A year into the Designers in Residence 2.0: Accelerating Pathways project, Education Design Lab has identified five insights that can help community college leaders reimagine dual enrollment pathways to promote equitable access and economic mobility.
WHAT: Expanding on the work of the first Education Design Lab Designers in Residence cohort and Accelerate ED, the Designers in Residence 2.0: Accelerating Pathways designers are building regional ecosystems that support accelerated associate degree attainment for students who are Black, Latino, or from low-income backgrounds.
WHO: Six designers from community colleges in five states are working with the Lab from June 2023 to November 2024. Meet the 2.0 cohort.
THE GOAL: The project goal is to explicitly design accelerated dual enrollment pathways for students for whom traditional pathways are not effective. Successful pathways are broadly accessible to students across various achievement levels, affordable, and responsive to students’ needs in earning a family-supporting income. They are explicitly aligned with high-wage and high-growth occupations and provide support to students across academic, career, and social-emotional domains.
WHY IT MATTERS: The ultimate measure of success is significant, measurable improvements in the economic and social mobility of students, breaking down systemic barriers and creating a more inclusive and equitable educational landscape.
Pictured above: Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) strategically focused their efforts on one high school, one pathway, and one employer to maximize the impact of their dual enrollment program. Collaborating closely with their employer partner, Amazon, they aligned their IT pathway to ensure that the knowledge and skills students acquired were directly relevant to entry-level IT positions.
Regional design teams of students, parents, employers, K–12 leaders, intermediaries, and college leaders work together to create dual enrollment pathways for Black + Hispanic/Latinx students and students from low-income backgrounds, to earn an associate degree or credential one year from high school graduation that lead to a high-wage, high-demand job.
Our first insights brief (August 2023) offered an initial look into the project as we started an 18-month journey following a deliberate planning and preparation phase. This August 2024 report shares insights and lessons learned during the first year.
Those insights include:
