Workforce Data Quality Initiative (WDQI)

The Workforce Data Quality Initiative (WDQI) supports the modernization to longitudinal administrative databases that integrate workforce data and education data. WDQI also emphasizes promoting improvements and the level of quality of these systems, in addition to increasing the accessibility of performance data, including data reported by employment services and training providers. Education data are being collected under the Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS) initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Education to which the WDQI is a parallel effort. 

WDQI is a collaborative partnership at the Federal level between the Departments of Labor and Education. The long-term WDQI and Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS) goal for States is to use their longitudinal data systems to follow individuals through school and into and through their work life. WDQI grant recipients are expected to demonstrate similarly established partnerships between state workforce and educational agencies. High quality and consistent data that are available from service providers about services offered, and how well their customers benefited as they enter or re-enter the labor market, are integral to informed consumer choices. Each WDQI grantee is expected to enhance their workforce longitudinal database in addition to using that database to conduct analysis of state workforce and education systems. Additionally, WDQI grantees are expected to use this data analysis to create materials on state workforce performance to share with workforce system stakeholders and the public.

WDQI Objectives

WDQI grants provide funding to eligible SWAs to accomplish some or all of the following objectives:

  • Link Workforce and Education Data
    o Strengthen data linkages that facilitate performance, evaluation, research, statistical, and longitudinal analysis.
  • Enhance Eligible Training Provider (ETP) Reporting
    o Support ETP data collection, reporting, and data analysis. ETP data is a resource for job seekers, American Job Centers, and states to make informed choices about the type and location of the best training opportunities by comparing programs, credentials, occupations, and labor markets.
  • Promote Data-Driven Strategies and Outcomes
    o Use longitudinal data to assess the impact and effectiveness of federally and state-supported education and job training programs and identify evidence-based practices, including those for individuals facing barriers to employment.
  • Design Customer-Focused Reports
    o Develop user-friendly products to help customers make informed decisions on education and training programs based upon outcomes and cost-efficiencies.
  • Enhance Data Governance
    o Establish a governing body that is responsible for developing and implementing data policies and processes and addressing high priority data quality issues.
  • Develop Actionable Data Tools to Support Worker Mobility
    o Establish, enhance, or connect to a system of interoperable learning and employment records that provides individuals who choose to participate in such system ownership of a verified and secure record of their skills and achievements and the ability to share the record with employers and education providers.

WDQI Resources

Contact: WDQI@dol.gov

Workforce GPS, Community of Practice

Grantee Quarterly Reporting Information

Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)