Skip to main content

myFutureNC Local Educational Attainment Collaboratives

myFutureNC Local Educational Attainment Collaboratives

Launched by ncIMPACT Initiative

Building Local Capacity to Achieve the State’s Goal of #2Millionby2030

Program Basics

 

Team Formation

 

Case Studies on Sample Collaboratives from 2019

 

Data Resources

 

Promising Approaches Profiled by ncIMPACT Initiative

 

Resources for Local Educational Attainment Collaboratives

 

Contact Us

The ncIMPACT Initiative at the UNC School of Government (ncIMPACT) and myFutureNC, with support from the John M. Belk Endowment, Dogwood Health Trust and UNC Rural, are launching a two-year pilot program that supports 15 local educational attainment collaboratives across North Carolina that seek to significantly increase the number of students successfully completing post-secondary credentials of value in the workforce: a degree, credential, or certification.

These collaboratives offer an organized way to respond to community challenges that no single institution or even an entire sector can effectively tackle.

This effort aligns with the state’s legislative goal of 2 million individuals between the ages of 25-44 who possess a high-quality credential or postsecondary degree by 2030.

Quick Reference: Downloads and Streaming

Announcing the selection of 15 community collaboratives:

Download information about the program:

Recorded Information Session:

Kickoff Webinar Recording:

Preparing the Workforce for Economic Recovery:

Education NC Podcast Feature:

myFutureNC 100 Students:

Teams showcase success stories:

Upcoming Events

Local Attainment Goal Setting Webinar | October 26 from 10:00 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.

myFutureNC and ncIMPACT Initiative invite you to join a learning opportunity with Dr. Rebecca Tippett, Director of Carolina Demography, regarding setting local attainment goals. Hear about resources available such as the Setting Local Attainment Goals Practice Guide and the 100 County Attainment Goals for 2030 Spreadsheet to support local attainment-focused efforts. Our hope is that community leaders use these local goals and resources as one part of a strategic planning process – a conversation starter about goals, priorities, target populations – for increasing attainment in their local community.  REGISTER

Watch our Brief Explainer Video:


Program Basics

North Carolina communities applied as teams to participate in this two-year program focused on increasing educational attainment and equity in attainment. Teams will become the inaugural myFutureNC Network of Local Educational Attainment Collaboratives. This network will:

  • Have deep local impact by increasing the effectiveness of the local attainment collaboratives and connections among educational systems, employers, local governments, and other stakeholders within the participating communities;
  • Build capacity across the state by creating collaborative cross-community learning and partnerships, and delivering model policies to inform North Carolina’s broader policy landscape; and
  • Leverage key resources including federal, state, and philanthropic funding, as well as data tools and metrics to measure collaborative progress toward achieving their goals.

Network collaboratives will also receive these benefits:

  • Valuable resources that respond to immediate concerns about learning loss during the pandemic and help prepare for longer-term planning;
  • Deep expert and peer support during five forums at which teams will develop goals, make plans for implementation, and collaborate across sectors;
  • Robust technical assistance throughout the process;
  • Critical financial support in the form of $15,000 to compensate a community project manager and $10,000 of implementation funding for their action plan; and a
  • Local Attainment Collaborative Toolkit to implement and sustain demand-informed local collaboration with regional employers.

Team Formation

After selection for the program, the core team identified in the application will identify the full community team (local collaborative). The collaborative will include a diverse team of community stakeholders, all committed to active participation in the two-year program. ncIMPACT will assist communities with stakeholder identification to build the collaborative team. Given differences between communities, the composition of the teams will vary.

Commitments: Each community collaborative will be prepared to meet monthly over the course of the program to develop and implement a cogent strategy that (1) leverages existing assets and activities, (2) increases the community’s educational attainment, and (3) improves equity in attainment. A community project manager will support this work (with funding provided by the program) in addition to the technical assistance provided by the partners. 

Case Studies on Sample Collaboratives from 2019

Data Resources

Promising Approaches Profiled by ncIMPACT Initiative

Resources for Local Educational Attainment Collaboratives

Replicating and adapting innovative and effective practices from other communities provides a way to “flatten the learning curve” and accelerate progress. Learn more in this National Scan of Postsecondary Attainment Practices – PDF

Scroll through this long list of resources helpful to communities working together to increase educational attainment: Resource List PDF

Categories covered within the resource list:

  • Pre-K Education and Early Childhood Learning 
  • Improving Public Education
  • Value of Increasing Post-Secondary Education Attainment
  • Determining Career Paths 
  • Determining Career Paths Continued 
  • Racial and Gender Equity in Postsecondary Attainment 
  • Cost of Post-Secondary Enrollment and Attainment 
  • Proposals and Actions to Increase Post-Secondary Education Attainment

Postsecondary Attainment Resources

  • National Scan of Postsecondary Attainment Practices
    • This National Scan of Postsecondary Attainment Practices compiles practices from institutions across the country that are shown to help increase attainment goals. Each example provides basic information about a practice, the community it serves, why it has been successful, and major takeaways of the practice.
  • myFutureNC Educational Attainment Report 2021
    • This report was compiled by myFutureNC and contains information about higher education attainment rates across the state, as well as impacts seen from the COVID-19 pandemic. The second half of the report contains recommendations on how to move forward and increase attainment across the state.
  • Collaboration Spectrum Tool
    • This is a tool developed by the Tamarack Institute to help organizations move through the stages of collaboration and be able to harness the benefits of a collective impact approach to an issue.
  • High School Transition Programs Have Mixed Success in Improving College Readiness
    • This is a report from the Brookings Institute highlighting the challenges that high schools face in preparing their students for collegiate academics. It further goes on to highlight recent literature surrounding high school transition programs and the lack of sufficient data on their success.
  • NC Rural Student Home Internet Access Pilot Program Initial Report
    • This is a report about recent pilot programs attempting to bring highspeed internet to students in rural Hyde and Chatham counties. In general, the programs have been successful in getting students and families connected.
  • Annual Testing Report from DPI 2021
    • This report is a compilation of statistics from DPI about student test scores during the pandemic. The data are broken down by grade level, subject matter, and other demographic factors, but the key takeaway is that nearly all groups saw some form of learning loss, when compared to the 2018-19 school year.
  • Dreams Interrupted: A Mixed-Methods Study Assessing Latino College Completion
    • This is a study looking at enrollment rates of Latino students across the country in post-secondary programs. In addition to general findings, the report also details the challenges now faced by Latino students in the wake of the pandemic, as well as the critical takeaways which can help inform policy decisions.

Contact Us

Anita Brown-Graham, Professor & Director, brgraham@sog.unc.edu

Emily Williamson Gangi, Policy Engagement Director, emily.gangi@unc.edu

 

This project is a collaboration between:

 

Funding for this work was provided by: