1. Evidence-Based Policymaking: The Case from Washington State, USA
Wen-Chun Chen
Education Research and Data Center, State of Washington
19th SEAAIR Annual Conference
Taipei, Taiwan
Sep 26, 2019

2. Federal Law
The Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of ("Evidence Act"), signed into law on January 14, 2019.
Advance data and evidence-building functions in the Federal Government by statutorily mandating -
Federal evidence-building activities
Open government data
Confidential information protection and statistical efficiency.

3. The Impact of the Official Proclamation
Increasing funding to support the build-up of longitudinal administrative data
Increasing research activities
Increasing attention on evidence-based policymaking

4. How Does ERDC Support Evidence-Based Policymaking?
Build up P20W (pre-k to age 20+ Warehouse) data system
Administrative records of student population from Washington K-12 to postsecondary education and workforce
Research & reporting
Policy relevant
To improve educational outcomes
Cross-sector & longitudinal analysis
- Fulfill research requests from the legislature and governor’s policy/budget shops

5. ERDC Research and Policy Formulation
Data collection
Policy formulation
Program outputs
Implementation
Research & reporting
Deliver objective evidence to policymakers about student learning progression and outcomes.
Policymakers and researchers often have different priorities for the use of evidence. 
Policymaking is usually messy and fast paced, while evidence collection is usually linear and slow. 

6. What Is in the P20W Data Collection?
P-20W Information For Parents, Teachers, Administrators, Planners, Policy-Makers, Researchers
Routine Reports, Research Briefs, Ad Hoc Analyses, Research Datasets, Web Reports
Employment Security
Workforce-Industry, Hours, Earnings
WTECB
Lic Private Career Schools
L&I
Registered Apprenticeships
PCHEES
Students, Courses, Degrees, Majors
OSPI
K-12 Students, Courses, Graduation, Teachers
DCYF
ECEAP, ESIT, Providers
NSC
Out of state & WA priv postsecondary
WSAC
Financial Aid, College Bound
DOC
Inmate Education
SBCTC
Students, Courses, Completions, Majors
DEL: Dept of Early Learning
DOC: Dept of Corrections
NSC: National Student Clearinghouse
WSAC – Washington Student Achievement Council
L&I: Labor and Industries
OSPI: Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (K12)
PCHEES: Public Centralized Higher Education Enrollment System
SBCTC: State Board for Community and Technical Colleges
WTECB: Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board

7. Longitudinal Data Spans the Sectors
Early Learning
ECEAP (Early Childhood
Education and
Assistance Program)
-- children served
-- assessments
-- providers
ESIT (Early Support for Infants and Toddlers)
K-12
-- Enrollment
-- Courses, grades
-- Programs (ELL, etc.)
-- Free/Reduced Meal
Eligibility
-- Assessments
-- Career & Technical
Education
-- Dual credit
-- Graduation
-- Teachers
Postsecondary
--Enrollment, courses,
completions
-- WA public 4-year
institutions
-- Community &
Technical Colleges
-- National Student
Clearinghouse
-- Apprenticeships
-- GED
-- Financial aid
Career
Employment
-- Earnings
-- Hours worked
-- Industry
Unemployment benefits
Education &
Training
Early
Learning
Education/Training

8. ERDC Research Activities
Type of research
Policy/program evaluation
Trajectory analysis
Data quality evaluation
Research areas
Evaluations of social programs and educational outcomes
Returns to education
Returns to education: workforce, juvenile justice, incarceration

9. How Does P20W Benefit Institutional Research?
College preparation, enrollment, persistence, and completion
Choice of major
Financial aid
Returns of education (credentials) to workforce
Career connected learning: School-to-career pathways

10. Type of Research Deliverables
Data Dashboard: Tracking longitudinal patterns
Policy brief
Research paper
Technical report
Data usage and methodology discussion
Research with descriptive or predictive analysis
Policy evaluation (e.g. state financial aid for college student)
Problem-driven (e.g. income disparity for college graduates)
Subject base (e.g. teacher mobility and turnover)

11. Example 1: Earnings for Graduates Dashboard
(Source:

12. Example 1: Earnings for Graduates Dashboard (cont’d)
(Source:

13. Example 2: State Need Grant Evaluation
(Source: ERDC publication webpage)

14. Example 2: State Need Grant Evaluation (cont’d)
(Source: ERDC publication webpage)

15. Example 2: State Need Grant Evaluation (cont’d)
(Source: ERDC publication webpage)

16. Example 3: High School to College STEM Pipeline

17. Example 4: Spatial Inequality of STEM Cultivation
Main finding: Schools with higher proportion of graduates earning college STEM credit are more likely to cluster around the areas with close access to higher education institutions or STEM industry.

18. Data Used for These Studies
Data element
Source sector
Earning dashboard
State Need Grant
STEM pipeline
Demographics
Higher edu X
Enrollment
Course CIP codes
State course codes
K-12
Degree major CIP codes
Degree completion
School report card
School location
American Community Survey

19. Using Longitudinal Administrative Data for Institutional Research
Strength
Tied with policy and public goods
Population data
History of student learning trajectories (e.g. enrollment, coursework, completion)
Institutional characteristics
Weakness
Limitations from data availability & quality might impact the depth of research
Collection scope
Completeness
Reliability: Measurements are not always comparable across schools, districts, and years

20. Contact ERDC
P.O. Box Olympia, WA 98504, USA