Resource Library

This brief 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. This brief draws on interviews with key personnel from the three partner organizations to distill lessons learned on effective cross-sector partnerships and delivery of authentic work-based learning. These lessons are timely as the health care industry is projected to account for about a third of total U.S. job growth through 2026, and includes 20 of the 30 fastest growing occupations nationally. Findings from this Oakland initiative can help other communities better align K-12 education and student experiences with projected local labor needs.

Research, Lessons Learned, Partnerships, Work-Based Learning, Continuous Improvement

This case study details how the four communities of the Great Lakes College and Career Pathways Partnership are working to systematically move the needle to ensure that all young people are prepared to not only meet the current and emerging needs of the workplace, but to also find value and meaning in their working lives, and fully realize their best possible futures.

Research, Equity, Partnerships, Workforce Development, Continuous Improvement

This brief 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. This brief draws on interviews with key school and pathway personnel, as well as focus groups and surveys of participating students in their senior year, to describe the experiences of being enrolled in health pathways and the perceived impact of participation on college and career readiness.

Research, College & Career Readiness, Lessons Learned, Partnerships, Workforce Development, Continuous Improvement

Survey results from the Spring 2020 survey of juniors and seniors in seven key Linked Learning districts on the impacts of COVID-19 on students.

Research, College & Career Readiness, COVID19, Equity, Lessons Learned, Outcomes, Postsecondary, Student Supports

A new analysis from The Linked Learning Alliance and The Alliance for Excellent Education shows that the students who could benefit the most from Linked Learning are also the least likely to have the internet & devices needed to experience it from home.

Research, COVID19, Equity, Outcomes, Partnerships, Policy, Student Supports

Research, General

Research, Equity, Outcomes, Work-Based Learning

This brief provides an overview of these two approaches and describe a framework for bringing the Linked Learning and community schools together at the high school level so that all students, particularly those in communities that have been historically marginalized, are on a path to postsecondary success.

Curriculum & Instruction, Research, Equity, General, Partnerships, Rigorous Academics, Student Supports, Getting Started

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

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