Postsecondary Student Success: Chapter 2

7/25/2019 Postsecondary Student Success: Chapter 2

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For regions to thrive and grow, they require an educatedworkforce whose skills align with available job opportunities

and meet employer demands. The quality of life these

places afford residents also make them strong attractors fortalented newcomers.

Yet even successful regions often include thousands of people

who find themselves disconnected from the education-to-career

pathway. Failure to complete high school or stopping out fromcollege restricts many people from job opportunities that provide

a path to the middle class and wages able to support a family.

Efforts to re-engage these students can result in significantdividends for students, their families, and their communities.

Educators, civic leaders, and regional employers can cocreate

education-to-career pathways that offer people the chance to getback on track. Below are a few examples of pathway components

that can help once-disconnected students thrive and grow.

Flexible and Accessible Pathways:Does your community want

to promote access to education and training opportunities forpeople who are disconnected from school and career? Many

people experience personal, financial, or other barriers that mayhinder their ability to re-engage. Think about designing flexible

pathways that offer multiple onramps to help students get backon track. Be sure to consider student input when developingstrategies to widen access.

Work-Based Learning: Does your community want to provide

young people with opportunities to explore the world of work

while still in school? Job tours, internships, job shadowing,

and apprenticeships offer multiple benefits to students. These

programs can provide the opportunity to explore prospectivecareer paths, make connections with employers, and learn more

about workplace norms. Involvement may also further encouragestudent persistence. The business community can help by

identifying and sponsoring internship placements, hosting job

shadowing and tours, and providing coaches to help studentshone interview skills and develop resumes.

Align Pathway Destinations With Employer Needs: Does

your community want to help disconnected students acquire the

training and skills needed to access high-need job opportunities?Regional employers can play an important role in cocreating

pathways that deliver graduates prepared to respond toemployer demands. Consider how available data sources on

high-growth job areas and labor market needs can inform your

decision making.

Provide Adult Learners With Accelerated Pathways to

Postsecondary Credentials: Does your community want tohelp adult learners earn college credit while completing GEDrequirements? Adult education programs that allow students to

enroll in courses at technical colleges while completing their GED

speed the time to degree while accelerating access to jobs in arange of high-demand fields.

This chapter features an interview with leaders from Made

in Durhama publicprivate partnership in Durham, North

Carolinawho work to re-engage young people who aredisconnected from both school and career opportunities. This

chapter also includes several resources that this partnershipused to organize its work, set goals, and deploy resources. These

resources include a 2012 report that described the problem of

disconnected youth in the Durham regionand a policy brieoutlining Made in Durhams education-to-career strategy.

This chapter ends with a list of additional resources you can

use to find more information about intervention strategies thatrespond to disconnected students as well as how best to develop

education-career pathways.

Chapter Two:

How can community partners

ensure that college successincludes career supports,particularly for disconnectedstudents?

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Made in Durham, Durham, North Carolina:BuildingCommunity Partnerships in Support of ConnectingYoung People With Careers

IHEP: Can you explain why the Made in Durham

initiative developed?

[Lydia Newman] Made in Durhamis a community partnership that

brings together educators, the business community, government

leaders, and community organizations. Weve mobilized aroundan ambitious shared vision: that all young people in Durham will

complete a postsecondary credential and earn a wage sufficientto support a family by age 25.

A 2012 report by a community organization called MDC provided

the initial catalyst for our work. This report found that approximately

40% of Durhams young people were outside what weve come

to think of as the education-to-career system. This populationincludes students who have dropped out of high school or areat risk of doing so, as well as young people who arent currently

pursuing any further education, training, or employment. Durhamis in a fast-growing region with great alternative educational

programs, colleges and universities, and job opportunities. We

estimate that employers will create more than 23,000 middle-skilljobs over the next 10 years. If we dont act, these young people

wont be able to take advantage of the opportunities Durham hasto offer them.

We created a task force made up of civic, community, and business

leaders to tackle the problem. They decided what was needed

was better coordination and alignment between educationa

institutions; data-supported decision making; career, internship

and training programs; and employment opportunit ies. And thatswhy Made in Durhamwas created.

IHEP: Does Made in Durham focus on supporting any

specific student populations?

[Lydia Newman] Weve been very intentional in stating that we

serve all Durham young people, with special attention to wha

we call opportunity youthyoung people between the ages o

14 and 24 who are really disconnected from both school andcareer employment.

Were in the process of developing a re-engagement strategyto better serve these students. To that end, we want to bette

understand the students currently served by Durhams alternative

education programs. What kinds of students are thriving in theseprograms and who isnt being served as well? What do we need

to do to re-engage our opportunity youth? Is it just a matter oadding capacity to existing programs, or do we need to imagine

something entirely different? We dont want to be in the businessof creating solutions that dont fit the population were trying

to serve.

Goals

Lydia Newman, Youth Transitions Strategist,

Made in Durham

Laura Wendell, Business Engagement Strategist,

Made in Durham

IHEP spoke with Lydia Newman and Laura Wendell from Made in Durham to learn about how their public

private partnershipmade up of educators, civic leaders, and the business sectoris working to ensurethat all of Durhams young people have graduated college and found career employment by age 25. Newman

and Wendell describe the catalyst for this partnership, how it uses data to develop education-to-careerpathways, and its focus on re-engaging young people who are completely disconnected from school and

career opportunities. The interview illustrates an example of a promising practice in developing interventionstrategies informed by assessment of a targeted populations needs.

PartnershipIHEP: Can you explain how Made in Durhams partners are

working together to build education-to-career pathways?

[Laura Wendell] Its an incredibly exciting time for this initiative.

NCWorks (our regional workforce group) has just issued a set of

criteria for certifying education-to-career pathways. Its having atremendous impact on how Durham works with other communities

to develop more regionally focused pathways aligned to employerneeds. Made in Durhamis helping by bringing together education,

workforce development, and business partners from throughout

the region to support the pathway initiative. Were also involving

young people as cocreators. We have a youth network made up

of about 20 young people who will help shape the pathways were

developing. So far, their insights have been especially helpful withregard to how young people learn about the world of work, who

their key influencers are, and how their families, schools, andcommunities can best support them.

[Lydia Newman] Weve learned from this youth network that these

pathways need to be flexible to be responsive to young peoplescircumstances. We need multiple access points so that a young

parent who left high school early can return, graduate from high


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school, go on to college, and start a career. And I agree with Laura:

Feedback from engaged employers is really critical so that we canprovide students with the training and experience that make them

good hires. Right from the start weve had a huge commitment

from the business community to generate work-based learningopportunities. Employers really are key partners for us in a lot

of ways. Their perspective absolutely informs pathway design,training, and program criteria. Success here absolutely relies on

developing pathways that produce graduates who employersactually want to hire. If were successful, the curriculum informing

these pathways wont look all that different from what employers

would have created themselves in developing the kind ofemployee theyre looking for.

[Laura Wendell] The program is growing really quickly. We

started with one initial pathway in Durham linking four schools(an elementary school, middle school, high school, and

community college) and focused on health and life science.

As we expand into a more comprehensive, regional program,were also identifying best practices for how employers engage

with schools and communitiesfrom mentoring, afterschoolprograms, and community lab programs to job shadowing,

company tours, internships, and apprenticeships. We are doingthis through mapping the landscape of companies offering work-

based learning opportunities. The first step will be a meetingwith our education partners to determine which companies aremost deeply engaged in their programs right now. We will use

the results from that process, as well as the connections we havemade through our work to date, to identify companies leading

the way in work-based learning. We will then assemble an action

team of those groundbreaking employers to help us develop astrategy for supporting, expanding, and scaling their work-based

learning. The action team will also help us promote the benefitsof work-based learning to other companies through established

peer networks and other channels. Its exciting to see our

community invest in the intersection between classroom learningand the world of work, and how that investment will motivate our

young people.

[Lydia Newman] In time, we intend for Made in Durham to bea central point of contact between employers and education/

training providers. Our staff will play a facilitative role at everystage of the pathwayeducating stakeholders about labor

market trends, working with employers to identify and build

work experience opportunities, and helping employers becomeyouth ready.

IHEP: How are you using data to inform development ofthese pathways?

[Lydia Newman] Many of our partners already gather data that

they use to track student progression and graduation rates. Theymade these data available when we first started another program

called Durham Futures and weve used it when weve applied

for grants.

[Laura Wendell] Ensuring our education-to-career pathways are

data informed is one of NCWorks certification criteria. In thiscontext they mean data on labor markets and projections as tofuture high-growth job areas. We pull data from labor reports

available from North Carolinas Department of Labor. We alsorun focus groups with area employers to complement what the

reports tell us. The focus group participants talk with us about

their most pressing labor needs, how they account for thedifficulty in filling these positions, the positions salary ranges, and

their future projections for the labor market. We use these datato help us zero in on the focus and destination of the pathways

were developing.

Our pathways are structured around particular occupations within

career clusters or sectors. An ongoing challenge for us is getting

to the right level of granularity in identifying a set of competenciesand skills with sufficient labor market demand to justify includinga credential in the pathway.

We also want to measure the impact work-based learning has

on skill development for young people. Specifically, does theexperience influence career exploration, how students make

meaning of the skills and experience theyre developing, and

how they present themselves on resumes and in interviews? Weknow testing can help assess how well students have mastered

content, but measuring skills acquisition and meaning making ismore complex. Wed really welcome ideas and suggestions fo

how best to gather that kind of data.

All this matters because employers often use an earned credentia

plus so many years of experience as shorthand for the skillstheyre looking for. I think this approach overlooks people who

lack the credentials but have the skills and experience, and viceversa. So when we think about moving the needle on widening

participation by young people, we have to think about assessingand improving soft skills and interviewing skills, and providing

opportunities to address deficiencies.

Employers really are key partners for us in a lot of ways. Theirperspective absolutely informs pathway design, training, andprogram criteria. Success here absolutely relies on developing

pathways that produce graduates who employers actually wantto hire.

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ImplementationIHEP: How is Made in Durhamworking to improve outcomes

for young people?

[Lydia Newman] Made in Durhamincludes an opportunity youthaction team, which we call Durham Futures. The team consists

of three executive directors from three alternative education

programs, senior-level administrators with the public schoolsystem, and representatives from our local community college.

We have about 250 students enrolled in the alternative educationprograms. Our job is to help them navigate the education-to-

career system.

Two previous reports helped guide our decision making as tohow best to re-engage disconnected youth. The first report was

released in 2008. It called attention to the degree to which young

people in Durham are disconnected from education and careeropportunities. The report provided specific data on population

distribution, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, educationalattainment, and unemployment. We used these data to identify

demographically vulnerable groups and the circumstances

correlated with disconnection. The report concluded that findinga way to help disconnected youth attain a postsecondary

credential was our regions ultimate challenge.

I previously mentioned the second report, which led to thecreation of Made in Durham. It specifically recommended the

development of an education-to-career system, led by a broadcoalition of community partners and responsive to employer and

labor market demand.

Weve identified three intervention strategies to help us reach thatgoal. The first is to connect students with work-based learning

opportunities, like an internship or a job tour. Seeing what its

like to work at a company can help them better understand howclassroom learning can affect life after high school and college.

We started this program this past summer with 15 students. Welluse what weve learned to grow the program this coming year.

The second strategy involves using funds from the United

Way to create two positions. One position will be an employerengagement associate. This persons role will be to ensure our

young people are getting the work-based learning experiencesthey need, and that were building lasting relationships with

employers and helping employers connect with educatorsWere also hiring a resource specialist who can provide caree

and college guidance and supportanything that can help

students successfully transition to college, and then to persistand graduate. Three Durham alternative education schools wil

share these two positions. Thats an unprecedented arrangement

for us. These schools hadnt been working together prior to theformation of Made in Durham. Finally, were launching a program

to identify peer and adult mentors who we can match withstudents in these three schools.

IHEP: What challenges have you encountered in developing

the Made in Durhampartnership?

[Laura Wendell] One challenge is that our partners collectively

have a broad range of different interests and focuses involving ou

target population. Some focus specifically on court involvementand what to do about youth involved in the justice system

Others think about career and technical education and how toencourage students into careers in construction. Others want to

focus on college access. Incorporating all of these perspectives

into a shared vision for Durhams young people is tricky, but eachorganization has a role to play.

[Lydia Newman] On a more day-to-day level, sometimes we

encounter challenges in getting access to the data we feel weneed to move the needle. The Durham Public Schools have to

be mindful of FERPA [Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act]when sharing data. Were also working through issues in getting

data from our community college partners. But its nothing we

cant resolve because we have so many of the right people at thetable. For example, our board and action team talked about the

need to understand how and if young people are more successfu

when they receive more career counseling. The superintendenof schools, who is on the board, is now looking into how to use

National Student Clearing House data to find more answers.

ImpactIHEP: What is your plan for assessing the effectivenessof Made in Durhams efforts to improve outcomes for

young people?

[Laura Wendell] Its still early days for us in terms of assessment.

Were still developing and implementing our initial strategies. Ofcourse, within our Durham Futureswork, we can measure success

by assessing student completion of a high school credential, thena postsecondary credential, and then getting a job. So there are

some really nice, measurable outcomes there. As a whole, werelooking at how we can incorporate continuous improvement

practices, both into our work organizationally and into the work

of the partnership across the board. We dont want to wait untilits time to publish an annual report before we learn how well

were doing.

[Lydia Newman] Our partners were already doing their ownindividual evaluation work before Made in Durhambegan. Now

that we have a collective vision, we need to determine the way

were measuring our progress. We dont want to be comparing

apples to oranges. Our evaluative process still very much a workin progress.

IHEP: So whats next?

[Laura Wendell] I think one important next step for us is to get

vertical and horizontal alignment with our partners. Weve got aclear vision with some important pieces in place, and Made in

Durhamis bringing partners to the table. But I think theres work

left to do with regard to complete system alignment. Were hopingto access some technical assistance from Lumina to help us

build deeper understanding among our partners of how to workin a collective impact environment. I sometimes feel like were

building a bridge by starting at both banks, and now weve goto get that bridge to meet in the middle. And were pretty sure

well get there, but until then we need to continue evaluating and

measuring our progress.


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[Lydia Newman] Weve had boots on the ground from the

beginning, so its important for us to help our partners also see

themselves in this work and the contributions they can make. Ithink its going to take a lot for people to fully understand the

system change that will be necessary. And that isnt just the viewfrom the top, like when a CEO says she understands what role her

organization can play. We need to help that CEO figure out how to

lead the change so that the entire organization is invested.

[Laura Wendell] Exactly. When we have leaders around the table

thinking about this problem, we need to ensure they have what

they need to build our shared goals into their organizationsplanning processes. We havent fully accomplished this yet.

IHEP: Finally, what advice do you have for other communities

hoping to learn from Made in Durham?

[Lydia Newman] Its going to take a whole community pullingtogether to get us to our goal. I think its been extremely important

to make sure to get buy-in, to make sure everyone feels liketheyre a part of the process. Conversely, leaving some groups

with the sense that they werent part of the process will cost you

down the road. Right from the start, Made in Durhaminvolved lots

of different stakeholders across the board. When youre trying todevelop a collective impact organization, you spend a lot of timeinvesting in the partnership and mobilizing the people involved.

Thats really critical work. Youre going to need buy-in fromyour high schools, your community colleges, and the various

organizations that touch the populations of interest if you want to

move the needle.

Ill also say that although its important to ensure everyones onthe same page, feeling included, and being heard, its essential

that you keep a laser focus on a shared vision that everyone iscommitted to working toward.

[Laura Wendell] I think thats absolutely right. Were working

toward consensus, but its important to be prepared to sit withthe dissenting voice in the room. Weve learned so much from

partners who were in disagreement. Working through dissent isa real strength of collective impact organizations. I think the end

result is greater trust and investment. Its not always comfortablebut if you dont have someone in the room in dissent and asking

hard questions, you probably dont have all the right people

around the table.

Disconnected Youth in the Research Triangle Region: An

Ominous Problem Hidden in Plain Sight

This 2008 report by MDC investigates the phenomenon of

disconnected youthindividuals ages 14 to 24 who aredisconnected from both school and career opportunities.

Researchers conducted an environmental scanincludinginterviews with civic, education, business, and government

leaders and surveys of frontline social service providersto

better understand the problem. The report concludes with a setof recommended action steps to re-engage young people in

education-to-career pathways.

Page length: 44

Made in Durham: Building an Education-to-Career System

Taking the recommendations from Disconnected Youth as astarting point, this 2012 policy paper provides program design

recommendations for the development of education-to-careepathways, including goals, outcomes, structure, strategies, and

prospective partners. The report serves as a useful blueprint focommunities interested in developing publicprivate partnerships

to re-engage disconnected youth.

Page length: 58

Tools

Working through dissent isa real strength of collectiveimpact organizations. I think

the end result is greater trustand investment. Its not alwayscomfortable, but if you donthave someone in the roomin dissent and asking hardquestions, you probablydont have all the right people

around the table.

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http://www.mdcinc.org/sites/default/files/resources/disconnected-youth.pdfhttp://www.mdcinc.org/sites/default/files/resources/disconnected-youth.pdfhttp://mdcinc.org/sites/default/files/resources/Made%20in%20Durham%20PRINT%20%2011%2013%2012-FINAL_0.pdfhttp://mdcinc.org/sites/default/files/resources/Made%20in%20Durham%20PRINT%20%2011%2013%2012-FINAL_0.pdfhttp://www.mdcinc.org/sites/default/files/resources/disconnected-youth.pdfhttp://www.mdcinc.org/sites/default/files/resources/disconnected-youth.pdf


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Mentoring: At the Crossroads of Education, Business, andCommunity [2015: Ernst & Young & MENTOR: The National

Mentoring Partnership]

This study reports on the benefits of business-sector involvement

in mentoring programs for young people, provides a businesscase for corporate engagement, identifies promising practices

and case studies drawn from current programs, and outlines aset of recommendations for future mentoring initiatives.

Education to Employment: Designing a System That Works[2012: McKinsey Center for Government]

This report takes an international and comparative approach toseeking better understanding of the problem of disconnected

youth, including an analysis of over 100 education-to-careerinitiatives in 25 countries.

Findings From the Field: Regional Pathways to ProsperityModel Development[2014: North Carolina New Schools]

This brief describes efforts to develop pilot education-to-caree

pathways in two North Carolina regions. Each regional profile

includes a list of key partners, initial findings, and lessons learnedthat are informing continued program development. The authors

recommend using relevant data metrics and investments incross-regional networks to share promising practices as future

areas of focus.

Improved Adult Education Support Critical to GeorgiasBottom Line[2015: Georgia Budget and Policy Institute]

Intended for policymakers, this report makes the case fo

additional public investment in adult education programs as astrategy to improve Georgias competitive economic standingwhile addressing a pervasive opportunity gap for adult learners

Included is a description of an initiative that provides studentswho lack a high school diploma the opportunity to enroll in

technical college while completing the requirements for a GED.

Additional Resources
http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/Mentoring_at_the_crossroads_of_education,_business_and_community/$FILE/1501-1385340_Mentoring%20at%20the%20Crossroad_CV0116.pdfhttp://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/Mentoring_at_the_crossroads_of_education,_business_and_community/$FILE/1501-1385340_Mentoring%20at%20the%20Crossroad_CV0116.pdfhttp://mckinseyonsociety.com/downloads/reports/Education/Education-to-Employment_FINAL.pdfhttp://ncnewschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Pathways-Findings-from-the-Field-Report_10-21-14.pdfhttp://ncnewschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Pathways-Findings-from-the-Field-Report_10-21-14.pdfhttp://ncnewschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Pathways-Findings-from-the-Field-Report_10-21-14.pdfhttp://gbpi.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Improved-Adult-Education-Support-Critical-to-Georgia%E2%80%99s-Bottom-Line.pdfhttp://gbpi.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Improved-Adult-Education-Support-Critical-to-Georgia%E2%80%99s-Bottom-Line.pdfhttp://gbpi.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Improved-Adult-Education-Support-Critical-to-Georgia%E2%80%99s-Bottom-Line.pdfhttp://gbpi.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Improved-Adult-Education-Support-Critical-to-Georgia%E2%80%99s-Bottom-Line.pdfhttp://ncnewschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Pathways-Findings-from-the-Field-Report_10-21-14.pdfhttp://ncnewschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Pathways-Findings-from-the-Field-Report_10-21-14.pdfhttp://mckinseyonsociety.com/downloads/reports/Education/Education-to-Employment_FINAL.pdfhttp://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/Mentoring_at_the_crossroads_of_education,_business_and_community/$FILE/1501-1385340_Mentoring%20at%20the%20Crossroad_CV0116.pdfhttp://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/Mentoring_at_the_crossroads_of_education,_business_and_community/$FILE/1501-1385340_Mentoring%20at%20the%20Crossroad_CV0116.pdf

Postsecondary Student Success: Chapter 2

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