Creating a Path to Answers: How State Data Leaders Can Empower Researchers

The document is a guide for state data leaders on how to enhance researcher access to statewide longitudinal data systems (SLDS) to improve education and workforce development insights.

Statewide longitudinal data systems (SLDSs) can hold the key to understanding what works in education, workforce development, and beyond—but they can enable this insight only if researchers are able to access and use the data effectively. This brief provides state data leaders—the individuals spearheading states’ longitudinal, cross-agency data work—with practical pathways to secure, transparent, and effective researcher access.