School-to-Career

EQuALLS2 increases access to quality basic education and livelihood skills in areas most affected by conflict and poverty in the Philippines (primarily the Muslim areas in the Mindanao island group in the south). EQuALLS2 is a large-scale project that seeks to benefit 345,000 children and youth in 37 municipalities and four cities by training 37,238 educators and school officials, building the capacity of 850 local education stakeholder groups, and expanding local education resources through public-private partnerships.

The Shaqodoon program was created to provide Somali youth with greater access to training, internships, work and self-employment opportunities in order to productively engage youth and add to the stability and development of the region. Shaqodoon is Somali for “jobseekers”.

The ITEST Learning Resource Center at EDC held a convening designed to develop a theoretical framework to guide future research on youth motivation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) with a particular emphasis on populations most underrepresented in the STEM workforce. Two guiding questions were the focus of the event: 1) What is currently known about motivation in STEM for underrepresented youth? 2) What can be done to cultivate new research around STEM motivation for underrepresented youth?

YouthBuild USA’s Green Initiative provides opportunities for the program’s students and graduates to pursue green careers and environmental leadership, while increasing the production of green affordable housing. EDC’s EdTech Leaders Online partnered with YouthBuild to develop a seven-week online course to engage YouthBuild instructors in readings, activities, and discussions that develop knowledge and skills to incorporate green building and other environmental concepts into their classroom curriculums.

The smart grid uses the most advanced digital technology to upgrade the aging, century old electrical grid in the United States, in ways that are radically transforming the ways energy is used and consumed. EDC has developed two three-lesson curriculum units that introduce high school students to the smart grid. In the first unit students learn about the smart grid and develop materials that will educate others in their community about the smart grid concept and its potential benefits.

EDC is examining the ways that ITEST (Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers) for teacher education projects lead to changes in classroom practice by using two teacher-role models to examine technology-based professional development and related changes in teaching practices: Teacher as Pedagogical Expert (teachers using existing technology-based curriculum with or without adaptations) and Teacher as Curriculum Developer (teachers creating new curriculum). The study will explore these two models within the context of IT (innovative technologies) teaching and learning.

Shaped with substantial input from high school educators, postsecondary faculty, and law enforcement professionals, the EDC-developed Law and Justice curriculum meets national academic standards as well as career technical education standards. The curriculum emphasizes the teaching of key skills essential to the fields of law and justice, such as critical thinking, teamwork, and communication.

EDC and a technical committee of computer scientists and thought leaders in computational thinking (CT) from the University of Washington, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Williams College, Santa Fe Institute, and Raytheon Corporation will develop and validate a common core of CT skill sets used by scientists, technicians/technologists, engineers, and mathematicians in America’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) workplaces.

This project is developing a series of online professional development modules for school counselors—middle grades, high school, and postsecondary student service professionals—that focus on career counseling and college preparation. The modules use a learning community approach where school counselors will participate in the project as a cohort and engage in structured online discussions with their colleagues and the instructor during each of the module sessions.