To make the right decisions about education, communities need access to quality data. This is especially true at transition points where multiple systems—like K–12, higher education, and workforce—intersect. With data on student experiences and outcomes, the community can begin to uplift effective practices, pinpoint systemic challenges, and work across systems to create seamless transitions for every student.

In Washington state, the Limitless Learning Network is using data to drive change and strengthen the high school-to-postsecondary transition statewide. The network brings together 26 regional partnerships—including school districts, colleges, community-based organizations, and workforce partners—to focus on quality advising and navigation, financial aid completion, dual credit alignment, family engagement, and data use. As manager of the network, Education Northwest collaborates with partnerships to ensure that their communities can access and use various types of data in decision making.

Fortunately, Limitless partnerships are supported in this work by multiple state agencies that make some education data publicly available. Below are a few of the public data dashboards that communities across Washington are using to inform decisions around postsecondary access and opportunity.

Washington State Education Research and Data Center

The Washington State Education Research and Data Center (ERDC) works with agencies and researchers across the state to share data, create dashboards, and conduct research. As part of this work, ERDC maintains Washington’s preschool through workforce (P20W) data system and links data from early learning, K–12, postsecondary, and workforce sectors.

ERDC publishes several data dashboards related to postsecondary education equity and access:

• Dual Credit Dashboard: Information about the six primary types of dual credit programs in Washington, including participation and completion rates
• High School Graduate Outcomes: Information about outcomes of high school graduates, including first year enrollment at postsecondary institutions, pre-college course-taking rates, postsecondary persistence and completion, and earnings
• Statewide Public Four-Year Dashboard: Information about graduation rates, the time it takes to complete a degree, and other relevant information for the six public colleges and universities in Washington

In addition, ERDC maintains other data dashboards with information about earnings for graduates and early learning.

Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges

The Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges shares publicly available data, including several dashboards with multiple years of data on student enrollment, demographics, progress, and completion rates. Their website includes information about several key topics, including:

• Student progress and completions: Several dashboards that show student progress and annual credentials earned by college
• Enrollment: Information about student enrollment at community and technical colleges in Washington
• After-college outcomes: Annual wage and employment data for students after leaving community and technical colleges

Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction

The Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) shares data about schools and districts through the Washington State Report Card. Here, you can find information about district enrollment, attendance, assessments, educator workforce, expenditures, graduate rates, and more. OSPI also has a data portal with links to other publicly available data.

Washington Student Achievement Council

The Washington Student Achievement Council (WSAC) maintains a collection of interactive data tools for individuals to explore financial aid data, college affordability, enrollment, attainment, and more. Data dashboards that can inform postsecondary success efforts include:

• Strategic Action Plan Dashboard: This dashboard is based on WSAC’s Strategic Action Plan and the key areas and policies for increasing postsecondary success: affordability, enrollment, basic needs, and completion.
• Attainment Goal Dashboard: Information about progress toward the statewide postsecondary attainment goal of 70 percent of adults with a credential beyond high school. This dashboard shows the trend over time as well as postsecondary attainment rates by race/ethnicity, gender, and region.
• FAFSA Completion for High School Seniors Dashboard: This dashboard, which is updated weekly, reports on the percentage of high school seniors who are completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

Other Publicly Available Data

Other public data resources in Washington may be relevant for those working to improve high school-to-postsecondary transitions, including:

• Washington State Open Data Portal
• Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families Early Learning Dashboards

Using Data to Drive Change

Timely, accurate data are essential for setting realistic goals and monitoring progress, but ultimately the most important thing is how the data are used.

The dashboards above are examples of what Dr. Jamila Dugan and Shane Safir describe as satellite data: graduation rates, average earnings, and other indicators of broad trends. These data, while important, tell “an incomplete story of equity.” Street level data—the experiences of students, families, and educators—are essential to understanding the reasons behind trends. Student, family, and educator perspectives can offer new insights into community strength and how to transform the education system.

When reviewing data, take an asset-based approach to center student strengths while identifying systemic barriers. Educators, families, students, and community members should be involved in analyzing data, making meaning of data, and making decisions based on data. Working together, communities can use various forms of data to identify strengths, areas of growth, and place-based solutions. This collaborative process can improve high school-to-postsecondary transitions and ensure a more equitable ecosystem in Washington.

We invite educational leaders to consider these questions:

• How are you currently using data in your work?
• What data are most relevant and useful to you and your work?
• What questions do you have about using data?
• What supports do you need to use data?
• How are you making meaning of these data with students, families, and communities?
• What questions are you unable to answer with these data? What additional data do you need?

Mary Padden is a senior researcher who specializes in family engagement and participatory research methods. She believes that authentic collaborations between schools and families are essential to the well-being of students and communities.

Leanne Davis is a managing researcher focused on postsecondary access and success. She works at the intersection of research, policy, and practice, with an emphasis on addressing issues of access and equity during transitions in the educational pipeline and exploring how policies and practices help or hinder a student’s ability to complete a postsecondary credential.

Sam Riggs is a leader and researcher at Education Northwest. He uses research and evaluation to identify opportunities to ensure that all students can access and succeed in CTE and postsecondary education. Sam draws on his technical skills and professional experience to ensure that his research findings are accessible and actionable.