Report/Research

Building Early College Pathways to STEM Careers

At a Glance

Most students in Bridgeport, Connecticut, come from low-income families, a group that has struggled historically to complete high school and enter college. But through early college pathways, they have a greater chance of success.

Published sep. 07, 2017

Contributor

Joel Vargas
Vice President, Education

Topics

Most students in Bridgeport, Connecticut come from low-income families, a group that has struggled historically to complete high school and enter college. Bridgeport’s school and workforce leaders saw that students had the potential to benefit greatly from better preparation in STEM subjects through early college pathways. Bridgeport takes its first steps toward redesigning and improving the educational experiences of these students, ensuring that student experiences are connected to college-level work and real workforce needs in the region.

The Early College Expansion Partnership (ECEP) had an ambitious goal: take a bold school improvement model that had increased success of low-income youth in small high schools and scale it to 30,000 more students.

A growing number of young people are taking college courses in high school, as districts work to increase postsecondary readiness and success. A shortage of qualified instructors, however, could slow down expansion of this proven strategy.

The evidence speaks for itself: when high school students participate in college-credit-bearing coursework, they are more likely to graduate high school, go to college, and earn a degree.

For 15 years, early college high schools have raised high school graduation and college success rates for underrepresented students. Now, education leaders nationwide are scaling up early college designs to improve the performance of entire school systems.

The Early College Expansion Project used leadership coaching to build the capacity of school administrators to guide early college implementation.

Report/Research

Building Early College Pathways to STEM Careers

At a Glance

Published sep. 07, 2017

Contributor

Topics

Taking the Long View: Sustainability Lessons from the Early College Expansion Partnership

Solving the Dual Enrollment Staffing Puzzle: Strategies from the Early College Expansion Partnership

Differentiated Dual Enrollment and Other Collegiate Experiences

Leadership Lessons from the Early College Expansion Partnership

Leadership and Instructional Coaching: Lessons Learned from the Evaluation of the Early College Expansion Project

Impact Story

Early College

Design

Invest

Scale

Influence

Impact Story

STEM Early College Expansion Partnership

Scale

Impact Story

Early College Expansion Partnership

Scale