What you need to know: The Cradle-to-Career Data System displays key milestones in students’ experience over time and provides insights about education and career pathways.
Sacramento – Today, Governor Gavin Newsom unveiled a first-of-its-kind informational tool to help students better understand their options for education and career planning. The Cradle-to-Career (C2C) Data System links datasets from K-12 and higher education, social service, and workforce entities to unite information from disconnected data across sectors and provide insights previously unavailable. This system will allow the public, educators, researchers, and policymakers to access detailed information on education and career outcomes, workforce trends, and more – broken down by demographics and region – to illuminate and address areas of strength and needed growth. By linking data from multiple sources, C2C illuminates gaps and identifies opportunities throughout students’ education experiences so they can ultimately reach their goals for life and careers.
“California is thrilled to launch its first-in-the-nation Cradle to Career Dashboard, a powerful new tool to support every Californian on their path to success. With the C2C Student Pathways Dashboard now live, Californians can visualize their futures by seeing disconnected data from across sectors and previously unavailable insights, all in one place. The Golden State is once again leading the way in innovation, connecting our education system to the workforce to ensure everyone has the freedom to succeed.”– Governor Gavin Newsom
Why this matters
Access to transparent, verified and centralized information about education and workforce outcomes is needed to understand whether efforts to improve student success are working as intended. Students and families often make decisions about education and career pathways with limited and disconnected information about outcomes. The Student Pathways dashboard addresses this information gap.
“In my quest to find basic information on college-going rates, outcomes or employment prospects, it felt like trying to find a needle in a haystack because of all the different resources. With this tool, I feel that students like me will have the chance to have everything available at their fingers.” – Mike Nguyen, Student, University of California Berkeley and Cradle-to-Career Advisory Board Member.
The Student Pathways dashboard connects the dots between K-12 education to the state’s public college and earnings information to help users like guidance counselors identify the best education options based on the learners’ needs and goals. The resource combines a series of data visualizations and guiding questions to help users understand how Californians are navigating to and through college.
Through Student Pathways, Californians can analyze:
- California students navigate to and through college
- Who enrolls in college
- What types of degrees students earn
- How long it takes students to graduate
- How much working students earn while enrolled in college
- How much individuals earn after they graduate
“In today’s information-driven world, it’s never been more crucial to provide our students, school district leaders and the community with timely, accurate and reliable information to help make informed decisions to improve futures,” said Government Operations Agency Secretary Nick Maduros. “The Cradle-to-Career initiative gives the decision-making power to ALL Californians.”
“The Student Pathways dashboard combines data-driven insights and thoughtful story telling. Our goal for this tool is to empower individuals to make informed decisions about their lives,” said Mary Ann Bates, executive director at the Office of Cradle-to-Career Data. “We know that stories have the ability to connect, inspire and help us better understand each other. And that’s what Student Pathways does: connect, inspire and understand.”
A Useful Tool Built by, and for Californians
Cradle-to-Career heard directly from California’s educators, counselors, students, families, and policymakers. From its creation in 2021, Cradle-to-Career has utilized user-centered design to develop the data system. This approach allows Californians to share their feedback at each phase of the system build. Input from Californians shape Cradle-to-Career’s design and decision making. For example, the dashboard lets users explore information based on school or legislative district. Users can also filter by characteristics like race/ethnicity, gender, or foster youth status. These key features were a direct result of Californians voicing what was important for them.Student Pathways is one of eight planned dashboards from Cradle-to-Career. Future iterations of Student Pathways will expand on educational journeys and employment outcomes in both directions, including earlier stages of the K-12 experience and better understanding of workforce training programs. In addition to the dashboards, Cradle-to-Career is developing a query builder and a research request process to provide different levels of user-experience to the dataset.
Commitment to Security and Privacy
The California Cradle-to-Career Data System is the state’s official source of actionable data and research on education, economic, and health outcomes. Cradle-to-Career is committed to protecting and securing confidential records of Californians and follows stringent state, federal and industry standards to ensure data system security and privacy. Learn more about Cradle-to-Career’s security and privacy.
About the Cradle-to-Career Data System
Before the Cradle-to-Career Act was signed into law in 2021, California was one of the only states without a longitudinal data system capable of identifying progress over time through multiple stages in individuals’ educational and career journeys. Through an 18-month long public planning process with over 200 individuals representing state entities, community leaders, educators, and members of the public, the blueprint for the state’s longitudinal data system was created.
The California Cradle-to-Career initiative is a major milestone for the state, uniting existing and verified information across education, social services, and workforce sectors for the first time to help Californians understand their options to build brighter futures.
The Student Pathways dashboard is powered by existing but previously disconnected data from the California Department of Education, California Community Colleges, California State University, the University of California, and the Employment Development Department.
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What California’s Leaders are Saying
California Legislative Leaders
Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin: “The power that data can have to transform lives and improve education and career outcomes is an invaluable investment for California’s future. The dashboard being released today, and the others in the development pipeline, will empower Californians to make some of the most pivotal decisions in their lives based on real experiences and outcomes.”
Senator John Laird: “The Legislature understands the vital role that access to reliable data plays in shaping sound, evidence-based policy. I’m proud of the tremendous progress the Cradle-to-Career team has made on behalf of California and its residents, and I look forward to the opportunities this work will unlock in building a more equitable future for generations to come.”
Education Leaders
California Community Colleges Chancellor Sonya Christian: “The California Community Colleges applauds the launch of the new Student Pathways Dashboard —a vital step in empowering students, educators, and policymakers with data-driven insights to foster academic and career success. As an early advocate for California’s statewide longitudinal data system, I have long believed that linking students’ educational journey to workforce outcomes provides the key to unlocking opportunity for all learners. Our office participated in the exceptional work to create the Cradle-to-Career Data System and remains deeply committed to advancing this vision through our leadership on the Cradle-to-Career Board and our collaborative work developing essential tools like the eTranscript platform and the California Career Passport. By continuing to invest in thoughtful, evidence-based solutions, we can create a future where every student has the knowledge and resources to navigate their educational journey to meaningful, living-wage employment with confidence and purpose.”
University of California President Michael V. Drake, M.D.: “The Cradle-to-Career Data System will improve transparency and provide much needed insights on career outcomes, graduation rates, and financial aid. This is another great example of California’s higher education institutions working collaboratively with Governor Newsom and state agencies to help students and educators succeed.”
California State University Chancellor Mildred García: “The CSU is firmly committed to partnering across sectors and sharing data to improve educational and employment opportunities for Californians, and the new Student Pathways Dashboard both exemplifies and advances that commitment. We are pleased to partner with C2C to provide data that will empower agencies and institutions across the state, and we look forward to using this extraordinary analytic tool to help drive even greater outcomes for the CSU’s diverse and talented students.”
California State Superintendent Tony Thurmond: “It is vitally important that we understand our students’ journeys to college and beyond, so that we can better accelerate success for all of our young people at every stage of their lives. I am proud that the California Department of Education has contributed close to one billion records to the California Cradle-to-Career Data System to make this data release possible.”
Labor and Workforce Leaders
Employment Development Department Executive Director Nancy Farias: “EDD is proud to be working with our partners in providing insights that will help strengthen and maximize the educational and career opportunities for Californians.”
California Labor and Workforce Development Agency Secretary Stewart Knox: “The statewide Cradle-to-Career effort ties in perfectly to the new Master Plan for Career Education that prioritizes pathways to good jobs. Having a centralized place that connects education and workforce outcomes is an exciting step towards understanding how we can grow the workforce and widen the pipeline to higher paying jobs for all Californians. The Labor and Workforce Development Agency is eager to continue its partnership with Cradle-to-Career to deepen our understanding of how different training programs benefit workers in the state.”
Community Leaders
Dr. Christopher J. Nellum, executive director, EdTrust-West: “California’s progress toward educational justice is far too slow—and it’s in large part because Californians don’t have the insight we need into how our education investments and systems are working (or not). California is doing this work differently from other states, putting the most important audiences first: students, parents, and educators, rather than just focusing on connecting siloed data or on tools for policy insiders. The Cradle-to-Career Student Pathways Data Dashboard is a key part of this effort, providing transparent, accessible data to empower families and communities to better understand and support student journeys.”