Students across Illinois, particularly those from historically marginalized communities, often lack equitable access to high-quality college and career pathways that incorporate early college credits, career-connected learning, and advising experiences. Even when these opportunities exist, schools and their partners struggle to understand how particular pathway components influence student outcomes—including course selection, credential attainment, postsecondary enrollment, and employment. As a result, students miss opportunities for reflection and guided decision-making, and districts are unable to identify which pathway elements have the greatest impact.
Our Vision
The Regional Acceleration of Model Pathways (RAMP) initiative is EdSystems’ comprehensive approach to building equitable, data-informed college and career pathway systems across Illinois. By bridging gaps among high schools, community colleges, and local workforce partners, RAMP creates a unified, holistic educational experience that equips every student for long-term postsecondary and career success.
RAMP supports school districts and community colleges in transitioning from a patchwork of isolated student success projects to a single, integrated framework in which all pathway elements work together seamlessly. Rather than treating career-focused classes, early college courses, work-based learning, and student advising as separate programs, RAMP unifies them into a highly structured, manageable system and layers over it a regional data approach to inform continuous improvement. This framework ensures that every student—regardless of background—has a clear, well-supported roadmap from high school straight into a credential or degree of value.
Our Cohorts
EdSystems is working with two cohorts in seven communities across Illinois, from urban Chicago to rural southern Illinois. Across both cohorts, an estimated 35–45 high schools will be supported.
- The first cohort (2025–2026) comprises five regional teams, each anchored by a community college: City Colleges of Chicago, Rock Valley College, John A. Logan College, Shawnee Community College, and Prairie State College.
- The second cohort (2026–2029) includes three regional teams, anchored by an Education for Employment office: Chicago Public Schools, Peoria Educational Region for Employment and Career Training (PERFECT), and Valley Education for Employment System (VALEES).
Our Shared Work
RAMP provides the concrete tools, technical assistance, and framework to help K-12 districts, community colleges, and regional intermediaries scale their local programs:
- Stronger, integrated pathways: Create structured, customizable sequences of dual credit, career-connected coursework, and work-based learning aligned with state frameworks and regional labor market demands.
- Comprehensive advising: Embed consistent career navigation supports by aligning local systems with the Illinois Postsecondary and Career Expectations (PaCE) framework and best practices in the field.
- Enhanced student experiences: Deploy student reflection tools to help students document their learning, evaluate their experiences, and discover their sense of purpose.
- Interoperable data infrastructure: Connect data across K-12, community colleges, and workforce systems to map student progress, measure program equity, and see exactly which experiences drive positive postsecondary outcomes.
- Durable regional collaboration: Form a sustainable community of practice where regional partners collaborate to solve implementation challenges, establish long-term governance, and share policy playbooks
The RAMP model helps regional partners design and execute a comprehensive Regional Action Plan. Progress is measured across several core indicators to ensure deep impact:
- Pathway access and completion: Increasing the percentage of students participating in and completing high-quality, industry-aligned programs of study.
- Early college credit: Growing the number of transferable college credits earned by high school students within their chosen pathway.
- Work-based learning: Expanding access to employer-led learning experiences, internships, and youth apprenticeships.
- Student agency: Measuring growth in students’ self-reported sense of purpose, belonging, and social capital.
- Successful transitions: Tracking immediate postsecondary enrollment, entry into registered apprenticeships, or placement into living-wage careers.
Regions participating in RAMP receive deep, hands-on technical assistance backed by EdSystems’ extensive history in state policy and implementation. Through this work, we aim to create a replicable model that demonstrates measurable increases in equitable student participation and prepares all students for postsecondary and career success.
