GPRA 5.1 Number and percentage of Promise Neighborhood students who enroll in a two-year or four-year college or university after graduation

Definition. 5.1 Enrollment in a two-year or four-year college or university after high school graduation. High school graduates from the target high schools should be tracked for up to 16 months post their high school graduation to determine whether they enrolled in community colleges, associate’s programs, or four-year colleges or universities.

AASB works with the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education (ACPE) to pull data from the National Student Clearinghouse database by high school graduation cohort.

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Dual Enrollment (High School):

This spring UAS teamed up with Tlingit & Haida, SERRC (an education resource non-profit), and AASB to co-sponsor a Summer Career Academy which targeted 16 to 24 year-olds. The Career Academy took place from May 31 to June 7. Of the 30 students who attended, 30 completed courses with a passing grade.  22 students traveled from rural communities around the state and stayed in campus housing, including 2 students from Yakutat, 2 from Hydaburg, and 2 from Sitka.

UAS - The total number of dual enrollment students enrolled at UAS wasn’t available at the time of this reporting, but we do know that five courses in Alaska Languages and Health Science were created for dual enrollment at two STEPS partner schools, serving 65 students. Other new dual enrollment courses offered included intro to health sciences (8 students), EMT (24 students) and Alaska Native language courses (25 students).

Juneau - The total number of dual enrollment recipients is not officially recorded until the end of the school year, but we estimate that there were about 70 students based on the courses and opportunities offered. The high schools in Juneau continue to strive to offer course options that are connected to meaningful, career related experiences, are connected to the place and indigenous cultures and have dual enrollment or endorsement opportunities. An example from the fall semester include the House Build program which is co-taught with a high school teacher and a UAS Professor of Construction Technology.  The student-built house was sold and new owners have moved in. Another example is Outdoor Biology where students made atlatls, examined natural resources of the region in forestry and fisheries, and learned about Tlingit names and the cultural significance of these areas.

Angoon- 3 high school students received dual credit for Tlingit 106 in Q2.

Hoonah - 7 students received dual credit for a course in Oceanography (spring), and 7 students received dual credit for a Fisheries class taught in partnership with University professors who zoom into class 2x per week (fall).

Hydaburg - 6 students received dual credit for a writing course through University of Alaska Fairbanks in the fall.

Sitka - 47 students participated in dual enrollment courses, the majority of which were Northwest Coast Arts courses, but also 1 in a communications course and 1 in a fisheries internship course. 1 student applied for and received a scholarship through STEPS.

TED Talks/Family Nights (9th - 12th grade & families):

UAS participated in a few in-person events that happened in late spring including a community-supported career fair in Yakutat, an Alaska Native career fair in Sitka, and a visit to Yakooskge Dakhadi Alternative High School in Juneau.

Sitka offers several scholarships and hosted 3 events for families to promote, celebrate, and follow-up on these scholarship opportunities. They also held a career fair in the spring.

UAS also invested in a short video that can be shared with students and families on social media and can also be part of in-person presentations and discussions. The video, which can be used for years in the future, also helped take the place of visiting communities during the pandemic. The video has received over 2,600 views since it was released this spring. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-IfuEGw2Ps.

AASB facilitated a conversation with Hydaburg staff, students, and community members using the Bridging Framework to map postsecondary strengths and opportunities. Additionally, near peers talked with students and families about their experience in college. The trip to the University of Hawaii included students’ parents.

Early College Experience (High School):

In addition to the early college experience provided by dual enrollment opportunities, including the Summer Career Academy described above, a University of Alaska Southeast Professor worked closely with the Yakutat and Chatham School Districts to create an early college experience taught by college professors in local communities. CERCLE (Community Engagement and Resource Challenges in Local Environments) courses were taught in person in Angoon (8 students) and Yakutat (6 students). While these courses weren’t eligible for college credit, they did give the students exposure to college courses, concepts and faculty. In addition, students from Hydaburg participated in an exchange with Native students from Hawaii. During the trip students had the opportunity to visit the University of Hawaii and saw how culture was a strength; participants reported that they didn’t think college was an option for them before the visit. (It’s also interesting to note that for students from Hydaburg, travel to Juneau costs about the same as travel to Hawaii).

Hoonah - 3 students went on a three-day College/Career field trip to Juneau in October hosted by Sealaska Heritage Institute. Students went to talks by indigenous speakers, learned a native dance that was gifted to them, and toured University of Alaska Southeast. They also went to a College/Career Fair at the high school where they were able to talk to numerous colleges, trade schools, internship programs, and the military. Finally, students took part in a four part rotation that covered: financial planning, college/career displays, career planning, and life after high school. In addition, 3 students attended Whale Fest in November, a 4 day event that includes biology talks, lab tours, and engineering workshops in Sitka.

Postsecondary Mentoring (Middle and High School):

Angoon - Experiences provided to high school students is a culmination of culinary arts, career readiness, and preparation for job ready skills, in the hope of expanding opportunities for students' lives after high school. Previously, students created a business plan in the Entrepreneurship class to create a coffee shop based in Angoon High School called Eagle Brew Coffee. Students were exposed to the startup and logistics of running a small business. Eagle Brew Coffee shop opened in the summer of 2020, a student run business that sold lattes. Students now run a cafe every Saturday that sells delicious baked goods, lattes, and Italian sodas. Students are in charge of the prep, cooking/baking, customer service, sales, and clean up - all excellent skills for readiness beyond high school.

Hydaburg - 22 students worked with staff from the T3 program to operate (and set up) presentation equipment, including a sound system, for community events at the school. This activity supports post-secondary skills and mentoring. In addition, the school counselor worked with the graduating senior to set up plans for post-graduation.

Sitka - Sitka School District hosted “Discover Your Potential” week for 7th and 8th grade students. The program is built on partnerships with the community to highlight different opportunities and roles while also allowing students the time and space to reflect on who they want to be and how they might get there.

Alignment (Regional/ Systems-level Activity)

Alignment work took place in a variety of meetings and collaborative spaces which include the regional meetings and statewide meetings.  The AASB STEPS staff facilitates the Southeast Network of the Alaska Postsecondary Completion and Access Network (Alaska CAN) which meets monthly virtually, with an average of 25 participants from UAS, school districts, employers, economic development agencies and Alaska Native service organizations. STEPS partners also participated in three statewide meetings and conferences - the annual Alaska CAN conference in the Spring, the Alaska Career & Technical Educators conference in the fall, and the Now for Next Workshop in November - which helped foster collaboration and alignment across the state.

Other alignment activities include meetings between each of the STEPS schools staff and board and university staff to coordinate dual enrollment and other activities tailored for district-specific needs. This includes the Juneau Workforce Consortium, which engages roughly 70 employers, school, and workforce development staff on a quarterly basis. In Yakutat, UAS professors worked with school staff to create alignment through the development of an Environmental Sciences class called CERCLE (Community Engagement and Resource Challenges in Local Environments). In Sitka the Sitka Tribe of Alaska, the Sitka School District and UAS staff have developed Sitka Native Education Program (SNEP) Indigenous Studies track, which includes a US Tribal Government class, Lingít language classes, NorthWest Coast Art classes, and additional course offerings. The 7-week US Tribal Government class launched at Pacific High School this fall. Sitka Tribe of Alaska staff meet on a weekly basis with the UAS Sitka Campus Title III SUPPORT Team to collaborate on individual activities such as the UAS Sitka Campus Land Acknowledgement Project, and to align student support services at the high school through college level in an effort to improve postsecondary preparation, retention, and completion for Native students.

Tribal Youth Employment (High-School/ Post Secondary):

Angoon - culinary arts students were hired to work at the Eagle Brew Cafe on Saturdays, selling their baked goods and lattes, including doing prep, cooking/baking, customer service, sales, and clean up.

Sitka - Sitka Tribe of Alaska launched the Young Professional Employment Program this summer, with 5 students enrolling and 4 completing the 8-week internship and associated employment trainings. Students ages 16-24 were placed in 4 STA departments (CREED, Finance, Facilities, and Resource Protection) and with one partner agency (Sitka Sound Science Center).

Data for postsecondary indicators (GPRAs 5.1 and 5.2) is delayed due to staffing changes at the reporting state agency, The Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education. A solution is in place and data should be available by the next report.

Alaska continues to have the lowest FAFSA completion rate of any state in the nation. As a result, students have missed out on $12 million dollars in free federal funding over the past two years. What’s more, Alaska has the lowest postsecondary participation rate for low-income students of any state in the nation, which indicates that the students who are most in need of aid or not getting the required support to access that aid. In a state where many families may not file taxes because they are living a subsistence oriented lifestyle, FAFSA completion is even more of a challenge. Families need a lot of support to fill out the form, but they may not know what it is, why it’s important, or who to ask for help.

In addition to financial factors, research and anecdotal experiences in Alaska confirm that having a strong sense of self and cultural identity is an important asset for thriving in college and career opportunities. Tribes and native serving organizations have stepped in to fill that role. But these programs often exist outside of the school system and may not be linked to academic support or school class opportunities. What’s more, it’s unclear who is being served by these navigation programs and who is being left out.

In STEPS communities and in Alaska as a whole, there are numerous opportunities for dual enrollment, apprenticeships, and other experiences that can help students envision future jobs and build confidence that they can get there. In some ways, there may be too many options (brain science indicates that too many options can be paralyzing). Many of those options are also ephemeral coming and going with grants, budget cuts, and personnel changes which makes it even more difficult for students to see and understand the pathways.

STEPS partners continue to implement programming aimed at increasing enrollment in postsecondary educational opportunities. With the exception of the Tribal Youth Employment program, all solutions in this GPRA area exceeded their targets.

Some Successes:

While we had not reached all of our targets in years 1-4, especially during Covid-19, we are making some gains with our reach in these areas and have exceed our goals for year 5.  We will continue to work toward our total targets during the no-cost extension year.

• Building consensus and a shared vision to turn the curve. Over the past five years STEPS partners have been working together to dig into the factors that are impacting Alaska’s postsecondary outcomes. Alaska currently has the lowest rate of postsecondary enrollment of high school grads and the lowest rate of students graduating with a four-year degree in six years time. As we’ve written in previous reports, we developed a Bridging Framework to map out how schools and communities can begin to turn the curve on Alaska’s worrisome outcomes. The Framework identifies  academic preparation, navigation skills, and cultural identity as three essential components of readiness. The Framework recommends that these components are embedded at every grade, especially in middle and high school. And it recognizes that there are multiple locations where students need to be encouraged to think about and plan for life after high school including in the classroom, with advisors or guides, at home with family, on the walls and in the halls of the school, in the community and with partner organizations, through real-life experiences like dual enrollment classes or internships, and guided by school leadership.  This was piloted this year.
• The partners in Southeast Alaska determined that we can not turn the curve without impacting larger entities in our state such as AK DEED, the Alaska Commission on Post-secondary, the University system, and collaboration across systems which include tribal partners. This fall AASB’s chose to make postsecondary a theme of it’s annual conference and hosted a post-conference day. Keynote speakers and breakout sessions focused on approaches to embedding career exposure and experiences while elevating cultural identity as a postsecondary strength. AASB worked with the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education to co-host a post conference workshop, with sponsors from Alaska Native Corporations, state entities, and others. Partners came together focused on what we can do Now to help students prepare for what’s Next; turning the curve on Alaska’s postsecondary outcomes. Conference participants, agency partners, University presidents, Department of labor and workforce development representatives, students, family members and elders spent the day digging deeper into what is - and isn’t - working for Alaska’s students and families. The group developed seven recommendations:
  • Identity and Motivation: Foster motivation and life skills by embedding culturally affirming social & emotional learning in all curricula. Provide culturally responsive training for all staff (K-12, Higher Ed, Department of Labor, etc).
  • Families and Communities: Identify key timelines and milestones for families. Build on parent expertise & storytelling & create toolkits for wide distribution and engagement.
  • Preparation: Start planning for the future by middle school. Include community-connected events and experiences.
  • Costs: Host financial literacy community nights starting with the basics for younger children/families (i.e. opening a bank account). Make the FAFSA easier to access/complete.
  • Navigation: Fund career guides to assist students and families with plans for their future linked to their goals and values as well as tactical steps like accessing financial aid.
  • Community Supports: Foster mentorships by helping students define what “success” looks like for themselves and matching them with mentors.
  • Sense of Belonging: Build cohorts & mentorship on campus by inventorying and building on what is working.   

Some challenges:

• Tribal Youth Employment - Tlingit & Haida’s Generations Southeast and workforce development team has had several changes in their leadership. The current leadership has focused more on positive youth development through programs like the Navigators program and on overall workforce development. Other programs like the Alaska Youth Stewards have filled a niche in providing scaffolded youth employment opportunities in rural communities and Tlingit and Haida has decided to work more strategically with other entities that have recently stepped in to fill this gap, including AYS and Goldbelt Heritage Institute.   
• Embedding postsecondary planning work into 6th-12th grade schools - STEPS partners had developed the Bridging Framework that has mapped out what and how to embed postsecondary work into Alaska’s schools. And we have pockets of excellence.  But it has been more difficult to pull together the people and resources to do this work in a streamlined, embedded, and consistent manner. The biggest challenge has been the lack of capacity; it takes the right people and a little extra time to do this work. Since 2016, the State of Alaska has cut funding for schools in general and specifically for programs which once provided more support and capacity to assist with postsecondary transitions. Counseling staff has also been consumed with and burnt out by the mental health crisis caused by the pandemic.

Implement the recommendations from the Now for Next workshop (see above). In the coming year STEPS partners are collaborating to advance:

• Culturally affirming career guides
• Culturally relevant career and technical education 
• Fiscal literacy and timelines for families

Establish culturally affirming career guides. STEPS partners are sharing and documenting the tools, activities, approaches, and lessons that foster future planning in a way that is culturally affirming.

Fiscal literacy and timelines for families. AASB is braiding funding and grant initiatives, including a Statewide Family Engagement Center initiative - to advance efforts to provide families with comprehensive support for helping their students plan for and navigate life after high school.

Focus on the FAFSA. Enhance collaborative efforts to increase FAFSA completion by developing a campaign and using tool tools like the FAFSA Tracker.

Map which students are being served and which students are not. STEPS partners are exploring what it would look like to map who is being served by career guide and youth leadership programs and who is being underserved.

Integrate youth development and tribal youth employment. The Central Council of Tlingit Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska is working on braiding together the employment support services which have been historically divided into different departments. Tlingit & Haida has also recently established a position which will oversee the Alaska Youth Stewards program which will help further integrate and elevate tribal youth employment opportunities.

Research and document best practices. AASB is working with partners to elevate career guide strategies that have worked well nationally - and here in Alaska - by taking a close look at the long-term results of college and career guide program that ended in 2016 due to budget cuts. Preliminary findings are that the program boosted college going rates in one rural high school from 30% to 65%. Without the program, college going rates are back to 30%. Combining this data-driven story with promising practices for culturally affirming career guidance developed by STEPS partners will provide powerful tools for policy change and can provide the motivation and guidance for school districts to prioritize this work.

AASB and partners have identified or have strategies for future funding to support these next steps. We have also expanded some of the opportunities or tools that we are using in new funding, such as Full Service Community Schools and Family Engagement grants. Specifically, we will be using the Bridging Framework in 5th grade (earlier than previous use) and it will be paired with a family support and opportunity assessment to ensure that students have the learning and enrichment opportunities or the integrated supports needed at 5th grade that will help their post-secondary career or education trajectory.