Launch States Chart Different Paths to Success

Many states embed pathways work into promising program models like Career and Technical Education, P-TECH, or Youth Apprenticeship. However, these programs can be difficult to scale and hard to access, leaving many students out of pathways altogether. The national Launch pathways initiative, led by Advance CTE, Education Strategy Group, Jobs for the Future, and New America, envisions a future for pathways that includes all students, not just “those students” who are enrolled in a pathways program.

But doing so is easier said than done. It requires state leaders to prioritize pathways through a broader state strategy and create the right conditions for sustainability, which often takes years of complex work to achieve. The Launch Community of Practice brings together fourteen states that are taking on this work. Here’s what two Launch states are doing as part of their statewide pathways strategy.

Participation in or completion of dual enrollment, credentials of value, postsecondary education, work-based learning, and advising are just a few of the frequently named indicators of success for pathways. Focusing on all of these can lead to competing priorities, confusion, and limited progress. Sometimes, keeping it simple has the greatest impact. Colorado has narrowed their scope and is working to ensure every student has free access to what they call “the big three:” dual enrollment, work-based learning, and credentials of value. This combination is especially appealing because it demonstrates a balance between college and career, sending a clear message that students need to be prepared for both.

To expand free access to the “the big three,” Colorado established the Homegrown Talent Coalition to focus on building the data infrastructure, pathways programming, and policy conditions that drive quality across the state. The work is deeply collaborative and only possible because of the strong partnerships established and maintained over time across state agencies, non-profit partners, and technical assistance providers. Focusing on “the big three” makes pathways less daunting, brings cohesiveness across the state, and will serve as a driver of quality, accountability, and resources moving forward.

Individual career and academic plans (ICAPs), which are most often implemented through advising services, have the opportunity to bring all of the unique components of pathways together. Many states have adopted promising practices for ICAPs. However, a key challenge is measuring their effectiveness and implementing them with quality in mind. North Carolina requires all students to have an ICAP and state leaders are using this policy to enhance their advising ecosystem. They predict that strong advising practices will lead to strong student outcomes and are leveraging advising as a fundamental strategy in their pathways work.

To ensure quality in the local implementation of advising, North Carolina is thinking regionally. A statewide intermediary established to sit at the intersection of education and workforce, myFutureNC serves as the convener of a statewide “career development collaborative” focused on the successful implementation of ICAPs across the state. They are now working across 8 regions to pilot regional career development collaboratives. While ICAPs are the focus, these regional collaboratives also bring together education and workforce systems to ensure all students are on a path to a successful future.

No two states are exactly alike, and therefore, the approach to building the infrastructure for pathways will look different across the nation. But what’s consistent is the need to foster deep collaboration across education and workforce systems. This requires more than combining Perkins and WIOA planning efforts or absorbing one system into another. It requires breaking down silos across agencies and building one career-focused system that works for all. Colorado’s work through the Homegrown Talent Coalition to expand access and North Carolina’s statewide and regional career development collaboratives offer two examples of the type of collaboration necessary to ensure students can chart their own path through a quality educational experience and toward a good job.