Key Takeaways from “Insights Into Action: The Next Phase of Florida’s Statewide Longitudinal Data System” Webinar

When high school students and families try to understand which education pathways lead to good careers, they could face a frustrating reality: the information exists, but it’s scattered across different systems and difficult to piece together. Florida has built one of the nation’s most comprehensive education data systems, but families, students, and even policymakers often can’t readily access the insights they need to make informed decisions.

That was the central challenge explored during the Florida College Access Network’s recent webinar, “Insights Into Action: The Next Phase of Florida’s Statewide Longitudinal Data System” (SLDS). A new research report presented during the session reveals Florida is uniquely positioned to solve this problem, building on infrastructure that already makes the state a national leader in education data collection.

Florida Started First and Built It Right
A comprehensive analysis presented by Caroline Alexander (Alexander Research & Consulting) and Gretchen Cheney (PAROS Group) examined Florida’s system alongside seven peer states. Their findings show Florida’s early leadership: the state was “the first and only state recognized by the Data Quality Campaign for meeting all 10 essential elements necessary to build a linked and longitudinal data system,” Cheney explained during the webinar.

Today, Florida remains “one of only 26 states to link early childhood, K-12, postsecondary, and workforce all in one system.” This foundation positions the state to answer questions others often cannot.

As Alexander noted, Florida has moved beyond basic data collection: “Florida has set an ambitious goal of becoming the top state for workforce education and talent development by 2030. Florida’s SLDS is a powerful tool and core infrastructure asset that can be strategically leveraged” to achieve that vision.

The Questions Florida Families and Leaders Want Answered
The research identified key questions that better-connected data could help answer:

1. For Students and Families: Which education pathways lead to careers with growth potential? How do graduates from different programs perform in the job market? What early investments make a difference in long-term success?
2. For Employers: How can businesses better predict their talent pipeline? Which programs produce job-ready graduates? Where should workforce development investments be targeted?
3. For Educators: What interventions help students succeed and during which transition points? Do early warning signs predict later challenges? How can programs be improved based on graduate outcomes?

Success Stories Show What’s Possible
Florida’s Central Florida Education Ecosystem Database (CFEED) demonstrates the power of connected data in action. This partnership between Orange County Public Schools, the Osceola County School District, Valencia College, and University of Central Florida has transformed how institutions support student success.

Alexander described how CFEED partners “coordinate research projects between all different levels of education, answer questions, bring insights up, and then take it back to the school system to modify or inform student-level interventions.” The partnership completes 50-60 research projects annually, using data to identify students ready for advanced coursework and track which programs produce the best outcomes.

One concrete example: CFEED identified that students who complete three courses relevant to their intended major before transferring from Valencia to UCF are more likely to earn higher grades and graduate. This insight led to programmatic changes that provide Valencia students with financial incentives to take additional relevant courses, directly improving student success rates.

Business and Community Leaders See the Potential
The expert panel highlighted how better-connected data could strengthen Florida’s economic competitiveness.

Dr. Keith Richard (Florida Chamber Foundation) emphasized the value of enhanced workforce data, noting that better information linking education programs to specific occupations would be “a game changer” for helping businesses understand talent pipelines and for students making career choices.

Bill Hoffman (Florida Philanthropic Network), representing over $1.1 billion in annual education investments, stressed the importance of accessible data: “We have funders who don’t have data nerds on staff and don’t want to have to dig too deeply to find the information that they want.” He noted that strong longitudinal systems help direct national philanthropic resources to Florida.

Adriana Harrington (ExcelinEd) shared how data insights drive policy improvements, citing examples where states used longitudinal data to identify which career and technical education programs actually align with employer needs. Deeper insights lead to more strategic investments in workforce development, she noted.

Three Strategic Opportunities to Build on Success
The report and discussion surfaced specific recommendations for Florida’s next phase:

1. Strategic Investment: Continue building on Florida’s strong foundation with dedicated funding streams and continuous improvement planning. The report notes Florida has already made significant investments, including $8.7 million annually in data-hosting infrastructure. Florida doesn’t need to start over but it does need to connect the dots.
2. Research Capacity: Develop collaborative research agendas that align with state goals for student success and workforce development. The report suggests establishing executive-level data liaisons to better coordinate research efforts across agencies.
3. Enhanced Access: Corporate more user-friendly ways for families, educators, and policymakers to find and use Florida’s wealth of education data. Various tools and dashboards currently exist on separate platforms with different formats, making it challenging for users to access comprehensive information. An easily navigated roadmap could simplify how users navigate existing platforms and surface valuable insights currently buried under multiple levels of menus and links.

Show Notes

The webinar featured Caroline Alexander (Alexander Research & Consulting), Gretchen Cheney (PAROS Group), Adriana Harrington (ExcelinEd), Dr. Keith Richard (Florida Chamber Foundation), Bill Hoffman (Florida Philanthropic Network), and was moderated by Dave Sobush (FCAN).