OneGoal Brings Innovative Postsecondary Solution Program to Three School Districts
Flexible, tech-enabled solution enables partners to prioritize postsecondary support amid COVID challenges
CHICAGO, August 31, 2020 — After announcing an initiative to build a new delivery model to scale its successful program to serve entire school districts in 2019, the OneGoal Leadership Network launched this fall in three school districts. In total, the pilot is serving some 250 students at five high schools across three districts in Elgin, Illinois, as well as East Baton Rouge and Kenner, Louisiana, with plans to reach a critical mass of students across the districts in coming years. Through this new solution, OneGoal provides district partners with the curriculum, tools, training, and support that enables them to accelerate every student’s postsecondary success.
“Education inequity has always existed and current events have only increased the need for scalable solutions that support more students in earning a postsecondary degree or credential,” said Patty Diaz-Andrade, Chief Impact Officer at OneGoal. “The OneGoal Leadership Network integrates our proven postsecondary success model into the fabric of an entire school district to ensure that all students across a community are set up to achieve their greatest ambitions after graduating high school.”
Whereas the nonprofit’s core model pairs one teacher, also known as a Program Director, with a cohort of about 25 students, this new initiative partners with select school districts to embed the OneGoal class into their college readiness systems and co-create system-wide solutions that leverage the professional learning, curriculum, data, and ongoing consultation OneGoal has honed over the past decade.
“Statistics show that there is an intentional need for students to gain access to college and career readiness, especially students of color and students from low-income families,” said Tramelle D. Howard, Vice President of the East Baton Rouge Parish School System Board. “I believe that OneGoal plays an important part in fulfilling that need. I’m even more excited that OneGoal prioritizes culturally relevant curriculum to ensure growth, development, and access to opportunity.”
Each school in the new model has multiple school staff members who are empowered to serve as OneGoal Program Directors supported by a school-based site director and a robust digital learning platform. The solution is especially primed to empower districts and school leaders to reach students at scale, regardless of whether they are in person, remote or in a hybrid situation.
“OneGoal provides an opportunity for students that is intentional,” said Lela Majstorovic, the Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Schools Instruction and Equity for School District U-46 in Elgin, Illinois. “It allows students to get additional support within their school day and have consistent support over the course of their high school and post-secondary journey.”
At Kenner Discovery High School in Kenner, Louisiana, OneGoal will “provide additional support and guidance to our students above traditional college counseling while encouraging them to be advocates for their learning,” according to Principal Candice Schott.
Founded in 2007 as an after-school program, OneGoal has grown to reach more than 14,000 students and evolved into an in-school, credit-bearing class in schools across Chicago, Houston, New York City, Massachusetts, Metro Atlanta, and the Bay Area. The three-year, teacher-led program begins during students’ junior year of high school and continues throughout their first year of postsecondary education.
“Our goal is to make certain that every student in every district feels affirmed, engaged, and supported in their college and career aspirations,” said Diaz-Andrade. “We’re incredibly excited to launch in three districts this school year and are actively seeking new partners.”
Learn more about the OneGoal Leadership Network.
About OneGoal
OneGoal is a leading college access and success organization that works to close the degree divide and create a more equitable future for students. We partner with schools in low-income communities across the country to ensure postsecondary planning, preparation, and support are no longer extracurricular luxuries but integral components of the high school experience. OneGoal is a three-year program that starts as a class in students’ junior and senior years of high school and continues during the critical transitional period through their first year of college or other postsecondary paths. 88% of OneGoal high school graduates enroll in a postsecondary institution and 79% of those who enroll persist one year after high school. In the 2019/20 school year, OneGoal reached some 14,000 students in the Bay Area, Chicago, Houston, Massachusetts, Metro Atlanta, and New York.