Key points:
Educators and school administrators are working incredibly hard to get all students, and especially their most challenged populations, to meet high standards and graduate ready for college and/or a career. So are local workforce boards, literacy groups, and other community organizations.
Despite these efforts, a large percentage of students are still achieving below grade level–and many struggle to become financially independent upon graduation.
All of these individuals and organizations are working independently within their own spheres of influence to help students attain success. But if they were to team up and work together, leveraging each other’s considerable strengths in support of common goals, their shared endeavors could lift families out of poverty and set students on a pathway to success.
This is what the city of Fresno, California, is doing with its Central Valley Pathway to Prosperity initiative, a “cradle to career” community partnership between city officials, Fresno Unified School District employees, local industry representatives, Link2Literacy, and CLEAR, or the Center for Leadership Equity and Research.
Led by Work ED, which provides literacy-embedded career education opportunities for students from preschool through high school, Fresno’s collective efforts demonstrate the power of large-scale partnerships in transforming student outcomes.
Rich career learning experiences
Central Valley Pathway to Prosperity is a multipronged initiative that includes hands-on learning activities both within and outside of school at all levels of instruction.
Younger students are receiving foundational literacy instruction during the regular school day, and they’re learning about exciting career opportunities after school. This career discovery and exploration also includes embedded literacy instruction, creating additional opportunities for learning how to read and write effectively. We think this is a powerful one-two combination for giving kids the building blocks they need for success.
For example, students at Baird Middle School are piloting a 14-week after-school program that uses video game design to teach students essential literacy skills. As students design their own game and present it to community members in a series of Shark Tank-like pitches, they’re not only learning about careers in game design and marketing but also developing their reading, writing, and speaking skills.
The game design curriculum was developed in conjunction with Link2Literacy, an organization founded by Valerie Martinez. As the former principal at Baird Middle School, Martinez created a statewide model of excellence. Under her leadership, Baird received a California Gold Ribbon Schools Award for three years in a row.
At the high school level, we’re bringing local industry partners to the table to create career and technical education programs for students in high-wage, high-interest career fields, such as cybersecurity, digital marketing, and AI.
Cybersecurity is a guaranteed pathway to financial freedom. Every business and organization needs cybersecurity professionals. There is zero-percent unemployment in this field, and with the right industry certifications, students can earn $75,000 a year directly out of high school.
Under the leadership of Kristen Boroski, CTE director for the Fresno Unified School District, the Central Valley Pathway to Prosperity coalition is working with local businesses to create paid internship programs for students in cybersecurity. We’re also exploring partnerships with Kaiser to create a CTE program focused on using AI in the healthcare industry and with Amazon to create a modern manufacturing and logistics program, among other efforts.
Stronger together
Bringing multiple stakeholder groups to the table allows school systems to leverage the collective strengths of these partner organizations in helping students succeed. It also opens more opportunities for funding from a diverse collection of funders.
In the Central Valley, for instance, these funding sources include not only federal and state grant programs for CTE and after-school activities, but also corporate and private donors and foundations–many of whom would prefer to fund programs and activities that involve numerous project partners.
Breaking out of our silos and bringing together multiple stakeholder groups in support of our students creates tremendous synergy within communities. There is so much power we can derive from having all of our ships sailing in the same direction.
Nationwide, two out of three students are reading below grade level. There are about 7 million jobs waiting to be filled because employers can’t find candidates with the right skills. By bringing together a diverse array of community partners, we can solve these challenges and set students on a pathway to success.
