Federal Grant will Help Strengthen Maryland’s Education Longitudinal Data System

[Howard Hartman]

For Immediate Release	June 21, 2012

Federal Grant will Help Strengthen Maryland’s
Education Longitudinal Data System

$3.9 Million Award will Support Linking Current Longitudinal
Data System with Postsecondary and Workforce Data

BALTIMORE (June 19, 2012) – The U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences has announced that Maryland is one of 24 new grantees in a program designed to boost educational data systems.

Maryland will receive $3.9 million over the next three years through the competitive Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems grant program. In developing the multi-agency grant proposal the Maryland State Department of Education collaborated with the Maryland Higher Education Commission, the Office of the Governor, the Maryland Department of Labor and Licensing, the University System of Maryland, and the Maryland State Longitudinal Data Center and Advisory board.

Over the past several years, Maryland has been expanding its preK-12 longitudinal data system and its higher education data warehouse. The additional funding will provide resources to continue the enhancement to Maryland’s education data systems and to provide information and training on education initiatives, curriculum alignments and workforce programs.

“Robust information on individual student achievement is critical if we are to continue to improve schools for all students,” said Interim State Superintendent Bernard Sadusky. “This grant will help us link the pieces that have been built, allowing us to pinpoint where our students are and help them chart where they are going.”

Maryland received a $5.7 million grant in 2006 to launch the longitudinal data system, a $6 million federal grant in 2009 to continue the work, and $5 million as part of Race to the Top to enhance the Maryland Higher Education Commission data collection and storage and to develop a brand new P20 Workforce data system.