The GRAD Partnership for Advancing Student Success Systems

About the Project

The GRAD Partnership for Advancing Student Success Systems is a new national initiative that encourages and supports communities in efforts to use high quality student success systems that empower schools to graduate all students ready for the future.

The GRAD Partnership brings together nine organizations to partner with schools, districts, and community organizations to create the conditions for shifting the use of evidence-based student success systems from a new practice to an integral part of a school’s work. It is a national campaign, bringing together organizations with deep knowledge, practical know-how, decades of experience, and a wide range of diverse perspectives to develop and support the wide-scale creation of evidence-based student success systems to meet the challenges of pandemic-impacted times and enable schools to graduate all their students ready for their future. Student success systems build on what already exists in schools, help educators, families, and community organizations identify patterns in wellbeing and learning needs, prioritize the supports and strategies that will have the greatest impact, and continually improve until success is achieved.

AIR
BARR
Carnegie Foundation
Everyone Graduates Center
NCLD
Rural Schools Collaborative
Schott Foundation
Talent Development Secondary

RSC and Our Partners

RSC is working with two of our regional hub partners, North State Together and University of West Alabama, to launch pilot cohorts of participating schools in California and Alabama. These 20 diverse rural schools will receive a matched support grant and technical assistance to implement new student success systems to help students reach on time graduation. Learn more in the official press release.

North State Together
UWA

RSC Hub Schools in the GRAD Partnership

California Black Belt
  • Anderson High School - Shasta College TRIO
  • Burney Junior Senior High School
  • Dunsmuir High School
  • Fall River Junior Senior High School
  • Gateway to College at Shasta College
  • Red Bluff High School
  • Redding School of the Arts
  • Southern Trinity High School
  • Tulelake High School
  • West Valley Early College High School – Shasta College TRIO
  • Demopolis High School
  • Hale County High School
  • Greensboro High School
  • University Charter School
  • Pickens County High School
  • Southeast Lauderdale High School
  • Francis Marion School
  • Sumter Central High School
  • Kemper County High School
  • A.L. Johnson High School

North State Together

Our partners at North State Together have created their own landing page describing their involvement with the project.

Learn more

University of West Alabama

Our partners at the University of West Alabama have created their own landing page describing their involvement with the project.

Learn more

GRAD Partnership Rural School Spotlight: Black Belt Visit

RSC visited our long-standing partners in the Black Belt region at the University of West Alabama (UWA), and enjoyed a site visit with Demopolis High School to learn more about their GRAD Partnership project.

Learn more

Rural School Resources

  • Using Continuous Improvement Cycles to Improve Attendance: This brief provides a case study of NCRERN’s continuous improvement process as implemented in New York and Ohio during 2020-21, including outlining steps to implement a pilot-and-test model in a rural context and summarizing key lessons learned.
  • Trends in Student Absenteeism in NCRERN's New York & Ohio Rural Research Network: This brief describes trends in student absenteeism and the relationship between absenteeism and achievement for students in rural districts in New York and Ohio in the years prior to districts’ involvement in NCRERN.
  • Results from Six Pilots in NCRERN's New York & Ohio Rural Research Network: This brief summarizes the findings for the four attendance-focused interventions NCRERN districts implemented and evaluated in the 2020–21 and 2021–22 school years: personalized messaging, mentoring, family engagement, and postcards.
  • Personalized Messaging How-To Guide: This resource is designed for school staff who want to try out personalized messaging to improve attendance in their districts. The step-by-step guide includes an overview of the messaging intervention, considerations for planning to roll out the messages in your district, tips for successful implementation, and message templates that can be adapted for use in your district.
  • Community of Practice - GRAD Partnership Definition of High Quality Student Success Systems: What kinds of indicators and early warning systems do we need today to help us restore, revitalize and deliver on the promise of public education? In this session, Robert Balfanz, Research Professor at the Center for the Social Organization of Schools and Johns Hopkins University and Director of the Everyone Graduates Center, Taylor McCabe-Juhnke, Executive Director of Rural Schools Collaborative, and Susan Schroth, Interim Program Director Shasta College, shared the GRAD Partnership’s definition of Student Success Systems that will be instrumental in making sure schools meet today’s needs while empowering educators and helping students seize success in school and beyond.
  • GRAD Partnership Resources: Learn more about resources from the national team at the GRAD Partnership for Students Success. These include definitions of Student Success Systems, a self-reflection toolkit for schools implementing Success Systems, and links and recordings for Community of Practice events to learn from peers around the country.

The Rural Schools Collaborative is honored to be a part of this important national initiative!

Please contact us at info@ruralschoolscollaborative.org for more information.