Kentucky Center for Education and Workforce Statistics

The Kentucky Center for Education and Workforce Statistics (KCEWS) is a joint effort from the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE), the Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE), the Education Professional Standards Board (EPSB), and the Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet to create a system that securely links data together from early childhood, K-12, postsecondary, teacher licensure and preparation and other sources that allows the state to develop a broader understanding about the educational process as a seamless system.

Here are a few examples of the kinds of things that can only be done with a system like the one Kentucky has developed:

1. By linking high school and college data together we are able to better understand how high school experiences affect college going and success. It allows us to provide much richer data about college preparation back to high schools as well as to colleges so we can improve alignment between the two areas.
2. In a similar vein we can also link preschool and early childhood information to kindergarten and elementary school performance to ensure that all of Kentucky's children enter schools with the skills they need to be successful.
3. Teacher preparation programs can benefit greatly by understanding how well their graduates are impacting student learning in the classroom so they can adapt their programs to ensure that future teachers enter the classrooms with the skills they need to have the greatest impact on their students' learning.
4. Linking education and employment records in the future will allow us to know if our graduates are entering the workforce and earning a reasonable wage, how well our colleges are meeting the needs of Kentucky's industries, and what the return on investment is for our education and training programs.

Kentucky's P-20 Data System is being developed through a grant from the United States Department of Education, Institute for Education Sciences Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems program. Most states are in the process of developing something similar. In addition to the benefits to the state to provide better data to inform decision making at the local and state policy maker levels, and in order to receive federal money for education in the future, states must be able to report on issues such as college going and success and employment of graduates as well as other things that can only be answered through a system of this nature.