Background
Background
Get the Data
Using the Indicators
How Were the Massachusetts Youth Indicators Developed?
What does the initial set of indicators include?
What additional measures are available to P21 today?
What demographic data are available?
What indicators and data are missing?
Where can P21 partnerships find additional youth data?
How Were the Massachusetts Youth Indicators Developed?
To assist P21 in its efforts to bolster youth workforce development policymaking and program planning activities across the state of Massachusetts, Commonwealth Corporation engaged the Center for Labor Market Studies (CLMS) of Northeastern University in a series of research activities to construct and estimate values for a variety of youth labor market, schooling, social, income and parenting indicators. To the extent that the data permitted, these youth-related economic, educational, and social indicators were constructed for the state as a whole, for the state's sixteen local Workforce Investment Areas (WIA service delivery areas), and for its seven newly established Regional Competitiveness Councils.
For some of the indicators, national data and data for the other states and the District of Columbia were gathered to provide for points of comparison and facilitate ranking.
The Center for Labor Market Studies developed several reports. These reports present different indicators, offer a justification as to why these indicators are important, describe the methods and data sources used in constructing them, and offer baseline data that show how youth are faring. Below is a list of the reports CLMS developed.
- Employment and Education Indicators for 16-21 Year Old Young Adult Residents of Communities in Regional Competitiveness Councils and Local Workforce Investment Areas in Massachusetts, 2000 - March 2004.
- College Enrollment, Employment, English Speaking Proficiency, Income Inadequacy, and Parenthood Indicators for 16-21 Year Old Young Adult Residents of Communities in Regional Competitiveness Councils and Local Workforce Investment Areas in Massachusetts, 2000 - April 2004.
- A Profile of the Teenage Population in Massachusetts by Their School Enrollment, Family Poverty, and Employment Status at the Time of the 2000 Census: Implications for Future Youth Workforce Development Policy - July 2003.
- Demographic, Education, Labor Market, and Family Well-Being Indicators for Teens and Young Adults in Massachusetts - March 2004.
- Left Behind in the Labor Market: The Deterioration in the Employment Position of Massachusetts Teens and Non-College Educated Young Adults - March 2003.
In addition, these indicators were used to create the data report Equity Analysis (pdf)
What does the initial set of indicators include?
The indicators developed by CLMS fall into five broad categories: (1) schooling indicators, (2) labor market indicators, (3) social indicators, (4) income indicators, and (5) parenting indicators. All of these indicators were developed using U.S. Census data. Consequently, annual updates are not possible. Between two U.S. Census survey years, annual state-level updates can be made for some of the indicators using data from the Current Population Survey. Regional and local P21 efforts should consider the collection of interim data from existing local data sources or through the establishment of a local P21 data collection effort. The table, Description of P21 Indicators describes the indicators in greater detail.
What additional measures are available to P21 today?
In addition to these initial indicators, data were gathered from the Massachusetts Department of Education on the annual and four-year high school dropout rates, MCAS passing/failure rates, MCAS results by performance level, and rates at which youth earned Competency Determinations. To the extent that the data permitted, state and regional data for these measures were computed, as well as data by gender, race, and ethnicity that show the performance of specific youth subpopulations on these measures Based on input from local P21 efforts, some or all of these additional measures of schooling may become part of a core set of Youth Indicators. This table, Description of Additional Measures, lists and defines these measures.
Additional recent and historical state-, district-, and school-level data (e.g., results by socio-economic status and English ability) are available from the Massachusetts Department of Education.
The Massachusetts Department of Education also provides reports covering a wide range of data on schools and districts including profiles covering student background characteristics, educator data, test results, school size and enrollment, suspension and retention rates, per student expenditures, plans of high school graduates. Its website further offers easy access to other useful reports and data such as trend analyses on various measures. Click here to view these reports.
What demographic data are available?
In addition to the reports above, the Center for Research and Evaluation prepared data tables with demographic information about the youth population in the state and its 16 Workforce Investment Areas.
There are statewide and regional data files on the population and labor force (available through Commonwealth Corporation) that may be useful. These census data files were developed in early spring 2003 when Commonwealth Corporation and the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University partnered to analyze U.S. 2000 Census data and produce reports to meet the planning and other needs of workforce development professionals in the state and its sixteen regions. These analyses examined population and labor force characteristics not previously studied deemed relevant to workforce development professionals. State and regional population and labor force reports are available. The population reports, for instance, include data on the size and employment outcomes of the disabled population by age and data regarding the size of the population facing linguistic barriers.
What indicators and data are missing?
The initial youth indicators and demographic data may not meet the needs of all P21 partnerships. Additional work is needed that goes beyond the development of the initial set of youth indicators. One reason for that is that for many indicators sub-state data availability (e.g., dropout rates at the neighborhood level) is limited at this time because the data are not collected at this level or due to limitations on resources currently available for data analysis at various sub state levels. A second reason is that the frequency with which data become available is too infrequent to be useful for monitoring short- to mid-term progress. A third reason is that it is unclear today which additional indicators should be established.
Further discussion between P21 partners at the state, regional, and local levels is needed to prioritize the next generation of indicators to be developed. Regional and local policy makers and practitioners, in particular, are likely to have invaluable input regarding which additional indicators make most sense to them and what data sets or data collection programs (at the state, regional, and local levels) may need to be accessed or put in place to have timely data for monitoring progress and measuring impact. Initial feedback from P21 partners at the state level may be a good starting point for regional and local discussions on this topic, which identified the need for the following indicators:
- Indicators for the institutionalized population
- Indicators that capture the health condition and health care access of youth
- Indicators regarding the incidence and type of disabling conditions among youth
- Indicators of social and criminal behaviors/outcomes of youth
Where can P21 partnerships find additional youth data?
There are several resources that P21 partners can access if they have a need for data currently not available through the P21 initiative. Some of these data sources can be accessed via the Internet. Accessing other data sources will require the development of partnerships with state and/or local public (e.g., government agencies) and private agencies (e.g., foundations).
- Data on Public Youth Services
- Data on federal and state workforce development resources and recent youth participation levels in these programs by region can be found in the Regional Workforce Investment Profiles, an annual publication that is part of a series of Regional Workforce Profiles publications.
- The Massachusetts Department of Education's Adult and Community Learning Services Unit tracks service data by age. FY03 data show that 1,337 (6.3%) participants were 18 years of age or younger and 4,000 (18.7%) participants were between 19 and 24 years of age. This means that roughly 1 out of every 4 participants in ABE/ESOL programs is younger than twenty-five.
- The Massachusetts Department of Education also oversees School to Career services for youth and Career and Technical Education. Background information and selected data can be found at www.doe.mass.edu/cte.
- The Center for Youth Development and Education (CYDE) at Commonwealth Corporation operates several programs as well. While working on behalf of all youth, CYDE is especially interested in serving those who are at risk of not completing high school, entering post-secondary education or training, or acquiring the skills necessary for success in the demanding, high-skills economy of the twenty-first century.
- CYDE is further involved in the provision of educational services to clients of the Department of Youth Services. Below are some data on the DYS committed caseload.
DYS Committed Caseload by Selected Hometown, April 1, 2003
City |
Number of DYS Youth |
% of all DYS Commitments |
Barnstable-Hyannis |
8 |
0.3% |
Boston |
537 |
17.9 |
Brockton |
158 |
5.3 |
Cambridge |
10 |
0.3 |
Fall River |
90 |
3.0 |
Holyoke |
103 |
3.4 |
Lawrence |
105 |
3.5 |
Lowell |
99 |
3.3 |
Lynn |
101 |
3.4 |
New Bedford |
84 |
2.8 |
Quincy |
24 |
0.8 |
Springfield |
228 |
7.6 |
Worcester |
292 |
9.7 |
Thirteen Cities |
1,840 |
61.3% |
Statewide |
3002 |
-- |
Additional data can be accessed via: www.mass.gov/dys. This site further gives users access to the other relevant agencies.
Data on Youth Indicators from Other Initiatives
- Both public and private agencies have been involved in improving the prospects for at-risk youth and have developed sets of indicators that may be of interest to P21 partnerships. The Boston Private Industry Council, for instance, recently developed a youth report drawing on multiple sources of data.
- Another example is the summary of data on Youth Development produced jointly by the Governor's Health Council and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. In addition, numerous fact sheets and reports of relevance can be found at the website of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
- The Community Profiles of the Department of Housing and Community Development may contain some relevant information, as well. Click here to view these profiles. City and towns, too, make available useful data and do so often via their websites. Via the U.S. Census website one can run customized reports down to the Census Tract and often neighborhood and street levels.
- Private foundations have often developed a set of indicators for youth or for the population at large with specific - but not exclusive -- attention to how youth fare. The textbook example of relevance may be The Boston Foundation's Indicators Report.
- Commonwealth Communities provides information on the 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts provided by state agencies and official city/town websites.
- The Massachusetts Department of Education collects a variety of data from schools and districts in the state. Users can view and download school ane district directories and data reports. The data reports provide particular data for all schools and districts and can be sorted and/or exported.
- The Department of Housing and Community Development provides information on each of the cities and towns in the state in their community profiles, including government, demographics, housing characteristics and transportation.
- Regional Labor Market Information Profiles have been created for each of the Commonwealth's sixteen workforce investment areas, as well as for the state as a whole, and each includes data on the labor force, employment, unemployment, industry structure, wages, population and demographic trends, and job vacancies.
- The Massachusetts Community Health Information Profile (MassCHIP) provides free, online access health and social indicators, such as public school expenditures per student and the birth rates for teenagers, by city or town.
