Partnering for Impact: Increasing

Postsecondary Success Through

Cross-Sector Collaboration

SREB Go Alliance

October 10, 2019

Yarbrah Peeples

Senior Regional Director

College Advising Corps

Korynn Schooley

Vice President, College Access

Achieve Atlanta

Source: https://opportunityinsights.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Lecture-1-intro-and-mobility.pdf

Low social mobility means that children born into families with lower income have

little chance of achieving income level of higher quintiles as adults

2

Atlanta has one of the country’s lowest rates of social

mobility, with implications for equitable life outcomes

Nationally, a child

born into the

lowest quintile

has 11.7%

chance of moving

into the top

quintile. The

odds are even

lower in Atlanta

- just 4.5%

Postsecondary degree attainment is an important

driver of upward social mobility

A college education dramatically increases likelihood of employment and income level;

this is true for elite colleges, other 4-year institutions, and community colleges2

1. https://www.bls.gov/emp/chart-unemployment-earnings-education.html 2. See appendix; https://www.brookings.edu/ blog/social-mobility-

memos/2018/01/11/raj-chetty-in-14-charts-big-findings-on-opportunity-and-mobility-we-should-know/

$553$730 $802 $862

$1,884

5.6%

2.8%

2.2% 2.1%

1.5%

0%

2%

4%

6%

$0

$500

$1,000

$1,500

$2,000

Masters DegreeBachelors

Degree

4.1%

2.7%

Less than a

High School

Diploma

High School

Diploma

Some College;

No Degree

Associates

Degree

Professional

degree

Unemployment rate

Mean weekly earnings

Unemployment rate and mean weekly earnings by educational

attainment1

3

$1,198 $1,434

Believe. Expect. Achieve.

achieveatlanta.org

VisionAtlanta is a city where race and income no

longer predict postsecondary success and

upward mobility

MissionAchieve Atlanta’s mission is to help APS

students access, afford, and earn postsecondary

credentials

4

Achieve Atlanta builds cross-sector collaboration across a

range of partners

Improve Postsec. Access

Improve Postsec. Affordability

Increase Postsec. Success

Grades 11-12 Postsecondary

11 Higher Education Institutions

5

Achieve Atlanta engages students and families to ensure their experience and feedback inform how supports and services are provided and improved

Increasing

Opportunity for

America’s Students

6

7

CAC slide

PARTNERSHIP COMPONENTS

8

9

College Access Partnership: Four Key Components

Building a shared vision

Goal setting and management

Building a cross-sector team

Nurturing the partnership

Building a Shared Vision

We exist to

dramatically

increasing the

number of Atlanta

Public Schools

graduates who earn

a postsecondary

degree or credential

To succeed as a partnership, we must all

have the same vision for the work

Goal Setting & Management

Understanding leading indicators is

key to reaching your outcome

13

Increase the number of

APS graduates who

seamlessly enroll in

college

Outcome Goal

Leading Indicators

1:1 Student Meetings

SAT/ACT Registration

FAFSA Completion

Three+ College Applications

AA Scholarship Qualifiers

Target-setting should be thoughtful,

rigorous, and include all voices

Set draft targets

Analyze historical and baseline data

Review “profile” of incoming

senior class

Review research and

current models

Discuss draft targets

AA, CAC, OneGoal & APS collaborate to review draft

targets

Edit targets by taking into

consideration school-level

context

Seek approval of targets

District leadership

reviews and approves

district-wide & school-level

targets

14

15

Atlanta

Clayton

Carrollton

Cobb

Columbus

Dalton

Dekalb

Fulton

Gwinnett

Marietta

Chatham

Clarke

Henry

Albany

Savannah

Morrow

Toliver

Valdosta

Atlanta

Clayton

Carrollton

Cobb

Columbus

Dalton

Dekalb

Fulton

Gwinnett

Marietta

Chatham

Clarke

Henry

Albany

Savannah

Morrow

Toliver

Valdosta

Atlanta

Clayton

Carrollton

Cobb

Columbus

Dalton

Dekalb

Fulton

Gwinnett

Marietta

Chatham

Clarke

Henry

Albany

Savannah

Morrow

Toliver

Valdosta

Atlanta

Clayton

Carrollton

Cobb

Columbus

Dalton

Dekalb

Fulton

Gwinnett

Marietta

Chatham

Henry

Albany

Savannah

Morrow

Toliver

Valdosta

16

40%

44%

48%

52%

56%

60%

64%

68%

72%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

40%

41%

45%

42% 42%

43%

47%

48% 48%

36%

38%

40%

42%

44%

46%

48%

50%

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

The work does not happen in a vacuum;

progress is not always linear

Building a Cross Sector Team

Partnership Success Requires

Stakeholder Engagement at all Levels

18

School Counselors CAC Advisers Graduation Coaches

OneGoal Program Directors

APS Office of High Schools APS Counseling Coordinator

APS Data Team Lead AA VP of College Access

CAC Regional Director CAC Program Directors

OneGoal Partnerships Director

APS Associate Superintendents

AA Executive Director CAC Sr Regional Director

OneGoal Executive Director

Direct

Service

Providers

Admin &

Project

Managers

Executive

Leaders

The College Access Working Group (CAWG)

is critical to partnership sustainability

19

PURPOSE MEMBERS ACTIONS

Goal Setting &

Management

Problem Solving

Strategy

Development

Communication

Development

Training &

Facilitation

ADMINISTRATIVE &

PROJECT

MANAGERS FROM:

Atlanta Public

Schools

Achieve Atlanta

College Advising

Corps

OneGoal

To assemble a group,

representing all

partners, that possess

the knowledge, skills,

commitment and

decision-making

authority to individually

and collectively

execute the tasks

required to achieve the

goal of getting more

APS students to

college

APS SAT Day is an example of the

CAWG in action

Students waited until their senior year to register for

standardized tests

Once registered, students didn’t show up on test day

Challenge

CAWG members worked together to problem solve

The ultimate solution was the establishment of APS

SAT Day--an in-school test day for students

Action

Results= improved outcomes for students

• 90% of 2019 graduates took the SAT, a 33%

increase over 2018 graduates

• Black student test completion increased 57%

Outcomes

Nurturing the Partnership

Continue to feed and nurture the

relationships over time

22

Bring partners in to help set the course

Invest in communications

Identify and recognize the contributions of organizational and individual members

Build relationships outside of the formal structure to build trust

Be responsive to what will propel different stakeholders into action

Lessons learned from four years

of partnership

23

Recognize

where you

add value &

what’s within

scope & out

of scope

Build a robust

process for

goal-setting

and tracking

Balance

standardization

with the unique

school context

Reflect on

what’s working

& what’s not.

Be willing to

abandon

things that

aren’t working