(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - Nearly 400 educators and college and career access providers gathered at the District of Columbia Office of the State Superintendent of Education’s (OSSE) fifth annual Postsecondary and Career Education Conference, which took place on January 8 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

Reflective of the conference theme, “Connect to Success: Postsecondary Achievement for All,” 15 workshops led by education professionals energized the District’s education stakeholders around postsecondary topics including increasing enrollment and completion, transitions, disconnected youth, DREAMers, and sharing education data related to college readiness.

“With just over 1/3 of DC students completing postsecondary education within six years, today’s conference not only provided the necessary venue for dialogue on critical issues pertaining to postsecondary awareness, access, persistence and completion, but also inspired a deeper urgency for our educators to ensure readiness and completion,” said Assistant Superintendent of Postsecondary and Career Education Antoinette Mitchell.

 In addition, OSSE released designs for College Readiness Metrics on LearnDC, the District’s one-stop education information portal, and engaged with attendees about better serving the 38 percent of high school graduates who do not enroll in postsecondary education.

Under Secretary of Education Ted Mitchell delivered the keynote address and praised the District for its participation in the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Collective Impact Initiative, a collaboration with the Colorado Department of Education that will expand an online platform to help DC schools determine which of their students have completed the FAFSA.

The Education Advisory Board (EAB) presented findings on the persistence and graduation of DC students in higher education at the conference’s closing session. Using data from the Statewide Longitudinal Education Data System (SLED), National Student Clearinghouse and the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), the data represent 180,000 DC student testing and enrollment files.

Data revealed the first two years of student postsecondary enrollment are critical to student completion. In addition, EAB reported that students take a variety of pathways to postsecondary success and almost half of all DC students enrolled in postsecondary education transfer at least once. Analysis from the report also demonstrates that institutional selection directly connects to positive postsecondary outcomes.

OSSE is excited to preview two news tools in partnership with EAB for educators, researchers, school advising staff, parents and students. The first tool designed primarily for educators and researchers, allows for the study of the impact of postsecondary institutions on student outcomes, identification of most common and successful transfer pathways and comparison of key characteristics of university systems with one another to study student outcomes.

The second tool, the College Report Generator, allows high school counselors and college access professionals to better inform their students on institutional characteristics, cost, and impact, enabling them to make the smart college choice. This tool will also be available for use by parents and students in identifying postsecondary options and determining the best fit to ensure success and completion.

For more information on postsecondary and career education in the District of Columbia, visit osse.dc.gov.

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