By: C2C Staff
Cradle-to-Career will soon release our first data dashboard. As we move closer to launch, we’re eager to share updates on the development of the Student Pathways data story, our first planned dashboard.
Through a series of data visualizations and guiding questions, the Student Pathways data story will depict various paths students take from high school, to college, and their careers. How do California public school students navigate to and through college? Who enrolls in college? How long does it take to complete a degree? How much do students earn after they graduate? These are questions our Student Pathways dashboard will answer. Our dashboard will shed light on pathways from public high school to college, and on to the workforce.
Over the course of over 100 public meetings with more than 200 people from 15 agencies, educational institutions, research and policy organizations, and community groups, planners worked to design a blueprint for C2C.
We’ve benefited from all the work the planners did to ensure our success before the arrival of data. After the planning process, we signed legal agreements with 16 state agencies, paving the way to match and receive data from our partners. In fall 2023, our partners submitted the initial batch of data that would lay the groundwork for the data system. In March 2024, the first annual data submission was completed. Beginning in 2024, we launched a series of in-person Community Conversations to meet Californians where they are. C2C sought to hear directly from Californians about their unique needs and how the data system could provide solutions.
Now that we have the data to work with, we’ve learned a lot about what’s possible in the immediate term as well as in future releases and iterations.
What’s Included in the Initial Launch
Our first dashboard will tell the untold stories of thousands of students in California.
- Student Pathways from High School to Postsecondary. The initial dashboard will display student paths from public high school completion to California’s public colleges and universities. This infographic will show the flow of students over time to clarify when students enter and exit the higher education system, including the average time to complete a degree or certificate.
- Wages While Enrolled in College. The initial dashboard will include a second infographic that shows when individuals start working while still enrolled in public college.
- Wages After Completing Postsecondary Education. The initial dashboard will include information on individuals’ income up to five years after they graduate from college, providing clarity on outcomes by degree type.
- Disaggregation by a variety of factors. The initial dashboard will provide the ability to filter by academic year, statewide/school district/legislative district, student characteristics such as race/ethnicity, gender, foster status, and homeless status.
- Ability to export. Users will have the option to export summary files or charts based on the variables selected.
Adapting While Staying Committed to the Mission
As with all new projects, learning, adjusting, and pivoting are inevitable. Some data elements listed in the initial planning process will not be included in the first version of the dashboard. The first iteration of Student Pathways will not include:
- early childhood education data;
- higher education enrollment at non-public institutions or at out of state universities;
- living wage data;
- earnings for individuals who didn’t graduate from or enrolled in a California public higher education institution;
- English language learner status; and
- socioeconomic status, and parental education level.
We’re working with our data partners to determine data availability, data quality, and identify data interpretation issues. The Cradle-to-Career team is exploring how to best represent these data.
Looking Ahead
This first launch is just the beginning. As we expand our data set and refine our processes, we are committed to exploring the best ways to represent the lived experiences of millions of Californians. C2C will continue to work with its data partners, with the aim of incorporating all data points proposed in the planning process to provide a comprehensive picture of the student journey.
We are excited to launch the first of many insightful dashboards to ignite informed-decision making. Stay tuned for more updates as we work towards a more equitable future for all Californians.