Getting the facts

CWIC recognized the urgent need for consistent and reliable data on Chicago’s workforce development system in order to:

1. Assess the return on our public investments in workforce programs
2. Identify and implement program improvements
3. Determine a program’s long-term impact on participants’ career prospects and wage earning potential

So we launched a new data and research center at the University of Chicago in 2009. This data and research center, CWICstats, is for the first time collecting and analyzing program participation and outcome data across all of the city’s public workforce development programs. 

CWICstats is linking individual level data records from the agencies that operate these programs, to conduct research that informs CWIC and agency partners about experiences, outcomes and pathways through the public system — from high school, through to our public colleges and other job training programs, on to employment and wages.

In addition to research using program data, CWICstats compiles information on the Chicago economy, which is published in quarterly Dashboard reports.

CWICstats research and data efforts will allow CWIC, City leadership, and funders to make program-level and system-level decisions that will maximize the return on our workforce investments.

More on CWICstats here .  

Reports

• Quarter 4 2010 Dashboard Report
• Quarter 3 2010 Dashboard Report
• Quarter 2 2010 Dashboard Report
• Chicago Workforce Development Programs: System Map and Inventory
• Postsecondary Educational Trajectories of Urban Youth: Addressing Vulnerabilities and Barriers to Enrollment and Persistence
• Reading on Grade Level in Third Grade: How Is It Related to High School Performance and College Enrollment?

WIA training provider Web site

In partnership with CWIC and the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services, CWICstats has created a Web site that makes WIA-funded training provider information and outcomes available to the public. Visit www.ChicagolandWIAtraining.com.

The site allows users to search for training program by industry, occupation, and location; and to compare program outcomes including completion rate, placement rate, and wages of completers. A labor market information section includes information on top growth occupations and industries for Chicago.