On April 13th, the Center’s Associate Director, Greg Cumpton, traveled to Durham, North Carolina to participate in the convening of a Big Data charrette with leading academics, industry leaders, and non-profits from across the South. The National Science Foundation convened the meeting in an effort to develop a Big Data Innovation Ecosystem for the region, where public and private data may be shared securely and accurately across organizations in an effort to drive more effective solutions in education, healthcare, and emergency planning.
Linkage of Data at the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) with Texas Administrative Records
Principal Investigator: | Greg Cumpton, MPA |
Sponsor(s): | Centers for Disease Control |
Project Duration: | August 2014 – August 2017 |
Description: | The purpose of this work is to link food assistance and other related data from Texas with National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data to assist in policy planning in the United States. Data to be linked includes Texas Administrative Data Files (TADFs), Texas Food Stamp Program (FSP) records, Texas Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) files, and Unemployment Insurance (UI) files.
This work will be completed in two stages: the first stage of the work, which links data from 2005-2010, will be completed in 2015. The second stage of the work, which links data from 2011-2012, will be completed by August 31, 2016. |
Reports Available: |
Patterns of Local Program Services Participation and Outcomes (WFE Austin)
Principal Investigator: | Heath J. Prince, Ph.D. |
Sponsor: | City of Austin |
Project Duration: | November 2012 – March 2014 |
Description: | In June 2009, the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced funding for the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP), under Title XII of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Congress designated $1.5 billion for communities to provide financial assistance and services to either prevent individuals and families from becoming homeless, or to help those who are experiencing homelessness to be quickly re-housed and stabilized. The City of Austin received $3,062,820 to implement its HPRP effort; services began in December 2009 and concluded in December 2011. A total of 2,517 clients were served by three sub-grantees: Caritas of Austin; Austin Tenants’ Council; and Youth and Family Alliance. The City of Austin is funding an evaluation of the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-housing Program (HPRP) to better understand its outcomes. Specifically, the City is interested in identifying any patterns in the use of other public services by program participants, as well as, to the extent possible, labor market outcomes. This information will help the City further refine its investments in Best Single Source Plus, a multi-million dollar initiative to help stabilize disadvantaged families in Austin, and other social service contracts. RMC researchers will work with the City of Austin to identify participants in HPRP, and to assess the quality of data kept on HPRP participants. RMC researchers will use existing data sharing agreements with state agencies to identify patterns in HPRP participants use of other public services, including TANF, SNAP, UI, job training, emergency utility assistance, etc. RMC researchers will use existing data sharing agreements with the Texas Workforce Commission to examine labor market outcomes for participants.
In addition, RMC researchers will conduct a process analysis of the HPRP program, through site visits, field interviews and document analysis to identify strengths and weaknesses in the HPRP program in terms of its stated mission. |
Reports Available: | Housing 360: Patterns of Program Participation and Outcomes Authors: Tara Smith, Kristin Christensen, Daniel Schroeder, and Heath Prince Date: December 2013 Publication Type: Final Report, 36pp. |
Local Rule – Integrated Child Support System (ICSS) Evaluation
Principal Investigator: | Daniel G. Schroeder, PhD |
Sponsor: | Texas Office of the Attorney General, Office of Child Support Enforcement |
Partner: | Child and Family Planning Research Partnership |
Project Duration: | June 2011 – August 2016 |
Description: | The Ray Marshall Center is conducting a program evaluation to measure the impacts of the Integrated Child Support System (ICSS) that requires those getting divorced or separated to be referred to the Texas Office of the Attorney General (OAG) for IV-D child support services. Operating under a waiver from the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) in 17 counties, the ICSS changes the default action from opt-in to opt-out in order to increase participation in IV-D services, raise child support compliance, and avoid the accumulation of child support debt.The evaluation will report on child support compliance over time, including amount of payment and stability of payment as well as enforcement actions taken, cost effectiveness, and reasons parents choose to opt out.Researchers will conduct the waiver evaluation using a combination of random assignment and comparison site evaluation designs to measure the impacts of the waiver at statewide and county-level operational scales in Texas. The evaluation will use multiple data sets, including OAG administrative records data for determining child support case characteristics, child support obligations, collections, and enforcement actions; Unemployment Insurance (UI) quarterly wage records, U.S. Census data, county level child support data, and other data sources. |
Reports Available: | Texas Integrated Child Support System: Final Evaluation Report Authors: Daniel Schroeder and Ashweeta Patnaik. Date: August 2016 Publication Type: Report, 113pp. |
Texas Education Research Center
Principal Investigators: | Deanna Schexnayder, MBA and Christopher T. King, PhD |
Sponsors: | Texas Education Agency, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board |
Research Partner: | The University of Texas at Dallas |
Project Duration: | September 2007 – August 2012 |
Description: | The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) and its partners — including the Ray Marshall Center — have established an Education Research Center (ERC), sponsored by the Texas Education Agency and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, which will conduct research for the benefit of education in Texas, as authorized by Section 1.005 of the Texas Education Code. Current approved projects are:
Project 1: College Readiness, Transition, and Performance The Ray Marshall Center will use linked high school and postsecondary education records, in combination with variables developed from the TEA AEIS public database to determine the rates of graduation and college enrollment for seniors in Texas school districts and factors associated with successful transitions to postsecondary education. Statistical models that were developed in a similar project that used different data sources will be run on data obtained from the ERC data warehouse to test the degree to which findings are consistent across the different data sets and available variables used in the two separate projects. Project 2: An Analysis of Early Education Factors Associated with School Success in the Elementary Years Ray Marshall Center researchers will conduct an exploratory analysis of the relationship between participation in pre-kindergarten and success in the early school years. Outcome measures to be used in this phase of the analysis will be either 1st grade passing rates or 3rd grade performance on TAKS tests, depending on the years of TEA data available in the ERC data warehouse at the time that the study is conducted. |
Reports Available: | Study of Early Education in Texas: The Relationship of Pre-K Attendance to 3rd Grade Test Results Authors: Aletha Huston, Anjali Gupta, and Deanna Schexnayder Date: March 2012 Publication Type: Report, 51 pp. Factors Associated with Education and Work after High School for the Classes of 2008 and 2009 Authors: Greg Cumpton, Deanna Schexnayder, and Christopher T. King; with assistance from Chandler Stolp Date: February 2012 Publication Type: Report, 93pp. |
Austin College Access Network (ACAN)
Principal Investigators: | Christopher T. King, PhD and Tara Smith, MPA |
Sponsor: | TG Public Benefit Program |
Research Partners: | E3 Alliance |
Project Duration: | October 2011 – August 2012 |
Description: | In partnership with E3 Alliance, the Ray Marshall Center (RMC) is participating in the Central Texas College Access and Persistence Program Evaluation. The evaluation seeks to increase regional capacity to provide critical and effective support to traditionally underrepresented college students to help ensure that they enter college and persist in their studies through completion. The project has two primary goals: 1) to increase Austin College Access Network (ACAN) member awareness of the nature and breadth of college access and persistence services offered in Central Texas and identify service gaps; and 2) to increase the capacity of ACAN member organizations for program evaluation and continuous improvement activities.
Under the project, RMC will:
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Reports Available: | Central Texas College Access and Persistence Program Evaluation: Outcomes and Impacts Summary Report Authors: Tara Smith and Greg Cumpton Date: January 2013 Publication Type: Report, 72pp.Initial Evaluation Findings: Central Texas College Access and Persistence Programs Authors: Tara Smith and Greg Cumpton Date: May 31, 2012 Publication Type: Report, 47pp. Information Brief: Common Definitions The Ray Marshall Center’s 2010-2011 project with the Austin College Access Network, as well as available reports, are accessible via this link: ACAN – “Staying Powers” Project |
Austin College Access Network (ACAN) “Staying Powers” Project
Principal Investigator: | Deanna T. Schexnayder |
Sponsor: | TG Public Benefit Program |
Research Partners: | E3 Alliance |
Project Duration: | December 2010 – July 2011 |
Description: | In partnership with E3 Alliance, the Ray Marshall Center (RMC) is participating in the Austin College Access Network (ACAN) college persistence project entitled “Staying Powers: Building College Persistence for our Most Challenged Students.” The project’s goal is to conduct a program to enhance the collaboration of participating organizations in the Austin College Access Network to improve college persistence for the region’s low-income and first-generation students at several area colleges and universities. In particular, the program will help establish data capabilities and provide resources for engaging higher education partners to develop shared programming to improve retention.Under the project, RMC will:
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Reports Available: | Development of a Student Tracking System for ACAN Participants Authors: Deanna Schexnayder, Patty Rodriguez, and Greg Cumpton Date: January 2012 Publication Type: Report, 9pp. The Ray Marshall Center’s 2011-2012 project with the Austin College Access Network, as well as available reports, are accessible via this link: ACAN |
Demonstration of Administrative Records Improving Surveys (DARIS)
Principal Investigator: | Daniel G. Schroeder, PhD |
Sponsors: | U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce |
Research Partner: | Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago |
Project Duration: | July 2008 – December 2013 |
Description: | The Demonstration of Administrative Records Improving Surveys (DARIS) research project will show the value of administrative records to Census Bureau demographic surveys. Initially, the project will focus on the two test states of Illinois and Texas. Later, the project may expand to other states. The objective of the project is to demonstrate methods of integrating data from surveys and administrative records, produce data sets that more accurately represent the target population’s characteristics than survey data alone, conduct experiments in disclosure-proofing hybrid data sets, and document feasibility. Results of the analysis will also be used to improve Census surveys, which many program administrators and researchers use to estimate the shares of eligible populations that actually participate in the government programs. |
Study of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Impact on Workforce Services and Policies
Principal Investigator: | Christopher T. King, PhD |
Sponsor: | U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration |
Research Partners: | Capital Research Corporation, Johns Hopkins University, Institute for Policy Studies, National Association of State Workforce Agencies/Center for Employment Security Education and Research, The Urban Institute |
Project Duration: | April 2009 – June 2012 |
Description: | States face a range of policy and fiscal challenges as they try to meet the demands of the severe economic recession and implement the recently enacted American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). This project examines the types of policy actions states take in their workforce development and unemployment insurance systems to meet these challenges. The goal is to measure state progress and challenges in implementing the workforce and unemployment insurance provisions of ARRA, to highlight new and promising practices, and to provide technical assistance.
The Ray Marshall Center and its partners are conducting this research through several mechanisms. First, the National Association of State Workforce Agencies conducted online surveys in fall 2009 and will conduct a second round in fall 2010. Second, researchers will conduct two rounds of site visits to 20 states and two local workforce investment agencies per state. Finally, researchers will analyze data that states provide to the Department of Labor on the delivery of workforce services to determine differences between pre- and post- ARRA implementation. |
Reports Available: | Implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: Workforce Development and Unemployment Insurance Provisions Date: October 2012 Publication Type: Final Report, 374 pp. Publisher: Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration Early Implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: Workforce Development and Unemployment Insurance Provisions Interim Report |
NCHS Data Linkage with Food Assistance and Other Related Data in Texas
Principal Investigator: | Daniel G. Schroeder, PhD |
Sponsor: | National Center for Health Statistics |
Project Duration: | March 2009 – September 2012 |
Description: | The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) has conducted the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) continuously since 1999. One of the major components of NHANES is the nutrition and dietary component. A recent National Academies panel on Enhancing the Data Infrastructure in Support of Food and Nutrition Programs recommended linking the NHANES data with food assistance and other related program records to more fully understand decisions that the population makes on food consumption and to guide policy makers. NCHS has decided to link 2005-2008 NHANES data with Food Stamp Program and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families administrative records in Texas. If additional funds become available, NCHS will also link 2005-2008 NHANES data with Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and Unemployment Insurance Wage File Reports in Texas.
Under the project, the Ray Marshall Center for the Study of Human Resources at the University of Texas in Austin will perform the linkage of records. After the linkage has occurred, statistical analyses will be conducted. The analyses will assess the participation in food program assistance and the effects of long term participation as it relates to food consumption and nutrition. In addition, the analyses will assess the accuracy of collecting this information in a self reported survey compared to the results of record linkage to an administrative database. The results from this linkage analysis will help gain understanding for future food and nutrition-related policy planning in the United States and perhaps future linkage projects. |