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PROFESSIONAL INSIGHT
With the federal government seemingly preparing to scale back its efforts in collecting and sharing educational data, it becomes more vital than ever that information gathered and stored by states and local school districts is accessible to guide policy decisions.
“This kind of research is neither partisan nor political,” stated Kevin Stange, co-director of the University of Michigan’s Education Policy Initiative. “Our goal is to assist children in achieving success, so we need to understand what is effective. If a program is not effective, we want to know that as well to avoid wasting resources on a program that doesn’t yield results.”
The Michigan Education Data Center, associated with U-M’s Education Policy Initiative, serves as a repository for educational data. Stange provides two distinct examples of how the initiative’s data is influencing the educational landscape.
To begin with, over fifty percent of school districts in Michigan provide transitional kindergarten, a state-funded initiative offering an extra year of early education prior to standard kindergarten for children who require additional time to enhance their social, emotional, and academic abilities. Research backed by MEDC indicates this program increases access to early childhood education, markedly enhances kindergarten preparedness, and results in improved math scores through third grade.
Conversely, data from MEDC has yielded crucial insights regarding one of Michigan’s prominent state-operated financial aid systems, the Tuition Incentive Program, which offers tuition support to community college attendees who have utilized Medicaid at any point in their lives.
Research led by Stange and supported by the MEDC revealed that merely 14% of eligible high school graduates and 29% of qualifying community college students take advantage of the program, primarily because many students are unaware of their eligibility. Their findings have encouraged the agency to ramp up efforts to inform students and educational institutions.
“The state lacks the capacity to conduct this type of analysis since they are preoccupied with managing the program,” Stange remarked. “Without this research, we are oblivious to what is effective or ineffective, or if there are more advantageous or economically efficient methods to reach similar objectives.”
This analysis is derived from an article initially authored by Sheri Hall for the Ford School of Public Policy.
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