Mapping Educational Journeys: A Community Approach to Longitudinal Student Data

The Hamilton Community Research Partnership (CRP) is a coalition of community partners working to improve educational journeys and outcomes for Hamilton students. Over the past several years, the partners have worked together to connect student data from Hamilton’s high schools and post-secondary institutions. Their goal has been to better understand the educational journeys and needs of local students, and to demonstrate the utility and importance of lifelong learning data—something not currently available province-wide. The dataset, built by the Hamilton-Wentworth public and Catholic school boards, McMaster University, Mohawk College, the Hamilton Community Foundation and the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO), has helped answer critical questions about Hamilton student pathways, like who is accessing post-secondary in Hamilton, who succeeds once there, and what supports would lead to more equitable outcomes. The CRP has so far published three reports: two outlining factors that affect educational opportunities and outcomes for students in Hamilton, and a third that offers a blueprint for other communities interested in taking on similar work. This paper provides an update on the coalition’s work and a glimpse into its long-term goals. The authors contextualize the motivations that brought the partners together, summarize the CRP’s findings and lessons to date, and outline the coalition’s plans to continue expanding the dataset to explore questions including those relating to equity, inclusion, and post-graduate employment.