Since 2015, EdSystems has supported partners in Lake County to increase postsecondary attainment through the region’s involvement in the Illinois Education and Career Success Network. In 2023, the region expressed a need for targeted support for alignment with the Illinois College and Career Pathway Endorsement and work-based learning.
Our Role
In 2023–2024, EdSystems provided strategic counsel to Waukegan CUSD 60 to map college and career pathway frameworks in priority sectors and support the implementation and scaling of the pathways based on the Illinois Model Programs of Study Guides. Following EdSystems’ backward-mapping approach, the work included desk research on labor market information and consultation with regional employers to identify high-priority occupations, identifying aligned, promising credentials and strategic early college courses available through College of Lake County, and then mapping an ideal sequence of secondary and postsecondary coursework for Waukegan High School students.
In 2024, EdSystems launched a regional initiative, based on our work with Waugekan CUSD 60, to develop a county-wide, comprehensive college and career pathway system. The initiative is supporting districts in meeting the requirements of HB3296 while ensuring the college and career pathways designed in the region are high-quality: offering students robust early college credits through the College of Lake County, opportunities to build social capital and essential skills through work-based learning, and credentials and degrees that lead to living-wage careers that meet industry demands in the region.
This work builds on and aligns existing efforts of Lake County’s workforce ecosystem, including those of the Lake County Workforce Development Board, Lake County Partners, College of Lake County (including the High School Alliance and monthly dual credit advisory group), University Center of Lake County, Lake County Regional Office of Education, Lake County Tech Campus and the region’s high schools. Together with our Increasing Dual Enrollment Access and Success project, these efforts will better and more equitably prepare Lake County students for college and career success.
Designing Regional Model Programs of Study
Building on the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy report from Lake County Partners, current labor market information, and existing college and career pathway infrastructures, EdSystems worked with key stakeholders from the Lake County workforce ecosystem to develop regional model programs of study for five priority industry sectors: education, business/accounting, IT, manufacturing, and health sciences. The system aligns with Illinois’ College and Career Pathway Endorsement framework and builds on EdSystems’ work with state agency partners to develop the State of Illinois Model Programs of Study Guides. The result is a framework that high schools across the county can use to develop and implement high-quality pathways leading to living-wage careers.
In 2025–26, we launched the implementation phase by collaborating with three to five districts to customize up to three pathways each, taking into account local industry demands, school resources, and opportunities such as certifications or internships.
Defining and Scaling Work-Based Learning
While various regional partners have programs expanding work-based and experiential learning opportunities, no clearly defined continuum of these activities or a regional strategy for coordinating and scaling them exists. Building on the Lake County Workforce Development Board’s efforts to catalog internship opportunities, our efforts include:
- Supporting district partners in inventorying current work-based learning offerings.
- Aligning regional work-based activities with the defined Illinois continuum of employer engagement and work-based learning experiences.
- Mapping the current state of processes for students to participate in work-based learning experiences and determining the ideal state to work towards to ensure experiences are meeting the needs of both students and partners.
In 2025–26, we began providing targeted professional development to equip stakeholders with tools and knowledge to implement the roadmap, enhancing quality criteria for work-based learning experiences, and developing a comprehensive repository of high-quality work-based learning resources, including community collaboration models and practical tools.
