Summary: Observations from the Pathways Asset Mapping

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Pathways to prosperity
The Struggle to Create Better Transitions from
Education to Careers for Americas Young
People Nancy Hoffman, Jobs for the Future
November 2012
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(No Transcript)
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WE CAN AND MUST DO MUCH BETTER..
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THE NINE THROUGH FOURTEEN SOLUTION FOR YOUNG
PEOPLE
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BENEFITS TO EMPLOYERS AND THE HEALTH OF THE
ECONOMY
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PATHWAYS INITIATED VARIOUSLY ACROSS THE NETWORK

• Illinois Governor, Illinois Pathways Interagency
  Committee
• Maine Governor, Employer community
• Massachusetts Secretaries of Education, Housing
  and Economic Development, and Labor and Workforce
  Development
• Missouri Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner
  of Education
• North Carolina State Superintendent, state CTE
  director, North Carolina New Schools Project
• Tennessee Commissioner of Education, state CTE
  director
• California James Irvine Foundation (state
  membership under consideration)

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WHERE DID THE JFF/HGSE TEAMS DO ASSET
MAPPING?REGIONAL SPECTRUM from URBAN to SUBURBAN
to RURAL

• Metro region with anchor city
• IL Chicago
• MA Boston and Metro West Springfield and
  Hampden County
• CA Sacramento San Bernardino/Riverside Counties
• MO St. Louis and surrounding counties
• Smaller cities
• CA Long Beach
• IL Aurora
• ME Portland/Lewiston
• NC Southwest Region
• Rural with multiple counties
• TN Upper Cumberland
• NC Northeast Region
• Regions are a starting place for demonstrating
  success, with a focus on scaling Pathways
  statewide

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REGIONAL INDUSTRY FOCUS AREAS
Note NC is in the process of determining their
industry focus areas.
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MOST PREVALENT CAREER AREAS OF FOCUS AND
GREATEST PIPELINE DEVELOPMENT NEED
Information Technology Cross-cutting and key to
all 21st century careers, not just in IT fields
Health Careers Growing field, career paths must
be carefully chosen
Advanced Manufacturing Few know the opportunities
and salaries, stigma attached
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OBSERVATIONSEMPLOYER ENGAGEMENT

• Good news high interest and willingness to
  engage
• Greater interest in engagement when building
  pipeline to specific career areas, not general
  please engage with schools
• Opportunities for and experience with young
  people and their teachers in many companies, but
  not systemic
• Understandable sentiment School reform is not
  our job motivation must be self interest and
  a grain of altruism
• Enthusiastic response to the need to establish
  intermediary driver and lead staff person
• Concerns about student skill deficits and
  attitudes

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OBSERVATIONS INTERMEDIARIES

• Regions recognize the need for intermediary
  functions
• Some candidate organizations exist, but few
  currently have capacity or aligned core mission
• Leaders lack clear idea of what capacities are
  needed or how they should be developed
• All recognize that high schools, community
  colleges and employers cannot develop WBL
  opportunities one by one, and that coherent,
  systematized, sequenced WBL is key
• Current organizations manage many programs, but
  from student/user perspective, opportunities
  dont equal a system
• Candidate intermediaries include chambers, WIBs,
  built-for-purpose alliances, school development
  nonprofits, CBOs, community college workforce
  development or outreach offices

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OBSERVATIONS CAREER ADVISING

• All adults agree that young people, teachers, and
  families need to understand the educational
  requirements associated with careers of the
  future, especially those requiring technical
  knowledge
• Regions lack
• Systemic strategy to introduce young people to
  the world of careers beginning in the middle
  grades (or earlier)
• Strong and consistent connections
• between career advising software programs, live
  human advisors, and the curriculum
• between career advising and a consistently
  available sequence of opportunities to learn
  about and experience workplaces

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OBSERVATIONS 9-14 PATHWAYS

• Some high school and community college curriculum
  is in placehealth academies most prevalent,
  little in manufacturing
• Community colleges high demand career
  programs are often not easily accessible to young
  entrants
• Few high schools or community colleges know how
  many and which young people get into and through
  high demand career programs
• Few 9-14 pathways align and integrate high
  school with community college (exception early
  colleges in NC and a few in other states)
• Few pathways provide an accompanying sequence of
  advising linked to WBL experiences
• Educators need better understanding of and
  commitment to integrated 9-14 pathways
• Publicly funded dual enrollment/dual credit
  programs do not always pay for tuition for
  courses outside of core academic areas

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OBSERVATIONS STATE LEADERSHIP POLICY

• Apprehension about the adverse consequences for
  young generation of unemployment and
  underemployment
• Acknowledge public will-building needed to combat
  stigma and garner regional support for technical
  career pathways
• Willing to work with and beyond CTE to reach
  the 50 who arrive in mid-20s without credentials
• Disconnect in several states between state goals
  and regional resources and commitment
• Employers at table with education, labor,
  workforce development, commerce departments, but
  need single driver
• Dual enrollment policy and financing in place but
  may need expansion and consistent application
• Other policy sets re structured pathways may be
  needed

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EXEMPLARY STATE POLICIES, RESOURCES, AND
INITIATIVES

• New model legislation in some states, such as
• Career and College Promise, NC
• AB 790 and SB 1070, CA (support Linked Learning
  approaches and expansion of career pathways)
• New resources at state level, such as
• Learning Exchanges, IL
• Innovation Campuses, MO
• Performance Incentive Funds to Community
  Colleges, MA
• Employers driving interest in advanced
  manufacturing pathways and STEM fields, such as
• Volkswagen and Wacker in Chattanooga
• Maine Manufacturing Association100 jobs promise

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WHERE JFF CURRENTLY WORKS
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NANCY HOFFMAN nhoffman_at_jff.org
BOB SCHWARTZ Robert_Schwartz_at_gse.harvard.edu

• TEL [phone] FAX [phone]
• info_at_jff.org
• 88 Broad Street, 8th Floor, Boston, MA 02110
• 122 C Street, NW, Suite 650, Washington, DC 20001
• WWW.JFF.ORG

• TEL [phone]
• Appian Way
• Cambridge, MA 02148
• www.gse.harvard.edu