Sacramento schools and colleges will share student data. Can it improve equity?

Yahoo

28-03-2025

Sacramento State, Elk Grove Unified School District and Los Rios Community College District signed a data sharing agreement Thursday that educators say will help route students toward success in college and career programs.
The Sacramento Regional K-16 Collaborative agreement allows K-12 districts and colleges to share unaggregated, student-specific data with one another.
Education leaders say that sharing data across institutions will connect the entire educational ecosystem in the Sacramento region and help each school tailor their academic programming to ensure that students advance through college.
'For too long, schools have operated in silos,' Sacramento County Office of Education Superintendent David Gordon said. 'Today we break down those barriers and create a truly seamless education system.'
The insight goes both ways — local colleges will be able to assess current high school students' eligibility and readiness for college and K-12 districts will be able to see how their students are doing after graduation, which could help them tailor their high school curriculum and academic support.
An earlier data sharing partnership between Elk Grove Unified and Sac State allowed the college to provide eligible high school students with automatic acceptance upon graduation. Sac State President Luke Wood and Elk Grove Unified Superintendent Christopher Hoffman emphasized the early success of this program since it was announced in 2024.
'We're creating opportunities for our students, we're working together to change lives, to change directory trajectories, and making sure that every single student knows that there's a pathway for them into and through educational systems in our region,' Wood said.
Members of the collaborative also said that sharing data between the institutions will help improve and expand dual enrollment so that students are able to earn college credit while still in high school.
The program is a part of a statewide initiative to reduce educational and employment disparities, funded by an $18.1 million investment from a state grant.
'This isn't just about access, it's about equity,' Sacramento County Office of Education Superintendent David Gordon said. 'If we don't use real time data to understand where our students struggle, we cannot close the opportunity gaps that hold too many of them back.'
Consumnes River College President Edward Bush emphasized the ways adult learners looking to earn a certificate or degree could benefit from the targeted support made possible by data sharing, especially for those who have completed some classes but had to stop due to life circumstances.
'This pilot is about removing barriers and building clear, more flexible pathways for students, especially those navigating life's complexities who are trying to pursue an education — whether it's earning a degree or certificate,' he said.
Lead attorney for the K-16 Collaborative Thuy Thi Nguyen addressed potential data security concerns, given that local school districts like Elk Grove and Natomas Unified have been affected by a nationwide uptick in threat actors targeting educational institutions. She said that they have formed a security coordination action team to monitor and train each institution on data security.