How many years has the program been in existence?:
3

Brief description of student achievement program
Weld RE 5J CTE expanded from 5 to 15 Colorado State-Approved CTE pathways over the past three years with two more that will be added this spring. Roosevelt High School is a comprehensive public high school providing access to a wide variety of CTE pathways on campus that includes more than twenty concurrent enrollment courses, high demand industry certificates, and provides both paid and unpaid, internal and external work-based learning opportunities designed with student passion and equitable opportunities in mind. They focus on setting students up for success in both college and career and successfully utilize triangulation between the District, higher education partners, and CTE advisory boards primarily composed from industry professionals as well as local business partnerships and community stakeholders.

They have moved several introductory level CTE courses into their public middle school to support student learning. Reimbursable certificates earned using the Career Development Incentive Program have increased from 0 (2020-2021) to 144 (2021-2022) to 240 (2022-2023). They have increased the number of concurrent enrollment credits earned from 998 (2021-2022) to 1861 (2022-2023) with an expected increase this school year.

With a high number of students interested in business, they have made a concerted effort to create school-based enterprises. The Exchange provides students the opportunity to learn about being an employee, customer service, marketing, accounting, design process, entrepreneurship, and use their technical skills to design and create products. Students engage in collaboration and teamwork that supports a sense of both self and collective efficacy.

The Exchange is the Roosevelt High School store that includes a physical retail store space and online presence with student employees from the ACE pathway and marketing and accounting provided by students in the business pathway. They will also introduce a branded pop-up trailer that will be positioned outside at school and community events. The majority of the products sold in The Exchange are designed and created by Roosevelt High School students from a variety of CTE pathways. Students in the ACE pathway have collaborated with their contracted food service provider to determine healthy allowable food options that will be sold during the school day. They have a merchandising production room where students create a variety of products (e.g. screen printed shirts or print graphic art). All profits earned go directly back into the CTE pathway that sold the product. 

What outcomes/data are you seeing and/or tracking?
Weld RE 5J is tracking student enrollment data, including demographic data and students who have state plans (IEP, ML, 504, GT)-CTE pathways concentrators, concurrent enrollment credits earned, high demand industry certificates earned, work-based learning opportunities, and job placement, follow-up reporting (post student HS graduation), nontraditional student pathway enrollment (gender), items sold per pathway, and cost-profit-customer service surveys.

Brief description of student involvement in the program
Student interest helps drive CTE programming. Students in the ACE pathway are the employees in The Exchange. Students in the business pathway complete accounting and marketing tasks for The Exchange. Business students provide monthly reports to CTE pathway teachers who discuss cost-benefit analysis and use of profits with students. Students in all pathways are able to contribute to the items sold in The Exchange (e.g. agriculture- floral arrangements, ‘R’ branded truck hitches; engineering- branded and personalized coffee mugs, key chains, sunglasses; construction- Adirondack chairs; ACE- earrings; Business- shirts, hats.)

How many students are/have been involved?:
Close to 75% of the students at RHS are now taking at least one CTE course each year (~700+).

Why did your district choose to offer/create this program?:
CTE Expansion occurred in part after a Bond/Mill Levy did not pass in November 2019. A concerted effort was made on the part of the District and the Weld RE 5J Board of Education to garner feedback from parents, community members, and local business leaders to foster stronger partnerships between all parties. The feedback gathered included a desire to build a new high school and to expand CTE programming at the middle and high school levels. Students are engaged in multiple pathways at the same time, which supports their variety of interests and supports them in their post secondary decision making process. Students who graduate from Roosevelt High School are able to directly enter the workforce in a high skill in-demand high wage occupation and/or successfully continue to pursue learning at a higher education institution in an area where they are passionate.

How many years has the program been in existence?:
8

Brief description of student achievement program::
Poudre School District has taken a traditional high school of 1600 learners and shifted it from operating in subject-silos to teaching in cross-disciplinary teams focused on a technical core that serves as the lens for learning. Ninth graders choose a pathway of interest that guides their 4-year journey. Each pathway is aligned to one of the Colorado Career Clusters and includes a program of study. A student may choose the Agricultural pathway with a program of study in the Plant Sciences. This program gives students a real-world context to understand the skills they’re learning in Language Arts, Social Studies, and Science classes. Each pathway includes work-based learning opportunities and concludes with an authentic capstone.

Students in the Agricultural Pathway raise animals for show and sale or they grow plants for an end of year community plant sale. Pathways are comprised of students with similar interests who share in their learning as a member of the cohort. This cohort-model connects students to their interests and creates a team of teachers who keep the pulse of their students collectively. It’s a middle school concept employed at a high school and has been successful at identifying struggling students early to intervene and keep them on track toward graduation.

Poudre High School staff design the learning experiences that support students’ interests and connect them to our community. Students in the Entrepreneurship Pathway for Hospitality started a Food Truck business from scratch. It included crowd-funding to raise capital--$30 thousand in 30 days, passing health inspections, obtaining a small business license, and marketing the business to the community. Their students are now equipped with the skills needed to start a small business right out of high school. They have numerous key industry partners such as Saunders Construction who support our Engineering Pathway students in building a Habitat for Humanity home every year, Woodward Governor offers “Parents in Manufacturing Nights” to inform parents and students of the new world of manufacturing and support their students in earning an Associate Degree through the Pathways in Technology Early College High School program in Advanced Manufacturing. Columbine Health Systems offers Health Science Pathway students apprenticeships, and local foundations such as OtterCares provide funding for innovative student enterprises such as the Business Leadership’s Escape Room and Poudre's Thrift shop designed and run by our Entrepreneurship students in the Family and Consumer Sciences. They've created a Print Shop run by students with disabilities. This student-run business serves their community’s signage and clothing printing needs. Students learn employability skills through their customer service, budgeting, graphic design, and marketing of the business. This real-world experience has successfully engaged a historically disengaged population.

What outcomes/data are you seeing and/or tracking?
Each year they survey Freshmen to see if they feel part of a smaller-learning community in a big high school. Seventy five percent of Freshmen responded, “Yes.” They also survey all students on their connections to adults at PHS, to other students, and to their interests. Ninety percent of students have strong connections to adults, 85% feel connected to their peers, and 75% have strong connections to their interests. Last year, 841 students graduated with college credit through concurrent enrollment, 54 students earned a full IB diploma, 61 students were accepted into the ASCENT program earning themselves a free year at Front Range Community College, over 350 students participated in the Advanced Placement Program, and the 2023 seniors earned 159 industry certifications. Graduation data is showing positive trends for our school as a whole and for their historically marginalized students. On-time graduation rate has increased 10% over the last five years. The rate for students with IEPs increased over 25% over the last five years and economically disadvantaged students increased their on-time rate by nearly 10% over the same time period. English Language Learners increased by 10% and the on-time graduation rates of homeless students increased by 15%. 

Brief description of student involvement in the program
Nine years ago they gave a group of students iPads and directed them to ask their peers, “If you could design the perfect high school, what would you create?” Students expressed the desire to take classes they were interested in and be in classes with students with similar interests. Students drive the pathways. Poudre counselors work with incoming 9th graders to expose them to the various career opportunities within each Pathway, and to develop each student’s Individual Career and Academic Plan. From that, PHS teachers design the learning experiences that support students’ interests and connect them to our community. So every one of our 1600 students are involved in the full-school Poudre Pathways!

How many students are/have been involved?
Over 1600 students are involved in the PHS Pathways. It's a full-school model in which every student joins a pathway based on their interests. They choose course sequences that not only increase their knowledge and skills within a specific career path, but they engage in work-based learning opportunities to apply their learning in the field. They complete their education with a capstone in which they develop a business or product that synthesizes all of their learning and demonstrates that they are college and career ready!

Why did your district choose to offer/create this program?
Engagement. With nearly half of their students living in poverty, 20% are English language learners, 15% with disabilities, and another 25% minority, they saw this as a moral imperative to disrupt the system and give students the direction needed to make the most of their time and money beyond high school. Their pathways create bonding and bridging networks for their students. Bonding networks are the cohorts of students and teachers that help students to be successful. Bridging networks are the sequences of courses, work-based learning opportunities, industry certifications, and college credits that students are earning at Poudre that will help them advance. Bonding networks and bridging networks are what researchers of social justice say are needed to break the cycle of poverty and close achievement gaps in schools. Their data over the last five years is showing that this is the right work and is resulting in improved outcomes for our students.

How many years has the program been in existence?
6

Brief description of student achievement program
St. Vrain developed P-TEACH, Pathways to Teaching program, to actively recruit, inspire, and launch the next generation of teachers who will serve our nation’s most precious resource - children. In this program, high school students can earn up to 43 college credits toward a Bachelor’s degree in Education at no cost. Through P-TEACH, high school students engage in rigorous college level coursework, immersive field experiences, paid work-based opportunities, active mentee/mentor relationships, and valuable apprenticeships. These experiences give their high school students unmatched skills, experience, and presence compared to future teachers prepared in traditional university programs. Upon a recent visit to their P-TEACH program, Governor Polis remarked, “Your high school students have more theoretical knowledge and practical classroom experience than a typical junior studying to become a teacher in our state’s university programs.” St. Vrain is dedicated to providing their students with a strong competitive advantage so they can achieve unparalleled success. The responsibility of developing robust career pathways in teaching lies with each and every one of Colorado's school districts. St. Vrain is on a mission to share and replicate P-TEACH with any interested district in Colorado. We must join together to shape the future of education and ensure the greatness of our nation.

What outcomes/data are you seeing and/or tracking?
As a whole, P-TEACH is working very well. They are successfully recruiting, inspiring, and launching the next generation of educators. They track successful course completion, credits earned, average grade point average, work based experiences, college acceptance, education pathway continuance, and job placement. 272 High school students have successfully completed 505 classes and earned 1,515 college credits through PTEACH. Ninety six percent of their high school students have earned at least an A or B in their college coursework, with 72% earning an A. Seventy eight percent of their P-TEACH graduating seniors indicate they are planning a career in the field of education. Fifty one P-TEACH graduates are currently enrolled in a Colorado university teacher preparation program. Twenty one P-TEACH graduates are apprenticing in their P-TEACH Apprentice program, while they work and attend classes at Front Range Community College and CU Denver. Students are returning to St. Vrain for practicum and student teaching experiences. SVVS has 5 P-TEACH graduates in student teaching or approaching student teaching over the next two semesters. They currently have 21 apprentices in practicum or other work related experiences. This year they hired their first P-TEACH graduate as a kindergarten teacher who did all practicum and student teaching St. Vrain. As a program, They track demographic data about students to inform intentional recruiting. P-TEACH has an emphasis on recruiting and supporting non-traditional students and persons from underrepresented communities, such as first generation and bilingual students.

Brief description of student involvement in the program
High school students may take one or more P-TEACH classes each semester. They currently offer 12 concurrent enrollment classes (37 credits) on a rotating schedule: Community Field Experience, Language Identity and Power, Child Ecology, Child Guidance, Understanding (dis)Abilities, Digital Storytelling, STEM Methods, Introduction to Early Childhood Education as a Profession, Makerspace Studio, English Composition 1 and 2, and Statistics. Two additional classes will be added in the 2024-25 school year, Universal Design for Learning and Children’s Literature, giving students the option to earn up to 43 credits. These concurrent enrollment classes are at the college level, encompassing the same rigorous content as the university. They provide students an opportunity to delve into the teaching profession, acquiring essential skills and strategies for success in higher education.

St. Vrain students are very successful in these courses with 96% of students earning an A or B. Students engaged in P-TEACH gain insights into the teaching profession, study student learning methods, and develop the ability to recognize and celebrate both individual student strengths and their own, all while earning college credits. Students participate in internships and field experience within a variety of classroom settings ranging from early childhood education through high school based on student interest. Every P-TEACH student learns from content experts and receives classroom support from master teachers and mentors. Opportunities to earn and learn occur for students 16+ through St. Vrain Community Schools (child care) Project Launch (summer school), and Innovation Camp (STEM) programs. P-TEACH students are eligible to continue into: TREP for years 13-14; the university licensure program of their choice; and their P-TEACH Apprenticeship program after graduation, working as paraprofessionals in the district while earning their bachelors degrees in education.

How many students are/have been involved?
For the 2022-23 School Year, they had 157 high school students participate in P-TEACH. Twenty one high school graduates continue on as apprentices while attending college part or full time. For the current 2023-24 Fall semester, they have 72 high school students participating and have 93 students already registered for Spring classes. Since its creation in the Spring of 2019, 272 high school students have taken a class with P-TEACH.

Why did your district choose to offer/create this program?
SVVS developed P-TEACH as a "Grow your Own" program to bolster the teaching workforce in their district. They recognized the need to: advance teaching as a profession for SVVS students; accelerate the career timeline and learning opportunities by offering concurrent enrollment and embedded classroom experiences; actively recruit and support future teachers from underrepresented populations; and create a pipeline to universities and back to SVVS that creates apprenticeships, mentoring, and skilled early career teachers that have a network of support and a strong professional identity.