expanding connections with data from multiple state agencies and (2) making the data available to various audiences through a unified set of user-friendly tools at the appropriate level of access. Participating agencies include:
- Executive Office of Education (EOE)
- Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development (EOLWD)
- Department of Early Education and Care (EEC)
- Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE)
- Department of Higher Education (DHE)
- Children’s Trust (CT)
Leaders from each of these agencies work together to guide the E2C Hub, to increase alignment and connection across agencies, and to focus effort on shared research priorities. The Hub works with agencies to link datasets and ensure that specific internal agency staff or external researchers can access the data and tools they need to answer high-priority questions. The E2C Hub gathers input from outside stakeholders for priority-setting and helps make agency research and data accessible for all audiences.
Data privacy and security is of primary importance to the Hub, and all data sharing or linking between agencies occurs within a defined legal framework to ensure personal data is protected.
Goals
- Promote shared ownership for progress on state goals for education and career
- Facilitate actionable research on what leads to progress on long-term outcomes
- Increase access to reliable high-quality data and expand the scope of data
- Enable more efficient, effective, and transparent reporting and data use
Audiences
The E2C Hub supports...
- Agency staff by showing what data are available via a data catalog (i.e., searchable list) so analysts spend more time on insights and less time on finding or cleaning data
- Researchers by communicating agencies’ research priorities and establishing a simpler, more transparent process to request and access cleaner, linked data more easily
- Policymakers by creating easy-to-understand data and research reports with insights into the Commonwealth’s investments in educational programs
- Educators by providing access to student, school, and statewide data to analyze, compare, and track trends over time
- Students, families, and the general public by making it easy to find and understand data and research about programs, schools, workforce and outcomes
Available data
The E2C Hub’s directory of datasets includes all the published data from participating agencies, making it easier to find the needed data on agency websites:
- Department of Early Education and Care (EEC)
- Program information about licensed and funded childcare programs (early education and care and after school/out-of-school time programs)
- Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE)
- Enrollment and student demographics
- Assessment results
- Discipline
- Graduation and college attendance
- Staffing and demographics
- Budget and spending
- District and school profiles and report cards
- Department of Higher Education (DHE)
- Enrollment and student demographics
- Student success and completion
- Number of degrees awarded
- Institutional performance measurement report
- Tuition and fees
Browse tools and downloadable public datasets in the E2C Hub.
Plans
The E2C Hub helps a variety of audiences use data and research to determine what investments and initiatives contribute most to children's and students' learning, well-being, and outcomes. Planned steps for 2023 and beyond include:
- Further organize data from different agencies to make it easier to see what data are available, how to access datasets, and how they could be used to produce new insights that support evidence-based practices and approaches that promote equitable outcomes
- Create linked, anonymized datasets by combining data from different agencies to answer new research and policy questions using longitudinal data
- Provide a unified set of tools across agencies to provide appropriate, secure access to E2C data and reports for agency staff, researchers, and the general public
- Create a streamlined process for data and research requests that span across multiple agencies’ data
- Allow approved users to log into a secure workspace where they can access and use more sensitive data according to their specific roles and permissions
- Produce a library of “equity exemplars,” guides, and action-oriented research that highlight practices in schools, districts, colleges, and other programs that have demonstrated success in closing equity gaps
Together, these advancements will increase access to and transparency of data to external stakeholders, reach a broader research community, and add to agency capacity for high-impact data work.
History
The E2C Research and Data Hub builds on over 10 years of work largely funded by the Institute of Education Sciences’ Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS) grants.
The 2009 SLDS grant created the Education Data Warehouse which integrated the three separate agency data systems (those of the Departments of Early Education and Care [EEC], Elementary and Secondary Education [DESE], and Higher Education [DHE]) to establish a longitudinal data system. This grant also supported more automated data collection processes and improved data quality at DESE through the implementation of the schools interoperability framework technology. These improved data collection processes created opportunities for reports to be generated based on near real-time data.
The 2015 SLDS grant led to the establishment of a longitudinal data system through a data sharing agreement developed between the Executive Office of Education and the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development. Beyond the additional outcomes of individuals participating in the Commonwealth’s public education systems, this grant also supported the creation or refinement of relevant and actionable reports, such as the Resource Allocation and District Action Reports (RADAR) and the Early Warning Indicator System (EWIS) using this growing body of data.
The 2019 SLDS grant expands on the work of these earlier grants by creating a central location for agency staff, researchers, and the public to access these data, as well as supporting a culture of data use that can inform policy and practice and lead to more equitable outcomes.
Since 2021, the E2C Hub has focused on implementation of important processes and tools, including an internal data catalog to support better data policies, practices, and usage; a web platform to make public data available through a searchable, unified system with flexible download of raw data; publication of dashboards in priority areas such as the College and Career Outcomes; and a streamlined system for managing external research requests.
Team
Sam Ribnick | Executive Director
Sam has over 10 years of experience as a consultant, working with school districts and state agencies on effective data use. As Senior Director at District Management Council, Sam trained district leaders and boards on using data to evaluate the return on investment of programs. Sam previously taught physics in Boston Public Schools and worked at the Boston Consulting Group. Outside of work you can find Sam biking with his kids around Cambridge or cooking a new vegetarian dish.
Danielle Kane | Outreach and Engagement Specialist
Danielle has extensive communications experience with educational and cultural nonprofit institutions. At the College of the Holy Cross, she built audience engagement for interdisciplinary campus conversations and scholarly initiatives. Previously, she focused on family outreach as communications manager for the Worcester Art Museum and EcoTarium. Danielle is active in her local schools and community. She enjoys audiobooks, forced family fun with her teenage sons, and exploring the woods with her golden retriever.
David Bogojevich | E2C Research and Data Hub Analyst (DESE)
David has worked to improve the lives of children and families in various contexts, including schools, nonprofits, and county government. Most recently, he spent four years supporting academic research focused on early learners in North Carolina and other southern states. He is passionate about advancing equity, particularly for English learners and children of color. During his free time, he enjoys playing games (video, board, role play, and card), browsing TikTok, and eating copious amounts of chocolate.
Symantha Clough | E2C Research and Data Hub Analyst (DHE)
Symantha has worked in multiple sectors, including teaching, electoral politics, and research, all with the common goal of improving education systems for marginalized students. Her most recent role was as a Research Assistant at the Research Alliance for New York City Schools, where she conducted program evaluations and data analysis. Previously, she was an organizer and fundraiser on multiple Democratic electoral campaigns in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Symantha’s commitment to equitable education is informed by her personal experience of attending Title I schools in the Chicago suburbs. In her free time, Symantha enjoys learning the history of her new home of Boston, hiking, weightlifting, reading, and trying to become a runner.
Julian Smith-Sparks | UX/UI Designer
Julian brings to the team a combination of UX/UI and graphic design skills that are openly creative. Previously, he spent about 2.5 years as UX/UI designer in the healthcare research industry. He is passionate about design and how to make each user’s experience memorable. Julian enjoys listening to music, playing video games, fashion, and during his free time working on graphic design passion projects.