EdSystems is participating in a cross-state community of practice among policy and advocacy organizations across the Great Lakes region from fall 2024 through spring 2025. This community of practice is facilitated by Education Strategy Group (ESG), with support from The Joyce Foundation. Over the course of a year, the group will focus on building awareness of and developing actionable policy proposals around high-impact college and career readiness strategies.
By region, the participating organizations are:
- Illinois: EdSystems, Stand Illinois
- Indiana: Indiana Latino Institute, Stand Indiana
- Michigan: EdTrust-Midwest, Launch Michigan
- Minnesota: Minnesota Education Equity Project, EdAllies
- Ohio: Ohio Excels, OH Association of Community Colleges
The community of practice’s objectives are to:
- Help advocacy organizations in the Great Lakes region collaborate to develop and strengthen your policy vision for improving students’ access to and success in high-quality education-to-career pathways.
- Facilitate regional peer-to-peer sharing of promising practices on critical policy topics, such as aligning education pathways to workforce demands; expanding access and success to dual credit; establishing a robust work-based learning continuum; providing advising and navigational support as students transition between sectors; and leveraging P-20-W data systems to improve student outcomes.
- Determine what your organizations need to effectively move policy, individually and collectively, to set the stage for work as a coalition.
Core topics for discussion include:
- Credentials of value.
- High school graduation requirements and diploma pathways.
- College and career advising.
- Work-based learning and social capital.
- Early postsecondary opportunities.
- FAFSA and financial aid.
- Cross-sector data.
- Simplifying admissions and enrollment.
Our Role
In addition to participating in cohort gatherings, EdSystems is working alongside ESG and Stand Illinois to identify key opportunities, resources, and partners that can help advance thoughtful policy in support of Illinois students. As a result of this work, EdSystems will have a college and career readiness funding stream landscape and identify relationships among key stakeholders for developing related policy changes.
In addition to learning from ESG and peer organizations and deepening EdSystems policy development work, we look forward to sharing our expertise and Illinois exemplars in college and career pathways, dual credit, work-based learning, and data systems and utilization.
