Data Updates | Quarter 2 | 2024
My first few months working full-time on the Cradle 2 Career team have been action packed. It has been a joy to work with familiar faces and many new partners. I am proud of my involvement in the initiative’s projects and pilots such as the Student Data Summit, FAFSA Completion and the Early Childhood Data Dashboard. This summer, I am reflecting on the work we have completed, looking forward to the bright future of the initiative, and working to further develop these projects and pilots.
In May, we hosted our 2024 Student Data Summit. Over 30 students representing four different high schools were educated on insights and trends from county level student data (MN Department of Education Student Survey). They then split into sites and reviewed their site specific data (Rochester Public Schools and Zumbrota Mazeppa Schools) on the students’ sense of belonging as well as other relevant data trends. We centered student voices by facilitating student discussions, backed with relevant data, which resulted in conversations as to how to increase sense of belonging at each site. This process led to solution creation for the issue identified by the student groups. C2C created reports based on the students’ data and feedback. These were sent to each site’s administration to utilize during planning and implementation of next school year’s plan. We are proud to include their voices because it is for students by students.
This summer, we are working on the development of Rochester’s Early Childhood Community Data Dashboard, which will track student progress from an early age through their school career. We are excited to start this project as it will reflect the bigger picture of the learning, growth, and achievement of young students across our community. We are partnering with MN Head Start, our Transition to Kindergarten network members and Rochester Public Schools Early Childhood Family Education program to make this happen!
Our College Readiness Initiative is continuing over the summer, as well. We have been collaborating with Community-Based Organizations to provide support to families and students as they complete their Financial Aid Applications (FAFSA and MN Dream Act). Since mid-April, we have collaborated with 12 partner organizations, hosted 11 events, informed 58 community members (students and parents), and engaged with 25 Financial Aid Applications. Moreover, through our collective partnership at these events, we have been able to support and/or connect students and families with resources and supports. We are proud of this work and the collaborative impact it is having on increasing FAFSA completion rates in our community!
Data Updates by Noah Shore
This past quarter has been a very exciting time for the research and data team at C2C. We were able to launch our new website hosting both Rochester demographic data and the indicator data that we use to track success in our community. These data sources come from the U.S. Census, Olmsted County Public Health and the Minnesota Department of Education. In the future, we will be expanding our dashboards to incorporate data from not just Rochester but Olmsted County as well! Another exciting step forward was the beginning of focus groups with staff members at Lourdes High School. These focus groups are a part of the STOP grant that we have been working on in collaboration with the University of Illinois - Chicago, the University of Minnesota MIDB, and Lourdes High School. These focus groups aim to understand what the staff members at the school perceive of their school safety and readiness plans. This upcoming school year, we will be conducting more focus groups with students and parents to understand their perception of safety and readiness. A big thank you to all of our partners on this project as we work together to center the voices of students, families and staff in school safety planning!