A Answer Emerges
This can be a information drawback and a coordination problem—each of that are solvable by means of cooperation and energy. Organizations just like the Council of Chief State College Officers and Knowledge High quality Marketing campaign are offering each, together with by means of a brand new working group known as MEDALS (Army Enlistment Knowledge Entry to Carry Pupil Success).
On the information facet, the technical challenges should not insurmountable—a previous Division of Labor initiative had efficiently linked navy enlistment information to pupil outcomes within the context of Workforce Innovation and Alternative Act packages. The information exist and can be utilized to trace outcomes. The problem is to supply a safe method for the Protection Division to share it with states.
That’s the place the MEDALS is available in. The group consists of navy leaders, state officers, federal information specialists, and different technical specialists, with the objective of making an ordinary course of for states to entry service information throughout all navy branches.
One query they’ll should grapple with is how lengthy to trace and attribute grownup outcomes to their highschool schooling. If a pupil graduates highschool within the spring and enlists that summer time, that looks like an apparent reportable consequence. However what if the scholar graduates, floats round numerous jobs for a 12 months or extra, after which decides to enlist? Does their highschool nonetheless get credit score for getting ready a military-ready graduate? In different phrases, what’s the cut-off level for figuring out success?
The MEDALS group is also considering deeply about privateness legal guidelines and broader considerations, together with information governance insurance policies and defending pupil info. A key query right here is who owns the information, and the reply should be state schooling businesses, not the Protection Division. The objective of those methods is to determine whether or not faculties are getting ready college students to efficiently enlist within the navy, enter the workforce, or pursue additional schooling. We don’t need to merely construct a greater method for the navy to determine and goal candidates. Whereas this effort features a robust partnership with the navy and should finally increase their recruitment efforts, that’s by no means been the objective.
These are delicate points, however I’m optimistic that the MEDALS group will produce an answer. With state schooling chiefs, protection officers, and congressional leaders holding concentrate on this work, I imagine we’re on observe to place navy service on par with different school and profession outcomes.
