Learning Agenda
The topics and questions in the learning agenda are used to prioritize and inform data requests to P20 WIN. The current Learning Agenda was approved by the P20 WIN Executive Board and highlight policy questions and priorities of their respective agencies. The questions listed below serve as a guide for anyone interested in requesting data from state agencies through P20 WIN. Requests should disaggregate data by race/ethnicity, location, and other factors where possible.
P20 WIN Learning Agenda Guiding Questions
Higher Education:
- How are student success metrics such as retention and graduation demonstrating the mission has been achieved?
- To what degree do graduates meet their personal and career goals?
- To what degree are graduates able to find employment in CT that provides a living wage?
- Is financial aid reaching learners from low-income families that need it the most?
Housing Security
- What is the impact of housing assistance on the economic outcomes of low-income households?
- How do we evaluate programs and services that provide housing assistance?
- What is the impact of access to affordable housing on family economic security, schooling outcomes, and use of federal/state benefits?
Physical and Behavioral Health
- What is the experience of individuals involved in our criminal legal receiving mental health and addiction treatment services provided by state-funded entities?
- What is the prevalence of opioid use and how does the experience of non-fatal overdose vary across the state?
- How does access to behavioral health support impact students' education outcomes?
Families, Children, Communities
- How does receipt of other state services (i.e. Judicial, DSS, OEC, DDS, DMHAS, CCEH) impact child maltreatment and achievement of permanency for children in DCF care?
- What are the crossover youth rates for children involved in DCF care and the judicial system?
- How does access to home visiting services immediately after birth impact families and children?
Justice, Incarceration, Reintegration
- What does successful reintegration look like, and how is this tracked?
- How does DOC collaborate with community stakeholders to accomplish its mission?
- How is the probation system supporting successful reintegration across the state?
- How does the workforce development system prepare currently incarcerated individuals for release and reintegration into communities? Which programs achieve strong outcomes for participants?
Early and K-12 Education
- What are the impacts and outcomes from involvement in OEC programs on early education outcomes?
- What is the experience of those engaged with the juvenile justice system and the public school system?
- How does engagement with early intervention support early childhood development?
Workforce Development
- What are the wage and employment outcomes of Connecticut workforce training programs?
- What are the best cost-effective programs that CTDOL offers and how to improve comparing with the other states?
- How do different institutions of higher education contribute to the CT labor force?
- What are the common career pathways within Connecticut?
Interested in submitting a data request? Start here.
From the 2019 Learning Agenda:
College and Career Success
The purpose of this topic is to provide information to support course placement decisions at colleges and universities and to provide information to families in Connecticut about the probability of admission to four-year institutions. Questions for this agenda item include, but are not limited to:
- What are the pre-college indicators, including student need, that correlate with the level of preparation required for a high school student to succeed in a core, credit-level course of study at a post-secondary institution?
- To what degree does high school academic history correlate with career readiness for students who do not pursue post-secondary education after high school completion?
An analysis of two key metrics for college and career readiness for students in Connecticut, using P20 WIN data, is posted here. The analysis reports college attendance, performance and persistence according to the metrics and selected demographic factors.
Student Readiness
It is essential to provide multi-faceted supports so that all students can achieve the highest levels of academic readiness. Analysis will focus on three critical educational systems/transitions: early childhood to k-12; elementary/middle to high school within K-12; and high school to post-secondary. It is vital for this to not just include mainstream education data, but also to include social services, child welfare, housing, family life, and adult education data to get a fuller picture of student experiences. Questions for this agenda item include, but are not limited to:
- What types of educational and social support services, such as food supports or childcare subsidies, allow students to achieve at the highest levels? Which students receive supports and which receive no known supports?
- How do academic trajectories change for those who receive supports compared to those who do not, especially at the times of transition (e.g. PK to K, Grade 8 to 9, and HS graduation to postsecondary)?
- Can multiple cohorts be tracked longitudinally through the systems to see if there are patterns that repeat? What can we learn about the accumulation of adverse childhood experience (ACEs) in households in Connecticut?
Financial Aid
Connecticut must have a better understanding of the dynamics of financial aid and the outcomes of state financial aid grant recipients so that we can maximize the opportunity for students with limited state resources. Questions for this agenda item include, but are not limited to:
- What are the demographics and outcomes of CT students that receive state financial grants? Demographic categories of interest include race/ethnicity, hometown, eligibility for free and reduced-priced lunch, average EFC, etc.
- On average, how much additional aid (federal and institutional aid) is provided to students that receive a state grant? By sector?
- What percentage of state financial aid recipients are found employed in Connecticut after graduation?
More detail about P20 WIN's financial aid analysis can be found here. A data story with trend data and maps of coverage for the Roberta Willis Scholarship Program can be found here.
Workforce Training
The success of the state’s workforce education training system, which is critical to the state’s economic development, requires using data to inform decision-making and programming. The state is working to develop standards around measuring the return on investment (ROI) for Connecticut’s public workforce training programs. Questions for this agenda item include, but are not limited to:
- What is the impact of short-term training programs on earnings?
- What is the ROI of public workforce training programs, particularly those with traditionally mixed results such as WIOA Adult?
- The WIOA Training Strategy Report provides a descriptive analysis of the 2018 WIOA Adult data and introduces basic performance metrics and methods to conduct a ROI analysis for WIOA programs. Read the summary here. - What is the best replicable, flexible methodology for measuring the net impact of public workforce training programs on earnings and employment?
- What do we know about training and employment outcomes for public assistance recipients or those with unstable housing?
More detail about P20 WIN's workforce training analysis can be found here.
Overcoming Barriers to Success
Embedded in each of the prior topics is the need to help individuals who face barriers to success or who are at risk of falling behind due to conditions such as homelessness or engagement with the child welfare system. P20 WIN has expanded to include state agencies that address social services, homelessness, and child welfare. Establishing these connections allows us to understand the degree to which residents face additional challenges and to develop programs that support these students and move individuals and families into cycles of success.
- What is the cost benefit ratio of SNAP, TANF, Medicaid, and Childcare assistance programs? Are there patterns that suggest different program delivery models may yield greater effectiveness or cost savings?
- Where do we observe overlap in the provision of services? Where are there opportunities for more coordinated service delivery? Where are there gaps or 'pain points' in the children's behavioral health system?
- How does the design of benefit programs impact access to education and workforce programs? Are benefit cliffs a disincentive to work?
- What factors in the life of a child in foster care have the greatest impact on school achievement, and other outcomes?