Partnership For Regionaleducational Preparation-Kansas City

PREP-KC FOCUSES ON CREATING AND IMPLEMENTING STRATEGIES THAT HELP STUDENTS ATTENDING KANSAS CITY'S BI-STATE URBAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS SUCCEED IN COLLEGE AND THEIR CAREERS. PREP-KC WORKS WITH THESE URBAN DISTRICTS TO SUPPORT AT-SCALE IMPROVEMENTS IN UNDERSERVED STUDENTS' OUTCOMES,. IN ADDITION, PREP-KC INVESTS IN RESEARCH-BASED STRATEGIES THAT WILL PREPARE STUDENTS FOR CAREERS IN HIGH-DEMAND, WELL-PAYING JOBS IN THE KANSAS CITY REGION. PREP-KC PARTNERS WITH SIX SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND FOUR CHARTER SCHOOLS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE STATE LINE. TOGETHER, THESE DISTRICTS SERVE OVER 66,000 STUDENTS AND PRODUCE OVER 3,800 ANNUAL HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES; 80% IDENTIFY AS STUDENTS OF COLOR, AND 82% LIVE IN LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLDS. PREP-KC'S WORK OFFERS A PATH TO ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY BY PROVIDING STUDENTS ATTENDING THESE URBAN SCHOOLS WITH OPPORTUNITIES TO PREPARE FOR POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION AND MEANINGFUL CAREERS. ADDITIONALLY, OUR EFFORTS EXPAND AND DIVERSIFY THE REGION'S HOMEGROWN TALENT PIPELINE.

SINCE ITS FOUNDING IN 2006, PREP-KC HAS BEEN DEVELOPING AND PILOTING AT-SCALE STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE STUDENT OUTCOMES IN THE BI-STATE REGION'S URBAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS. AS PREP-KC MEASURED PROGRESS (I.E., HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION RATES), IT BECAME CLEAR THAT A HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA IS NOT SUFFICIENT TO PROVIDE STUDENTS GROWING UP IN HISTORICALLY UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES WITH THE PREPARATION, EXPERIENCE, AND RELATIONSHIPS THEY NEED TO GAIN ACCESS TO HIGH-GROWTH, HIGH-DEMAND CAREERS IN OUR REGION'S ECONOMY. EVERY STUDENT NEEDS ACCESS TO INFORMATION, RESOURCES, AND OPPORTUNITIES TO PREPARE FOR COLLEGE AND CAREER SUCCESS. THESE SUPPORTS ARE ESPECIALLY CRITICAL--BUT TOO OFTEN UNAVAILABLE-- TO YOUNG PEOPLE GROWING UP IN THE HISTORICALLY UNDERSERVED NEIGHBORHOODS SERVED BY PREP-KC'S PARTNER SCHOOLS. THIS "OPPORTUNITY GAP" FOR STUDENTS IN UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES LIMITS YOUNG PEOPLE'S OPTIONS AFTER HIGH SCHOOL IN AN ERA WHERE A HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA PROVIDES NO GUARANTEE OF MEANINGFUL EMPLOYMENT OR ECONOMIC SECURITY.IN 2011, PREP-KC CREATED AND PILOTED STRATEGIES TO HELP COHORTS OF STUDENTS IN URBAN HIGH SCHOOLS GO BEYOND THE STANDARD REQUIREMENTS FOR A DIPLOMA AND DEVELOP CONCRETE EVIDENCE OF THEIR COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS. AS WE TRACKED IMPACT DATA AND LEARNED FIRST-HAND FROM OUR STUDENTS' SUCCESS, PREP-KC COINED THE PHRASE "MARKET VALUE ASSETS" (MVAS) TO DESCRIBE THE RIGOROUS EXPERIENCES THAT ALIGN STUDENTS' HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION WITH POSTSECONDARY INSTITUTIONS' EXPECTATIONS AND THE 21ST-CENTURY WORKFORCE NEEDS. THESE ASSETS HAVE TANGIBLE, EVIDENCE-BASED VALUE FOR STUDENTS' PROSPECTS FOR POSTSECONDARY ACCESS AND ATTAINMENT AND SUCCESS IN ENTERING HIGH-GROWTH, HIGH-DEMAND CAREER PATHWAYS. PREP-KC ALSO FOUND THAT ATTAINING AN MVA INCREASED HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION RATES, DOUBLED POSTSECONDARY ENROLLMENT, AND INCREASED POSTSECONDARY PERSISTENCE FOR STUDENTS.PREP-KC NOW INVESTS IN AND MEASURES THE FOLLOWING FOUR MVAS: 1) AT LEAST NINE COLLEGE CREDITS EARNED DURING HIGH SCHOOL; 2) AN INDUSTRY RECOGNIZED CREDENTIAL EARNED DURING HIGH SCHOOL; 3) COMPLETION OF A RIGOROUS INTERNSHIP OR CLIENT PROJECT DURING HIGH SCHOOL, OR 4) ENTREPRENEURIAL EXPERIENCES (STUDENT IDENTIFIES A COMPELLING SOCIAL OR MARKET PROBLEM AND MOBILIZES RESOURCES TO RESEARCH AND SOLVE) AND EMERGING MVAS. FOR THE 2020-2021 SCHOOL YEAR, 1,095 STUDENTS EARNED A MARKET VALUE ASSET, AN INCREASE OVER THE 943 STUDENTS WHO EARNED MARKET VALUE ASSETS IN 2020. SINCE WE LAUNCHED OUR STRATEGIC PLAN FOCUSED ON MARKET VALUE ASSETS IN 2019, 2,741 STUDENTS HAVE EARNED A MARKET VALUE ASSET. WE ARE ON PACE TO HELP 10,000 STUDENTS EARN A MARKET VALUE ASSET BY 2025.AS THE REGION'S FIRST ORGANIZATION TO FOCUS OUR WORK ON HELPING STUDENTS ATTAIN MVAS, PREP-KC IS EXCITED THAT KC RISING AND THE EWING MARION KAUFFMAN FOUNDATION'S REAL WORLD LEARNING INITIATIVE HAVE ADOPTED THE CONCEPT OF MARKET VALUE ASSETS ACROSS THE BI-STATE REGION. OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL YEARS, PREP-KC IS POSITIONED TO PLAY A SIGNIFICANT ROLE AS A SOURCE OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND STRATEGIC CONSULTATION IN THESE REGIONAL EFFORTS.DURING THE PANDEMIC, PREP-KC HAS ALSO HELPED TEACHERS AND SCHOOLS FIND WAYS TO CONTINUE OFFERING STUDENTS THE OPPORTUNITY TO EARN MARKET VALUE ASSETS IN A REMOTE SETTING. DESPITE THE CHALLENGES PRESENTED BY SCHOOL CLOSURES, PREP-KC'S PARTNER DISTRICTS INCREASED THE NUMBER OF GRADUATES FROM THE CLASS OF 2019 EARNING MARKET VALUE ASSETS (703) AND THE CLASS OF 2020 (943). IN ADDITION, DUAL ENROLLMENT COLLEGE COURSES, CLIENT PROJECTS, AND SOME INTERNSHIPS HAVE TRANSLATED WELL TO THE VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT. HOWEVER, MOST INDUSTRY-RECOGNIZED CREDENTIALS REQUIRE SPECIALIZED EQUIPMENT OR WORKPLACE-BASED PRACTICAL TRAINING. THEREFORE, CERTIFICATION PROVIDERS TEMPORARILY SCALED BACK THESE PROGRAMS SINCE THE PANDEMIC'S START. PREP-KC HELPED SCHOOLS INTEGRATE MARKET VALUE ASSETS INTO THE REMOTE ENVIRONMENT FOR THE 2020-2021 SCHOOL YEAR. THIS WORK INCLUDES EARLY EFFORTS TO CREATE UNIVERSAL ACCESS TO MARKET VALUE ASSETS FOR ALL SENIORS AT SEVERAL OF OUR PARTNER SCHOOLS. AS A RESULT, CLIENT PROJECTS GREW SUBSTANTIALLY THIS YEAR, OFFERING MANY STUDENTS THE OPPORTUNITY TO COMPLETE AUTHENTIC PROBLEMS ON BEHALF OF INDUSTRY PARTNERS. ADDITIONALLY, SOME SCHOOLS HAVE BUILT SCALED-BACK INTERNSHIPS AND CLIENT PROJECTS INTO MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS' COURSES TO PREPARE THEM FOR MORE RIGOROUS MVA OPPORTUNITIES NEXT YEAR.THE CONNECTOR PLATFORM HAS BECOME A CRITICAL COMPONENT OF PREP-KC'S EFFORTS TO INTEGRATE INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS INTO THE CLASSROOM DURING THE PANDEMIC AND AFTER SCHOOLS REOPEN. SINCE THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC SHUTTERED SCHOOL BUILDINGS IN EARLY MARCH, PREP-KC HAS DEDICATED OUR TIME AND ENERGY TO HELPING OUR SCHOOL PARTNERS TRANSITION TO VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS AND PROVIDE CONTINUITY FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS. PREP-KC EXCEEDED OUR 2021 GOAL OF HELPING AT LEAST 600 TEACHERS USE THE CONNECTOR WITH THEIR STUDENTS. LAST YEAR, 1,028 TEACHERS HOSTED 1,186 CONNECTOR SESSIONS, LOGGING AN ESTIMATED 29,650 STUDENT VIEWS.IN ADDITION TO EXPANDING CONNECTOR USAGE ACROSS MORE CLASSROOMS, OUR TEAM ALSO FOCUSED ON RECRUITING MORE PROFESSIONALS OF COLOR TO FULFILL TEACHERS' REQUESTS FOR INDUSTRY VOLUNTEERS. DURING THE 2020-2021 SCHOOL YEAR, PROFESSIONALS OF COLOR PRESENTED 389 CONNECTOR SESSIONS TO STUDENTS. PREP-KC HAS SPENT 16 YEARS BUILDING A ROBUST AND DIVERSE NETWORK OF BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS COMMITTED TO VOLUNTEERING THEIR TIME, ENERGY, AND EXPERTISE TO HELP STUDENTS ATTENDING PREP-KC'S URBAN PARTNER SCHOOLS PREPARE FOR THEIR COLLEGE AND CAREER SUCCESS. DURING THE 2020-2021 SCHOOL YEAR, 821 INDUSTRY VOLUNTEERS FROM BUSINESS AND POSTSECONDARY INSTITUTIONS PARTICIPATED IN 1,186 VIRTUAL EXPLORATION AND PREPARATION EVENTS (DUE TO COVID-19).AS PART OF OUR ONGOING EFFORTS TO ENSURE THAT EVERY STUDENT HAS A STRONG ACADEMIC FOUNDATION, PREP-KC WILL CONTINUE TO STRENGTHEN OUR K-3 LITERACY BENCHMARKING WORK ACROSS AN ESTIMATED 235 CLASSROOMS THAT WILL SERVE AT LEAST 4,000 STUDENTS NEXT YEAR. K-3 LITERACY BENCHMARKING HAS ALREADY DELIVERED PROMISING EARLY RESULTS DURING THE INITIATIVE'S FIRST PHASE. FOR EXAMPLE, PREP-KC PARTNER SCHOOLS IMPLEMENTING PREP-KC'S K-3 LITERACY BENCHMARKING INITIATIVE CUT THE PROFICIENCY GAP IN 3RD-GRADE READING SCORES IN HALF OVER THE PAST FOUR YEARS. PREP-KC ALSO CONTINUES TO SUPPORT STEM EFFORTS IN GRADES K-12. OUR TEACHING AND LEARNING TEAM WORKS WITH K-12 MATH TEACHERS AS THEY INTEGRATE BEST PRACTICES FOR TEACHING MATH INTO THEIR CLASSROOMS. ADDITIONALLY, PREP-KC HOSTS OUR ANNUAL MATH RELAYS COMPETITION THAT GIVES STUDENT IN GRADES 5-12 THE OPPORTUNITY TO DEMONSTRATE THEIR MATH SKILLS IN A FUN AND COMPETITIVE SETTING. MOST RECENTLY, PREP-KC HAS LAUNCHED A DATA SCIENCE INITIATIVE FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS IN OUR PARTNER SCHOOL DISTRICTS. DATA SCIENCE IS A CRITICAL SKILL FOR STUDENTS TO SUCCEED IN BOTH THE WORKFORCE AND SOCIETY, BUT SCHOOLS DO NOT CURRENTLY PROVIDE STUDENTS EXPOSURE TO RIGOROUS, REAL-WORLD DATA SCIENCE. PREP-KC IS CONNECTING STUDENTS AND TEACHERS WITH OUR INDUSTRY PARTNERS TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW DATA SCIENCE DRIVES THE WORLD AROUND US AND HAS BECOME AN INDISPENSABLE SKILL ACROSS NEARLY EVERY OCCUPATION.