In 2021, California Governor Gavin Newsom and the state legislature approved Assembly Bill 132, the *Cradle 2 Career (C2C) initiative to create a single K-12+ public school student data repository. In cooperation with the California College Guidance Initiative (CCGI), students utilize dashboards and CCGI to keep transcript records after changing districts, learn about aligning personal interests with career options, map out education pathways to achieve that goal, and streamline financial aid and admission processes. All student personal data is protected under FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act), but metadata points will be accessible to education researchers and school districts to support effective education revisions.

In four years, the C2C program has achieved many goals and reprioritized others, and also launched its first data platform this year. C2C reprioritized by focusing on high school students before expanding into earlier grades. Launched in August, the Student Pathways dashboard allows students in grades 6-12 to align their personal interests with multiple job positions, then offers higher education pathways to achieve their career dreams. CCGI allows students to fill out the Common

Application for CSU and UC colleges in less than 30 minutes; FAFSA and CADAA financial aid forms are submitted faster too. C2C partners with existing scholastic programs serving students like AERIES, National Student Clearinghouse, and International Baccalaureate, so it did not waste time “reinventing the wheel,” but utilized existing data in a centralized location for students to use and for researchers to access. C2C is currently negotiating with the College Board, which oversees the Advanced Placement curriculum and assessments, and nationwide private universities to give students more choices.

C2C includes e-transcript, where teachers insert student course information into a central database calculating all student efforts, from dual enrollment to coursework from different districts, towards meeting their a-g requirement. This owns operator error and gives students more accurate information. A-g fulfillment qualifies students to directly enter UC and CSU schools as freshmen. In Riverside Unified School District, this program exposed a 15-point increase in graduating seniors’ a-g compliance that was missed due to misidentified courses, non-inclusion of dual enrollment classes, or operator error.
Before the initial five-year plan expires, C2C will launch e-transcript statewide, connect smaller school districts to Wi-Fi (enabling access to the C2C programs), expand the Workforce data connection, launch the Quest research dashboard, and continue strengthening security measures protecting student personal information from data mining. The Quest dashboard provides data accessibility to researchers and public-school staff. Workforce data expansion includes industry agreements to expand career option pathways.

Students use CCGI as an effective and user-friendly way to explore career opportunities that align with their interests and strengths. C2C programs like CCGI give students data and efficient services so students can directly interact with higher education opportunities they qualify for academically and financially, instead of allowing others to decide if they are college material.

According to FJUHSD Education Services Coordinator Dr. Katie Wright, the district introduced the CCGI program to all students last October, with parents having the ability to have their children opt out of using the database. The soft launch gave counselors an opportunity to help some students access their transcripts, fill out applications, and apply for California colleges and financial aid. It worked well, but widespread family engagement to learn about the program has been challenging.

Students work with their academic counselors to reassess classes annually, aligning coursework with their goals. Through CCGI, counselors have one database to monitor transcripts, student’s a-g completion rates, dual enrollment college classes, higher education applications, and financial aid submissions, all of which leaves them time to follow up with students to meet deadlines and get other support to transition to higher education.

According to Dr. Wright,the CCGI program received positive student feedback regarding ease of application submission and overall access. This year, with all students and counselors accessing CCGI, FJUHSD will get better response data on student ease of use. Dr. Wright also stated that FJUHSD still offers yearlong higher education in-person services like large college fairs, weekly site visits from colleges, career/trade information sessions, and college field trips. Parent information about CCGI is translated into Spanish and Korean. For more information, contact your student’s academic counselor or the school site guidance counselor.
*(https://c2c.ca.gov/)