On Board Online • January 12, 2026
By Sara Foss
Special Correspondent
For the past two years, the State Education Department has been developing a statewide longitudinal data system (SLDS) to share information across government systems, providing a more complete picture of how people's lives unfold over time.
For instance, state officials want to connect P-12 data to workforce data. That will enable educators to track what happens to students after they graduate. Are they getting jobs? What kind of wages? Over time, how much does their income grow?
Officials say the SLDS will identify service gaps and provide much-needed measures of the impact of public investments in public education. That, in turn, will allow refinements in the form of evidence-based policies and programs.
"This is some of the most important work happening at the department right now," said Jason Harmon, deputy education commissioner of performance improvement and management services. "The data system is designed to allow us to see around some corners that right now we're not able to see around."
A well-functioning SLDS provides opportunities to turn data into "actionable insights," said Harmon, who provided a progress report on the statewide longitudinal data system at the December meeting of the Board of Regents.
Among other things, the data system will help with key initiatives, such as the implementation of NY Inspires - an ambitious state plan to authorize yet-to-be-identified measures of student achievement as part of the creation of pathways to graduation. Passing Regents exams will remain a pathway to graduation, but it will become optional.
The tracking effort dovetails with state efforts to boost career and technical education and see more students take advantage of dual enrollment courses to earn college credit while still in high school, Harmon said.
Two years ago, SED received a $3.75 million federal grant for the SLDS. With this funding, officials are expanding technical infrastructure and improving interoperability, and are focused on four key areas:
- Establishing data security protocols.
- Connecting P-12 data with professional licensure data.
- Linking P-12 data to postsecondary systems such as SUNY and CUNY.
- Demonstrating data visualization.
"We are trying to translate our data into digestible information and insight," said Yufan Huang, assistant commissioner in SED's office of information and reporting services.
Last spring, 65 representatives from the governor's office and various state agencies met to develop a roadmap for building the SLDS. Participants identified statewide issues that might benefit from data-driven solutions, such as evaluating the impact of state investments in financial aid, economic development and mental health services.
Harmon said that nearly two dozen state agencies are expected to contribute data to the SLDS. Agencies involved in the project include the Department of Labor, Division of Criminal Justice Services, Department of Health, Office of Children and Family Services and the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance. "All of these different agencies that we're having conversations with will benefit from this collaboration," Harmon said.
"We can't do this alone," said Maria Fernandez, who serves as deputy secretary of education for Gov. Kathy Hochul and has been involved in developing the SLDS. "It is a complex, multi-year process."
Harmon said that much of the technical work on the statewide longitudinal data system still needs to be done. Next steps include continuing these collaborations, with taskforces focused on different areas - privacy and security, legal issues, research, etc. - meeting monthly for much of the next year. The entire project is expected to take about four years.
Regent Frances Wills said she could see benefits of the system but had concerns including, "How we deal with AI figures that aren't real?" She also wondered how the state would ensure that information would not be "used to harm individuals who are vulnerable in our society." She said she sees a "moral dilemma" in linking various state databases, providing some benefits but creating a data resource that could be misused or abused.
In response, Harmon said that the security and privacy functions of the SLDS have been at the forefront of all conversations about the system. "The proper response to the misuse of data is not the disuse of data, but the right use of data," he said.
Chancellor Lester Young said that the SLDS is about more than data. "Behind each number is a person, and that person brings a context to the situation," he said. "It's important that the board understands that data can only do so much, and that it's up to the board to raise the kinds of context questions that represent the diversity of New York."