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Impacting College-Going and Completion Rates in Your Community: Taking a

Systems Approach

NPEA Conference WorkshopApril 29, 2011

Sarah Singer QuastProject Manager

sarah@omgcenter.org

OMG’s CAS research: Current and past partners

An increasing number of foundations are supporting systems-level change initiatives. Foundations are trying to figure out ways to impact larger number of students through broader policy and practice changes.

Key CAS Trends: Moving towards “Systems-Change”

CAS efforts focused on discrete programming – academic tutoring, college

fairs, financial aid information, in-college supports.

Cooperation among CAS players for a coordinated system of supports – need for system-level and -informed changes to take us from current patchwork of programs to a coordinated system of comprehensive services and supportive policies.

Traditional Approach

New Approach

In many local communities:

• Multiple organizations working towards the same goals independently

• Multiple uncoordinated funding streams supporting the same goals

• Perceptions of inefficiencies in the way resources are being distributed; potential duplicative efforts/initiatives

• In an environment of limited resources, pressure to maximize, leverage, and coordinate existing resources at a community-level

“Systems-change”: Why the focus?

• Curriculum alignment in Miami and Philadelphia

• Community college policy change in San Francisco

• New York City’s data warehouse

• Philadelphia’s Mayor’s Council

“Systems change”: Policy and practice examples

1. Identifying Community CAS Stakeholders

2. Identifying Stakeholder Alignments

3. Brainstorming Policy and Practice Opportunities

4. Using Data to Drive the Agenda

Tools for Taking a Systems Approach

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Students

Institutions of Higher Education

Community or School-Based Organizations

Advocacy and Communications

Groups Policymakers

Research Organizations

Business Community

Funding Partners

Parents, family, adult mentors

Intermediaries and Technical

Assistance Providers

Independent and Parochial Schools

Players that directly

interact with students

Broader network that influences policy and

system-level efforts

Nonprofit-Driven Collaborations

Federal Government-Driven Collaborations

City Government-Driven Collaborations

Collaborative efforts that

bring together multiple

stakeholders

Foundation-Driven Collaborations

Understanding who is already operating in your college access and success environment, both the usual and less usual players, is a first step in identifying new opportunities for impact.

1. Identifying Community CAS Stakeholders

School District

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Students

Higher education•Community College of Philadelphia

• PA State Universities• PA State-Related Universities• Local Private Colleges and Universities

Community or School-Based Organizations

•GEAR UP •Philadelphia Academies•Philadelphia Education Fund•Philadelphia Futures•Project GRAD•White Williams Scholars

Advocacy and Communications

Groups

Policymakers•Mayor Nutter•Mayor’s Chief Education Office

•Congressman Chaka Fattah•Governor Rendell

Research Organizations•Johns Hopkins University•Metis Associates•Philadelphia Education Fund•OMG Center for Collaborative Learning•Research for Action

Business Community•Citizens Bank•Comcast• Independence Blue Cross•PricewaterhouseCoopers

Funding Partners (Citi Foundation

•PA Department of Education•US Department of Education•US Department of Labor

Parents, family, adult mentors

Intermediaries and Technical Assistance Providers

•Academy for Educational Development (AED)

•Philadelphia Youth Network•Public Education Network (PEN)

School District Offices of:•College and Career Awareness•Guidance Counseling and Promotion Standards

•Teaching and Learning•High School Reform Policy and Research•Multiple Pathways to Graduation

Mayor’s Council for College and Career Success College Prep Roundtable

Citi Postsecondary Success Program City-Level

Partnership

Student Success Center Learning Community

Education First Compact

Graduate!Philadelphia

Example: Philadelphia

GEAR UP

A scan that OMG conducted of the Philadelphia landscape in 2010 identified a variety of stakeholders operating in the local CAS system.

• Who is providing supports to students directly?

• Who are the other stakeholders that might have influence at the policy or system level?

• Are there existing collaborations or collaborative efforts where multiple partners are coming together?

• What connections does your organization currently have to these other stakeholders?

Who are the CAS Stakeholders in your community?

Thinking about where various stakeholders operate in the system can help to identify potential synergies among partners, as well as gaps in service.

2. Identifying Stakeholder Alignments

System-Level

School-Level

Student-Level

Elementary School

Middle School High SchoolCollege/

UniversityWorkforce

Nonprofit Program X

City-wide Initiative Y

School District Initiative Z

• Which stakeholders are serving students at different or similar points in the pipeline?

• Which CAS efforts are targeting change at the student, school, or system level?

• Where are you operating in the CAS system?

• Which stakeholders are operating in the same space as your organization?

• Where are their gaps in the system?

How do the efforts in your community align?

System-level solutions emerge from thinking about student-level challenges and successes, and how these might be translated into broader changes that could impact an expanded group of students.

3. Brainstorming Policy and System-Level Practice Opportunities

School Changes

Identified Student-Level Successes and

Challenges

District ChangesCity

Changes

State Changes

Federal Changes

Higher Ed Changes

Nonprofit Changes

PracticePolicy

• What are the strongest factors in your experience that currently help students who successfully go to and stay in college?

• What challenges/barriers are holding back unsuccessful students the most?

• How could successful factors be replicated for students by nonprofits, at the school level, through district policy, etc?

• How could challenges/barriers be systematically removed for students?

What are potential areas of policy and practice to target?

Data serve as a key tool for testing ideas about student challenges and successes, as well as practice and policy areas. Data can help to provide the evidence base for joint and coordinated action across partners and with new stakeholders.

4. Using Data to Drive the Agenda

1. Frame questions to:

• Test hunches

• Develop evidence base

2. Consider key data indicators:

• Identify which milestones answer questions

• Tweak questions, if necessary

3. Assess data availability:

• Your org’s data collection

• Other known data sources

• Potential pathways or partnerships for obtaining additional data

Key quantitative measures of college access and success milestones include the following.

4. Using Data to Drive the Agenda: Consider Key Data Indicators

High school Indicators

College Indicators

• What are key questions from your policy and practice brainstorm?

• What indicators would help answer these questions?

• What data is your organization already collecting?

• What data might be available through other stakeholders in the system?

What data can help test and drive the CAS agenda?