Rural Schools Collaborative Regional Hubs Launch GRAD Partnership Pilot Networks
Rural Schools Collaborative is partnering with our Northern California hub and Alabama Black Belt hub partners to launch two pilot networks of participating rural schools.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 15, 2022
RSC Regional Hubs launch GRAD Partnership Pilot Networks
The GRAD Partnership for Student Success is a new national initiative that encourages and supports communities to use high quality student success systems that empower schools to graduate all students ready for the future. Rural Schools Collaborative is partnering with our Northern California hub and Alabama Black Belt hub partners to launch two pilot networks of participating rural schools.
As the pandemic’s devastating impact on middle and high school students becomes clearer, the GRAD Partnership is responding with proactive and preventative ways to put all students on a path to postsecondary success. This collaboration of nine organizations is led by the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University. Read more about the history and importance of student success systems in this FutureED article.
Taylor McCabe-Juhnke, Rural Schools Collaborative’s Executive Director, says, “We are thrilled to launch student success systems in 20 rural schools. RSC’s regional hub networks offer a great avenue for the community-centered, collaborative work of the GRAD Partnership.”
As part of the GRAD Partnership, RSC will work 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.
About RSC Partners: North State Together and University of West Alabama
Rural Schools Collaborative is a national nonprofit with a mission to build sustainable rural communities through a keen focus on teachers, philanthropy, and place. RSC’s Regional Hubs are networks of dedicated rural-advocates across the United States with trusted K-12 relationships. North State Together and the University of West Alabama were two of the founding hub partners that built what is now a national network of RSC advocates.
North State Together, located in Redding, CA, is a regional collective partnership, supporting a ten-county region in Northern California. This network of cross-sector partners share a common vision of strengthening educational outcomes through the creation of locally-relevant cradle-to-career programs. Through a focus on community, equity, relationships, and data, NST and its regional partners are building community vitality by taking concrete measures to realize educational success for every child in the North State region.
"North State Together is excited to engage with The GRAD Partnership for Student Success, and fully align with its mission to improve the success of both students and educators," says Susan Schroth, GRAD Partnership contact for Northern California. "Through the implementation of student success systems, our collaboration can apply the ongoing intervention necessary to sustain positive student outcomes, and ensure the equitable recovery of educational institutions in Rural California after the pandemic."
The University of West Alabama is a regional comprehensive university located in rural Livingston, AL, the heart of the historically and geographically unique Black Belt Region. Building on their long legacy of training teacher-leaders for rural and small schools in their area, the UWA College of Education established a Center for Rural Education to coordinate their growing catalog of innovative programs, like the Black Belt Teacher Corps, Project REP, and their Doctorate of Rural Education program.
"The University of West Alabama is excited to help rural schools in the Black Belt region establish innovative and research-based student success systems to keep their students on track for graduation," says Annah Rogers, UWA GRAD Partnership contact. "We are hopeful that this partnership will contribute to the success of students in some of our highest-need schools, thereby increasing opportunities and equity in the heart of Alabama."
Special thanks to University of West Alabama, North State Together, the Everyone Graduates Center, and the GRAD Partnership for Student Success organizations for their support of rural schools and communities!
GRAD Partnership is a collaboration among American Institutes for Research, BARR Center, the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University, Talent Development Secondary, the University of Chicago Network for College Success, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, the National Center for Learning Disabilities, the Rural Schools Collaborative, and the Schott Foundation.
For more information, please contact info@ruralschoolscollaborative.org.
