Making Connections for Youth in Washington State: The Role of Data in Developing Sound Public Policy. CEDR Working Paper No. 2010-1.0

The details of school reform in Washington State continue to evolve, but the unprecedented performance demands that it and NCLB place on schools are unlikely to disappear any time soon. The same is true of the large gap that exists between today's performance and tomorrow's aspirations. By any measure, significant improvements in performance now have a permanent place on Washington State's agenda for youth. If Washington is going to take these aspirations and their accompanying challenges seriously, it needs (among many other things) informed advice based upon adequate data and careful objective analysis. Right now, getting such advice isn't easy--in fact, it's almost impossible. This is because the immense amount of data that Washington collects on issues related to education and youth--including data about students and teachers, but also about the labor market and health initiatives--is largely an uncoordinated mixture of isolated facts. In the end, the promise of well thought-out and rigorous research that can help policymakers develop serious answers to the aspirations and challenges surrounding Washington State's youth depends on assembling these scattered bits and pieces of information into a single youth-focused data repository. Such a repository would allow the state to better harness the power of empirical analyses, as is already being done in numerous other states, to ensure that Washington's investments and public policies are based on the best possible information, resulting in the most effective use of taxpayer dollars. (Contains 15 endnotes.)