Policy Academy on Scaling High-Quality Work-Based Learning · Engagement Committee is to build capacity and infrastructure for industry associations and business partners in experiential

Colorado 2018

Policy Academy on Scaling High-Quality Work-Based Learning

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COLORADO

Policy Academy on Scaling High-Quality Work-Based Learning

Team Members

asC

Core Team Key decision makers responsible for providing strategic guidance for initiative and making sure the efforts are

headed in the right direction. Core team will check-in monthly.

Team Lead: Stephanie Veck Colorado Workforce Development Council (CWDC)

Misti Ruthven Colorado Department of Education (CDE)

Elise Lowe-Vaughn EEEE

Colorado Department of Labor & Employment (CDLE)

Inta Morris Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDHE)

Meridith Marshall Office of Economic Development & International Trade (OEDIT)

Mike Macklin Colorado Community College System (CCCS)

Ashley Carter CareerWise Colorado (CWC)

Lorena Zimmer Denver Opportunity Youth Initiative (DOYI)

Project Management: Renise Walker Jenny Smith

CWDC/CDE CWDC/DOYI

The C

BEL Committees In Colorado, the BEL Commission was appointed to identify experiential learning gaps and develop a solution

to address the gaps. The BEL Commission has been divided into 4 subcommittees focused on advancing BEL’s key priorities. The subcommittees include:

Metrics Industry Engagement Educational Pathways Communications

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The purpose of the metrics committee is to determine the measures of success, collection and reporting of the measures for experiential learning efforts.

The purpose of Industry Engagement Committee is to build capacity and infrastructure for industry associations and business partners in experiential efforts.

The purpose of the Educational Pathways Committee is to address opportunities for permeability of education and training related to experiential learning.

The Communications Committee will develop and implement a strategic communications plan that builds utilizing the TalentFOUND brand that builds awareness, adoption and support for the experiential learning system.

Member Organizations: Home Advisor, First Bank, Prosono, Pinnacol, CDLE, CWDC, CareerWise, DOYI

Member Organizations: OEDIT, Stonebridge, Prosono, Pinnacol, Denver Area Labor Federation CWDC, CDLE, DOYI, CareerWise

Member Organizations: RTL Networks, Denver Area Labor Federation, Swiftpage, Prosono, RK Mechanical, CDLE, CDHE, CareerWise, CWDC, CDE

Member Organizations: First Bank, Swiftpage, Vectra Bank, CWDC, CDLE, CareerWise, CDHE

WBL Taskforce

The taskforce partners will work with the core team for the alignment of the various work based learning initiatives and implementation of the Colorado Thriving Work Based Learning Communities framework.

Members of the core team and taskforce are engaged with the committees of the BEL Commission.

Colorado Department of Education Andy Tucker

Colorado Department of Higher Education Brandon McReynolds

Colorado Department of Labor and Employment Michael Muszynski

Colorado Department of Human Services Chris Carman

Colorado Division of Vocational Rehab TBD

CareerWise Colorado Hollis Salway

Colorado State Youth Council TBD

Colorado Community College System Michael Macklin

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Colorado Workforce Development Council Wendy Brors, Britta Blodgett, Lee Wheeler-Berliner

Vision Statement

This section describes the overall vision your state is pursuing through the Policy Academy. Please be as

concrete as possible. This vision statement can span longer than the Policy Academy, but should guide your

work over that time period and beyond.

The vision for work-based learning in Colorado is to implement a work-based education and training system that meets the needs of Colorado’s diverse economy, connecting students, job seekers, schools, employers, and civic agencies with experiential learning, training opportunities, and careers (BEL Commission). The Colorado team will leverage the 18 month NGA Knowledge Exchange experience to develop and implement a plan that increases awareness and access to existing opportunities and inspires state and local stakeholders to integrate, accelerate, and sustain work-based learning efforts across the state.

Goals Summary

Instructions

Goals: Teams will develop broad goals under the vision. A goal is an overarching principle that guides decision

making and helps you get closer to achieving the vision that you identified. It answers the question: “What are

you trying to accomplish by the end of the period?” Goals should also address problem statements that

identify what problem or challenge your goal will solve. Goals should be big steps forward: a result of many

actions and efforts.

Objectives and Action Steps: What action steps will you use to achieve each objective under this goal? There

will be more than one action step for each objective. Action steps are specific, measurable steps that can be

taken to meet the goal you identified. They answer the question: “What needs to happen to help you reach

that goal?”

As you articulate your goals and action steps, be sure the goals address the following core components of

high-quality work-based learning (left) and the action steps include plans for completing each of the

deliverables (right). A timeline of deliverables and deadlines and more details about each deliverable can be

found beginning on page 11.

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The Problem

Laying the Foundation for the Experiential Learning System in Colorado

A skilled workforce remains the most important driver of Colorado’s future competitiveness. Years of

investments across business, education, and workforce have combined to lay a strong foundation for

strengthening Colorado’s Talent Pipeline.

In 2015 Governor Hickenlooper appointed the BEL

Commission to address Experiential Learning Gaps in

Colorado’s education and training system. Since its

inception the BEL Commission has explored promising

practices in experiential learning within the United States

and throughout the world. This scan of promising

practices laid a foundation for developing the vision for

work-based learning and specifically apprenticeships as

critical drivers of Colorado’s Experiential Learning system.

The BEL Commission is made up of a number of business

leaders who have served as early adopters for youth

apprenticeships and who champion business engagement

and leadership within the experiential learning system.

The BEL Commission works in tandem with the Colorado

Workforce Development Council to integrate experiential learning into Colorado’s traditional talent

development system. The following provides an overview of strategic investments into Colorado’s Talent

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Pipeline that laid a strong foundation to support and sustain an expansion of work-based learning

opportunities for students and job seekers across the talent spectrum.

Strengthening Colorado’s Talent Pipeline

2018

● CCCS creates position for Associate Provost of Workforce Development/Partnerships to strengthen ties

to industry and prior learning opportunities

● CDHE & CWDC launch Let’s Make it Count Initiative identify and measure non-degree credentials that

hold value in the labor market and are not associate's or bachelor’s degrees

2017

● CareerWise launches first cohort of youth apprentices

● Colorado Department of Labor & Employment hosts WIOA Academy to elevate employment

opportunities through work-based learning

● Education state agencies collaborate to launch the Work-based Learning Incubator supporting K-12

school and districts in developing high quality work-based learning opportunities

● Colorado Department of Education releases strategic plan signaling the need for an expansion of high

school options to ensure all students are ready for college and/or living wage jobs, increased credential

attainment and expanding access and opportunity for historically underserved students

● Colorado Commission on Higher Education releases Colorado Rises, a statewide plan to increase

postsecondary attainment. Strategies include: increasing credential completion, erase equity gaps,

improve student success and invest in affordability and innovation

● TalentFOUND Sector Summit on WBL convenes stakeholders across business, education & workforce

to accelerate WBL

2016

● Authorized under legislation Colorado Department of Labor launches Innovative Industries Internships

providing incentives for businesses to hire interns in industries with high projected hiring

● Governor Hickenlooper leads delegation to Switzerland to view successful apprenticeship system

● CDLE receives USDOL Apprenticeship Accelerator funding and later the state expansion grant to

support the expansion of registered apprenticeships

2015

● Suite of workforce bills authorized under legislation. Bills include career pathways development for

Colorado students,

● Denver Public Schools includes partners in Swiss Institute

● Executive order establishes BEL Commission

● Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce becomes one of the first chambers in US to pilot program to

improve educational and employment outcomes for youth ages 18-24 who are disconnected from

school or work

● CCCS releases strategic plan pushing for the inclusion of experiential learning in all programs and

advocating for transformational partnerships across business, community organizations, K-12 and

postsecondary education to advance student learning and the inclusion of experiential learning

opportunities in all programs

2014

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● First Talent Pipeline Report authorized under legislation provides overview of supply and demand of

talent in Colorado

● Launch of Sector Partnerships throughout the state

2009

● Legislation authorizes ICAP (individual career and academic plans)prompting schools to adopt a

process by which students explore college and career opportunities and develop a plan

1998

● School-to-work Initiative initiated under Governor Romer

Paradigm Shift

These investments are gradually beginning to shift the state’s education and training landscape from one

almost exclusively centered around time spent at traditional institutions of learning, to one that is industry-

led, competency based. Once fully realized, the shift in Colorado’s system will allow for more agile, person

centered education and training opportunities focused on equipping individuals with the skills demanded by a

rapidly changing labor market and promoting lifelong learning. Additional shifts are needed among business,

and education and training providers and the public to address skill gaps and fully realize the vision of robust

work-based learning system that

Conditions for System Change

Opportunity Statement

Building on the early innovation successes of CareerWise Colorado and the Denver Opportunity Youth

Initiative, the Colorado team seeks to utilize the 18 month engagement in the NGA Knowledge Exchange to

operationalize and accelerate work-based learning efforts. With the upcoming Gubernatorial elections,

Colorado will build work to address policy, data and resource needs required to sustain work-based learning

efforts into the new administration and beyond.

The following is a statement of the high level goals that developed to define and operationalize experiential

learning in Colorado while more effectively aligning, accelerating these efforts, and developing a plan to

sustain this progress throughout the upcoming transition of administrations and beyond.

Systems Change Conditions

Summary of Goals

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Goal 1: Convene a cross-agency action team to align existing efforts and operationalize WBL as a core talent development strategy

(CWDC Lead: Renise & Jenny)

Proposed Strategies/Activities to accomplish this goal:

Lead People & Key Organizations

Resources (grant funds, state funds, state staff support, NGA staff support, etc.)

Timeline & Deliverables

Measures of Progress and Success

1. Work collaboratively

to host kickoff events

inviting key

stakeholders to commit

to year of mapping,

reporting on progress,

aligning and scaling

initiatives

Lead- CWDC (Renise)

-Commitment letters that include benefit statement and description of deliverables for the year

-Publish visual dashboard of key WBL metrics to help orient stakeholders around moving the needle

-Quarterly update for champions

- # of champions signed on

-100% of core team agencies have ID agency

champion to lead development and

implementation of agency action plans

(March- June)

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(newsletter blast and phone call for interested parties)

2. Clarify roles and

responsibilities of lead

agencies/stakeholder

groups and support

each agency lead in

developing an action

plan to implement 1

year goals towards

alignment, acceleration

& sustainability

NGA Core Team, Industry Consortium

-Update chart of top roles and by key stakeholder leads

-Key messages to include in communications tool-kit on role for business, K-12, postsecondary and community based organizations

· Measure 1

· Measure 2

3. Build upon the vision

of the BEL Commission

to develop a plan to

sustain WBL efforts

through the transition

of administrations in

2019, and beyond.

Lead: CWDC (Stephanie) CDE, BEL Commission & Subcommittees

-Promising practices from NGA Policy States -NGA Coaching and TA

- Complete policy scan and Develop policy recommendations that support work-based learning across education and workforce and economic development

-Draft performance measure goal templates

-Business statement of ROI

- WBL goal is incorporated into performance

measures of at least 2 lead stakeholder

groups

-HOW TO MEASURE?

· Measure 2

4. Map and publicize

existing WBL initiatives

and resources. Use

scan to track progress

-NGA mapping too -Let’s Make it Count credential mapping process & tool

· Landing place in TalentFound to communicat eWBL activities,

· Measure 1

· Measure 2

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and target resources

and support

tools & resources

· Deliverable 2, Deadline

Goal 2: Streamline business engagement and adoption strategy across initiatives (CWDC Lead: Wendy)




Timeline & Deliverables -Publish guide for businesses


1. Work with

businesses to ensure

signaling reflects skill

needs (skill-based job

descriptions & tool-kits,

ID credential needs

etc.)

Lead: CWDC/Industry Consortium (Wendy)

-Skillful tool-kits & trainings

-?? · % of new job descriptions reflect

necessary skills vs. credential proxies? (what

is skillful measuring that we could use)

· Measure 2

2. Develop coordinated

marketing messages

and materials that

communicate business

ROI and menu of

options for business

engagement

Lead: CareerWise (Ashley?) BEL Industry Engagement Sub-committee,CDLE, DOYI

-Convene key statewide initiatives to develop business pitch deck -Incorporate logos of key statewide initiatives onto WBL continuum to more easily communicate menu of options

· Measure 1

· Measure 2

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3. Host summit for

businesses interested

in addressing talent

pipeline needs using

WBL strategies .

Lead: CWDC (Wendy)

-Publish guide for business by May 2018

-Business case studies and

-Develop messaging for existing business networks about how strategies align (career pathways, WBL, 2Gen, sector partnerships) - Coordinate Professional Development training for businesses to successfully implement work based learning within their companies

· Measure 1

· Measure 2

Goal 3: Establish common messages and implement a coordinated communications strategy to raise

awareness of, drive understanding and involvement in work-based learning initiatives. (CWDC Lead: Britta)






1. Identify key WBL

messages and share

with stakeholders to

adapt and utilize

Lead: CDHE (Megan & Lindsay) CWDC, CDLE, CareerWise, Business (as represented on the BEL Communicatio

-Develop key message for the four key audiences: students, influencers, job seekers, and businesses

· Measure 1

· Measure 2

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ns Committee . CCCS

-Share key messages with partners

2. Change perception

of apprenticeships

among students, adult

learners and business

owners

Lead: CDLE (Cher) CDHE, CWDC, CareerWise, CCCS

-Update microsite

-Launch statewide PSA campaign (June-Sept 2018)

-Earned media plan (DATES)

-Implement social media campaign (DATES)

· Increase WBL Microsite hits by 25%

- Score 3 high-profiled earned media hits

- Earn 500 collective shares of PSAs across

Twitter and Facebook

3. Increase

understanding of,

interest and

participation in existing

programs

Lead: CDLE (Cher) CWDC, CDHE, CareerWise

· Collect 5 testimonials and case studies

- Create 3 short video testimonials

· Write and submit newsletter blurbs for existing state programs

· Place 1 blurb monthly in active education

and workforce newsletter

· Measure 2

4. Publicize progress

and outcomes

Lead:CDHE (Megan/Lindsay)/CWDC (Britta)

Publish yearly WBL one-pager “report” in Talent Pipeline Report and to stand alone

● 300 downloads of report

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Goal 4: Launch and Convene WBL Community of Practice to Identify and Scale Promising Practices (CWDC Lead: Lee)






Release Funding RFA

for Thriving WBL

Communities Grant

requiring recipients to

participate in year long

community of practice

Lead: CWDC (Lee )

- $300,000 in grants from CWDC -TA from NGA to leverage this COP -Staff time to lead COP

·Plan for community of practice

· Grant announcement

- COP communities advance on WBL

Thriving Communities assessment scale

-

Plan and implement Community of Practice incorporating design feedback from end users (business, parents, students, adult job-seekers)

Lead: CWDC (Renise)



· Measure 1

· Measure 2

Tape training

modules/COP sessions

and make them widely

available to statewide

audiences

Lead: · Deliverable 1, Deadline


-# downloads of training video/training

tools and attendance

· Measure 2

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Preliminary Results

This section provides a place for the team to reflect on what worked and what didn’t work at the end of the

policy academy. What are your accomplishments? What will you try next time

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KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE DELIVERABLES AND TIMELINE

Ongoing Participating states and territories will participate in: ● Regular state coaching calls with their NGA leads; and ● Webinars, and other ad-hoc technical assistance.

April 30, 2018 ● Knowledge Exchange States will submit a draft action plan to the NGA Center, and will refine and continue to develop it at the Cross-State Learning Lab.

May, 2018 First policy academy meeting. All participating states and territories will send a team to the first in-person meeting of the Knowledge Exchange. States and territories should plan to bring their draft action plan for discussion and further refinement. Objectives of the meeting:

● Inform participants of emerging research and share best practices across the country; and

● Support participating states and territories in collaborating on common challenges and strategies.

Sept. or Oct. 2018

Second Cross-State meeting, featuring the Knowledge Exchange, Policy Academy, and Leader states. All participating states and territories will send a team to the second in-person meeting of the policy academy cohort. Objectives of the meeting:

● Discuss successes and roadblocks ● Share best practices and tools to spur progress ● Share strategies and policy implications particular to each

state’s action plan ● Refine or revise state action plans

Spring 2019 National summit. The third meeting will be open to a broader group of states and territories, to share promising and best practices with states and territories that are interested in scaling up work-based learning. Knowledge Exchange states will be expected to attend the national summit to share their lessons learned with other attending states and territories.

April 30, 2019 Knowledge Exchange concludes. REQUIRED ACTIVITIES AND DELIVERABLES FOR POLICY ACADEMY STATES Knowledge Exchange state will be asked undertake a set of activities to help them achieve the project objectives—to develop and promote a state-wide vision, measure program scale and quality, and develop policies and resources to sustain work-based learning. In addition to the below objectives, states should also seek to integrate those required activities into a broader strategy to scale young adult participation in high-quality, demand-driven work-based learning.

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1. Vision and Communication

Identify high-quality work-based learning programs with the potential to connect youth and young adults ages 16-29 to employers seeking to fill STEM-related jobs. Elevate the profile and communicate the importance of work-based learning as a critical component of the talent pipeline and strategy for connecting young adults to well-paying jobs. This includes:

i. Identify a vision for work-based learning expansion (due April 15, in written Action Plan). Leveraging the NGA definition of work-based learning, each Knowledge Exchange State project team will identify a vision for expanding work-based learning in their state. This will also include plans to develop ways to communicate that vision with partners and employers in the state, and identify criteria for high-quality work-based learning programs.

2. Data and Measurement

Measure the results of high-quality work-based learning in connecting young adults with career pathways to meet employers’ STEM skill needs and students’ STEM academic requirements. Over time, measure the scale of young adult and employer participation in work-based learning statewide. Deliverables for this component include the following:

ii. Number of programs (template forthcoming): Using the agreed-upon definition of high-quality work-based learning in deliverable i., each Knowledge Exchange states will complete a scan of existing work-based learning programs in the state, including which programs meet the high-quality criteria and which do not. Policy Academy States will identify how many individuals take part in these programs, how many employers host work-based learning opportunities, how many young adults have access to these programs (i.e. how integrated they are into the systems), and how appropriate linkages are made between young adults and work-based learning opportunities. Through use of an NGA Center measurement template, Knowledge Exchange states will work to identify what gaps exist in their current data and measurement systems and how these can be filled.

iii. Financial resources (template forthcoming): Knowledge Exchange States will identify existing financial

support for work-based learning by developing an asset map of federal, state, and private funding that can support work-based learning programs in the state. States will work with NGA Center staff to visualize the asset map through a web-based platform.

3. Resources and Sustainability

Through workforce, education, and economic development partnerships, Knowledge Exchange States will develop a plan for sustaining the work they begin through the policy academy into the future. State sustainability actions may include policy changes to support expansion of work-based learning, blending and braiding funding, or launching or strengthening a coordinating entity to sustain cross-system partnerships to bring work-based learning to scale across the state. The deliverable for this component is:

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iv. Policy recommendations: Policy Academy States will develop policy recommendations that support expansion of work-based learning, considering policies that cross education, workforce and economic development, through a close partnership with the governor’s office. Recommendations should consider sustainability of funding through diverse sources to support work-based learning efforts.

Documents

Policy Academy on Scaling High-Quality Work-Based Learning · Engagement Committee is to build capacity and infrastructure for industry associations and business partners in experiential