PATHWAYS TO PROSPERITY: The Struggle to Create Better Transitions from Education to Careers for America’s Young People Nancy Hoffman, Jobs for the Future November 2012 Pathways to Prosperity Network 1 Pathways to Prosperity Network WE CAN AND MUST DO MUCH BETTER….. 2 Pathways to Prosperity Network THE NINE THROUGH FOURTEEN SOLUTION FOR YOUNG PEOPLE Intermediary links between education and employers Engaged employers offering WBL and internships Early, sustained career counseling 9-14 Pathways linked to careers Committed state leaders and favorable policy environment 3 Pathways to Prosperity Network BENEFITS TO EMPLOYERS AND THE HEALTH OF THE ECONOMY Early and sustained career advising Intermediary links between education and employers 9-14 Pathways linked to careers Employers hire wellprepared Committed state leaders and favorable policy environment professionals 4 Pathways to Prosperity Network 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) 5 Pathways to Prosperity Network 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 6 Pathways to Prosperity Network REGIONAL INDUSTRY FOCUS AREAS Healthcare and Health Science IT Advanced Manufacturing • Aurora, Boston, Chicago, St. Louis • Aurora, Chicago, Metro West, Portland/Lewiston, St. Louis • Aurora, Chattanooga (STEM), Hampden County, Portland/Lewiston, St. Louis Transportation, Distribution, Logistics • Under consideration in some regions Agriculture, Biotech • Under consideration in some regions Sustainable Technologies • Under consideration in some regions Financial Services • Under consideration in some regions Note: NC is in the process of determining their industry focus areas. 7 Pathways to Prosperity Network 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 Advanced Manufacturing Growing field, career paths must be carefully chosen Few know the opportunities and salaries, stigma attached 8 Pathways to Prosperity Network OBSERVATIONS: EMPLOYER 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 9 Pathways to Prosperity Network 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 don’t equal a system • Candidate intermediaries include chambers, WIBs, built-for-purpose alliances, school development nonprofits, CBOs, community college workforce development or outreach offices… 10 Pathways to Prosperity Network 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 11 Pathways to Prosperity Network OBSERVATIONS: 9-14 PATHWAYS • Some high school and community college curriculum is in place— • • • • • • health 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 12 Pathways to Prosperity Network 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 13 Pathways to Prosperity Network 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 Association—100 jobs promise 14 Pathways to Prosperity Network WHERE JFF CURRENTLY WORKS 15 Pathways to Prosperity Network NANCY HOFFMAN BOB SCHWARTZ nhoffman@jff.org Robert_Schwartz@gse.harvard.edu TEL 617.728.4446 FAX 617.728.4857 TEL 617.496.6303 info@jff.org Appian Way Cambridge, MA 02148 www.gse.harvard.edu 88 Broad Street, 8th Floor, Boston, MA 02110 122 C Street, NW, Suite 650, Washington, DC 20001 WWW.JFF.ORG