3-164 - Improving Researchers’ Capacity to Use Administrative Data in Early Care and Education Research

Session Type: Professional Development Session

Integrative Statement

Policymakers and researchers are increasingly interested in using administrative data to address pressing, policy-relevant questions. Reports like The Promise of Evidence-Based Policymaking (Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking, 2017) offer recommendations for efficiently using data, including administrative data, to inform policy decisions. Administrative data refers to information about individual children, families, and/or service providers that is collected and maintained as a part of program operations. It offers rich, detailed information about policies, programs, and administrative processes that can inform our understanding of what best supports children’s development. In this session, researchers who have worked with early care and education administrative data will discuss the process of accessing administrative data, including guidance on developing data-sharing agreements, and describe the benefits and challenges of partnering with state agency policymakers to conduct research using administrative data. A state policymaker will also discuss the benefits and challenges of working with researchers to address policy-relevant questions. Multiple resources will be highlighted, focusing on conducting research in the context of a state agency staff-researcher partnership as well as specific guidance about determining the feasibility of using administrative data and developing data sharing agreements. We will begin the session with brief presentations, followed by large group discussion of the issues. Participants will then work in small groups, facilitated by the presenters, to develop action plans for building partnerships with state policymakers and using administrative data for early care and education research. Session moderator: Kelly Maxwell. Panelists: Kathleen Dwyer, Pam Joshi, Rebecca Madill, Jenessa Malin, Rene Williams.

Sub Unit

• Professional Development Track

Presenters

• Kathleen Dwyer, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation

• Pamela Joshi, Brandeis University

• Van-Kim Lin, Child Trends

• Rebecca Madill, Child Trends

• Jenessa Malin, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation

• Rene Williams, Maryland State Department of Education

Leader

• Kelly Maxwell, Child Trends