Accelerated Model Pathways for Information Technology (AMP-IT)
The AMP-IT initiative is engaging school districts and their community college and employer partners to design and launch an accelerated IT pathway.
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Education Systems Center (EdSystems) is a mission-driven policy development and program implementation center based at Northern Illinois University.
Our primary focus is Illinois, while also working with national and international partners. Through our State university home, we forge longstanding leadership roles with State agencies and interagency boards and commissions. We work at the state level to create ecosystem and policy change while simultaneously working at the local level to create organizational change. This bi-directional approach allows us to align local efforts to state policy while elevating local experiences and learnings to state tables. Through strategic partnership building, we articulate a shared vision for enabling more Black and Latinx learners to achieve educational and career success.
We form and lead key interagency and public-private collaborations that drive policy priorities, deepen public system alignment and integration, grow public and private financial support, and enable integrated data to inform continuous improvement.
We build networks that align across secondary, postsecondary, and workforce and connect communities to policy frameworks by providing in-depth technical assistance, facilitation, and policy implementation support. These communities serve as exemplars to inform our State policy efforts.
The AMP-IT initiative is engaging school districts and their community college and employer partners to design and launch an accelerated IT pathway.
To understand the potential impact of the College and Career Pathway Endorsement, EdSystems is engaging in two pathways-related data and evaluation activities: a pathways evaluation framework and an ROI analysis framework.
To help transform outcomes for youth and adults across Illinois, the Illinois Career Pathways Dictionary defines key terms for career pathway programs and system elements, while also offering resources and implementation guidance to support statewide alignment.
Since 2017, EdSystems has partnered with Tanzania Development Support and 4-H Tanzania to implement a career awareness and exploration program designed to help students deepen their awareness of and build competencies and skills in fields that are in high demand in Tanzania.
With the support of Crown Family Philanthropies, CPS brought in EdSystems to provide strategic counsel and support of the OCCS pathways vision framework and Student Success Roadmap.
Education Systems Center worked with public and private stakeholders to define key competencies for the College and Career Pathway Endorsements and is now working with community networks to support implementation of endorsement systems in line with the PWR Act.
Together with the Illinois Community College Board, we are supporting a cohort of community colleges to develop competency-based education programs in both welding and industrial maintenance.
To help encourage learners to complete the rigorous requirements and earn the College and Career Pathway Endorsement (CCPE) opportunity, as well as matriculate into postsecondary pathways, EdSystems is supporting the development of equity-centered strategies alongside incentives or currency that will help students and their families.
EdSystems is developing quality criteria to inform the Illinois College and Career Pathway Endorsement and work-based learning implementation and evaluation, to help raise the awareness and profile of these efforts in Illinois and nationally.
EdSystems is applying its experience and knowledge of long-term system building efforts to support Elgin Community College as it seeks to better serve its students with experiences in the carceral justice system.
In fall 2023, EdSystems began work with Chicago Public Schools and City Colleges of Chicago to develop five extended model pathways starting from early college through associate and bachelor degree completion for the following industry sectors: health sciences, information technology, advanced manufacturing, IT, and construction.
The Future of Learning Coalition is an alliance working to advance an innovation ecosystem for equitable, student-centered education in Illinois to better prepare future-ready young people and empower them to realize their greatest potential.
To help stabilize and grow the local economy, community partners in Peoria are working with EdSystems to design and implement GPEAK, which translates the state’s ten competencies into a practical system to prepare individuals for meaningful and fulfilling careers.
Illinois Education and Career Success Network supports communities to increase meaningful and equitable postsecondary attainment and civic engagement.
To support Success Network Leadership Communities, the dashboard assesses progress towards the state goal of 60% of Illinois adults having a high-quality postsecondary credential by 2025.
Launched in December 2022, EdSystems staffs the Success Network’s Policy Committee to provide space for local practitioners and policy leaders to collaborate and learn from one another, elevate local practice to inform State policy, and support local practitioners to take advantage of policy windows.
The Illinois Longitudinal Data System (ILDS) provides the governance and technical systems that support the integration of longitudinal data across participating Illinois state agencies.
In partnership with XQ Institute and Student Achievement Partners, EdSystems is launching an initiative to create an Illinois high school math badging system as an alternative credentialing mechanism wherein students can certify learning gained through a broad range of sources including coursework, independent study, summer school, and work-based learning.
Illinois Postsecondary Profiles (IPP) is an online resource for data describing 2- and 4-year postsecondary institutions in Illinois.
I-WIN supports employers, educators, and students to leverage innovative and equitable models for scaling high-quality work-based learning in school districts and community colleges across the State.
In partnership with JFF and College of Lake County, EdSystems is supporting the design and implementation of a new dual enrollment hub to help improve educational outcomes for high-need high school students.
In their ongoing commitment to enhance college and career pathway development, EdSystems is supporting Joliet Junior College in designing and implementing equitable work-based learning opportunities for high school students throughout the region.
In 2023, EdSystems began supporting Waukegan CUSD 60 and its regional partners with targeted support for alignment to the Illinois College and Career Pathway Endorsement and systems for career exploration.
EdSystems worked with Liberian partners to launch the Liberian nongovernmental organization and the U.S. based nonprofit organization.
The Model Programs of Study Guides were developed in consultation and collaboration with the Illinois State Board of Education through a process led and facilitated by Education Systems Center.
Since 2015, EdSystems has provided strategic counsel and technical assistance to RPS 205 and RVC and their partners as they build and expand their college and career pathway systems.
In support of the OneGoal team and their Postsecondary Leadership Series, the EdSystems team is providing two primary services: capacity-building for OneGoal staff and advising for partner-facing content relating to college and career pathways, early college credit, transitional instruction, work-based learning, and data.
EdSystems supports the Common Program Information component of Pro Path Illinois, to enhance and align data captured across state administrative systems.
EdSystems staff and their partners led a multi-year process to develop and enact the PWR Act in close collaboration with a broad range of education and workforce stakeholders.
To understand the long-term outcomes of pathways students in the Rockford region, the Rockford Regional Education Research Collaborative has designed a data infrastructure that leverages both state- and local-level data.
Through a community of practice and technical assistance to regional teams, STAMP serves secondary students enrolled in manufacturing pathways that articulate to community college programs and employment opportunities, with a particular focus on under-represented students with one or more barriers to education, training, and employment.
EdSystems leads the interagency efforts to define statewide transitional instruction competencies, policies, and implementation plans.
The Youth Apprenticeship program offers a unique blend of hands-on experience, networking with industry professionals, and postsecondary planning.
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