California's Cradle-to-Career Dashboard Fails To Deliver Its Promise

Despite A Large Investment of Taxpayer Dollars, The New Dashboard Did Not Produce A “Cradle to Career” Data System 

Sacramento, CA — The California Office of Cradle to Career (C2C) has just unveiled its first dashboard, aiming to illuminate the “cradle to career” educational journeys of students across the state. However, the dashboard has not fulfilled its hype and the public should be concerned about its scope and accuracy in illuminating student’s paths to success.

“The dashboard fails to do what it promised,” said Alex Barrios, President of Educational Results Partnership. “It doesn’t represent the journeys of all students and how they navigate to and through careers.”

Taxpayers should be aware of many issues with the C2C dashboard, including:

1. Misrepresentation of the "Cradle to Career" ConceptDespite its title and marketing, this first dashboard is not an actual “cradle to career” representation. The dashboard starts following the journeys of students only after they graduate high school, thereby excluding high school drop outs, and other important K-12 and early childhood benchmarks. The dashboard also provides no insight into how students navigate themselves into successful careers and earnings. 

2. Missing Metrics for K–12 SchoolsBy focusing solely on the minority of students enrolling in college from high school, the dashboard provides a misleading assessment of K–12 educational effectiveness in terms of workforce outcomes. This perspective overlooks alternative pathways after high school, such as vocational training, on the job training, entrepreneurship, or direct entry into the workforce and a flexible sequencing of college learning over time. Showing data for students based solely on the immediate college enrollment and completion is a biased and invalid representation of their actual cradle to career experience. Furthermore, it sets a dangerous and inaccurate expectation that in California, the only way to career success is through a predetermined degree, certificate or credential pathway. 

3. Neglect of Evolving Educational and Workforce DynamicsThe dashboard does not account for contemporary trends embraced by many learners that are reshaping postsecondary education and employment landscapes:​

• Flexible Educational Sequencing: An increasing number of students are entering the workforce straight out of high school instead of immediately enrolling in college. Over time, they choose to engage in a flexible sequencing of college courses based upon the needs of employment to increase their wages. 

• Shift Towards Skills-Based Hiring: Employers are progressively valuing workforce skills over formal degrees, credentials and certificates when making hiring decisions. Recent reports show 81% of employers are now using skills-based hiring, reflecting a significant shift in hiring trends.

  
  

By not incorporating these trends capturing the experiences of most learners, the C2C data system provides an outdated and misleading picture of student trajectories and subsequent workforce value. Furthermore, the state is missing an opportunity to explain the many ways that learners can find their way to success. 

About Educational Results Partnership

Educational Results Partnership is a non-profit organization that applies data science to help improve student outcomes and career readiness throughout the educational system. Our goal is to ensure that more students enter the workforce with the skills today’s global economy demands. In partnership with educators and employers, we are charting the pathways that lead to academic success and living-wage jobs. Learn more at edresults.org.