In 2016–17, EdSystems conducted a landscape scan of career pathway programs in the Chicagoland region on behalf of the Chicagoland Workforce Funders Alliance (CWFA) to address the limited information available to young people on postsecondary education and workforce training options. EdSystems found that while potential trainees and guides alike desire more information on postsecondary options, administrative data currently available across platforms suffer from inconsistent taxonomy, provide insufficient information to assess match and fit, and are disorganized and often out-of-date.
Our Role
After completing that scan, EdSystems worked with state agency partners across education and the workforce to identify and address critical information gaps systematically. EdSystems led a multi-year interagency process to define the common elements the state’s administrative data systems should collect to better inform young people and adults of career pathway options. In spring 2019, EdSystems drafted Illinois’ successful application for a Department of Labor Workforce Data Quality Initiative (WDQI) grant to implement administrative data system improvements and understanding of program outcomes through the Pro Path Illinois project.
