“Advancing Adults into Community College Programs: Data Tools from Breaking Through,” by Peter T. Ewell, National Center for Higher Education Management Systems. The goal of Breaking Through, a collaboration of JFF and the National Council for Workforce Education, is to demonstrate that community colleges can restructure themselves to create clear pathways for low-skill adults into professional/technical certificate and degree programs. Colleges participating in the initiative have found that incompatible data and data systems represent a significant barrier to creating pathways into college for adult students. Peter Ewell of the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems has worked with the colleges to provide insight into solutions that would be useful to any college seeking to serve low-skilled adults. Download the publication at http://www.jff.org/KnowledgeCenter/Advancing+Adults+into+Community+College+Programs%3A+Data+Tools+from+Breaking+Through.html.

“Leveraging Postsecondary Partners to Build a College-Going Culture: Tools for High School-Postsecondary Partnerships,” by Lili Allen with Lucretia Murphy. A number of schools and school districts seek to revitalize their partnerships with postsecondary institutions as a way to create pathways to postsecondary education and training for all students, not just those who enter high school academically prepared. JFF developed this toolkit for schools that wish to create, broaden, and deepen their postsecondary partnerships for maximum impact on college-going. The toolkit draws upon the lessons of three important efforts to create clear, tightly designed pathways from high school to college on behalf of students traditionally underrepresented in higher education: the Early College High School Initiative; University Park Campus School in Worcester, Massachusetts; and entrepreneurial efforts undertaken by new small schools in Boston to leverage partnerships that benefit all students. Download the publication at http://www.jff.org/KnowledgeCenter/Leveraging+Postsecondary+Partners+to+Build+a+College-Going+Culture%3A+Tools+for+High+School-Postsecondary+Partnerships.html.