The Think College National Coordinating Center (NCC) Evaluation Team works to collect, analyze, and share data on Transition and Postsecondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disability (TPSIDs). Throughout the year, the team supports TPSIDs in collecting and reporting their data through data entry tips, office hours, interim deadlines, and data entry support meetings. Policymakers, college and university leaders, inclusive postsecondary program personnel, students, families, K-12 educators, and other partner groups rely on these data to understand how TPSID programs work and what students enrolled in TPSIDs achieve. In this blog post, the Evaluation Team goes behind the scenes to share a little of what is involved in the making of the TPSID Annual Report.
In the fall, amid cooler days, crunchy leaves, and fresh school supplies a student with intellectual disability begins their first semester of college at a TPSID program. They get to work learning the campus, memorizing their class schedule, making friends, and participating in events at the college or university.
Since the program is receiving funds through the TPSID model demonstration program, data on the student will be reported to the Think College National Coordinating Center (NCC). A staff member of the TPSID program sits down and begins recording information that needs to be reported: How old was the student when they started? What was their high school education experience like? Have they ever had a paid job before? As the academic year progresses, the staff at the TPSID programs will record information on aspects of the student’s experience, such as whether the student lives on campus, what classes they take, what work and career development they take part in, and practices and features of the TPSID program supporting them. As the spring semester comes and goes, TPSIDs report more student and program data, including outcomes of students who graduated or exited.
Once entered into the TPSID Data Network, these data will be analyzed, along with information on many other students and their respective TPSID programs, to inform the NCC Annual Report and other reports we create and share.
Programs meet one-on-one with the Think College Evaluation Team to ensure any missing pieces fall into place. When summer activities wrap up, the final data entry deadline comes at the end of August. Then the Evaluation Team gets busy preparing and analyzing another year’s worth of exciting data on TPSID programs and the students who attended them! We dig into all the data, organizing and seeking clarification where needed, and then we get the data ready to share with the public.
The Evaluation Team crafts the finalized data results into a written report, keeping an eye out for remarkable data points and identifying trends over time. At the same time, the Knowledge Translation team works to find and incorporate student and program stories and images that show everyone’s accomplishments throughout the year. Once drafted, the NCC Leadership team reads the year’s findings and develops the conclusion section. Once the content is finalized several team members take turns reading the report, ensuring the information we share is useful and easy to understand. Finally, the Knowledge Translation Team works closely with the Institute for Community Inclusion Marketing and Communications team for final formatting and accessibility. And there you have it - another annual report is ready to share!
We are excited to announce the Year 3 (2022-2023) Annual Report will be available soon. Until then you can find previous annual reports and other Think College publications informed by TPSID data on the Think College website Research Products page.
About the post authors: The Think College National Coordinating Center Evaluation Team co-authored this post. Here's a little about each of them: Clare Papay, PhD, is Co-Coordinator of the Think College Evaluation Team and is very grateful for her hard-working and dedicated team members with whom she shares a love of all things data-related. She spends her time outside of work planning her next Broadway visit, learning to tap dance, and raising two children (sometimes all at the same time). Caitlyn Bukaty, PhD, is Co-Coordinator of the Think College Evaluation Team supporting TPSIDs in collecting and reporting data and sharing those data in meaningful and impactful ways. When she’s not busy analyzing IPSE outcomes her main focus is making sure her two dogs, Bukets and Aria, live a life of blissful luxury. Belkis Choiseul-Praslin, PhD, is a Research Associate for the Think College Evaluation Team. She loves data and is best known for her saying “uhh something about this data doesn’t make sense”. Belkis is also very appreciative of her eval team members who help solve data-related mysteries together on a daily basis so she can make them into fun presentations. Outside of work, she enjoys reading, building decorative legos, and playing with her pups. Pam McFarland is the data manager for the Think College Evaluation Team. As a self-proclaimed "nerd" who enjoys a good puzzle, she loves building/maintaining databases and diving down the problem-solving rabbit hole when any problems arise. When she's not playing around with data she's spoiling her dog Ronan, playing roller derby, playing the ukulele, or partaking in one of her approximately 800 other hobbies that include but are certainly not limited to dancing, drawing, hiking, LARPing, gaming, rubber stamp carving, playing Pokémon Go, letterboxing, and making gemstone jewelry.