Cradle to Career Data System
The Cradle-to-Career Data System
The Cradle-to-Career (C2C) Data System was established in the July 2021 State Budget (AB 132) and is located within the Government Operations Agency. (See Education Code Section 10860-10874.) Its purpose is to provide user-friendly information from pre-K through college and career, to help students and families make decisions about post-secondary education and careers, including financial aid: https://c2c.ca.gov. Another purpose is to provide information to the public and policymakers on how to improve the education system.
In 2018, Public Advocates joined with the California Higher Education Equity Coalition to meet with newly elected Governor Gavin Newsom to discuss our higher education priorities, which included creating a comprehensive longitudinal data system that would track the educational progress and outcomes of California’s students from pre-K through college and career and provide essential data for promoting equity, identifying racial and gender disparities, and advancing continuous improvement. Public Advocates was part of the 18-month planning process involving state agencies, community members and data experts in a Workgroup to make recommendations for the design and governance of the new longitudinal data system. Public Advocates was a member of the Policy & Analytics Advisory Committee of the Cradle-to-Career Workgroup and built legislative support for the creation of the Data System.
While the C2C Data System launched officially in 2022, it is still being built. It is governed by a 21-member board of data providers (CSU, UC, CDE, etc.), public members and legislators and is staffed by the Office of Cradle-to-Career Data (C2C) headed by Executive Director Mary Ann Bates. The Governing Board meets four times a year. C2C has two advisory boards–the Data & Tools Advisory Board and the Community Engagement Advisory Board of which Public Advocates is a member.
Public Advocates worked to ensure that the voices of students and families were prioritized as the system was planned and implemented. In 2020, we joined 45 organizations from across the state in recommending the creation of stakeholder advisory groups focused on five principles essential to the design of an equitable system. This was followed up in August with a joint letter from Public Advocates and the University of California Student Association calling for a commitment to engage diverse stakeholders, especially underrepresented students, and a transparent process accessible to the public, students, and families. In September, we led a bilingual webinar geared to students and families that provided an overview of the system and how their involvement and voices could help shape equitable policies, funding, and financial aid programs. The webinar is the first of many efforts the Higher Education team will be making to ensure that the voices of students and their priorities are reflected in the data that is collected and how it is made available.
Tools from C2C are not fully available, but will include CaliforniaColleges.edu, which provides college planning and application tools. It will also include high school transcript services to streamline college applications for K-12 students. See C2C’s web page For K-12 students, parents, educators, and school districts: https://c2c.ca.gov/career-tools/#tools-available.