Career Pathways Mapping

The adopted 2026-27 California state budget includes many items that support implementation and scaling of purposeful pathways. The budget supports the expansion and integration of key pathway elements, especially dual [...]

Intentional design and meaningful career connections are hallmarks of the pathways at Hawthorne High School in Centinela Valley Union High School District in the Los Angeles South Bay region. The [...]

By Christopher J. Nellum, Ph.D., Executive Director, EdTrust-West; Anne Stanton, President and CEO, Linked Learning Alliance; and Linda Collins, Founder and Executive Director, Career Ladders Project

California has [...]

A new report from the Commission for Purposeful Pathways sets forth an evidence-based blueprint for building coherent, integrated pathways that integrate high-quality advising, accelerated learning, and career-connected opportunities to support [...]

In recent developments, the legislature passed a bill that would support work-based learning, and the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO) and Board of Governors affirmed the system’s continued commitment [...]

The Los Angeles Regional Consortium (LARC) serves as a convener of college and high school pathway coordinators and associated practitioners in the Los Angeles region. A primary goal of the [...]

Golden State Pathways Program (GSPP) grants have been released to the field! Notably, the fiscal timelines have been extended to allow grantees the full implementation period as originally intended—two years [...]

Recent state investments support colleges and high schools to work together in preparing students for college and career. Taking stock of potential partners in your area can help plan a [...]

Funding opportunities for the Golden State Pathways Program (GSPP) and Round 2 Dual Enrollment grants (CCAP and Middle/Early College) were just released by the California Department of Education (CDE).
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Regional Technical Assistance Centers for the Golden State Pathways Program (GSPP) were named last month by the California Department of Education (CDE). The Tulare County Office of Education will serve [...]

Practitioners from McFarland High School, East Los Angeles College, and the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN) joined CLP to talk about designing pathways that span high school and college—and prepare [...]

It was great to see everyone at this year’s SSSC. CLP presented three breakout sessions and two post-conference workshops. Access slide decks and resources below.

Equitable Dual Enrollment: [...]

California’s $500 million investment in Golden State Pathways (GSP) promises to dramatically increase college and career opportunities for students. Through GSP, students would graduate from high school prepared for both [...]

With $500 million in funding for Golden State Pathways and $200 million for Dual Enrollment, California is making a once-in-a-lifetime investment in students and our shared future prosperity. But ensuring [...]

Working in collaboration with the Los Angeles Regional Consortium, CLP’s March 7 webinar focused on opportunities to align current and future funding opportunities for greater impact in the L.A. region. [...]

“California has all the elements to help put together a successful Ability to Benefit strategy,” said Judy Mortrude of World Education, Inc., in the February 14 webinar, New Regulations for [...]

The $700M in funding for Golden State Pathways and Dual Enrollment is an exciting, important investment in California students and our future. But ensuring these dollars result in increased college [...]

California’s $700 million investment in Golden State Pathways and dual enrollment promises to dramatically increase college and career opportunities for students. The $200 million for dual enrollment will be available [...]

California is rethinking dual enrollment. Long acknowledged as an effective acceleration strategy, dual enrollment has emerged as a powerful equity strategy when designed for the success of students who might [...]

In the span of three years, Miami Dade College (MDC) implemented a full, stackable credential pathway that students can take from industry certifications to an associate degree to a bachelor’s [...]

Miami Dade College (MDC) has built one of the strongest cybersecurity education pathways in the nation in record time.

The college started in 2017 with investments in faculty [...]

Dual enrollment opportunities can help increase college access, completion, and transfer rates for groups of students that are historically underrepresented in college by letting them get a leg up on [...]

“Companies for the first time are saying, ‘I hired someone who doesn’t have a bachelor’s degree and that person is productive for my team because they have the credentials and [...]

Bryant Pickford saw an ad for free classes at Miami Dade College (MDC) in cloud computing and thought, “Why not?” Now on his way to completing his bachelor’s degree, Pickford [...]

In the workforce development ecosystem that Miami Dade College (MDC) and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have developed, faculty are the lifeblood of the cloud computing program.
The program focuses [...]

Miami Dade College (MDC) and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have collaborated to develop a model for sustainable workforce development that is opening doors for students, meeting local workforce needs, and [...]

The California Cloud Workforce Project (Cloud Project), a regionally-grown consortium of 19 Los Angeles community colleges and their partner high schools, launched a new cloud computing program that extends into [...]

The California Cloud Workforce Project
Cloud computing is the delivery of computing services—from applications to storage and processing power—over the internet.1 It is widely considered the hottest growth area [...]

“We keep focusing on the need for student voice, and this [project] really puts it into action. The key is that we are then making choices and changes based on [...]

The Beginning
Santa Ana College (SAC) set out to develop success teams that would improve college communication with students and also improve communication between offices and services. The Guided [...]

Unpacking the Student Experience in Learning Communities Deepens Capacity for Change at Two Colleges
Understanding the student experience is essential in student-centered college redesign, a core principle of guided [...]

CLP worked in partnership with Compton College to develop a digital equity walk based on Fullerton College’s campus equity walk, an exercise to gain insight into how students experience the [...]

THE BEGINNING
Compton College learned about the equity walk, an exercise to experience the virtual or physical campus from a student’s perspective, from the Guided Pathways Regional Coordinator who [...]

CLP’s monthly dual enrollment problem-solving webinar series concludes this week with a focus on dual enrollment integrated with guided pathways redesign. Since the first webinar in late March shortly after [...]

Practitioners from colleges across the state convened virtually on November 13 and 20 for Redesigning with Equity and Careers in Mind, a two-part series of GP workshops focused on strategies [...]

Practitioners from colleges across the state convened virtually on November 13 and 20 for Redesigning with Equity and Careers in Mind, a two-part series of GP workshops focused on strategies [...]

A new CLP publication, Student Success Teams at Santa Ana College, highlights the college’s work to develop success teams including their use of student-centered design and equity-minded approaches. Last year, SAC [...]

The second GP workshop convenes on November 20 from 9:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m. and focuses on strategies and evidence-based practices that colleges are using to remove barriers to equitable student enrollment [...]

What do you do when previous change efforts fail to move the needle on success metrics? Los Angeles Trade Technical College (LATTC) took action, this time working backwards from specific [...]

Registration is open for the next, free CLP guided pathways workshop webinars on November 13 and 20 from 9:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m. This is a two-part series of workshops with a [...]

Los Angeles Trade Technical College’s Journey
The Beginning
Jess Guerra, Chair of the School of Advanced Transportation and Manufacturing, was instrumental in leading the redesign of pathways at [...]

Did you know that cloud computing has been the number one job category posted on LinkedIn for five years running? Cloud computing has upended business practices in industry after industry [...]

Career Ladders Project has launched an online Guided Pathways Design Guide for Integrating Student Supports into the community college student’s journey. The team has spent the last year researching and interviewing college [...]

Career pathways maps perform three main functions: They clarify and align programs and services; they link increasing levels of certification, education, and employment; and they support students in choosing among [...]

Hartnell College has established strong connections from college to career for its agricultural, health, and education students through pathways that include work-based learning and internships. Now, with support from the [...]

Career pathways maps increase career and college access, success, and equity for students.

Maps clarify and align programs and services; they link increasing levels of certification, education, and [...]

High Impact Pathways
HIP is a CLP-guided approach that helps connect progressive levels of education to prepare students for success in both college and career. The pathways framework links systems [...]

The California Career Pathways Trust (CCPT), created in 2014, funded regional consortia across California to collaborate to align education systems and improve onramps and transitions to college and careers and [...]

In June 2016, InfoComm invited California community colleges and K-12 districts to an education session at its annual trade show in Las Vegas to introduce educators to its Certified Technology [...]

Pathway mapping is an opportunity for leaders and faculty to work collaboratively as a cross organizational Community of Practice as they sequence, align, and strengthen pathways.

Teams map [...]

Creating a System to Connect College to Career
Hartnell College’s role in the Salinas Valley has grown beyond education and training to reflect a deeper commitment to students’ post-graduation [...]

Over four years, in an equity-driven collaboration funded by the California Career Pathways Trust (CCPT) and facilitated by Career Ladders Project (CLP), the Santa Clarita Community College District (which comprises [...]

Speaking at a legislative forum hosted by Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon in Sacramento about overcoming challenges to California’s continued growth and economic prosperity, Linda Collins, founder and executive director of [...]

More than 300 practitioners from community colleges across California gathered in Bakersfield on Nov. 15 to learn about and explore intentional, supported pathways as a strategy for equity.

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Many community college practitioners across California look forward all year to recharging during the Strengthening Student Success Conference. Each year, we return home energized and full of new information and [...]

Two leaders from Georgia State University came to Long Beach on Nov. 15 to talk about reforms that are credited with raising graduation rates campuswide above 75%. In fact, Latinx [...]

Presentations from 2018 Strengthening Student Success are now available
Career Ladders Project staffers presented on Guided Pathways implementation, the Dual Enrollment Game, re-entry programs for students who have been [...]

Pathways at Reedley College in the Central Valley take various forms. There’s a Middle College High School on its campus; a longstanding partnership with the local Regional Occupational Program (ROP); [...]

Work-based learning is a key strategy for increasing student success, particularly for historically underserved student groups. But it can be hard for educators and employers to find each other and [...]

In a new report, Bridging High School, College, and Industry: A Case Study and Lessons for the Field, CLP highlights successes achieved and lessons learned by a unique partnership centered [...]

A Case Study and Lessons for the Field
Partnerships among secondary and postsecondary educational institutions and employers that aim to prepare students of diverse backgrounds for college and careers [...]

Los Angeles High Impact Information Technology, Entertainment & Entrepreneurship, Communications Hubs (LA HI-TECH)is a consortium of eight community colleges, including Los Angeles City College, Los Angeles Mission College, Los Angeles [...]

In recent years, California has made important investments to aid public high schools and community colleges to improve students’ transitions to and through postsecondary education, with a specific emphasis on [...]

Clear pathways to college and career provide critical support for students in their transition into successful careers. Early access and exposure to sector-based pathways supports students in setting goals and [...]

Mendocino Lake Adult and Career Education (MLACE) and CLP held a Curriculum to Career Summit in Ukiah on Oct. 6 with the goal of mapping pathways from adult education programs [...]

Presentations from the 2017 Strengthening Student Success conference are now available.
SSSC – CLP Breakout Sessions
Wednesday, October 11
Guided Pathways: A Framework for Integrating College Plans
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The California Workforce Development Board (State Board) has released a three-part series, Big Ideas in Workforce Innovation, created by Career Ladders Project.

CLP documented emerging lessons from key State [...]

Reimagining the Role of Counselors in Supporting Student College and Career Success
Through generous support from the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office’s SB 1070 Career Pathways Program and the [...]

Linda Collins, executive director of Career Ladders Project, joined a panel discussion on Dec. 1 about health career pathways at California’s community colleges. Hosted by the Public Policy Institute of [...]

Career Ladders Project (CLP) works closely with the San Mateo County Community College District (SMCCCD) and the three SMCCCD colleges, Cañada College, College of San Mateo, and Skyline College, to [...]

In a blog article recently posted to PACE’s website, CLP’s Director of Research Mina Dadgar synthesized her recent study conducted in collaboration with Madeline Joy Trimble of Columbia University. By analyzing [...]

A California Community College Case Study
The nation’s first Patient Navigator program was developed in 1990 for poor and underserved patients receiving treatment for cancer at the Harlem Hospital [...]

Career Pathway Development Across Ten East Bay Community Colleges
A Career Pathway is a series of structured and connected education programs and support services that enable students to advance [...]

A regional effort underway in the East Bay-the Design It, Build It, Ship It (DBS) Initiative-is developing new and innovative pathways at 10 San Francisco Bay community colleges.  IMPAQ International and [...]

Mary Clarke-Miller, the Game Design instructor, and a couple of her students went over the details of their projects. Two of her students came to class to work on programming. [...]

Getting From Here to There on the Roadmap for a Stronger California Economy
The Board of Governors Task Force on Workforce, Job Creation and a Strong Economy is charged [...]

SAP Oakland Unified School District & Berkeley City College ICT/Digital Media Pathway
Career Ladders Project is honored to build upon our existing relationships with Oakland Unified School District and [...]

The purpose of this study is to inform the development and improvement of ICT educational pathways and career preparation in California. AT&T, LICI, and the research team envision an integrated [...]

Career Ladders Project created tools and guides to help K-12 and community college leaders, faculty, and staff collaborate to improve students’ transitions to college. These online tools aid in diagnosing [...]

Increasingly, community colleges are measuring success by the outcomes their students achieve, in addition to the number of students they serve. The national push for completion of degrees, certificates, and [...]