1. From Data to Action Milbrey McLaughlin Stanford University RP Conference April 10 2014

2. What’s the Problem? Youth-serving agencies are disconnected, isolated— ”siloed” Youth policies and programs lack coherence, consistency & comprehensiveness at the system or community level Cross-institutional collaboration is tough to motivate and sustain

3. Youth Data Archive Operates as a university-community partnership Links cross-agency, longitudinal administrative data at the individual level Adopts a youth sector perspective: Maps local supports and resources for youth Affords a community-level view of youth needs, resources, short falls, opportunities for collaboration Provides the connection and ‘glue’ for joint action

4. YDA’s Guiding Principles User-focused approach to developing questions, interpreting and presenting findings JGC acts as third party neutral Partners retain data ownership: MOUs spell out conditions for publication & use Focus on actionable questions An iterative ‘design/build/revise’ approach; a long term commitment to community partners

5. Benefits to Community Partners Cross-institutional, system-level view of policies and programs for youth—wins, warts and all. Increased coherence/efficiencies of youth policies & resources Expanded/improved capacity for data collection & facility with data New cross-sector relationships, resources and partnerships– opportunities for collective impact

6. Benefits to University Partners Informs theory development- practice-based, inquiry-based; iterative, on-going A broader lens on youth-related research issues– a youth sector frame Better understanding of the community perspective– how to collaborate, communicate, support, frame actionable questions Meaningful, sustained community partnerships

7. Challenges to Launching & Sustaining a YDA: Community View Technical—incomplete, inaccurate, missing data; little capacity Organizational– Leaders’ buy-in and advocacy; middle management buy-in; churn; regulatory hurdles Political—trusting university-based researchers; trusting each other; worries about data use; worries about cross-agency collaboration

8. Why is Collaboration so Difficult? Competition for scarce resources Different models/outcomes/language/priorities Incompatible policy frames/accountability demands Different financial resources, personnel & time constraints Negative institutional or personal histories Lack of will or motivation

9. Challenges: University Partners Academic norms often incompatible with core YDA principles– data ownership & review; theory development goals; extending existing empirical work Social science norms sometimes conflict with effective YDA operation—notions of validity, reliability, generalizability Time, tenure & funding

10. Lessons Learned Context matters: A YDA cannot be wholesaled— effectiveness requires situated, pragmatic construction Animated by a shared community sense of urgency about a youth problem Process is product; cross-agency collaboration a fundamental shift– patience, time and opportunity required to build trust, credibility, comfort Learning is a product of a locally adaptive process; few hard & fast “findings”—changeable, changing Collective capacity builders needed to be responsible for cross-agency learning and action

11. Thank you! Questions? From Data to Action. McLaughlin & London, Eds. Harvard Education Press 2013 www.gardnercenter.stanford.edu