A Answer Emerges
It is a knowledge drawback and a coordination problem—each of that are solvable by cooperation and energy. Organizations just like the Council of Chief State College Officers and Information High quality Marketing campaign are offering each, together with by a brand new working group known as MEDALS (Navy Enlistment Information Entry to Elevate Scholar Success).
On the knowledge aspect, the technical challenges are usually not insurmountable—a previous Division of Labor initiative had efficiently linked army enlistment knowledge to pupil outcomes within the context of Workforce Innovation and Alternative Act applications. The information exist and can be utilized to trace outcomes. The problem is to offer a safe approach for the Protection Division to share it with states.
That’s the place the MEDALS is available in. The group consists of army leaders, state officers, federal knowledge consultants, and different technical consultants, with the objective of making an ordinary course of for states to entry service knowledge throughout all army branches.
One query they’ll need to grapple with is how lengthy to trace and attribute grownup outcomes to their highschool training. If a pupil graduates highschool within the spring and enlists that summer time, that looks as if an apparent reportable end result. However what if the coed graduates, floats round varied jobs for a yr 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 issues, together with knowledge governance insurance policies and defending pupil info. A key query right here is who owns the info, and the reply have to be state training companies, not the Protection Division. The objective of those programs is to establish whether or not colleges are getting ready college students to efficiently enlist within the army, enter the workforce, or pursue additional training. We don’t wish to merely construct a greater approach for the army to establish and goal candidates. Whereas this effort features a robust partnership with the army and should in the end enhance 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 training chiefs, protection officers, and congressional leaders retaining give attention to this work, I consider we’re on observe to place army service on par with different faculty and profession outcomes.
