Using Student Data To Support Their Future
Districts such as Weehawken are already collecting this valuable data. Weehawken uses one platform for “official grades, demographic information and contact details,” and another as the “primary tool for tracking academic performance and test scores over time,” explains Crespo.
This longitudinal information can be combined with “interests expressed in course selections, strengths shown in specific subjects, participation in career and technical programs, and even results from interest inventories,” says Crespo.
Career coaches and counselors can bring this information to students to help them explore their career options and chart a path to get them there.
“That combined picture can steer students toward internships, dual-enrollment courses or trade pathways that actually fit them, rather than funneling everyone through the same four-year pipeline by default,” says Crespo. “A district that’s paying attention to this data can start having a real conversation with a ninth grader about where their strengths are pointing instead of waiting until junior year when options have already narrowed.”
Creating the Next Generation of Cybersecurity Workers
Talladega County Schools in Alabama is one district that’s paying attention. Talladega County participates in the East Alabama Regional Cybersecurity Alliance, which aims to connect students with local businesses and colleges to support the growing need for cybersecurity talent in this region.
Kim Knight, career and technical education director for Talladega County Schools, describes this alliance as the “school-to-work” pathway, where students are given the opportunity to see how what they’re learning in the classroom translates into real-world work.
“We don’t use data to tell students what they should become,” clarifies Knight. “We use it to help them discover possibilities and then give them experiences to test those possibilities.”
In addition to the mentorships, internships, certifications and post-secondary options that are made available through this alliance, Talladega County is strategic about the courses it offers as part of this cybersecurity career pathway. The district compares workforce data with student interest information. Knight says that student data comes in the form of career assessments, interest inventories, course requests, program declarations, credential attainment and enrollment trends.
“We look outward, at where the opportunities are going, and inward, at who our students are. Where those two sets of data intersect is where we want to build opportunity,” says Knight.
Naturally, the county is using data to ensure that it is preparing students correctly by looking at credentials earned, work-based learning placement, graduation rates, and post-graduation employment or college enrollment, shares Knight. The focused effort has paid off: According to Knight, program declarations for career and technical education grew 66% in a few years. The post-graduation data is also telling: Knight says that Talladega County has an almost 84% post-program placement in a job, college or military service, according to 2024–2025 data. Students are also accumulating working hours — and wages — before graduation.
Knight acknowledges the value of data in helping students, but says that it’s the career counselors who truly guide students to their best-fit pathway.
“For us, college and career readiness aren’t about preparing every student for the same destination. It’s about using data, relationships and real-world experiences to help each student discover a destination — and then making sure we’ve built a pathway that can get them there,” says Knight.
