This article examines lessons learned by states that are using student unit record (SUR) data to improve outcomes for community college students. It is based on the authors' work with 11 states involved in an effort to better use SUR data to improve access and attainment by disadvantaged students at community colleges.
Known as the State Data and Community College Student Success Project, this effort is designed to increase the use of data by states and colleges to improve student success, develop common performance indicators that focus on student outcomes, create an ongoing forum for collaborative efforts to strengthen state data systems and data use, and build policy-maker support for strengthening state data collection and applied research capacity.
This article was published in New Directions for Community Colleges: Tracking in the Community College, vol. 143.
