CHICAGO ROADMAP COLLABORATION MAKES PROGRESS

The City Colleges of Chicago and Chicago Public Schools collaborated on the Chicago Roadmap, in response to 12 challenges found after initiating a study to find out how to provide support for students to and through college and to their careers.
The City Colleges of Chicago and Chicago Public Schools collaborated on the Chicago Roadmap, in response to 12 challenges found after initiating a study to find out how to provide support for students to and through college and to their careers.

CHICAGO ROADMAP COLLABORATION MAKES PROGRESS


Chicago Public Schools and City Colleges of Chicago collaborated in 2020 to create the Chicago Roadmap to support students on their path to and through college as they make their way to their careers. Now, a year later, a progress report is out that highlights the best practices and implementation of programs.

The Chicago Roadmap consists of five domains: Academic Readiness and Success, Access to High Quality Programs, Student Advising and Supports, Career Exploration, Experience, Readiness, and Transparency and Alignment and Collaboration.

The Roadmap was written to address 12 key challenges from a study that looked at the Chicago educational landscape, data, community college and high school partnerships around the country, and focus groups. The Roadmap is a comprehensive, five-year plan to address those challenges.

"This collaboration between CCC and CPS demonstrates their commitment to closing gaps of inequity within our education system and helps enhance students' preparedness as they navigate their high school and college careers," Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot said in a release. "The Chicago Roadmap Progress Report ensures that students are provided with the much-needed tools to thrive, and thanks to the generous contributions made to the Children First Fund: The Chicago Public School Foundation and the City Colleges of Chicago Foundation and its many donors, our students will reach their full potential and step into a future filled with opportunities for enrichment and success."

Peggy Korellis, the City Colleges of Chicago Associate Vice Chancellor of High School Partnerships Educational Quality, described the Roadmap as a comprehensive, partnership agreement. It looks at all aspects of the institutions to find out how they can better align to streamline processes and opportunities for students.

According to Korellis, half of the CPS graduates come to City Colleges of Chicago during their academic journey, whether it is after they graduate from high school or after they’ve gone to a four-year institution.

In the first year, transitional math and English courses have been developed. Students in their senior year who pass these courses with a C or better can go directly into college-level math or English at City Colleges of Chicago, community colleges across the State of Illinois, and some four-year institutions that are partners of the initiative. Also, the Healthcare Model Pathways was implemented in eight high schools. Next year, the goal is to implement the IT Model Pathways and Advanced Manufacturing Model Pathways and Master Builder and Construction Model Pathways.

“We look at which schools have access to which programs and where are the opportunity gaps so that we can provide support to those schools and target some of these programs,” Korellis said. “We’re targeting our support to schools that need it the most.”

With the Post-Secondary Navigators program, the City Colleges of Chicago employees are in Chicago Public High Schools to help students with career exploration. For students who want to attend a city college, the navigators help them from career exploration, finding the right school, applying, and enrolling. There are 12 navigators in 46 of the CPS High Schools.

The City Colleges of Chicago has created a scholarship for the Chicago Public School students. The ACE Scholarship is available to students who graduated in 2020 and 2021. The scholarship will provide them with $1,000 and a free laptop. For more information about the ACE Scholarship, and to apply, visit https://pages.ccc.edu/apply/ace-scholarship/.

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