Bill DeBaun, Senior Director, National College Attainment Network. This post originally appeared at the National College Attainment Network blog.
Secondary leaders lay the foundation for students to be lifelong learners and determine their own future. In today’s world, that means preparing them to succeed in their chosen postsecondary path. In the realm of K-12 education, each week brings new, impactful tools and insights that add to our growing knowledge base.
OneGoal developed the OneGoal Leadership Network, in which they partner with school and district leaders to ensure postsecondary planning, preparation, and support aren’t treated as extracurricular activities, but as integral components of the high school experience for all students. The network helps eliminate equity gaps and increases college and career readiness by assessing districts’ postsecondary readiness, including them in a supportive community of peers and experts, and guiding them every step of the way on a path to improvement.
The OneGoal Rubric for Postsecondary Readiness supports a baseline assessment of districts’ status against seven focus areas of postsecondary readiness:
- Shared Postsecondary Vision, Plan & Framework
- Postsecondary Data Systems & Structures
- Continuous Improvement Cycles
- Adult Capacity Building
- Institutional Partnerships
- Student Supports & Advising Programming
- Aligned Human & Financial Capital
Users consider their current activities in each of these areas and then place themselves into one of three levels:
- Beginning – “We have not yet started plans in this area. We consistently display most of the descriptors in this category.”
- Practicing – “Plans are in place to implement these practices and processes and they occur with some regularity. We consistently display most of the descriptors in this category.”
- Persisting – “Practices and processes have moved from plans to habit and routine and serve as a model for others. We consistently display most of the descriptions in this category.”
The reason this is so valuable is it allows current (or prospective!) stakeholders to take stock of current practice and set some aspirational goals for improvement.
OneGoal, a national organization, offers programs to ensure that students from low-income communities earn a postsecondary education credential that leads to economic mobility and family-sustaining wages.
Download the Rubric for Postsecondary Readiness.