Introduction
What is Pathways to Results?
• Improve student transition to college and
careers
• Develop outcomes- and equity-focused
Programs of Study
• Engage in 5-phase continuous improvement
process
Background
• Led by Office of Community College Research
and Leadership (OCCRL)
• Emerged from efforts to improve Programs of
Study and student transitions
• PTR is growing:
– Began with 6 sites (2009-10)
– Grew to 18 sites (2010-11)
– Added 9 new sites (2011-12)
– Total of 27 sites (2009-11)
Sponsors and Partners
• Joyce Foundation, Shifting Gears Initiative
• Illinois Community College Board
• Illinois Department of Commerce and
Community Opportunity
• Illinois State Board of Education
Goals
Improve career cluster-based Programs of
Study using an inquiry- and equity-focused,
continuous improvement process
Improve outcomes for underserved students
(racial and ethnic minority, low income, first
generation college, special pops and others)
Use data to make evidence-based decisions
Align PTR to policies that seek to improve
student transition to college and careers
Why Equity?
• Demographics are changing
• Educational pipeline is leaking
• Disparities in outcomes exist and are growing
among student groups
• Equity gaps must be addressed to improve the
P-20 educational system
Programs of Study in Illinois
Access,
Leadership,
Organization
& Support
P-20 Pipeline: K-12,
community college &
university
Professional
preparation &
development
equity &
opportunity
Alignment
&
Transition
Alignment with NCLB,
Higher Learning
Commission
Improved
curriculum
&
instruction
Program
accountability
&
improvement
Partnerships with
Business, Industry and
the Community
Program of Study “Fan”
Five Phases of PTR
Engagement
and
Commitmen
t
Review and
Reflection
Process
Improvement
Outcomes
and Equity
Assessment
Process
Assessment
Engagement and Commitment
• Engage leaders – form partnership &
identify the PTR team
• Engage and gain commitment of the
partnership
• Develop a plan of action for the entire PTR
project
• Draft the first part of the PTR Charter.
“All systems change requires the engagement of
multiple stakeholders.”
- Kristy Morelock, Illinois Community College Board
Outcomes and Equity Assessment
• Examine pipeline outcomes
(e.g., remediation,
retention and completion)
by student group
• Identify areas of success in
student outcomes
• Identify gaps pointing to
inequities between student
groups that need to be
addressed
Process Assessment
• Examine how processes currently operate
• Map one or more processes that relate to the
identified problem(s)
• Examine each step in the process and identify
steps that contribute to inequities in student
outcomes
“I was most motivated by the mapping process,
which helped define our tasks and the goals we
could reasonably attain.”
- Lorrie McDonald, Parkland College Partnership
Process Improvement
• Create an implementation
plan to address identified
problem(s)
• Create a plan to evaluate
implementation (what’s
working and what’s not?)
• Engage in implementation
and evaluation
Review and Reflection
• Engage in individual reflection
• Create team story
• Sustain and scale-up solutions
• Apply improvements to other
Programs of Study
“It seemed that every meeting had a snowball
effect. Review, revision, and program improvement
in one area had positive effects on another.”
- Sherry Hott, Southwestern Illinois College Partnership
PTR Video
PTR Homepage
http://occrl.illinois.edu/projects/pathways
/phases/
OCCRL
 OCCRL – e-mail: occrl@illinois.edu
 PH: 217-244-9390
 Website: occrl.illinois.edu
 PTR website: occrl.illinois.edu/projects/PTR