National Postsecondary Strategy Institute

Posted by Reach Higher on November 20, 2017

You are being invited to apply for the first REACH HIGHER National Postsecondary Strategy Institute (NPSI) for
school districts seeking to support a vision of helping every student reach for an education beyond high school,
including 2 and 4 year college enrollment or a professional credential. This inaugural event will be held in
Chicago, Illinois from April 8 – 10, 2018 at the DePaul University Loop Campus, and is offered in collaboration
with the following partners:

• REACH HIGHER
• Chicago Public Schools
• University of Chicago Consortium on School Research (UChicago Consortium)
• College and Career Strategic Directions, LLC
• Joyce V. Brown Consulting Group, LLC
• Maple Grove Objective

REACH HIGHER is an initiative that is championed by Former First Lady Michelle Obama and this inaugural
event will bring together district level teams to advance the First Lady’s vision of increasing college enrollment
and degree attainment across the country. Participants will design strategies to support the use of student
information data systems, along with state, federal and research data sets to improve post-secondary
enrollment, persistency and graduation rates for all students.

NPSI will highlight the Chicago Public Schools postsecondary strategy framework, including its partnership with Melissa Roderick’s Chicago Postsecondary Transition Project at the UChicago Consortium and the implementation of college and career readiness strategies to expand, restructure and develop academic and student support services.
The result has been significant increases in postsecondary completion outcomes over a 14-year period, during which time the percent of 9th graders who are expected to earn a bachelor’s degree within 10 years increased from 8% to 18% percent.

Districts will be selected to participate in the institute through a competitive application process

Districts will be asked to demonstrate:
1) A clear commitment to improving postsecondary outcomes as articulated by senior leadership.
2) Evidence of preliminary work on postsecondary outcomes using National Student Clearinghouse data or your state’s student data system.

Each participating school district will be asked to bring a team consisting of at least four senior administrators
(superintendent, assistant superintendent, director of high school programs, director of school counselors,
chief academic officer, director of research/evaluation, director of student supports). Preference will be given
to teams that have an existing research partnership with a university.

Participants will learn:
– Critical college and career readiness components/structures and implementation strategies
– Critical data points and disaggregation strategies to create equitable outcomes
– Key research that supports effective implementation of a district-wide secondary grades framework
with bridge strategies into postsecondary
– How to develop strategic partnerships
– The central importance of school counselors in the implementation of college and career strategies

For additional information about the Inaugural REACH HIGHER National Postsecondary Strategy Institute,
please contact:
Greg Darnieder, College and Career Strategic Directions, LLC at [email protected] or 202.277.0877 OR
Joyce V. Brown, Joyce V. Brown Consulting Group, LLC at [email protected] or 773.746.7454

To receive an application, please complete the NPSI Interest Form at the link below.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NPSI-InterestForm
Applications will be sent after the submission of this form.
Please NOTE: District teams will be selected on an on-going basis through March 1, 2018, with initial decisions
made on or around Friday, November 17, 2017. The National Postsecondary Strategy Institute (NPSI) can
accommodate 25 school district teams. Additional districts will be added until all slots are filled.

https://dhe.mo.gov/documents/NationalPostsecondaryStrategyInstitute_ApplicationAnnouncementOct2017.pdf