Multiagency system tracks student progress from pre-K through employment
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California’s Cradle-to-Career Data System aims to track student outcomes and show the relationships between education, workforce training, social services and employment.
California is one step closer to a statewide system that will link existing data on student’s education, employment, financial aid and social services.
The Cradle-to-Career Data System aims to create tools to track student progress from pre-K through college and employment. The tools, which will roll out over the next five years, will allow students, families, policy makers, researchers and the public to better understand the relationships between education, workforce training, social services and employment.
With legal agreements with 15 state agencies in place, it will now be possible to securely compile information, while still making it available through easy-to-use tools designed for a variety of users, state officials said in a release.
The Office of Cradle-to-Career Data has called for an iterative, cloud-first approach as it works to procure the technology platform that will house the system. On May 10, the state released a call for proposals and plans to select a vendor by late summer 2022.
The first product will be a public dashboard on the teacher training pipeline, highlighting employment outcomes for those who receive teaching credentials. This dashboard will provide data relevant to teacher training and retention and is designed to help inform implementation of California’s recent $2.9 billion in investments in teacher preparation, retention and training.
To move the project forward, the Office of Cradle-to-Career Data is hiring for senior leadership positions across data infrastructure and programs, communications and engagement and operations.
“Thanks to the unprecedented collaboration and leadership of more than a dozen California agencies, departments, and organizations, we are now poised to build out a landmark data system,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom. “Bringing this information together will enable a greater understanding of barriers students face and empower Californians to build more equitable futures.”