Resource Library

This final evaluation report presents findings from the Oakland Health Pathways Project (OHPP), a joint initiative of Oakland Unified School District, Alameda Health System, and Alameda County Health Care Services Agency. The initiative is designed to improve educational and long-term employment outcomes for youth of color in Oakland (Alameda County), California, while expanding and diversifying the local health care workforce. It applies Linked Learning, an approach to college and career preparation that combines classroom learning with real-world work experiences.

Research, Career-Technical Education, College & Career Readiness, Equity, Lessons Learned, Outcomes, Partnerships, Postsecondary, Rigorous Academics, Student Supports, Workforce Development, Work-Based Learning, Oakland Health Pathways

SRI evaluators compared health pathway students’ outcomes with those of students who had similar demographic characteristics and prior achievement but were in two other programs of study: traditional high school programs, and other career-themed pathways. We found that health pathway students significantly outperformed traditional high school students on key indicators of success in high school and the transition to postsecondary education. We found no differences in the outcomes of students who participated in health pathways compared to those in other career-themed pathways.

Research, Career-Technical Education, College & Career Readiness, Equity, Lessons Learned, Outcomes, Postsecondary, Workforce Development, Work-Based Learning, Oakland Health Pathways

As states and districts contemplate how to best use their COVID-19 relief funding, they should think differently about addressing lost learning and building better systems for the future. College and career pathways fit the bill on all counts, writes Linked Learning Alliance president Anne Stanton and Alliance for Excellent Education president and CEO Deborah S. Delisle.

Communications, Stories, College & Career Readiness, COVID19, General, Partnerships, Postsecondary, Rigorous Academics, Student Supports

This research report, conducted by UCLA Center for Community Schooling, illuminates the voices of Linked Learning alumni as they reflect upon their high school and postsecondary experiences. Based on interviews with Linked Learning high school graduates, this report sheds light on how students experience the transition to postsecondary education and careers, and how their Linked Learning experience influenced postsecondary trajectories. Alumni also describe how the barriers they experience, both within postsecondary institutions and in their personal lives, undermine the intentions of students who identify as well-prepared for postsecondary education.

Research, Stories, College & Career Readiness, Equity, Lessons Learned, Outcomes, Postsecondary, Postsecondary Transitions

This research brief summarizes student outcome findings from SRI International’s evaluation of the California Linked Learning District Initiative, an effort to build robust district-level systems to sustain high school career pathways in nine school districts in the state. The current brief summarizes, at the conclusion of the evaluation, these final high school and postsecondary findings; it also for the first time provides findings from an analysis of community college on-track indicators for Linked Learning students. The brief concludes with implications from our findings for policy, practice, and future research.

Research, College & Career Readiness, Equity, Lessons Learned, Outcomes, Postsecondary, Postsecondary Transitions

The Linked Learning Alliance captures and amplifies learnings, best practices, and collective challenges to support the growing network of Linked Learning partners, continually adding new tools and materials to our Resource Library. We share this information to ensure you have access to best practices and can see how other educators, community leaders and industry partners are building, implementing and tracking integrated college and career preparation policies, practices and programs.

Communications, Career-Technical Education, College & Career Readiness, COVID19, Equity, General, Partnerships, Postsecondary, Rigorous Academics, Student Supports, Workforce Development, Work-Based Learning, Getting Started

This guidebook recognizes the unique expertise and experience of faculty and educational master candidates who have committed to the hard work of transforming the high school experience for students using the Linked Learning approach. The chapters in this guidebook provide a variety of insights from secondary and post-secondary educators involved in work associated with Linked Learning implementation.

Curriculum & Instruction, Pathway Improvement, Career-Technical Education, College & Career Readiness, Equity, General, Lessons Learned, Postsecondary, Rigorous Academics, Student Supports, Workforce Development, Work-Based Learning, Getting Started

Slide deck from the June 30th Strengthening K–12 AssessmentSystems to AdvanceCollege & Career Readiness event with CPAC.

Webinars, College & Career Readiness, Equity, Partnerships, Postsecondary, Student Supports, Getting Started, Continuous Improvement

What kind of leadership does the University of California most need to carry it into tomorrow? Which skills and experiences should the UC look for in a new president? What are the top issues facing today’s students and how should UC leadership address them?

Before commencing the search for the next President of the University of California, the University of California Regents requested observations and advice to inform the search process. The Linked Learning Alliance provided testimony at a public forum at the University of California, Los Angeles. Our remarks begin 46 minutes in.

Stories, College & Career Readiness, Postsecondary, Student Supports

This brief provides estimates of the effect of Linked Learning participation on students’ likelihood of enrolling in college and persisting into a second year, with particular attention to outcomes for specific student groups: students with low prior academic achievement; those with high prior achievement; English learners; and African-American, Latino, and female students. Because the Linked Learning approach is designed to combine rigorous academics with a career technical education sequence, these outcomes are crucial to gauging Linked Learning’s efficacy in preparing students for college as well as career. This analysis relies on data from the National Student Clearinghouse, which captures enrollment in approximately 97 percent of all 2-year and 4-year postsecondary institutions.

Research, Equity, Outcomes, Postsecondary, Continuous Improvement