Proposal for Collecting Data on Key Indicators

The AHSI Intermediary Directors have agreed to collect and provide data on four indicators, two network wide and two Intermediary specific (2×2). The network-wide indicators selected were high school graduation rate and postsecondary success. Each Intermediary agreed to select two additional indicators for which it already collected data, which it considered to be important in assessing its own progress and which it believed would communicate something important about its accomplishments to the AHSI network and beyond to diverse audiences.

While agreeing with this proposal, several Intermediary Directors and staff members pointed out that, even with such a seemingly straightforward indicator as high school graduation rate, there was wide variation among the Intermediaries with respect to the operational definition for the data element, the target population, and when and how it was collected. Such variation impacts the ability to aggregate and interpret these data across Intermediaries. Nevertheless, each Intermediary understands the importance of collecting and providing data on its school, program, and student performance. Therefore, this paper describes a process for moving ahead with the 2×2 initiative while respecting the differences across the Intermediaries.

Network-wide Indicators

Each Intermediary will, by December 1, 2008, provide the AHSI facilitator, Big Picture Learning, with data on the two network indicators and will also provide the data definition that they use for each, when it was collected, and on what population. Each Intermediary will also provide the same data for at least two previous years. The retrospective data will allow each organization to report its progress over time on these indicators.

The AHSI report of these data will provide a brief narrative about each Intermediary and its progress with respect to each of these indicators. Each Intermediary, therefore, will be comparing its performance with its own previous performance rather than with practically unobtainable comparison populations.

Intermediary-Specific Indicators

The same approach will be employed for the two Intermediary-specific indicators that each organization will agree to share with the AHSI network and beyond. That is, each Intermediary would collect current and retrospective data on two indicators related to its program/progression design so that some form of trend analysis might be performed, or at least so that progress might be displayed graphically. In reporting these data, each Intermediary will discuss the connections between that performance data and specific components or features of its program design.

The AHSI facilitator will work closely with AHSI Data Work Group representatives to prepare a report and presentation of findings and conclusions. These findings and conclusions will be addressed in the AHSI Annual Reviews tentatively scheduled for April-May 2009.

Supporting Documents

• Data Collection Schedule
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