Grant through U.S. Department of Education
FRANKFORT, Ky. (Sept. 24, 2015) — Gov. Steve Beshear today announced that Kentucky has been awarded a four-year grant for more than $6.7 million to expand access to timely, high-quality education and workforce data.
Kentucky is one of 16 states or territories to receive a grant in the sixth round of the Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS) Grant program.
“Kentucky has long been on the forefront of collecting and sharing data that spans from preschool through postsecondary,” Beshear said. “This grant is a critical component of building on that foundation of success.”
The grant, awarded by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE), will be administered through the Kentucky Center for Education and Workforce Statistics (KCEWS), an agency in the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet. A total of nearly $108 million in grants were awarded to all recipients for the four-year period.
Funds will allow Kentucky to continue to build upon and improve access to the Kentucky Longitudinal Data System (KLDS), a statewide repository of education data from early childhood through postsecondary and into training and employment. The project will use KLDS to assess students’ college and career readiness and track educational and workforce outcomes. In addition, it will improve the ability of state and local partners to conduct high-quality research and program evaluations.
“Kentucky has excelled in building one of the top State Longitudinal Data Systems in the nation and in connecting with state and local partners through our feedback report series and other annual reports,” said Dr. Kate Shirley Akers, acting executive director of KCEWS. “This grant gives Kentucky the opportunity to expand partnerships with researchers, practitioners and policy makers so they can get the data they need when they need it and quickly customize reports by geographic location and area content.”
This is the second grant from SLDS that KCEWS has been awarded since 2012 for a total of more than $10.3 million.
KCEWS collects information about education and workforce at all levels to make better policy decisions statewide. The agency maintains the Kentucky Longitudinal Data System which securely links information from the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE), the Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE), the Education Professional Standards Board (EPSB), the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority, and the Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet to create a system that spans early childhood, K-12, postsecondary, financial aid, teacher licensure and preparation and other areas to develop a broader understanding about the education and training process as a seamless system.
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