Partners for Postsecondary Success
Partners for Postsecondary Success (PPS) is an initiative that is building community partnerships with the goal of doubling the number of young adults with postsecondary credentials that will lead to living wage employment.
The PPS initiative was created with the guidance of MDC, a non-profit organization based in North Carolina that helps communities across the nation close the gaps in education and guidance that separate young people from opportunity.
PPS was launched with a $100,000 one-year planning grant and a $1.5 million implementation grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as $240,000 in funding from local individuals, businesses and foundation.
United Way of Southern Cameron County provides administrative and leadership support to the initiative. Visit our Partners section to see who else is All In.
OUR GOAL:
Double the number of low-income young adults in Brownsville who earn postsecondary credentials with labor market value by 2025.
Our Framework
There’s a science behind student success, and at All In we follow a proven system that dramatically improves college readiness and college completion. Our framework is an adaptation from the Gates Foundation’s System for Student Success Model. Its multiphase implementation includes the gathering of student data, student engagement activities, collaborative work from faculty, administration and trustees and an emphasis on community partnerships and employment opportunities.
Momentum strategies
- High school and postsecondary curriculum alignment including dual enrollment and Access to AP/IB programs
- Career, college, and financial aid counseling, including FAFSA orientation and assistance
- SAT prep
- Coaching towards high academic expections
- Job shadowing/internship opportunities
Momentum strategies
- Consistent college and career ready standards
- Foster college-going norms supported by peers and trusted adults
- Increase understanding of college requirements, application and financial aid processes/Improve information, matching and financial aid products
- Dual enrollment/Early College High Schools (on-ground, online options), AP credit
- Take college placement exam in high school
- Enrollment directly from high school
Momentum strategies
- Diagnostic assessment and placement tools
- Mandatory "intrusive" advising, attendance, life skills courses, declared courses of study linked career pathways
- Improved academic catch-up (prevention, acceleration, supplemental instruction, concurrent enrollment, contextualization, and competency-based digital prep)
- Aggressive financial aid application support
- Course redesign to go further, faster, cheaper
Momentum strategies
- Innovative programs to incent optional (e.g., high intensity, continuous) attendance
- Leverage technology to make real-time feedback, intensive advising, accelerated, flexible, and student-centered learning more available
- Intentional, accelerated, competency-based programs of study leading to credentials in high-demand fields like STEM and health care
- Provide emergency aid to deal with unexpected life events
Momentum strategies
- Mandatory "intrusive" advising
- Transfer with credentials incentives
- Remove barriers to graduation (e.g., fees, forms)
- Learn and Earn programs that combine credential attainment and work experience in field of study toward career pathway
Momentum strategies
- Enrollment in One-Stop system
- Paid internships and local hiring incentives
- Supervisory training
- Career and Financial Coaching toward job retention and advancement
- "Soft skills" training for resume preparation, job search, and interviewing
- Industry partnerships with postsecondary to create employment pathways