Purposeful Pathways: From Vision to Action Learning Journey

Overview

Overview

Purposeful Pathways: From Vision to Action is designed for intermediaries, educators, employers, civic leaders, and cross-sector partners interested in learning more about purposeful pathways and their implementation. Through a series of self-paced courses, you can explore the Commission on Purposeful Pathways report and/or any of the three supporting action guides, where you will gain practical insights into how communities can design, implement, sustain, and measure pathways that support long-term student success and economic mobility.

You should embark on this learning journey if you want to: 

• Understand the vision and recommendations outlined in the Commission on Purposeful Pathways report.
• Describe high-impact practices, enabling conditions or measurement approaches that support purposeful pathways implementation.
• Identify strategies and resources that can help pathmaking teams advance purposeful pathways in their communities.

Courses in this learning journey include: 

• A Launchpad for Life: A Vision for Purposeful Pathways for All Students
• Introducing a Vision for Purposeful Pathways
• High-Impact Practices That Support Purposeful Pathways
• Scaling and Sustaining Purposeful Pathways through Enabling Conditions
• Measuring Purposeful Pathways

What is a learning journey? 

Learning journeys are a curated collection of self-paced courses, designed to help you move from understanding to action on key concepts needed to improve outcomes in a community. As you work through the courses, you will gain the fundamental knowledge that will lead you to application and deeper insight. If you want to dive even deeper, sign up for an optional live session to talk through what you’re learning and applying with peers and subject matter experts.

1. A Launchpad for Life

1. A Launchpad for Life: A Vision for Purposeful Pathways for All Students

The Commission on Purposeful Pathways Report offers a new vision for pathways at a pivotal moment for our nation’s youth. This course introduces the report and accompanying resources designed to support communities to ensure that all students graduate high school with agency and momentum on purposeful pathways toward economic mobility.

2. Vision

2. Introducing a Vision for Purposeful Pathways

The Commission on Purposeful Pathways Report offers a new vision for pathways at a pivotal moment for our nation’s youth. This course explores and illustrates how the report and accompanying action guides work together to help communities design, implement, and sustain purposeful pathways that improve outcomes for students and strengthen regional systems.

3. Practices

3. High-Impact Practices That Support Purposeful Pathways

High-impact practices are the practices that support purposeful pathways and integrate two or more components identified in the purposeful pathways conceptual framework. This guide introduces eight examples that illustrate the integration of two or more components of the conceptual framework. While the field offers many additional examples, the eight highlighted here provide a solid starting point for communities implementing purposeful pathways. 

4. Scaling and Sustaining

4. Scaling and Sustaining Purposeful Pathways through Enabling Conditions

To identify the enabling conditions for purposeful pathways, the Commission studied regions and states that successfully implemented many elements of purposeful pathways at scale. This guide summarizes those findings and includes links to replicable examples, an outline of common implementation phases, and a self-assessment.

5. Measurement

5. Measuring Purposeful Pathways

Measurement plays a critical role in driving systems change by aligning cross-sector partners around common metrics,  promoting mutual accountability, and deepening system leaders’ understanding of what drives long-term outcomes. The Measuring Purposeful Pathways Framework translates the Commission’s vision for purposeful pathways into a practical structure that pathmaking teams can use to align goals and strengthen cross-sector collaboration over time.