A SIGN OF THINGS TO COME

A few miles from the southern tip of Texas, the town of Hidalgo can boast of one of the nation’s most successful school systems. The dropout rate is nearly zero, and the high school regularly lands on lists of the nation’s top high schools. This past June, when the members of the Hidalgo High School graduating class received their diplomas, 95 percent of them could proudly point to their college credits as well. Two-thirds of the students had earned at least a semester of credit toward a college degree.

These days, the word on Hidalgo, the nation’s first “early college district,” is getting around, as you’ll read in Newswire. The early college design is a vehicle for providing traditionally underserved students with opportunities to earn substantial college credits along with high school diplomas. Students spend fewer years and less money earning a college credential. Hidalgo has taken this cutting-edge idea even further: the school system has embedded a college and career culture in everyday activities, from elementary school through middle school and into high school, motivating and preparing all students to go on to postsecondary education.

The practices and policies implemented in Hidalgo, one of America’s most economically depressed regions, can help other districts and states expand opportunities for their young people, no matter what obstacles they face. It’s clear that Hidalgo is a sign of exciting things to come.

—Marlene B. Seltzer, President and CEO, Jobs for the Future

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COLLEGE READY

EARLY COLLEGE HIGH SCHOOLS: “WHY NOT DO IT FOR ALL THE KIDS?”

In an online Education Week commentary, JFF says it’s time for the nation to pay attention when any community boasts results like those in Hidalgo, Texas. The results are especially remarkable when 9 out of 10 students in the high school are considered economically disadvantaged, and over half enter with limited proficiency in English.

Documented in JFF’s recent publication, College Success for All, the story of Hidalgo is also about turning an entire school district around. In the late 1980s, student achievement in Hidalgo ranked in the bottom 10 percent in Texas. Local leaders took giant steps to improve student performance, and they gained support from every segment of the surrounding community. Over the past two decades, everyone—from bus drivers to principals, from teachers to school board members—has focused on doing what it takes to raise the achievement levels of all 3,500 young people in the Hidalgo schools.

HIDALGO IN THE NEWS

Recently, The New York Times, The Texas Tribune, and The Washington Post have all lauded the Hidalgo Independent School District, a partner in the Early College High School Initiative. Managed by JFF, the initiative includes more than 230 schools nationwide that give young people the opportunity to earn free college credit while in high school. And like Hidalgo’s, these students are mostly from minority and low-income families. As Washington Post columnist Jay Mathews wrote, “There is no question the feeling in [Hidalgo] about where their kids are going is different than most neighborhoods full of people without much money. . . . That is worth thinking about when we worry that putting such emphasis on college may be too much for those kids.”

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CAREER ADVANCEMENT

CREATING CAREER PATHWAYS FOR FRONTLINE HEALTH CARE WORKERS

An effective, efficient workforce is essential to addressing rising health care costs. Nevertheless, investments in career advancement for frontline health care workers are limited. Creating Career Pathways for Frontline Health Care Workers focuses on promising practices drawn from Jobs to Careers. At 17 sites around the country, the initiative explores new ways to help frontline health care workers get the skills they need to provide quality care and build sustainable careers. It also helps the health care industry improve the quality of patient care and health services by building the skills and careers of frontline employees.

THE RESOURCE WITHIN: TODAY’S EMPLOYEES BECOME HOSPITALS' WORKFORCE OF THE FUTURE

To deliver care to an ever-increasing number of patients, and to make that care more patient-centered, hospitals must focus on the career and skill development of all members within the existing workforce, not just doctors and other high-level professionals. The Resource Within demonstrates best practices for advancing and retaining frontline hospital workers in order to meet the rising demand for health care talent. These practices are being implemented at eight hospitals that participate in Jobs to Careers.

THE ORIGINS OF REGIONAL FUNDING COLLABORATIVES IN THE NATIONAL FUND

The National Fund for Workforce Solutions is an unprecedented national partnership testing new ways to address a critical problem: the large gap between the skills many workers have and the skills employers need in order to compete. At the center of the initiative, 24 regional collaboratives of funders come together to support workforce development projects—to decide, in partnership with employers and practitioners, how and where these investments should be made. This report traces the history of seven collaboratives, from before the launch of the National Fund through early 2010. It notes what conditions gave rise to them, how they began and developed, what challenges they have faced, and what key lessons they hold for future project developers.

ENGAGING EMPLOYERS IN THE NATIONAL FUND

Each regional collaborative in the National Fund for Workforce Solutions invests in local workforce partnerships that organize key stakeholders, mobilize service providers, and secure local resources to help workers gain the skills they need and help employers access the skilled labor they need. Critical to their success is engaging employers as active partners. This report, based on interviews with the coordinators of workforce partnerships, details how employers identify and meet their needs and what challenges they face in doing so.

DIALOGUE FOR WORKFORCE EXCELLENCE: JFF AT THE 2011 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF WORKFORCE BOARDS FORUM

We invite you to attend JFF’s sessions at this year’s NAWB Forum in Washington, DC, February 5-8. Maria Flynn and Gloria Mwase will offer perspectives on how Workforce Investment Boards can expand adult education to strengthen regional career paths. Randall Wilson will presenting findings from Jobs to Careers on advancement for frontline health care workers. And Robert Holm and John Dorrer will discuss the role of labor market information in fostering local and regional economic growth. And, of course, please stop by our booth (#20) in the main exhibit hall.

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POLICY SOLUTIONS

HOW TO EXPAND EARLY COLLEGE DESIGNS: A JFF WEBINAR

The Hidalgo Independent School District in Texas has raised the bar on what it means for a school system to focus on college readiness. On January 12, JFF hosted a webinar for policymakers and practitioners on why and how to expand early college designs across states and school districts. Presenters included Superintendent Ed Blaha of the Hidalgo, Texas, school district; Alma Garcia, program officer at the Texas High School Project; and JFF’s Joel Vargas and Nancy Hoffman, coauthors of A Policymaker’s Guide to Early College Designs. They shared ways that all districts and states can create stories like Hidalgo’s: more opportunities for young people, and more college graduates to help strengthen our nation’s economy.

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Jobs for the Future develops, implements, and promotes new education and workforce strategies that help communities, states, and the nation compete in a global economy. In 200 communities in 41 states, JFF improves the pathways leading from high school to college to family-sustaining careers.

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