Certification Data Exchange Project:

The Impact of Industry Credentials Gretchen Koch, CompTIA

Pradeep Kotamraju, Iowa Department of EducationScott Parke, Florida College System

Catherine Imperatore, ACTE

Data Quality Institute November 4, 2015

The work reported herein was supported under the Improving Program Performance Technical Assistance to States project, Contract Number (ED­VAE-11-O-023) as administered by the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education. However, the contents do not necessarily represent the positions or policies of the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education or the U.S. Department of Education and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.

Assessment and Certification Under Perkins IV

• History – Developing a common measure for Technical Skills Attainment

indicators (2S1, 1P1) – Counting industry certification for completion/credential

attainment indicators (3S1, 2P1) – State efforts – Workforce Credentials Coalition – The Certification Data Exchange Project

• What we have … – A hodge-podge of ways in which TSAs are measured within

states – Lack of comparability of TSAs across states – Little ability to track industry certification attainment – Data for accountability requirements v. program improvement – No information about value-added

Certification Data Exchange Project

• Match third-party industry certification data with state education and workforce data to learn – which students are taking certification exams? – which students are earning certifications? – what are the characteristics of these students? – how are employment and earnings related to taking

certification exams and earning certifications? • Project grew out of a 2012 Illinois-CompTIA pilot • Expanded to more states and industry certifiers in

2014 and 2015 • Receiving technical assistance from the Office of

Career, Technical, and Adult Education

Illinois•and•CompTIA• pilot

Roadmap•Step•2:•Conducting•additional• state•pilot•projects•and• developing•use•cases

Technical•Assistance• grants•to•participating•

states

Demonstration•at•US• Department•of•

Education

Roadmap•Step•1:• Raising•awareness•and•

gaining•consensus

Expansion•to•other• states•and••new•

industry•certifiers

Development•of••••••••••• 4 step•roadmap Involvement•of•ACTE

Roadmap•Step•3:• Developing•common•

data sharing••protocols

Illinois-CompTIA Pilot

• Research question – Can we report on characteristics and employment

outcomes of students who took and passed certification exams?

• CompTIA shared data with the state – Individual-level records for Illinois test-takers – Includes testing incidences and certifications earned – First name, last name, geographic code (zip)

Data from Certifying

Organization to State

Match to State Education Data

System

Education Data Matched to

Employment Data

Illinois matched certification records with community college student data Used SSN to match with unemployment insurance wage records State reported back aggregate results

A Taste of the Results: Illinois-CompTIA Pilot

Certified:•814•SSNs Not•Certified:•574•SSNs•

3rd Post•Exam•Average Earnings

Certified: $7,537/Quarter Not Certified: $5,288/Quarter

3rd Post Exam Average Earnings were $2,249•greater•for•certified•students.

Average•Earnings Gains:•3rd Post•Exam•vs.•Exam•Quarter

Certified: +12.3% Not Certified: +2.7%

Source: CompTIA and Illinois Community College Board

Illinois•and•CompTIA• pilot

Roadmap•Step•2:• Conducting•additional• state•pilot•projects•and• developing•use•cases

Technical•Assistance• grants•to•participating•

states

Demonstration•at•US• Department•of•

Education

Roadmap•Step•1:• Raising•awareness•and•

gaining•consensus

Expansion•to•other• states•and••new•

industry•certifiers

Development•of••••••••••• 4 step•roadmap Involvement•of•ACTE

Roadmap•Step•3:• Developing•common•

data sharing••protocols

Roadmap

1 • Raise awareness and gain consensus on need

2 • Develop use cases and conduct pilot projects

• Develop standards and guidelines on data 3 sharing

• Establish national data exchange 4 clearinghouse

Illinois•and•CompTIA• pilot

Roadmap•Step•2:• Conducting•additional• state•pilot•projects•and• developing•use•cases

Technical•Assistance• grants•to•participating•

states

Demonstration•at•US• Department•of•

Education

Roadmap•Step•1:• Raising•awareness•and•

gaining•consensus

Expansion•to•other• states•and••new•

industry•certifiers

Development•of••••••••••• 4 step•roadmap Involvement•of•ACTE

Roadmap•Step•3:• Developing•common•

data sharing••protocols

Expanding to New States

• More states interested in • Of these, 6 states signed CompTIA data sharing – California – Kansas – Maryland – North Carolina – Ohio – Oklahoma – DC – Iowa – Kentucky – Washington – Florida

data-sharing agreementswith CompTIA – California – Florida – Iowa – Oklahoma – North Carolina – Kentucky

• Illinois also signed a new agreement with CompTIA

• Most states are matching postsecondary student data

Expansion Challenges

• Legal issues – Many states could not sign an indemnification

agreement • SOLUTION: Simpler data-sharing agreement with no

indemnification, based on a better understanding of FERPA

• Match issues – CompTIA had few variables: first name, last name,

geo code • SOLUTION: CompTIA is adding DOB (month/yr) going

forward – Records with same names – Zip code discrepancies (home or testing location)

Recent Findings & Types of Data Available

CompTIA Records Shared and Matched Across States

• 19,552 unduplicated records provided byCompTIA across CA, IL, IA

• 17,148 students matched • Certifications by exam:

– A+: 6,013 – Cloud+: 25 – Network+: 2,954 – Project+: 1,287 – Security+: 2,970

Gender & Age

Iowa: More test takers in the younger age ranges

Illinois: More male test takers than female test-takers

Race/Ethnicity: Illinois

160

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0 1

Special Populations: California

Certified

Not Certified

Legend 1 Acquired Brain Injury 2 Developmentally Delayed Learner 3 Hearing Impaired 4 Learning Disabled 5 Mobility Impaired 6 Other Disability 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 7 Psychological Disability 8 Speech/Language Impaired 9 Visually Impaired

18

8000

7000

6000

5000

4000

3000

2000

1000

0

Enrollment Status

Iowa: The majority of students became certified

while they were enrolled N

Y

Certified Not Certified

California: More test takers not enrolled

19 than enrolled

CIP Codes: Iowa

CIP Students CIP•Description

110103 3 Information Technology 110202 2 Computer Programming, Specific Applications 110801 3 Web Page, Digital/Multimedia and Information Resources Design 110901 90 Computer Systems Networking and Telecommunications 111001 12 Network and System Administration/Administrator 111099 10 Computer/Information Technology Services Administration & Management 150000 1 Engineering Technology, General 150303 22 Electrical, Electronic and Communications Engineering Technology/Technicians 240101 9 Liberal Arts 490205 1 Truck and Bus Driver/Commercial Vehicle Operator and Instructor 520201 2 Business Administration and Management, General 520301 1 Accounting 521001 1 Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General Total 157

Employment & Earnings Across States

Employment

Illinois* Certified: 61% employed (3rd quarter Not Certified: 57% employed after exam)

Iowa Certified: 72.7% employed (one year Not Certified: 74.1% employed after certification)

Earnings

Illinois* Certified: $5,302/quarter (median) Not Certified: $3,603

Iowa Certified: $22,129 (median, adjusted to Not Certified: $4,403 2015Q1)

California Certified: $22,886 (average for 2012 certified – 41.8% increase over average wage one year before certification)

*Employment and earnings data is from an earlier Illinois CompTIA match conducted in 2012

Employment & Earnings by Industry: Iowa

Comp TIA | Certified Pre- and Post-Certification Employment by Industry Sector

Year Before Cert Year After Cert Most notableIndustry Sector Adj. Median Adj. Median employment # Matched Emp. Wage # Matched Emp. Wage

(to 2015Q1) (to 2015Q1) increases: Educational Services 11 $38,757 20 $30,064

Retail Trade 15 $11,962 12 $13,587 • Educational Professional, Scientific & Technical Services 3 $9,312 8 $33,866 Services Health Care & Social Assistance 7 $10,526 7 $44,712

• Professional, Manufacturing 9 $33,726 7 $38,843

Accommodation & Food Services 15 $6,767 5 $4,344 Scientific & Administrative & Support Services ***** ***** 5 $18,864 Technical Construction ***** ***** 4 $5,845

Services Public Administration 7 $5,012 4 $30,419

Wholesale Trade 0 - 4 $1,403 Most notable Arts, Entertainment & Recreation ***** ***** 3 $37,024

decrease: Finance & Insurance ***** ***** 3 $33,679

Information 4 $6,809 3 $10,957 • Accommodation Other Services 6 $12,919 3 $16,141 & Food Service Utilities 0 - 3 $13,892

Unknown ***** ***** 0 -

Management of Companies & Enterprises ***** ***** ***** *****

Transportation & Warehousing 3 $7,670 ***** *****

***** Insufficient data (less than 3)

22

Earnings By Industry: California

23

College & Geographic Location: Iowa

Matched Percent of Community College

Names Total Hawkeye (HCC) 63 36.8% Iowa Central (ICCC) 33 19.3% Kirkwood (KCC) 33 19.3% Des Moines Area (DMACC) 10 5.8%

Eastern Iowa (EICC) 7 4.1% Southwestern (SWCC) 6 3.5%

Western Iowa Tech (WITCC) 5 2.9% Iowa Western (IWCC) 4 2.3%

Northeast Iowa (NICC) 3 1.8% Southeastern (SCC) 3 1.8%

North Iowa Area (NIACC) 2 1.2% Iowa Valley (IVCC) 1 0.6%

Indian Hills (IHCC) 1 0.6% Northwest Iowa (NCC) 0 0.0%

Iowa Lakes (ILCC) 0 0.0% Total 171 100.0%

24

Not• Degree•Codes Certified Totals

Certified• Associate in Arts (AA) 7 25 32

Associate in Science (AS) 6 36 42 Associate in Applied Science (AAS) 58 254 312

General Associate Degree (AGS, ALS, AGE) 4 5 9 Associate in Arts and Science (A&S) 2 2 Basic Skills 3 7 10

Occupational Certificate of 30 Semester 1 41 42

(or 45 Quarter) Hours or More Occupational Certificate of Less Than 30

152 438 590 Semester (or 45 Quarter) Hours

Associate in Engineering Science (AES) 2 2 Totals 233 808 1041

Credentials: Illinois

25

Credit Hours: Illinois

26

Illinois•and•CompTIA• pilot

Roadmap•Step•2:• Conducting•additional• state•pilot•projects•and• developing•use•cases

Technical•Assistance• grants•to•participating•

states

Demonstration•at•US• Department•of•

Education

Roadmap•Step•1:• Raising•awareness•and•

gaining•consensus

Expansion•to•other• states•and••new•

industry•certifiers

Development•of••••••••••• 4 step•roadmap Involvement•of•ACTE

Roadmap•Step•3:• Developing•common•

data sharing••protocols

Technical Assistance

• From the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education

• Two years (Fall 2014 to Summer 2016) • Awarded to a consortium of states for the first

year: – Iowa – Illinois – Oklahoma – Florida – California – North Carolina

• New states and certifiers joining

Illinois•and•CompTIA• pilot

Roadmap•Step•2:• Conducting•additional• state•pilot•projects•and• developing•use•cases

Technical•Assistance• grants•to•participating•

states

Demonstration•at•US• Department•of•

Education

Roadmap•Step•1:• Raising•awareness•and•

gaining•consensus

Expansion•to•other• states•and••new•

industry•certifiers

Development•of••••••••••• 4 step•roadmap Involvement•of•ACTE

Roadmap•Step•3:• Developing•common•

data sharing••protocols

Expanding to New Certifiers and States

• New certifiers that joined this year – Automotive Service Excellence/National Automotive Technicians

Education Foundation – Manufacturing Skill Standards Council – ACT (National Career Readiness Certificate)

• Additional states and certifiers to join in second year • Moving toward a common process

– Standard data-sharing agreement (CompTIA template) – Minimum match criteria (first name, last name, birth month/yr,

geo code) – Secure data transfer (FTP) – Ensuring state has the analytical bandwidth – Uniform reporting template (Excel spreadsheets)

Questions to Explore

• What are the outcomes over the long term for certified v. non-certified students?

• How do certifications impact outcomes forstudents who complete a postsecondaryprogram of study v. those who do not complete?

• How does the impact of certifications vary bysub-populations?

• What is the marketplace value of specific certifications?

Questions?

• Web site https://www.acteonline.org/certification_data

• Gretchen Koch, CompTIAgkoch@comptia.org

• Pradeep Kotamraju, Iowa Department of Education pradeep.kotamraju@iowa.gov

• Scott Parke, Florida College SystemScott.Parke@Fldoe.org

• Catherine Imperatore, ACTE cimperatore@acteonline.org