New Pathways to Opportunity

This toolkit compiles our recent New Pathways resources and provides a jumping off point for all audiences. Check out relevant videos on the left side, or open the full multimedia publication for additional examples and regularly updated content. Thanks to support from American Student Assistance (ASA) for making this work possible.

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New Pathways Handbook

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Great for…

  • Anyone who is new to the idea of pathways.
  • Edleaders conducting a readiness assessment.
  • Parents who are looking for new and exciting ways to engage their learners.

Key Takeaways

  • New Pathways are made up of six pillars: unbundled learning, credentialed learning, new learning models, accelerated learning, support and guidance and policies and systems.
  • The current system isn’t working. Too many students graduate high school with uncertainty, a lack of exposure and limited to no guidance.

Every learner deserves an unlimited number of unbundled opportunities to explore, engage, and define experiences that advance their progress along a co-designed educational pathway. Each pathway provides equitable and personalized access to stacked learning experiences leading to post-secondary credentials and secure family-sustaining employment. This vision is only enabled by an unbundled learning ecosystem.

Unbundled Learning

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Great for…

  • Education leaders who are looking to connect disparate pieces of their ecosystem.
  • Policymakers who are looking for examples of unbundled learning and enabling conditions.
  • Parents who are looking for new and exciting ways to engage their learners.

Key Takeaways

  • Implement policy that enables connecting verified out-of-system learning with in-system credit.
  • Make it competency-based and award credit upon mastery.
  • Create a two-way, decentralized marketplace marketplace or multiple marketplaces that are interoperable.

Every learner deserves an unlimited number of unbundled opportunities to explore, engage, and define experiences that advance their progress along a co-designed educational pathway. Each pathway provides equitable and personalized access to stacked learning experiences leading to post-secondary credentials and secure family-sustaining employment. This vision is only enabled by an unbundled learning ecosystem.

Credentialed Learning

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Great for…

  • Edleaders who are thinking about skills and competencies differently and eager to find new ways to embed them.
  • Industry leaders who are thinking about skills and communication.
  • Higher education leaders thinking about credit and enrollment.

Key Takeaways

  • Document process Build case studies of transitions from grades to competency to credential to provide replicable pathways for other higher education institutions.
  • Build agreements on common transferable competencies and credentials shared by higher ed and employers.
  • Invest in state-sponsored initiatives to create verified digital credential solutions for K-12 education.

When a learner completes a program of study, they receive credentials. These credentials validate that the learner has demonstrated proficiency in all the recognized skills. The high school diploma and numerous industry certifications are credentials that often play a gatekeeping role for employment.

 

Green Pathways

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Great for…

  • CTE Directors who are rethinking curriculum and offerings to better anticipate changing workforce demands.
  • Guidance Counselors who require a better understanding of possible futures for young people.
  • Edleaders who are hearing demands from students and community to lean into the greening economy.

Key Takeaways

  • Demand for green skills is growing as is visible in federal policy and calls from the workforce.
  • Equitable communities are created through the green jobs sector as they provide well-paid opportunities for youth while contributing toward cleaner and healthier communities.
  • Partnerships are critical and schools and districts must tap into opportunities through public and private partnerships to connect learners to opportunities.

Green skills will disrupt the world of work. From banking to business to healthcare, rapid and global adaptation to a changing environment will shift how we live and the jobs that we hold. Expert advice and financial incentives from both public and private institutions suggest that supporting young people to green skills is a lucrative and purposeful pathway.

Support & Guidance

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Great for…

  • Guidance Counselors looking to expand their role and impact
  • SEL Teachers who have recieved SEL training but are looking for ways to further embed these learnings in a lasting and positive way
  • Parents who are curious what supports schools could be providing their children.

Key Takeaways

  • The core function of an advisory system is to work alongside counselors, parents and other community members to set young people up for success.
  • Planning is just one role of an advisor, wellbeing and mental health is a huge part of this role.

Advisory systems are a way for students to build relationships, reflect on learning, set goals for the future, explore career options and plan for postsecondary education. This publication makes the case that all schools needs a robust advisory and support and guidance system.

The Portrait Model

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Great For…

  • Systems Leaders: Systems leaders value PoGs, but this publication helps imagine a next step for further embedding these portraits.
  • Local Businesses: Businesses and schools must have more conversations about skills and what their community could be.
  • Parents: Parents can look at other regions’ core skills to get an idea of new ideas for measurement.

Key Takeaways

  • Alignment lasts. Aligning your school’s portrait to a portrait of a Learner, a System, a Leader and a Self-Portrait further solidifies it’s lasting power and impact.
  • Inclusivity is critical. Making sure that your community is well represented in this decision making process is a critical step in creating a portrait system that serves your learners.

A “Portrait” framework helps leaders implement a new collective re-design vision. To facilitate and empower leaders in this transformative journey, we start with a comprehensive visioning and strategic process that revolves around five interconnected and dynamic portraits: the Portrait of a Learner, the Portrait of a System, the Portrait of a Leader, the Portrait of an Educator and a Self-Portrait.