HERNDON, VA (May 21, 2019)—The National Student Clearinghouse and the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) announced today that they are collaborating to help principals examine how high school programs and policies lead to postsecondary success.

With the Clearinghouse’s nationwide secondary and postsecondary student data, principals can see exactly how each of their school’s graduates continue their formal learning beyond high school. Principals can also identify their most effective efforts that lead to students’ postsecondary success.

“The data provided by the Clearinghouse gives us access to how many of our students attend postsecondary institutions upon graduation, which is a valuable data tool we use to look at trends,” said Matthew Elder, assistant principal of Orange Vista High School in Perris, California. “We look at the institutions our students are attending and the timeframe when they attend those institutions. This information allows us to make our site’s postsecondary plans each year to narrow our focus for our students and staff.”

“Principals always want to know how well their graduates are doing in their postsecondary journey. But they too often have to rely on survey data, which provides a very limited and sometimes inaccurate picture,” said NASSP Executive Director JoAnn D. Bartoletti, who also serves on the Clearinghouse Board of Directors. “Collaborating with the Clearinghouse, NASSP can both provide principals access to a comprehensive set of objective data and help them maximize the use of that data to assess their own high school programs.”

“Working in a collaborative fashion with NASSP allows the Clearinghouse to have a greater understanding of the needs of secondary school principals and to address their most pressing challenges,” said Rick Torres, President and CEO of the Clearinghouse. “Our mutual efforts will better inform the nation’s K–12 leaders about student pathways to strengthen schools and help education go further with innovative approaches that meet reporting, research, verification, transcript, and data exchange demands across the K–20 to workforce continuum.”

Clearinghouse staff will host thought leadership conversations at the July 2019 National Principals Conference and the September 2019 NASSP Principal’s Institute Meeting. The two organizations will work together on joint articles, a national co-branded survey, sharing strategic information on each other’s websites, and webinar and strategy sessions to benefit secondary school leaders.

The Clearinghouse regularly works with educational organizations, including state and local agencies and principals throughout the country, to accurately assess the efforts of schools and outreach programs to help millions of students succeed each year and determine college and career readiness. Each fall, the Clearinghouse produces the High School Benchmarks report, which breaks down the nationwide data by school type (public, private, and charter) as well as demographic details.

Using the High School Benchmarks Report, high schools and school districts can conduct an apples-to-apples comparison between their school’s college enrollment, persistence, and graduation rates and those of similar schools across the country. The outcomes data is also formatted in percentile rankings, allowing schools to assess their performance relative to that of similar schools. The data empowers principals and administrators with accurate, reliable data to chart student success throughout college, answering such questions as:

  • How well are we preparing our students to get into college?
  • How many of our graduates enroll in college and graduate?
  • How well are we preparing our students to succeed once they are in college?
  • How do our school’s postsecondary education rates compare to other schools with similar populations?

Contact Todd Sedmak to set up an interview with the principal of a case-study school or a Clearinghouse official.


About the National Student Clearinghouse®

The National Student Clearinghouse, a nonprofit formed in 1993, is the trusted source for and leading provider of higher education verifications and electronic education record exchanges.

The Clearinghouse serves as a single point of contact for the collection and timely exchange of accurate and comprehensive enrollment, degree, and certificate records on behalf of its more than 3,600 participating higher education institutions, which represent 98 percent of all students in public and private U.S. institutions. The Clearinghouse also provides thousands of high schools and districts with continuing collegiate enrollment, progression, and completion statistics on their alumni.

Through its verification, electronic exchange, and reporting services, the Clearinghouse saves the education community cumulatively over $750 million annually. Most Clearinghouse services are provided to colleges and universities at little or no charge, including enhanced transcript and research services, enabling institutions to redistribute limited staff and budget resources to more important student service efforts. Clearinghouse services are designed to facilitate an institution’s compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, The Higher Education Act, and other applicable laws. The Clearinghouse has signed the Student Privacy Pledge and is the first recipient of ikeepsafe.org’s FERPA compliance badge, which was awarded to its StudentTracker for High Schools service.

For more information, visit www.studentclearinghouse.org.

About NASSP

The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) is the leading organization of and voice for middle level and high school principals, assistant principals, and school leaders from across the United States. The association connects and engages school leaders through advocacy, research, education, and student programs. NASSP advocates on behalf of all school leaders to ensure the success of each student and strengthens school leadership practices through the design and delivery of high-quality professional learning experiences. Reflecting its long-standing commitment to student leadership development, NASSP administers the National Honor SocietyNational Junior Honor SocietyNational Elementary Honor Society, and National Student Council.