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Report/Research

Quality Indicators for Pathways Designs and Implementation

These quality indicators help communities design, implement, evaluate, and continuously improve college and career pathways that enable all students to succeed in college, careers, and their lives.

January 4, 2019

At a Glance

These quality indicators help communities design, implement, evaluate, and continuously improve college and career pathways that enable all students to succeed in college, careers, and their lives.

The quality indicators in this report can help inform the design, implementation, evaluation, and continuous improvement of college and career pathways that prepare young people to succeed.

They reflect three priority areas that are critical for guiding pathway development and implementation:

  • Leadership and governance
  • Alignment between secondary and postsecondary education
  • A system to deliver high quality work-based learning

It also provides four common indicators that cut across priority areas and are essential for successful implementation: data and metrics, equity and access, communications and messaging, and learning and teaching.

The guiding principles and practices outlined in this report are based on best practice, research, and on-the-ground implementation in the Great Lakes College and Career Pathways Partnership communities. Our aim is to support and drive the development of college and career pathways that enable all students to access educational and economic opportunities that lead to success in college, career, and life.

This piece was co-developed by JFF, ConnectED, and the Education Systems Center at Northern Illinois University for the Great Lakes College and Career Pathways Partnership, funded by the Joyce Foundation.

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