The mission of this JFI Program is to develop valid and reliable measures of the performance of education, employment training and cash assistance programs and related support services, and to study how often and in what combination these investments ‘touch’ defined target groups.

Program researchers use historical and routinely updated files of confidential administrative records maintained by the Institute under data-sharing agreements with federal, state, and local government agencies. A core asset of the Program includes a network of research partners with similar capabilities in other states. Program researchers study employment status patterns and industry and firm affiliations and employee earnings profiles, as these reflect and impact individual investments in continued education and training and individual acceptance of income supports.

Current research sponsors include the Abell Foundation; the Annie E. Casey Foundation; The Urban Institute; the Maryland Association of Community Colleges; the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention; the Maryland Department of Human Services; the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation; the Maryland State Department of Education; the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development; the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; and the University System of Maryland.

Current Research Projects include

• Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE), Career and Technology Education (CTE) Students

  Annual assistance is provided to MSDE by supplying earnings data for CTE students as required by the Federal Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act accountability measures. Information includes earnings found in Maryland UI administrative datas, adjacent state administrative datas (DC, NJ, OH, PA, VA, WV), Federal civilian employment, and Maryland registered apprenticeship records.

• Office of the State Superintendent of Education, DC (OSSE-DC), University of the District of Columbia Community College (UDC-CC)

  Annual assistance is provided to OSSE-DC and UDC-CC about the employment and earnings of their CTE students as required by Perkins accountability measures (see above for MSDE). In addition, JFI will be collaborating on a number of research projects with OSSE-DC in the upcoming year, including work with District charter schools.

• Maryland Association of Community Colleges (MACC)

  Annual assistance is provided to MACC for a performance indicator required by the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC). Matches of both degree and certificate community college completers are matched to the Maryland UI Wage records, as well as to regional and federal employment records. Longitudinal earnings profiles one year prior and 3 years after graduation are generated and distributed to each institution.

• Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC)

  Updated earnings data are provided for participants in occupational training programs funded under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), which MHEC maintains.

• Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (DLLR)

  Support is provided to the DLLR departments of Adult Education, Correctional Education, and Apprenticeship and Training for Federal reporting requirements and research projects.

• Maryland Department of Human Services (DHS), Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH)

  Workforce data will be provided for participants of DHMH substance abuse treatment programs.

• Data Linkages and Technical Services to Multiple Maryland Non-Profit Agencies

  Program participants were tracked into the workforce for the following local agencies: Central Scholarship Bureau (scholarship recipients), Behavioral Health System Baltimore (substance abuse treatment), Center for Urban Families, 2nd Chance (workforce training programs), Marian House and Caroline Center (women’s shelter stays).

• Teacher Retention: A Comparison of Maryland Professional Development Schools (PDS) Program Graduates with Recipients of Maryland Certification Through Other Qualifying Paths

  Data on education graduates from 2001-2006 was provided to JFI by all University System of Maryland (USM) institutions, both undergraduate and graduate. USM was interested in K-12 teacher retention in PDS as well as non-PDS graduates. JFI matched graduates with the Maryland UI Wage records, as well as regional, surrounding states administrative datas and Federal employment in order to determine graduate career paths.

• Civility Study: A Joint Effort between Dr. P.M. Forni’s Civility Initiative at Johns Hopkins University and the Jacob France Institute

  In a collaborative research project, JFI and Dr. P.M. Forni sought to determine a “Top Ten” listing of rude behaviors. Thirty examples of rude behavior were posed in an online survey to respondents, each linked to a five point Likert scale ranging from 1 (Not Offensive) to 5 (Most Offensive). Respondents were asked to indicate the degree to which they personally considered each behavior offensive.

  The survey was distributed to the University of Baltimore community, as well as staff from the Baltimore firms of EA Engineering Science and Technology, and Life Bridge Health in May 2007. A total of 615 respondents completed the survey, and the “Top Ten” acts of rudeness were compiled.

• Additional Collaborations

  JFI has collaborated with the following institutions of higher education on various research projects: University of MD System Institutions, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Morgan State University, Georgetown University, and the University of Pennsylvania – Actionable Intelligence for Social Policy.

For more information about Labor Market and Education Research Program contact Ting Zhang tzhang [at] ubalt [dot] edu at (410) 837-6551