Why We Measure

By using data as the foundation of our work, we seek to show that for our young people to succeed, the systems they experience must change. The data show that our systems are not equitable for Bexar County’s young people, especially our Black and Latinx communities. We believe in using data to inform our partners and community, to compel action to change these systems and to help our young people be ready for the future.

Who Utilizes This Data:

researchers

Researchers

practitioners

Practitioners

community members

Community Members

families

Youth and Families

Where We Seek Change

We believe in the importance of disaggregating data by race, ethnicity, income, gender, and citizenship status whenever possible. This can then help those in power make informed decisions on how existing disparities within systems lead to disparities in outcomes.

Latinx students in San Antonio’s four year universities are as likely to complete a 4-year degree as their counterparts. We make sure the road to and through college is equitable through our Diplomás network.

Preparing Bexar County’s Young People for the Future

In today’s economy, approximately 65% of employment opportunities require some postsecondary education or training. However, in Bexar County only around 50% of high school graduates enroll in further education or training after graduation. To drive progress in postsecondary enrollment and completion, we know that we also need to be supporting breakthrough earlier in our students’ cradle to career journeys. 

UP Partnership’s Cradle to Career dashboard provides information on key education and workforce milestones disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, income, language and special education status.

Our dashboards also provide information by Bexar County school district and show comparisons with Bexar County and State of Texas trendlines.

This data can serve as a resource for our community in making data-informed decisions to refine strategies, target resources and track progress in closing education gaps for our young people from early childhood to workforce.

Ensuring that all of our young people succeed is our entire community’s responsibility. The Bexar County Postsecondary Metrics dashboard illustrates college readiness, access to a postsecondary education through dual credit, and postsecondary enrollment. This dashboard also depicts the number of students needed by each school district and high school to reach the Future Ready Bexar County Plan’s North Star goal of 70% postsecondary enrollment in a degree or credential program by 2030.

Our My Brother’s Keeper San Antonio and Diplomás networks focus on postsecondary enrollment and attainment and Excel Beyond the Bell focuses on the social emotional development of youth-serving professionals. Together, these networks alongside our collaboratives of Restorative Practices, Equitable Enrollment, and Excel Academy follow the Future Ready Bexar County Plan’s equity pillars of Healing, Access, and Voice, which are all must HAVEs for young people to equitably feel empowered and thrive in our community.

Our Community’s Investments in Young People

How our community is making its financial investments tells us its priorities. The fiscal resource dashboard is the result of an analysis of investments throughout Bexar County to help city leaders and stakeholders better align their resources to address funding gaps in our community. This fiscal resource dashboard was made in partnership with the Children’s Funding Project and the City of San Antonio Department of Human Services.

This dashboard was created after mapping publicly available data and addresses six outcome areas. 

Our recommendations for investing in our community

How our community is making its financial investments tells us its priorities. The Leveraging American Rescue Plan Act Funds for Youth Outcomes is a guide developed by UP Partnership, in conjunction with PFM and the Children’s Funding Project to aid local partners in making transformative ARPA investments to support young people. 

More than 60 partners, including high school students, participated in our Funding Alignment Task Force in 2020 to develop recommendations for an equitable recovery post-pandemic. Recommendations for spending are grouped by three outcome areas: “Safe and stable,” “Mental Health and Wellbeing,” and “Connected/Academically Prepared.”

Our Community’s Services for Young People

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, we mapped many of the non-profit agencies serving children and youth in San Antonio, including traditional out-of-school time programs, workforce training and college test prep. The map was created to help families, practitioners, researchers, and community members know what services to support young people exist and where in our community we find gaps. 

Whether you are a parent looking for an out-of-school time program for your child, a community partner deciding where to offer services, or a researcher examining equitable distribution of resources across our city, this map has information from more than 80 different agencies and more than 500 programs to help you find that information.