Located in:
- III. Operational Planning Elements
The Unified or Combined State Plan must include an Operational Planning Elements section that supports the State’s strategy and the system-wide vision described in Section II(c) above. Unless otherwise noted, all Operational Planning Elements apply to Combined State Plan partner programs included in the plan as well as to core programs. This section must include—
- b. State Operating Systems and Policies
The Unified or Combined State Plan must include a description of the State operating systems and policies that will support the implementation of the State strategy described in section II Strategic Elements. This includes—
- 6. Program Data
- A. Data Alignment and Integration
Describe the plans of the lead State agencies with responsibility for the administration of the core programs, along with the State Board, to align and integrate available workforce and education data systems for the core programs, unemployment insurance programs, and education through postsecondary education, and to the extent possible, the Combined State Plan partner programs included in this plan. The description of the State’s plan for integrating data systems should include the State’s goals for achieving integration and any progress to date.
- A. Data Alignment and Integration
- 6. Program Data
- b. State Operating Systems and Policies
III. b. 6. A. i. Describe the State’s plans to make the management information systems for the core programs interoperable to maximize the efficient exchange of common data elements to support assessment and evaluation
Current Narrative:
Education &Workforce Data System (EWD), which is housed within the Management Performance Hub (MPH) creates enhanced opportunities to combine workforce and education data (K-12 and higher education) to examine employment outcomes, retention of graduates, differential outcomes based on degree type and area of study and a wide range of other research to better understand the linkages between education and the workforce. This longitudinal dataset is combined to answer key questions about the education and workforce pipeline. It allows stakeholders such as education professionals, employers, policymakers, students, community leaders, and the public to use data and information previously not available. DWD (WIOA Core Programs, Title I and Title III), CHE, GWC, FSSA (Vocational Rehabilitation, SNAP, and TANF), and DOE continue to contribute data into the database, with DWD providing unemployment claims, wage records, case management records, and adult education data. With the solid foundation of Indiana’s EWD system resting on the collaboration of multiple state agencies, the mandate for cross-agency data management and analysis that is part of MPH’s charter, MPH’s human capital and expertise, and a system that has been hardened and matured over the last few years, Indiana is in a good position to take its P-20 data system to the next level.
Governor Holcomb is Co-Chair of the Data Transparency Working Group through the White House’s American Workforce Policy Advisory Board. This Working Group strives to address the federal challenges and facilitate greater data sharing between our agencies. Recommendations are forthcoming regarding how to make data sharing easier among state agencies, which the GWC will leverage to create a potential holistic data charter among partner agencies represented on the Cabinet.
As evidenced by its use from policy makers and researchers, the EWD has achieved a critical mass of linked data that can be usefully mined for insights regarding trends and outcomes of public policy longitudinally. More work needs to be done, though, to make the data accessible to practitioners in all segments of Indiana’s P-20 ecosystem. Indiana’s 2019 proposal for SLDS funding focuses on the infrastructure priority to provide expanded access to the data within the EWD, as well as updates to the amount and frequency of data being shared. Such an expansion will bring the insights available in this public asset to a wider segment of the P-20 ecosystem including and primarily focused on those who nurture, advocate, teach, lead, counsel, enroll, and employ Hoosiers. By creating closer connections within state agencies impacting the P-20 ecosystem, workforce development, and its practitioners, a more fully developed picture of the variables leading to a thriving citizen will emerge.
Additional information regarding Indiana’s plans to develop and produce reports required under section 116 regarding the performance accountability system is provided in Section (III)(b)(1)(B).