In 2018, Southeast Seattle Education Coalition (SESEC) began a pilot project focused on heightening data literacy among community-based organizations (CBOs), improving the data sharing relationship between CBOs and school districts, and increasing the utility of racial and disaggregated ethnic data. The project included collaborations with three partner organizations (two CBOs and one school district), co-constructed data projects with CBO partner teams, and interviews and observations of individuals across the field of education to gain perspective on data access and use. The effort was grounded by three commitments:
- Community-centered
- Pragmatist, with tangible outcomes that are directly applicable to CBOs
- Equity-driven
With these anchors in mind, SESEC, in partnership with Dr. Bach Mai Dolly Nguyen (Oregon State University), have documented the barriers to deepening CBO data engagement, and opportunities for facilitating more meaningful data use. The results of those findings will be documented on this page wherein briefs, reports, and other tools for streamlining data access, requests, sharing, and use for CBOs and between CBOs and school districts will be stored for wide distribution. The project and its subsequent documents are based on research funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
This brief offers a model for formatting Washington State’s Race & Ethnicity Student Data Task Force’s recommended race and ethnicity categories for district and school data collection. The layout can be modified to fit district and school needs for both online and on-paper forms.
This report is the result of a co-constructed data project with Rainier Scholars, wherein the organization explores opportunities for recruiting Multi-Generational African American students to their program. It exemplifies both the utility of de-identified data, and the need for disaggregated ethnic data to identify students who can most benefit from programs, such as Rainier Scholars.
Please email Erin Okuno, SESEC Executive Director, at [email protected] with any questions.