What you need to know: As part of Governor Newsom’s directive to make government more efficient, effective and engaged, the California Cradle-to-Career Data System just launched the Lesson Plan Challenge. The challenge is an opportunity for California’s educators to engage further with the state to help learners gain data literacy skills and understand how to make informed decisions about their futures.
Sacramento – California has begun an engagement opportunity for the state’s educators to design innovative lesson plans that will help the next generation of learners explore different education and career pathways after high school. Early engagement efforts and feedback from educators show a strong interest in helping students translate data insights in practical ways.
“By working hand in hand with educators across the state, we can inspire creative ways to help learners gain analytical skills and strengthen the connection between classrooms and real-world opportunities.” –Mary Ann Bates, Executive Director, California Cradle-to-Career Data System
The Challenge
The Lesson Plan Challenge aims to spark curiosity and student engagement, while making learning interactive with direct application. Educators will design a 45-60 minute lesson plan that incorporates the Student Pathways Dashboard, help learners understand how to interpret the data, and plan their own college and career paths.
Lesson plans will be scored under three categories:
- Engaging curriculum for students through integrating the Student Pathways Dashboard
- Clear learning objectives that build data literacy skills
- Curriculum that incorporates students’ lived experiences
“It’s exciting that California wants to be more transparent with their education data. I’d like for my students to takeaway from my lesson the idea that they can see and dig into trends behind education in CA, and really to think about how they would lead the change later in their lives” -Educator comment from feedback session with Cradle-to-Career
The Student Pathways Dashboard
In April 2025, California launched the Student Pathways Dashboard, the state’s first-of-its kind tool for education and career planning. Student Pathways combines thoughtful storytelling and a series of data visualizations to display key milestones in a student’s experience over time. The information can be broken down by geographic location or demographic characteristics such as race or ethnicity, gender, or foster status. Educators will be able to access the dashboard, along with the following data:
- Who goes to college
- What types of degrees students earn
- How long it takes to complete a degree
- How much students earn while enrolled in college
- How much students earn after completing their education
Who Should Join?
If you work with K-12 students or would like to connect with other educators interested in data, we want to hear from you!
- K-12 educators
- Educators in training
- Postsecondary faculty
Each participant will receive a certificate of recognition, a Pathfinder badge, and a chance to connect with other Pathfinders throughout the state. Winners will be featured on Cradle-to-Career’s website, have their lesson plan highlighted in Cradle-to-Career’s resources, and will have an opportunity to present their lesson plan ahead of the Cradle-to-Career Governing Board, and their respective regional education board meeting.
Leading in Engagement
The Lesson Plan Challenge is just one part of Governor Newsom’s vision of transforming state government, by ending slow and complicated bureaucratic processes and moving to an efficient, collaborative, and more productive model that effectively delivers real outcomes and value for all Californians.
What’s Next
Cradle-to-Career will accept lesson plan submissions on a rolling basis from September 24, 2025 to March 16, 2026. Three finalists will be selected through a scored rubric and will be announced in Summer 2026.
Educators are encouraged to submit their lesson plans through c2c.ca.gov. Cradle-to-Career is hosting an informational session on November 6, 2025, for anyone interested in learning more.
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