Ford NGL Community Structures Profiles and Insights

Community Structures: Profiles and Insights

Version 1: Ford NGL 2018 Conference Special Edition for the 2018 Ford NGL National Conference

Š2018, Ford Motor Company Fund: 2018 FNGL National Conference

COMMUNITY STRUCTURES: PROFILES AND INSIGHTS FORD NGL POWERFUL PARTNERSHIP REPORT Introduction Time and again we hear from community representatives that one of the greatest benefits from being part of the Ford Next Generation Learning Network is the support and insights gained from other communities. That feedback was a recurring theme in the submissions received for the latest Ford NGL annual report. It is the reason why we are continually looking for new ways to share the experiences, knowledge, and insights each of you bring to the table.

Prompted by recent requests for examples and specific information about community structures and roles across the network, we convened a forum of representative communities. The goal was to gather profiles and personal perspectives in a condensed form that is easy to access, informative, and helpful to communities as they navigate their transformation.

While Ford NGL offers descriptions and diagrams of what community structures may look like and the elements and functions they should include, we recognize that every community is going to customize their structure based on their situation and variables. There are, however, commonalities among our communities that other member communities with similar characteristics, opportunities, and challenges can learn from.

COMMUNITY CONVENING ORGANIZATION Community Coordinator Ford NGL Coaches District Representatives

THE STEERING COMMITTEE Steering Committee Chair & Vice-chair Community Coordinator District Representative Chairs of each Tactical Team

DISTRICT TACTICAL TEAM

TACTICAL TEAM

TACTICAL TEAM

Chair

Chair

Chair

Communication Channel

Š2017, Ford Motor Company Fund For more information visit Ford NGL University.

Š2018, Ford Motor Company Fund: 2018 FNGL National Conference

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AKRON, OHIO Community Profile Akron Public Schools (APS) enrolls more than 21,000 students and employs 4,300 teaching and non- teaching professionals in Northeastern Ohio. The district, one of the state’s largest and most diverse, covers 62 square miles in a city of 195,000. APA is located less than 40 miles south of Cleveland and 20 miles north of Canton, and is the fifth largest district in Ohio. The district consists of 9 high schools, 8 middle schools, 27 elementary schools, and 11 preschool programs at various buildings and elementary schools.

Akron Public Schools superintendent is David James, a dynamic and visionary leader who has led the district since 2008. Under the leadership of Mr. James, the district strives to become the #1 urban school system in Ohio by focusing on rigorous teaching and learning, safe learning centers, and public engagement. One of the most significant responsibilities and achievements of Mr. James continues to be overseeing the largest building renovation and consolidation project in the history of the Akron schools. The project required engaging APS staff and key community partners with Ford Next Generation Learning (Ford NGL) to have Akron Public Schools designated as a Ford Next Generation Learning Community, and making the dual-degree program available to all students. Those who talk to David James will often hear him say, “Education is everyone’s responsibility. Build the future. Take part.”

Mr. James first learned about the Ford Next Generation Learning model by reading about the Nashville Metropolitan Public Schools (NMPS). Knowing that Akron Public Schools students already benefit from Career Technical Education (CTE) where students participate in hands-on training and gain real-world experience through job shadowing and internships, Mr. James sought to learn more about how the college and career academy (CCA) model would equip all students with the necessary skills to achieve their dreams.

In 2011, Mr. James invited a group of Akron business leaders and city officials to discuss the district’s goals, the CCA model, and how it might benefit students and elevate the community. He then flew to Nashville with 20 community leaders to visit the Academies of NMPS. Everyone was impressed and interested, but Mr. James decided to first develop key instructional structures including professional learning communities, data analytics systems, and Instructional improvement professional development days before embarking in the master planning process.

In 2016, APS began the master planning process and by 2017, College & Career Academies of Akron (CCAA) launched a pilot program at North High School. APS is on schedule to launch freshman academy at all remaining high schools in 2018-19 and wall to wall academies in 2019-20.

The content that follows focuses on the community conveyor, master planning process, and timeline to launch College & Career Academies of Akron.

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©2018, Ford Motor Company Fund: 2018 FNGL National Conference

Forum Participants • •

Sue Lacy, President, ConxusNEO (original convening organization) Angela Berresford, Director, College & Career Academy Engagement, United Way of Summit County

Origins of Engagement Akron Public Schools (APS) has a long standing history engaging with community and business partners.

APS students frequently benefit from hands-on training, classroom discussions and career day exploration. They gain real-world experience through field trips, job shadowing, and internships. ConxusNEO, one of APS’s strategic partners, works with area businesses to identify the skills businesses need to fill current positions and build a talent pipeline. They support business partners working with educators, workforce programs, economic development organizations, and the public sector to build the capacity and performance of the talent system as a whole.

In 2015, a network of manufacturers supported by ConxusNEO partnered with Akron Public Schools to increase enrollment in machining CTE programs at two Akron high schools. The programs generated graduates who were qualified for entry level positions, a critical component of the talent pipeline for the advanced manufacturing industry in the community.

What followed was a period of months during which the manufacturers sponsored field trips to their facilities for new teachers, counselors, and students. Manufacturing representatives also went into the schools for classroom and career day engagement. This all took place about the time the David James was talking to North High School about becoming the pilot school for CCAA, taking APS leadership and teacher teams to visit Nashville, and working with APS and community leadership to observe and benchmark the Nashville school transformation.

Given its mission and the successful partnership already in place with Akron Public Schools, ConxusNEO was asked to serve as the convening organization for College & Career Academies of Akron. In its role as the convening organization, ConxusNEO co-chaired and co-staffed the steering committee with the district, helped recruit businesses to participate, supported the work of tactical team chairpersons, helped staff tactical teams, and co-authored the master plan with the district.

Following completion of the master plan, ConxusNEO provided regional labor market data to help the Academy Design Teams determine pathways for every high school. The 57 pathways that were established correlate significantly with high-demand, high-wage occupations in northeast Ohio.

ConxusNEO also co-sponsored trips to Nashville including one in partnership with the Greater Akron Chamber of Commerce which included 20 CEOs and presidents of four universities. Another trip was coordinated with the district and United Way of Summit County board and staff members for the purpose of examining the role PENCIL Foundation plays in the Nashville transformation.

©2018, Ford Motor Company Fund: 2018 FNGL National Conference

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Capacity (Staff, Members, Funding, Timing) In June, 2016, a steering committee of 40 business leaders convened to develop the overview of College & Career Academies of Akron with representatives from Ford NGL. Between November 2016 and March 2017, over 100 business leaders, teachers, parents, and students joined the effort by guiding the content of the master plan in one of 16 tactical areas. The master plan was submitted to Ford NGL, and in May, 2017, APS was designated a Ford NGL community. United Way of Summit County was announced as the partner to broker relationships between APS and business partners, similar to that of PENCIL in Nashville.

ConxusNEO continues to support APS with industry data and career options for each pathway. Also known as “on and off ramps”, this data give students and parents a visual example of career options and growth opportunities. ConxusNEO also continues to recruit businesses that want to partner with College & Career Academies of Akron and refers them to the United Way. ConxusNEO, United Way, and APS leadership meet weekly to discuss business partners, who are interested in participating, and how that participation and partnership will be coordinated. High level collaboration also occurs on a regular basis as the district’s leadership, CEO of United Way, and President of ConxusNEO coordinate their efforts.

In addition, ConxusNEO is taking the lead in developing industry partnership councils, leveraging the sector partnership networks that already exist (e.g. Manufacturing and TechHire Networks), and cultivating additional partnership councils to support the industry sectors within the academies. The tasks performed by ConxusNEO employees are incorporated as part of their job responsibilities. At this point, it is not a separate line item or uniquely funded, because the work aligns with its primary mission. At United Way of Summit County, the Director of College & Career Academy Engagement is dedicated full time to College & Career Academies of Akron and is funded by the United Way.

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©2018, Ford Motor Company Fund: 2018 FNGL National Conference

Organizational Realignment and Core Functions APS recently redefined the roles of each community partner to minimize confusion and duplication of effort.

A diagram was developed to visually show each partner’s role and responsibility as it functioned through the completion of the master plan.

Key Community Partner Roles & Responsibilities

Supporting the College & Career Academies of Akron

Partnership Councils Convenes industry-specific councils that provide a district-wide perspective of their industry area, advise on industry trends and monitor the equitable distribution of resources.

Labor Market Data Analysis Recommends academies and pathways based on research on high-wage, high-demand career opportunities in the region; advises on industry trends and monitors the equitable distribution of resources.

CEO Champions Supports the Akron Public Schools transformation through advocacy in both policy and the community.

Data & Strategy Support Identifies strengths and gaps within progress indicators and supports Akron Public Schools and key community partners to address issues.

Partner Engagement Recruits business partners and connects them to the schools, assists in partner development for all academies, and monitors and celebrates student and teacher outcomes.

Akron Public Schools will develop, implement and monitor all aspects of the College & Career Academies of Akron.

We are grateful for the major support from the GAR Foundation and all Key Community Partners listed here.

Advisory Boards Facilitates an advisory board for each academy in the district, comprised of the academy’s partners, teachers, parents, students and other stakeholders that advise the academy and pathways.

Partner Oversight and Coordination Serves as the liason for all Akron Public Schools partner engagement, provides one point of contact (the Academy Coach) at each school to engage with community partners.

To find out more or to get involved, visit akronschools.com and click on College & Career Academies or call 330-761-3135.

Akron Public Schools, 70 North Broadway, Akron, Ohio 44308

As master plan implementation began, there was also a plan for making a smooth transition from pre-designation roles to a set of newly defined roles and responsibilities. To support the transition, ConxusNEO temporarily continued to function as the convening organization while United Way’s role was being clarified and decisions were being made about the scope of the Greater Akron Chamber’s role. Time was spent supporting and onboarding United Way, writing job descriptions for new hires, and going through a collaborative hiring process for the district’s and United Way’s designated staff. ConxusNEO was still very much in a recruitment mode for businesses and organizations coming to the table wanting to partner for implementation.

In 2018, the actual process of shifting responsibility to United Way as the main point of contact for recruiting and negotiating partnership agreements began. United Way is now working with the superintendent, Akron Public Schools coordinator of partner engagement, academy coaches, and business partners. While ConxusNEO continued to recruit and support businesses to participate in North High School’s academy activities and district-wide events this academic year, it is no longer responsible to play the role as the convening organization.

©2018, Ford Motor Company Fund: 2018 FNGL National Conference

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The steering committee was reconfigured (steering committee 2.0) after completing the master plan. Part of the reason for the reconfiguration was to develop a team that would be well-positioned to support implementation, to include different businesses and to make adjustments to the size of the committee. The steering committee now has about 35 to 40 members. ConxusNEO recruited many of the business partners to serve on the committee.

Progress Monitoring and Continuous Improvement Three sets of progress meetings occur regularly. Weekly meetings between College & Career Academies of Akron, ConxusNEO, and United Way foster coordination on a granular level. Meetings every six weeks between the leadership of CCAA, ConxusNEO, and United Way deal with more strategic issues like defining roles and responsibilities.

High level strategic meetings between APS, GAR Foundation, United Way, ConxusNEO, and Summit Education Initiative ensure collective efforts are aligned and leveraged.

Key Thoughts and Suggestions •

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Access labor market data to support the design process for each academy. Doing so will help assure pathways align with high demand and high wage careers.

Consider developing a set of visuals in cooperation with business partners that give examples of a pathway. This has been incredibly valuable to Akron Public Schools and community-based workforce programs.

Labor market analysis takes real expertise.

Consider establishing a consulting budget and engage a labor economist to inform the vision at multiple levels. Workforce boards don’t always have the expertise to put the data in a format useful to those performing the steering committee function.

The College and Career Academies of Akron offer a powerful framework for businesses to transform the nature of the relationship they have with our schools. Instead of simply operating as “consumers,” companies have become “investors,” actively supporting the education of high-performing graduates.

Everybody wins – students are prepared for good jobs that lead to great careers, companies have access to the right skills they need to remain competitive, and our community retains young talent. – Sue Lacy, President, ConxusNEO

©2018, Ford Motor Company Fund: 2018 FNGL National Conference

COACHELLA VALLEY, CALIFORNIA Community Profile The Coachella Valley is a desert valley in Southern California which extends for approximately 45 miles and is approximately 15 miles wide. The valley contains the resort cities of Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, Indio, La Quinta, Indian Wells, and Cathedral City. It has a population of almost 500,000 in April, declining to around 200,000 in July and rising to around 800,000 by January. There is a large population of seasonal residents in the winter months, which at times may surpass 100,000 with another 3.5 million annual conventioneers and tourists. Coachella Valley includes schools in the Palm Springs Unified School District, Desert Sands Unified School District, and Coachella Valley Unified School District.

Coachella Valley’s relationship with Ford Motor Company Fund dates back to the spring of 2006. Today the Coachella Valley brings over 12 years of experience as a regional intermediary, facilitating a multi-district, multi-partner, inter-segmental education and economic workforce development initiative to the Ford NGL Network. Its experience as the neutral convener and its deep experience with Ford NGL Stand 3, serves as a resource to the Ford NGL Network. Innovations specific to Strand 3 include developing, aligning, and sustaining regional business, education and civic partner engagement and outcomes-driven collaboration for K-20 college and career pipeline programs.

Coachella Valley completed its first Ford NGL Master Plan in 2012, but consistent with its mission and eye to the future, it has elevated its vision by taking the plan to the next level with the development of their regional plan 2.0.

This plan includes goals for expanding college access, securing a financial path, and increasing college completion.

Structure

Forum Participants • •

Sheila Thornton, President/CEO OneFuture Coachella Valley (Convening Organization) Kim McNulty, Vice President of Regional Success (Convening Organization)

©2018, Ford Motor Company Fund: 2018 FNGL National Conference

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Origins of Engagement OneFuture Coachella Valley’s engagement started in 2005 as part of an economic partnership that examined education as it impacted economic development. The partnership looked at the level of intellectual capital in the region and how it affected the students, their families, and the future of business in the area. The fact is that Coachella Valley is a resort community with a lot of visitors for only six months of the year. It is therefore a significant challenge, because the area is not attractive to building a diversity of businesses. The question addressed was whether young people were getting the jobs that did exist and the answer was “no.” Jobs available were and continue to be primarily in healthcare and education and to some degree management and hospitality. Data showed that for the most part students were not prepared for either college or career in these sectors.

Focus was placed on the areas that have the highest impact on college and career success including career academies at the K-12 level, financial aid and scholarship for post-secondary education, and business support across the cradle to career pipeline. Involvement with Ford NGL began in 2006, but it was in 2012 when Coachella Valley experienced the greatest accelerator of community engagement. It was driven by the effort to develop a regional master plan for college and career success and use the Alignment Toolkit for managing the project. OneFuture was instrumental in that process. As Sheila Thorton , President and CEO describes it, “The nature of our work is to work the businesses to identify the skills that they need, build the talent pipeline, work with economic development partners to come up with innovative solutions. We ended up being asked to head up the steering committee and recruit for it. In the end, we co-authored the master plan with the districts.”

In 2013 Coachella Valley structured its oversight committee chaired by a leader from education (a superintendent from one of the districts) and a former chairman of the economic partnership.

There are also six core alignment teams that work on key aspect of the regional plan. In contrast to some of the other communities, Coachella Valley organized and convened industry councils very early in the process. These were valuable in setting the relational landscape and setting the rationale for why transformation was critical at the time and into the future.

Today the industry councils play less as of a role as the effort has moved into specific strategies for each of these industries. Coachella Valley is wrapping up the fifth year of its regional plan and is using the experience gained to formulate and implement regional plan 2.0.

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©2018, Ford Motor Company Fund: 2018 FNGL National Conference

Taking It to the Next Level The original plan formulated in 2012 had four strands — the three Ford NGL Strands plus one for college access and completion. Then, in 2017, there were dramatic and unprecedented changes in a number of the superintendent positions. Realizing the importance of the transformative work, three of the remaining assistant superintendents knew it was vital to quickly engage the new leadership. While such changes can be unsettling, the team seized it as an opportunity by involving the new leadership in an examination and refresh of the master plan. With help from Ford NGL, a design team was created and focused on taking the plan to the next level. The result was a plan based on six strands. The strands include transforming teaching and learning, transforming the K-16 experience, transforming business and civic engagement, expanding post-secondary access, securing a financial path, and increasing post-secondary completion.

Regional Plan 2.0: Coachella Valley – Going Further

STRAND 1 TRANSFORMING TEACHING & LEARNNG

Creating meaningful learning experiences that enable students to learn and apply academic, 21st century, and technical knowledge and skills to real-world challenges

STRAND 4 EXPANDING POST-SECONDARY ACCESS

Increasing accelerated credit opportunities, decreasing remediation; increasing parent engagement; intersegmental alignment of counseling, support, and both academic and CTE professionals and curriculum K-16

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STRAND 2 TRANSFORMING THE K-16 SCHOOL EXPERIENCE

Creating and maintaining career and interest-themed academies and collaborative culture, structure, and practices

STRAND 5 SECURING A FINANCIAL PATH

Scaling and aligning regional scholarship giving and increasing financial aid capture to address unmet needs

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STRAND 3 TRANSFORMING BUSINESS & CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

Engaging employers, educators, workforce, and community leaders in building and sustaining a transformed K-16 school experience and supporting post-secondary completion

STRAND 6 INCREASING POST-SECONDARY COMPLETION

Ensuring students complete a degree, certificate or credential to succeed in chosen careers, fueling a strong local workforce for business and economic success

Ford NGL

AUSA

Coachella Valley Regional Plan 2.0 Building and Sustaining the K-Career Pipeline

Capacity (Staff, Members, Funding) One of the greatest challenges of working on a regional basis may be the need to work across multiple districts each of which have their own way of managing the academies and interacting with business. While respecting those differences, there must be some level of coordination at a regional level. As the Vice President of Regional Success for OneFuture Coachella Valley, Kim McNulty is the lead on the regional strategies that support the career academies. She supports individual advisories, supervises the development of whole district advisories, makes connections with larger industry partners, and shapes how that is done from a regional perspective. Then there is an in-house staff that manages the details and logistics of the student demand for things like internships.

©2018, Ford Motor Company Fund: 2018 FNGL National Conference

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There is also a business engagement and alignment team in the regional plan structure. It has industry sector champions who are all about how to scale support for academies across all three districts. Each district has representation on the alignment team, but each does so a bit differently. In addition there are the industry councils.

To some degree they are loosely structured convening places to tell the macro story on a regular basis and to host annual events that demonstrate the pipeline functioning at its highest level. For example, at one such event they celebrate the 25 or so college juniors and seniors who come home to paid summer jobs in healthcare and/or actual job placements. The event is a way to clearly show the ultimate benefits of the transformation.

From a funding standpoint, OneFuture Coachella Valley has been about 90% grant funded. Recently it was spun off as its own nonprofit and must go to a community approach to funding.

Organizational Alignment and Core Functions OneFuture is the convening organization for Coachella Valley. There is a governing board with six members including business, community, and education leaders. In addition there is an oversight committee which serves as a steering committee for the regional plan. It is comprised of the executive leadership teams from all three K-12 districts, a representative from the county office of education, and the chairs and co-chairs of each of the alignment teams. Kim McNulty, Vice President of Regional Success describes OneFuture’s role as one of convening and facilitating. “We are that connector. We make sure that K through post-secondary educators are connected with employers and community leaders, so that we are seamlessly collaborating. When we collaborate effectively we assure that all students are successful, and successful students can come back and help to make our community thrive,” says McNulty.

One of the core functions is connecting educational partners with economic and employment data.

For example, the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership hosts an annual economic summit, and they commission a study. OneFuture makes sure there is access to that study data and convenes a conversation around that information with the focus on what it means. Then by connecting business partners to that data and the conversation, it is obtaining real-time updates from the employers who are working and doing the hiring.

OneFuture is that neutral convener that brings the parties together. Kim McNulty describes it as, “We convene the collaborative to do the collective impact work.” That is why the regional plan is so central.

OneFuture brings the partners together that authored the plan and helps convene the committee structure that keeps the plan front and center. For future communities, Kim offers this advice, “Once you’re clear on the common vision and you start doing the work, the important things are the foundation and being patient with the process. Allow the pace to unfold as it needs to unfold, and know that kindness and forgiveness is important. It is all about relationships.”

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©2018, Ford Motor Company Fund: 2018 FNGL National Conference

Key Thoughts and Suggestions • • • • • • • • • • •

Tips for Master Plan 2.0 (developing or refreshing a master plan): Connect with Ford NGL and get their help in how to do the visioning process and with Master Plan 2.0.

Reaffirming, revising, revamping the 3-5 year master plan is essential for strengthening this work.

Form a design team.

Use a tactical plan framework.

Draft and prioritize tactics for each strand.

Use the strand definitions and tactics to focus conversation and debate.

Think about key drivers and the potential/need to bring in new leaders.

The role of the convening organization (anchor organization) is to keep the group together and keep them moving forward.

It’s important to continually share the story, pull people in, and make connections to the work.

Hold on to the commonality of purpose, and keep focused on what can be done together. Keep personal agendas outside the work on the mission.

Be in a constant learning mode. Consistently look for best practices. Listen, share, and be open to what others are doing.

Challenges include: • • •

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Sustainability of the structure and getting the community to own the work that has been funded by foundational partners who see value in the work.

Access to funding for collaborative uses that has come down traditional channels from the state. While institutions are trying to be collaborative, existing frameworks can stifle sharing of financial resources.

Onboarding new members to the various roles and processes. To date it has consisted of inviting the new member to come and bringing them up to speed along the way. That is far from optimum and needs to be designed and delivered as a specific, supported process. It needs to be addressed as a tactic.

Facilitating the work among three districts that each manage their academies in different ways, and bringing a reasonable level of coordination to at the regional level.

Providing transportation for students to things like internships.

Observations: • •

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Ford NGL was instrumental to validating what was being done and providing the needed support.

Alignment structure has allowed Coachella Valley to work regionally; to set and monitor a common plan; and to establish a basis for how it convenes and develops tactical plans.

It’s not about getting money from a foundation.

While funding is certainly important, it’s about building relationships that allow flexibility.

It’s critical to keep plugged into thought leadership that has an eye on the future. Challenges and opportunities are not static but fluid. New learning will morph the journey and support the evolution of the work. It’s is part of successful and robust partnerships.

©2018, Ford Motor Company Fund: 2018 FNGL National Conference

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INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI Community Profile Named 2017 Education Innovator of the Year by the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and the Emerging Business of the Year by the Independence Economic Development Council, the ISD has truly elevated the high school experience to new levels. The ISD operates in a wall-to-wall Academy model, allowing every high school student at the district’s three high schools the opportunity to choose their Academy, earn dual credit, an Industry Recognized Credential and an Associate’s Degree if they choose. The ISD offers more than 90 courses for college credit with more than 400 college credit hours available. In 2017, 72 percent of ISD students graduated with dual credit or an Industry Recognized Credential, increasing by more than 50 percent in just two years.

Structure Structure diagram not available at time of publication.

Forum Participants • •

Linda Washburn, Director of Career Education Consortium (Chair, steering committee) Justin Durham AIA, NCARB, Associate at Hollis + Miller Architects (Lead, industry council)

Origins of Engagement When Independence first developed its master plan, the industry council did not exist. Dr. Brad MacLaughlin, Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Education, knowing that someone from business needed to be involved, reached out to Justin Durham of Hollis + Miller Architects, because he, and other architects and engineers, already had a relationship with the district and were involved in certain, fairly well-established CTE courses. From there the group transitioned into an industry council of about 15 people. The task for the first year and a half was to build capacity and bring more businesses and groups onboard to handle the needs of an existing and growing student volume.

The steering committee is completing its second full year of existence. Linda Washburn, Director of the Career Education Consortium and Dr. Brad MacLaughlin, district representative, worked together to get the committee organized and operational. The goal of the committee is to review the success and challenges of each academy and pathways and make any recommended changes. The committee uses regional and local workforce and economic data; Missouri’s accreditation standards contained in the district’s Annual Performance Report (APR); and progress toward implementation of the district’s master plan. Based on the data review, the committee makes recommendations for any changes.

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©2018, Ford Motor Company Fund: 2018 FNGL National Conference

Capacity (Staff, Members, Funding) The industry council and steering committee operate on a totally volunteer, non-funded basis. The chamber of commerce provides a part-time employee dedicated to the support of the academies who works closely with the industry council and steering committee.

Organizational Roles, Notes, and Highlights The role of the industry council is to connect education with the business world. Today there are approximately 200 businesses helping students spend time out of the classroom and in local businesses. This is accomplished through internships, job shadows, job-site visits, etc. These businesses also bring the world of work into the classroom by teaching classes and helping students create resumes and develop job interview skills. It’s about helping students become college and/or career ready, and building relationships. The companies and people who invest in this process are more likely to be the companies and the people the students will look to for earning that first paycheck.

The industry council (IC) focuses on current and future academy courses — STEM, arts and education, public service, industry technology, and business.

Anyone can become part of the industry council, and all those who are interested are welcomed to participate. Participation is managed through a website, the chamber of commerce, and the school district. The IC does not raise money as such but does ask for donations to support the out-of- pocket costs for events.

Events supported by the business council include the district career fair and the academy awards banquet.

To address its role of review and recommendation, the steering committee meets every other month for 1.5 hours over lunch. The committee consists of three permanent members (Director of the Career Education Consortium, Chair of the Industry Council, and the Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce); five members of business and industry representing each academy; a school board member; district superintendent; district assistant superintendent; district CTE coordinator; and the high school principals.

The district assistant superintendent, CTE coordinator, industry council chair, steering committee chair and executive director of the chamber of commerce meet as needed and fulfill the roles of community coordinator and district representative.

Progress Monitoring and Continuous Improvement To monitor progress, Independence primarily uses a score card of success indicators taken from the master plan along with state requirements and workforce data. That information is put into a matrix for the review process.

Š2018, Ford Motor Company Fund: 2018 FNGL National Conference

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Plans have been discussed to review the original master plan in depth and bring it up to date as a 2.0 version.

In terms of continuous improvement, Independence has hosted annual retreats primarily for the purpose of educating the community on the academy structure and benefits and to solicit feedback. The next retreat will be designed to address the performance evaluation, identified gaps and challenges, resource opportunities, and revision of the master plan for successful implementation of each academy and pathway. Justin Durham agrees, “Annual retreats allow us to have focused time to reflect on the past year’s successes and challenges and come up with ways to improve upon them.”

Key Thoughts, Observations, and Challenges It’s important to have the trust of the community. The community needs to be embedded with a strong and respected voice.

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When asked what she would recommend to communities just beginning their transformation Linda Washburn recommended, “…a strong community structure, …an upfront steering committee, …and don’t just bring in school people, bring the chamber and business partners to see what the whole thing looks like and feels like. If you don’t have that community piece up front, it is a much harder tow.”

With success and growth the need for community engagement and support also grows.

At this stage of the transformation Justin Durham acknowledges, “We are quickly finding out that we are maxed out with the engagement level we have and will need more to sustain a meaningful engagement level for each academy and all the associated pathways.”

One of the big challenges is that of maintaining a consistent group of representatives from both the community and the academies.

There is also a big difference between showing an interest in participation and following through consistently in terms of engagement, attendance, and participation. In any case, there will always be some turnover, so Linda Washburn recommends maintaining a “mini-packet” of information that includes items such as a statement of purpose, committee operations and functions, calendar of meetings, goals, and objectives.

Having such materials prepared in advance and kept current will help support a successful onboarding process. ©2018, Ford Motor Company Fund: 2018 FNGL National Conference

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE Community Profile The Academies of Nashville is one of the best college and career prep programs in the nation because of the effort to transform high schools in Metro Nashville Public Schools that started more than a decade ago. Today, the Academies of Nashville has 39 wall-to-wall academies in the district’s 12 zoned high schools. Being part of the Ford NGL network provides essential ongoing support, resources and professional development vital to continuing the Academies of Nashville in its Metro Schools.

Structure

Assist Academy

Academy Business Engagement Process

Academy Advisory Board

Academy Partner Recruitment Academy

Academy Advisory Board

Academy

Academy Advisory Board

Academy

Academy Advisory Board

Needs of individual academies are assessed by the Academy Advisory Boards who: Ensure academy curricula meets industry standards Provide work-based learning opportunities for faculty and students Identify additional academy needs This information along with related academy data is presented to the Partnership Councils.

Prospective Academy Partners can be identified in a variety of ways and at any level. All prospects should be indicated to PENCIL Foundation and the MNPS SLC Director to ensure that Partners find the most appropriate places to become engaged.

Reporting Structure/ Data Sharing

Advise Academies of Nashville

The Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce convenes the Academies of Nashville Partnership Councils and the Chamber CEO Champions for the identification of community resources.

Partnership Councils

Partnership Councils look across academy lines to: Ensure equitable academy resources Ensure adequate academy resources Identify untapped resources Ensure workforce demands are met Partnership Council needs and successes are presented to CEO Champions.

Advocate CEO Champions

Communicate needs and successes to the broader Nashville Area community.

Forum Participant •

Marc Hill, Chief Policy Officer, Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce

©2018, Ford Motor Company Fund: 2018 FNGL National Conference

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Origins of Engagement More than ten years ago Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) began its transformational work. That was a time before the Ford NGL Framework existed as we know it today. Nashville actually worked off of an initial draft of the three strands as it thought through and created its first five year plan.

They saw an order to those strands — the first being the reorganization and restructuring of the schools.

That had to happen first before engaging anyone to serve as business partners. The feeling was that if the schools were not truly ready for participating in a business partnership, it would only frustrate the business volunteers. If that happened it would be difficult, if not impossible, to get them back.

While schools were reorganizing and developing their pathways and proposed programs, Alignment Nashville, a community impact nonprofit, convened a working group composed of MNPS, the chamber of commerce, the PENCIL Foundation, the mayor’s office, and other stakeholders to design the academy structures. The Chamber and PENCIL began organizing six industry partnership councils as the first component of a comprehensive structure of business engagement. These partnership councils were regularly convened, but for a while there were not a whole lot of specific and substantive things to do. There were a lot of questions about what the academies would look like, and how it all fit, and what the ultimate vision was. There was, however, an established relationship of trust. That relationship held the group together through the initial uncertainty until planning began for the creation of a ninth-grade career exploration fair. That was a project that business volunteers serving on the industry councils could really sink their teeth into.

The comprehensive business engagement structure designed by Nashville’s founding partners began with three tiers of involvement. The first tier is comprised of individual partnerships at the academy level. All of those partners form a business advisory board. PENCIL Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, manages and supports all those individual academy partnerships. At the middle tier there are five industry partnership councils that guide and oversee the pathways, programs, and academies within their industry area. They are all staffed by a staff member of the chamber of commerce and led by a business person along with a school system vice-chair. The industry partnership councils were the first piece of the business engagement structure to be created.

The third tier is the CEO Champions. It is comprised of a group of CEOs along with the director of schools

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©2018, Ford Motor Company Fund: 2018 FNGL National Conference

and is led by the mayor and one of the business leaders. In addition to championing and promoting the effort within the community, CEO Champions help successfully navigate the inevitable leadership transitions that will happen in the district and the community. They also monitor the school system budget to ensure adequate funding is provided to support the academies, so that the considerable private investment is matched by the appropriate public resources.

In the past four or five years Nashville has also found utility in regularly convening the chairs of the industry councils to discuss and troubleshoot system wide, strategic issues. This past year this group has convened monthly as an Alignment Nashville Academies Committee, which includes the industry council chairs along with other key players and stakeholders, to discuss strategic and systemic issues. While not formally a steering committee, it performs many of those same functions.

Capacity (Staff, Members, Funding) There is one full time staff member at the chamber of commerce who essentially staffs all of the five industry partnership councils and the CEO Champions. They also co-chair the new alignment team for the academies which serves the functions of a steering committee. That individual also works on other K-12 initiatives, but the academies take about 70% of her time. Marc Hill’s role as leader of the policy team at the chamber includes education work, a portion of which is spent in a strategic advisory role. In terms of managing the individual partnerships, PENCIL has in the past had a full time person recruiting and supporting the partnerships. Recently they moved to managing the partnerships based on geography within the city. They now have four individuals working a portion of their time on these responsibilities for all the feeder schools and the high schools.

Organizational Alignment and Core Functions • • • • •

Academy partners [PENCIL] Academy advisory boards [PENCIL] Industry Partnership Councils [Chamber of Commerce] Academies A-Team [Alignment Nashville] CEO Champions [Chamber of Commerce]

Progress Monitoring and Continuous Improvement The industry partnership councils review a spreadsheet of data for their related academies during each of their meetings throughout the year. This information includes the partners for each academy; the dollar amount of partner investment (both financial and in-kind) for each academy; the industry certifications offered and the participation and pass rate; and the number of work-based learning opportunities offered to students. The CEO Champions review similar data from a district-wide perspective during their quarterly meetings.

The district and founding partners participate in a two-day annual retreat at the end of the school year. There they debrief successes and challenges and develop initiatives and an action plan for the following school year. The retreat also includes a status report of the previous year’s action plan to ensure accountability. The founding partners will also do a mid-year review of the action plan to ensure that progress is being made on the retreat action plan.

©2018, Ford Motor Company Fund: 2018 FNGL National Conference

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RACINE, WISCONSIN Community Profile Located in southeastern Wisconsin, Racine Unified School District (RUSD) is the fifth largest school district in the state, serving nearly 20,000 students. It serves seven cities/villages in an area of approximately 100 square miles.

Schools include two early learning centers, eighteen elementary, three middle, three K-8 campuses, three high, one virtual learning, three magnet elementary, one charter elementary, one charter middle, one charter high, one alternative middle, one alternative high, and two alternative learning centers.

About the time the country was coming out of the Great Recession, Racine was in search of a way to increase the high school graduation rate which in 2104 was hovering in the high 60 to low 70% rate and lagging both in the state and well behind the national average. Hearing that similar issues had been addressed and progress was being made in Nashville, Tennessee, a decision was made to contact, visit, and meet with the Academies of Nashville and the Ford Next Generation Network. It was clear from their investigation and new relationships, that progress could be achieved by bringing the community together and aligning the focus and initiatives of workforce and education. During this time, the Strive Together Model was completed and changed the community focus to a cradle to career approach.

Structure

Partnership for Education & Community Collaboration Academies of Racine CEO Champions

Academies of Racine Steering Committee

Pathway Advisory Councils

Career Pathway Impact Teams

Academy Teams

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Academy Teams

Academy Teams

Š2018, Ford Motor Company Fund: 2018 FNGL National Conference

Forum Participants •

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Carolynn Friesch, Manager, Employer & Education Partnership Development, Higher Expectations (Convening Organization Representative) Matt Montemurro, President/CEO, Racine Area Manufactures And Commerce (RAMAC), (Steering Committee Chair)

Origins of Engagement In 2008, the Racine County Workforce Development Board embraced the creation of a workforce development strategy with the vision of a fully employed workforce by the year 2020. Educational, private, public, non-profit, and faith-based organizations met to address the root causes of chronic underemployment in the county, particularly for the inner city of Racine. Racine had for two decades lead the state in the highest unemployment rate, so it was clear something had to change. The result of the effort was a report and creation of an organization called Higher Expectations for Racine County. Led by Executive Director Jeff Neubauer, it encourages all stakeholders in the community to work together to achieve dramatically better educational and workforce outcomes. The clearly stated mission of Higher Expectations is to engage community partners, align efforts, and maximize resources to promote excellence and equity in education and employment outcomes in Racine County. Higher Expectations serves as the convening organization.

The Racine Area Manufacturers And Commerce (RAMAC) plays a major role in selecting and engaging business partners to support the Racine master plan. It’s President and CEO, Matt J Montemurro also serves as the chair of the steering committee for the school district’s transformation. As Racine’s business champion and chamber, RAMAC serves as the link between business and the schools. The role requires getting out into the community and meeting with the businesses and business owners and sharing what is happening in the schools. It also requires showing the businesses how they can become dedicated partners with the school district. It requires sustaining that relationship by keeping them involved. That keeps the engagement level high and encourages more buy-in from the community.

©2018, Ford Motor Company Fund: 2018 FNGL National Conference

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Capacity (Staff, Members, Funding) Carolynn Friesch is the Manager of Employer & Education Partnership Development, Higher Expectations.

While she has some other community-wide duties, she spends the bulk of her time focused on the academies.

Higher Expectations is funded by the county along with private dollars and donations.

Before becoming the President of RAMAC, Matt Montemurro was Vice-president, Commercial Banking, Johnson Bank. Matt brought his strong ties to the business community with him to the chamber and now works closely with the schools every day.

Organizational Roles, Notes, and Highlights •

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The steering committee has been in existence for less than a year, and is still in the process of defining roles and responsibilities. Dan Thielen, Chief of Secondary School Transformation, Racine Unified School District serves as the co-chair of the committee.

Prior to regular quarterly meetings of the steering committee, one or two planning meetings are held to set the agenda and schedule deliverables.

From the steering committee, a communications sub-committee was developed to help facilitate an organized and complete flow of information.

Higher Expectations staff includes a post-secondary facilitator who deepens the connections with institutions and the Academies of Racine.

Carolynn Friesch functions as the community coordinator, and the academy coaches fill the role as district representatives. These individuals meet as a group on a bi-weekly basis to address any issues and keep work in progress moving forward.

Soon to be launched are three career pathway councils. Each council will be chaired by someone from the steering committee and co-chaired by either an academy coach or an employee partner, workforce development, or economic development representative. Councils will meet quarterly about one month prior to or following a steering committee meeting.

The CEO Champions assist the academies on an as needed basis. Additionally, the Higher Expectations Leadership Table provides additional assistance to the academies.

Plans are in the works for an August 2018 annual retreat. Planning the agenda is a collaborative effort, and one element sure to be on the agenda is a roundtable with the three new pathway leaders.

Progress Monitoring and Continuous Improvement According to Carolynn Friesch, Racine has moved into another, more strategic phase of employer involvement. There have been conversations about developing a memorandum of understanding with the employers, and efforts have been made to calendar out engagement at least one year in advance.

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©2018, Ford Motor Company Fund: 2018 FNGL National Conference

According to Carolynn, “Historically, employers have welcomed these kinds of opportunities. In the case of new employers coming onboard, this helps give them confirmation that this is what they need to be doing and shows that we are serious about the transformation and our work. We want employee partners engaged. We want their help. We have conversations about what the needs are, what the processes look like, and who will own the process.”

For Matt Montemurro some things haven’t changed all that much, but what is needed becomes clearer. Opportunities to build robust and lasting relationships between the schools and the business community grow. He describes it this way, “As we continue to bring business people into the schools and let them see what we are doing, we’re finding out businesses and the people representing them haven’t been in the schools for a very long time, and they haven’t been involved. For us to continue to lead business people in and to have them participate, they have to meet with the teachers, students, and staff. Doing so has taken us forward and allowed us to gain more buy-in and belief in that what we are doing is the right path.”

Key Thoughts and Observations •

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As with most school districts, there were already some links to the business community there were already links and relationships with parts of the business community. What this process has fostered is a strengthening of those relationships and a more strategic engagement. As Carolynn put it, “Those business connections realized that there were other areas that they could plug into beyond what they had been doing previously.”

As you educate others about the transformation, show them Strand 3 of the Ford NGL Framework. It helps the community understand that they are part of the movement; that the name behind the movement is credible; and that partners can influence change to the benefit of all parties.

Matt observed, “When Ford NGL came on board, it enhanced the work and made it easier. A lot of businesses had been sitting back — perhaps feeling they had done something like this before and wondering how the results would be different. With Ford NGL, it gave us more of a defined structure and credibility.”

He continued, “This entire process is like the Titanic, which you can’t turn around on a dime. It’s slow over a long period of time, but it will eventually get done. In order to get it done, everyone in the community has to be pulling in the same direction.”

Carolyn noted that you have to have a strong budget, a strong plan, key deliverables, and metrics.

She also expressed her belief that it’s important for every community to have catalysts for the work, and in Racine that was Superintendent Lolli Haws, Deputy Superintendent Eric Gallien, and Higher Expectations Executive Director Jeff Neubauer. From the start, they bought into this work 100%. They have endlessly advocated to ensure that the key community partners are at the table linked into our transformation goals.

©2018, Ford Motor Company Fund: 2018 FNGL National Conference

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Š2018, Ford Motor Company Fund: 2018 FNGL National Conference