EdSystems participated in a cross-state community of practice among policy and advocacy organizations across the Great Lakes region from fall 2024 through spring 2025. The group focused on building awareness of and developing actionable policy proposals around high-impact college and career readiness strategies.
Core topics for discussion included 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, and simplifying admissions and enrollment. The community of practice’s objectives were to:
- Help advocacy organizations in the Great Lakes region collaborate to develop and strengthen their 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.
- Determine what organizations need to effectively move policy, individually and collectively.
In addition to participating in cohort gatherings, EdSystems worked with Education Strategy Group and Stand Illinois to identify key opportunities, resources, and partners to advance thoughtful policy in support of Illinois students. As a result of this work, EdSystems launched an initiative in 2026 to examine Illinois high school graduation requirements.
