1 PNAIRP September 2009 Holes in Student Clearinghouse Data Paul Stern Senior Research Manager Washington State University Social & Economic Sciences Research Center Social and Economic Sciences Research Center

2 SESRC: Background  SESRC is an independent research organization within Washington State University  We are the directors of the State’s High School Graduate Follow up Study and the College Enrollment Study  SESRC routinely matches data against the National Student Clearinghouse and with local sources to measure recent graduates’ post-secondary enrollments

3 Core Question: What do we know about the overall coverage of the data we get back from the National Student Clearinghouse?

4 Data  Study Population: The HS Class of 2006  Enrollments reflect the period from July 2006-June 2007  Matches were conducted by NSC and SBCTC on the same source data set

Differences by College Type

6 Some Causes for Mis-Match  Students in one system and not the other  Different matching protocols  FERPA blocks inconsistently applied

7 Types of Issues Matching Protocols Must Address (why this work isn’t easy)  Sandra Day O’Connor  Sandra Day O’Conner  Sandy O’Connor  Sandy O. Connor  S. Day Oconner  Cassandra D. O Conner

8 Types of Issues Matching Protocols Must Address (why this work isn’t easy)  Cathy Smith DOB: 1/1/1990  Kate Smith DOB: 1/1/1990  Kathy Smith DOB: 11/1/1991  Kathryn Smith-Jones DOB: 1/2/1990  Carrie Smith DOB: 1/1/1990

9 Types of Issues Matching Protocols Must Address (why this work isn’t easy)  Name changes  Initials as a first name  Typographical errors (esp. on DOB)  Nicknames (displacing the first name)  Spaces, Apostrophes, Hyphens  Junior, II, etc.

10 Cultural (and other) Challenges in Matching  Students with multiple first and last names  Students with both Asian and western names  Students where the last name is written first  Cultures where birthdates are meaningless (resulting in a lot of 1/1/YYYY birthdates  Twins with similar names and identical DOB

13 Thanks to Colleagues from the Following Colleges for Their Help  Columbia Basin College  Lower Columbia College  Clark College  Tacoma Community College  Everett Community College  Skagit Valley College  Washington State University  SBCTC

14 Summary of College Reports Common Reasons for Not Matching  Enrolled in GED and ESL programs  Penitentiary residents  Had not earned college credits  Name changes, spelling variations, nicknames, etc.  Most should have matched to NSC  A much smaller percent should have matched with local sources

15 Contact Information WSU-SESRC (360) To view WSU-SESRC research reports on education topics please see our website at: