Tine Sloan and Russell Rumberger of UC Santa Barbara’s Department of Education have been appointed to the Research Advisory Subcommittee for the development of the California Cradle-to-Career Data System. The California Governor’s Office and WestEd (an education non-profit) are proposing a design process for infrastructure that will integrate information provided by partner entities (i.e. organizations, such as schools and state agencies) into a secure state-wide data system, as per the California Cradle-to-Career Data System Act passed in 2019.
According to the California Data System Act website, “This data system will ensure that educational, workforce, financial aid, and social service information is fully leveraged to address disparities in opportunities and improve outcomes for all students from cradle to career.”
Linking early-education, K-12, post-secondary, and employment data will help students, schools, educators, families, state agencies, and policymakers support student success. The data can be used to inform decisions related to students’ pathways; educational, workforce, and health and human services programs; state financial aid; policies; and research.
The Research Advisory Subcommittee is comprised of representatives from partner entities and research and advocacy groups. Sloan represents the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, of which she is the chair and the University of California representative. She is an Associate Teaching Professor and the former director of the Teacher Education Program. Her research pertains to teacher preparation and related policy. Rumberger, Professor Emeritus, represents UC Santa Barbara. His research focuses on school dropouts. He founded and directed the California Dropout Research Project.
The purpose of the Research Agenda Sub-Committee is to identify parameters for research on the six priority areas specified in legislation: long-term outcomes of early childhood services; long-term outcomes of primary school interventions; college readiness for high school students; timeframes for community college students to transfer to four-year colleges and earn a baccalaureate degree; impact of financial aid on educational and career outcomes; and employment outcomes after students exit education.
The sub-committee first met in February, focusing on students transferring from community college. Five more meetings will be held through August as the group addresses other research and policy questions and prepares recommendations for the Workgroup, the group of partner entities contributing to the data system. The Workgroup’s recommendations for development of the data system will be sent Governor Gavin Newsom’s office.