The Coachella Valley Regional Plan for College and Career Readiness

The Coachella Valley Regional Plan for College and Career Readiness

October 2012

The Coachella Valley Regional Plan for College and Career Readiness documents how business and education will collaborate to create regional career pathways strategies, college and career readiness strategies, assign responsibilities for key components and develop an agreed upon sustainability plan for pipeline efforts.

The plan has been jointly authored under the direction of the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership (CVEP) Board of Directors through the board’s Workforce Excellence Oversight Committee with direct input from over 75 stakeholders, including Coachella Valley Unified School District, Desert Sands Unified School District, Palm Springs Unified School District, Riverside County Office of Education, College of the Desert, Riverside County EDA/Workforce Investment Board and industry leaders from across the Coachella Valley.

Development of the plan was launched in November 2011 by CVEP’s Workforce Excellence Oversight Committee under the leadership of former College of the Desert President, Jerry Patton.

Dr. Christine Anderson, Superintendent of Palm Springs Unified School District and Don Perry, immediate past chairman of the CVEP Board of Directors currently chair CVEP’s Workforce Excellence Oversight Committee. The committee will provide ongoing oversight for plan implementation and will also conduct an in-depth annual review to chart plan progress, recommend revisions and assure ongoing partner engagement.

Grounded in research from the Ford Motor Company Fund and the Ford Next Generation Learning national network, this five-year plan is structured around the three pillars of Next Generation Learning: Transforming Teaching and Learning, Transforming Secondary Schools and Sustaining Change through Business and Civic Leadership.

In addition, the Coachella Valley is creating and piloting a fourth strand, which is focused on College and Career Readiness. Focusing on these goals aligns the resources of the business community and education partners to support targets which will assure improved student outcomes.

There are currently 15 California Partnership Academies (CPA) in Coachella Valley high schools, serving approximately 2,500 of the region’s 20,000 high school students. This plan sets a target of a minimum of 30% of area high school students being enrolled in career or interest-themed academy, pathway or similar programs in five years.

Strand 1: Transforming Teaching and Learning: Creating meaningful learning experiences that enable students to apply academic knowledge to real-world challenges.

·  Essential Practice 1.1 – Learning Pillars – The essential knowledge and skills for college and career readiness

·  Description: The Ford PAS Learning Pillars articulate essential knowledge and skills that have been identified by both employers and college faculty as necessary for young people to be fully prepared for success in both college and careers.

·  GOAL 1 of 1: Professional Development: In 5 years, career- and interest-themed academy, pathway and related program teachers, counselors, and administrators will have participated in professional development based on a needs assessment of academy-related competencies.

Strategies / Action Steps/Objectives / Measurable Outcomes / Lead Person(s)/Team / Start Date / End Date / Yearly Goals
Professional development will be provided for all career and interest themed academy, pathway and related program teachers, administrators, and counselors. / §  Districts will work collaboratively with school sites to develop and conduct an academy/career interest-themed related professional development needs assessment.
§  Administrators, counselors, and teachers will receive training on academy based competencies such as the following:
§  Building master schedules that support academy based courses of study.
§  Project Based Learning strategies
§  Use of technology in the classroom
§  21st Century Skills
§  Faculty externships
§  Co-teaching, inclusion, interdisciplinary teams
§  Types of data and data analysis
§  School and district participation in Cal-PASS PLC (IEBC – Institute for Evidence Based Change)
§  Train teachers, counselors and administrators in transition opportunities and competencies to be prepared to help students advance to next educational segment of the pathway. / §  Professional Development Calendar, Records, i.e. agendas, sign-in sheets, etc.
§  Results of annual needs assessment
§  Implementation tools, data, expectations
§  Formative assessments in place in each district / District and
Site Administrators,
Coaches / July 1, 2013 / June 30, 2014 / Year 1: Planning Team
§  Create a common needs assessment
§  Conduct needs assessment
§  Prioritize PD offerings
Higher education will support the professional development of teachers pursuing pathway certification. / §  Districts will work with higher education partners to provide teachers with opportunities to secure CTE certification, credentialing and specialized training. / §  Courses of study that support certifications / COD, UCR, CSUSB
District administration / July 1, 2013 / June 30, 2014 / Year 1 and Ongoing

·  Essential Practice 1.2 – Teaching Pillars – Teaching principles that develop students’ knowledge and skills for college and career readiness.

·  Description: The Ford PAS Teaching Pillars describe the instructional principles – based on rigorous research and professional experience – that are essential for facilitating learning of the essential knowledge and skills that students need. These principles help students meet and exceed state-established benchmarks for academic performance, and meet expectations for college-level work and future employment.

·  GOAL 1 of 3: Curriculum: In 5 years, a rigorous and relevant curriculum will be in place that prepares pathway students to be college and career ready.

Strategies / Action Steps/Objectives / Measurable Outcomes / Lead Person(s)/Team / Start Date / End Date / Yearly Goals
A sequenced program of study Is developed, approved and maintained for each pathway within an academy. / §  Articulate with ROP to align course offerings and/or increase student opportunities
§  Expand post-secondary articulation and dual enrollment agreements
§  Create and regularly review and update course guides.
§  Explore online learning options / § Appropriate courses of study in Master Schedule
§ Completed articulation agreements
§  Completed course guides
§  A completed list of online providers
§  Develop 10 year plan with counselor(s) and other academy staff / District ROP liaisons
Post-secondary liaisons
District curriculum administrator(s)
District curriculum administrator(s)
District curriculum administrator(s)
District curriculum administrator(s)
District curriculum administrator(s)
District admin
Counselors
Teachers / 2013
2013
2013
2013
2013
2013 / Annually
Annually
Annually
Annually
Annually / Year 1: Articulation agreement with ROP drafted, approved and in place.
Year 1: Articulation agreement(s) with post-secondary partners drafted, approved and in place.
Year 1: Program written, reviewed and approved
Year 1: List of acceptable online courses is established.
Course curriculum incorporates service or work-based learning, internships and/or capstone projects / §  Create courses of study that support work-based learning and internships and include capstone projects that are relevant to each academy/pathway focus
§  Develop business/community partnerships to facilitate effective work-based learning, internships and capstone projects / §  Completed course list includes work-based learning experiences
§  Partnership agreements / District curriculum administrator(s)
Site academy staff and business partners / 2013
2013 / Annually
Annually / Year 1 and Ongoing - Internships and other work based learning experiences in place
Year 2: Students have been placed in internships
Curriculum is project based, interdisciplinary, integrated and focused around relevant themes. / §  Embed into curriculum:
o  21st century skills
§  Technological skills
§  Contextualized learning
§  Collaboration skills
§  Global Awareness
§  Problem-solving
§  Critical thinking
§  Creativity & Innovation / §  Completed curriculum maps
are interdisciplinary and reflect 21st century skills / District curriculum administrator(s)
Site academy staff and business partners / 2013 / Annually / Year 1 and Ongoing

·  GOAL 2 of 3: Instruction: In 5 years, Inquiry-, Project- and Challenge-based learning will be an integral part of career and interest-themed academy, pathway and related program instruction that includes strategies for differentiated instruction and usage of instructional technology.

Strategies / Action Steps/Objectives / Measurable Outcomes / Lead Person(s)/Team / Start Date / End Date / Yearly Goals
Teachers engage students in learning that is relevant to both the career and interest-themed academy, pathway, or related program, and their own lives. / §  Expose elementary students to career-themed learning opportunities; facilitate exploration of career-themed learning opportunities for middle school students; and offer experiences for high school students in career-themed programs. / § Completed course outlines/ guides, and syllabi for appropriate elementary, middle and high school courses / District administrators / 2013 / 2014 / Year 1 and Ongoing: Academy and pathways teachers receive PD in inquiry, project and performance based learning and assessments.
§  Utilize the following instructional methods:
o  Inquiry based
o  Project based
o  Contextual
o  Performance based
o  Problem-based
o  Technology-integrated
o  Integrate community/business speakers / §  Completed Professional Development (PD) documentation
§  Classrooms observed with evidence of desired teaching strategies in place
§  Classroom monitoring tool(s) / District administrators
Academy, pathways teachers and staff
Site and district administrators / 2013 / Annually / Year 1 and Ongoing
§  Integrate community speakers, field trips job shadowing experiences mentorships student internships and community service opportunities into classroom instruction
§  Teachers differentiate instruction to meet the needs of individual students
o  Using a variety of assessment data to differentiate instruction with content, process and product
o  Provide timely academic intervention through teacher teams / §  Records showing evidence of community speakers, mentorships, field trips, and community service
§  Student portfolios and time logs evidence internships and community service
§  Certificates of completion from businesses / District and Site Admin
Teachers
Community Partners / 2013 / Annually / Year 1 and Ongoing

·  GOAL 3 of 3: Assessment: In 5 years, the data driven assessment system will include tools to authentically assess students in their college and career readiness.

Strategies / Action Steps/Objectives / Measurable Outcomes / Lead Person(s)/Team / Start Date / End Date / Yearly Goals
Faculty will use formative assessments to monitor student learning, assess student mastery of 21st century skills, and guide future instruction. / §  Teachers will provide students, in groups and as individuals, with authentic assessment opportunities as formative assessments / §  Professional Development Calendars and Agendas
§  Published assessments / District Administrators and staff
School Administrators / July 1, 2013 / June 30 / Year 1: Assessments in place
Year 2: Staffs trained
Year 2: Assessments in Use
Ensure relevant data is easily accessible for all stakeholders / §  Identify essential data elements including:
§  Standards mastery – CTE, academic and industry
§  Individual
§  Course
§  Academy
§  Schools
§  District
§  Region
§  Establish systems for collecting and assessing data such as:
§  Data Dashboards / §  Preidentified data is easily accessible, timely, and accurate / District Staff
Site Administrators / July 1, 2014 / Year 1 – Relevant data identified
Year 2 – Systems for collecting and accessing in place

Strand 2: Transforming Secondary Schools - Creating and maintaining the career academies (and similar career- and interest-based programs) and the collaborative culture, structures, and practices necessary to transform teaching and learning and to facilitate community engagement.

·  Essential Practice 2.1 – Students have choices among high-quality career academies and similar career- and interest-themed programs.

·  Description: Schools offer a variety of career academies and similar career- and interest-themed programs, designing them according to rigorous standards so that they are challenging and accessible, phasing them in across the district to reach a critical mass of students

·  GOAL 1 of 2: In 5 years, a minimum of 30% of students across the valley will be enrolled in career or interest-themed academy, pathway or similar programs.

Strategies / Action Steps/Objectives / Measurable Outcomes / Lead Person(s)/Team / Start Date / End Date / Yearly Goals
Annually, districts will conduct an analysis of resources and support required to implement academies, pathways and programs and share summary with CVEP WE Oversight Committee. / ·  Districts develop list of needs
·  Districts share Needs Analysis with CVEP WE Oversight Committee Annually
·  CVEP WE Oversight Committee will facilitate development of common, local definitions for “academy”, “pathway”, “program,” flexible scheduling, distance learning, and other college and career readiness terminology, resulting in a common language glossary.
·  Common questionnaire/protocol will be developed by CVEP WE Oversight Committee. subcommittee to assist in analysis of program and census of programs (Oversight, or Partnership?) / ·  Needs List
·  Subcommittee established / District admin/staff
CVEP WE Oversight Committee / January 2013 / June 2013 / Year One
·  First needs analysis is conducted and presented to CVEP WE Oversight Committee
Year Two – Ongoing
·  Needs Analysis is updated and shared with CVEP WE Oversight Committee
Districts will develop a local action plan to build and sustain student enrollment in CTE/Academy/Pathway programs. / ·  Districts will conduct an annual CTE/Academy/Pathway census of programs and students, utilizing standardized data collection informed by a common definition
·  Pathway census will be shared with CVEP WE Oversight Committee
·  Census data will inform next-step elements of district plans
·  Local plans will address:
o  Training strategy
o  Placement system development, ensuring adequate placement opportunities
o  Recruitment plan development / ·  Annual CTE census document
·  Local district implementation plans / District admin/staff / January 2013 / June 2013
(first draft Sept 2013/final Dec 2013) / Year One
·  Annual CTE / Academy /Pathway census will be completed by January 2013.
·  CVUSD, DSUSD, PSUSD will share implementation plans in June 2013.
Year Two – Ongoing
·  Annual census will be conducted and shared annually.
·  Districts will update plans and share progress reports annually.

·  Goal 2 of 2: Economic Development targets will inform and guide development of school career and interest-themed program development.

Strategies / Action Steps/Objectives / Measurable Outcomes / Lead Person(s)/Team / Start Date / End Date / Yearly Goals
CVEP will host an annual Education Summit (or collaborate to augment existing RCOE event) and provide annual summary of economic outlook for district and school administrators / ·  CVEP will work with RCOE to explore potential of collaborating on an economic outlook for educators (CTE Advisory council dinner, UCLA economic summit)
o  Plan structure (lunch, dinner, breakout session)
·  CVEP will develop an annual economic outlook specifically geared to Coachella Valley educators and business partners
·  Collect economic data and workforce development trends (future jobs and economic growth sector – industry)
·  Use data to propose adding and deleting and expanding CTE course/academies/pathways / Summit Agenda
Number of business participants
Number of principals, site admin, pathway faculty and counselors attending / CVEP Workforce Excellence / January 2013 / October 2013 / Year 1: Organize and host Education Summit
Business leaders will attend and be recognized at high school graduation ceremonies to showcase their impact on academy/SLC/career programs (i.e. CCHS graduation) / ·  High schools identify key business, civic partners engaged with their school.
·  High schools develop recognition protocol for business partners.
·  High schools invite business partners to attend graduation ceremonies. / High School Graduation ceremony programs / Site Principals, District Administrators
Academy / Pathway faculty
Business partners / January 2013 / June 2013 -- Ongoing

·  Essential Practice 2.2 – School staff form a learning community committed to transforming their practice.