Improve Data Collection and Sharing at All Levels for Transparency

Data are the backbone of any functioning accountability system, because “what gets measured gets done,” and most leaders, whether elected officials, school leaders, employers, or parents, prefer to make informed decisions about where they will spend their resources. Just as accountability and incentive systems are often separated along arbitrary lines between education and workforce systems, so, too, are data systems. 

More than forty states have or are building longitudinal data systems that endeavor to bring together data from early childhood, K-12, postsecondary education, service, and workforce systems.1 Local labor market data are valuable to learners, educators, and communities as cross-sector partners endeavor to improve educational and workforce pathways for learners to enter high-demand occupations that provide family-sustaining wages in their local communities.