The N.C. Department of Information Technology’s Government Data Analytics Center, The Hunt Institute and the Office of Governor Roy Cooper partnered to sponsor the third annual North Carolina Education Datathon on Feb. 8 and 9 in Raleigh.
The event paired 19 teams of North Carolina high school and college students with volunteer mentors who used publicly available data to address social and economic problems affecting their state and community. The theme for this year’s event was Connecting Career and Technical Education (CTE) and North Carolina Workforce Needs.
“The importance of career and technical education in our public schools has never been greater,” said Governor Cooper. “Ensuring that our efforts in education are focused on the skills employers are looking for is critical to the economic wellbeing of both our residents and our businesses. These student teams are finding important data-driven solutions to bridge the gaps in training our future workforce.”
The student-led teams researched how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the unemployment rate and job opening rate in North Carolina. The primary focus of the research was the disparity between available jobs and the skillsets of job seekers, also known as the skills gap, that has been a concern even before the pandemic.
Students used publicly available datasets to create data visualization tools revealing key findings regarding how high school graduates are prepared to enter today’s workforce. They offered solutions for schools to improve CTE courses to match the workforce needs of the state.
“Education data is critically important in ensuring educators, school leaders, policymakers and the public can determine what practices best serve all students,” said Hunt Institute President and CEO Dr. Javaid Siddiqi. “The NC Datathon provides a great opportunity for future researchers and data analysts to see how education data can be leveraged for greater student impact.”
The student teams presented their findings to a panel of expert judges including Gina Zhang, Research and Data Analysis Manager, myFutureNC; Dr. Elizabeth McGrath, Director Employment Statistics & Analysis, N.C. Department of Commerce; and Eli Hamrick, Secondary Computer Science, IT, and Technology Education Consultant, N.C. Department of Public Instruction.
Cary Academy won its second victory in a row in the Best Overall category. The team presented a dashboard that visualizes data aligning North Carolina counties with CTE and workforce needs, enabling the identification of underutilized and overutilized career clusters by 2026, increasing representation in less diverse areas, and displaying the number of students graduating in specific CTE programs such as health science, finance, STEM, hospitality and more, across all counties and the state.
More than 20 mentor volunteers from government entities, including NCDIT, and the private sector provided guidance to the student teams.
“The NC Datathon helps a new generation develop data analytics, problem solving and presentation skills that can prepare them for a rewarding career,” said NCDIT Secretary and State Chief Information Officer Jim Weaver. “NCDIT is proud to support this important event and provide mentorship to these students who could one day lead data-driven decision making for our state.”
The NC Datathon was made possible by the John M. Belk Endowment. For more information, visit hunt-institute.org/north-carolina-education-datathon.
About the NCDIT Government Data Analytics Center
The N.C. Department of Information Technology manages and coordinates state data integration efforts through the Government Data Analytics Center (GDAC). Currently, GDAC integrates data and develops analytics to support business needs associated with criminal justice, child safety, fraud, compliance, health care and longitudinal and performance analysis. For more information about NCDIT, please visit it.nc.gov.
About The Hunt Institute
An affiliate of the Duke University Sanford School of Public Policy, The Hunt Institute is a recognized leader in the movement to transform public education. Marshaling expertise from a nationwide partner network since its establishment in 2001, The Institute brings together people and resources that help build and nurture visionary leadership and mobilize strategic action for greater educational outcomes and student success. For more information, please visit hunt-institute.org.