Big Picture Learning
Project Title
For support of the Big Picture Learning network of schools
Date
Dec. 12, 2024
Duration
0 months
Description
Today’s students require schools that prepare them to succeed in college, achieve economic mobility, and participate actively in our democracy but access to this kind of education remains inconsistent. Research suggests that providing students with work-based learning (WBL) opportunities helps them connect classroom learning to the real world and builds the technical and interpersonal skills needed to succeed in the workplace. For three decades, Big Picture Learning (BPL) has operated a network of schools that integrate rigorous WBL opportunities into the school experience helping students from low-income backgrounds achieve social and economic mobility. BPL operates 166 schools in thirty states to make real-world learning a core component of students’ learning experience. Early findings from a longitudinal study show that 74 percent of graduates going directly into the workforce secured jobs through their BPL internships. Further, 82 percent of BPL students graduate, many of whom did not experience success in more traditional school settings. Prior Corporation support enabled BPL to increase access to WBL in New York. Renewed support will enable BPL to add 1,500 student seats, strengthen WBL implementation in at least eight schools in Western NY, and influence policy conditions to support the expansion of WBL.
Website
Project Title
For developing programming and infrastructure for high quality internship experiences
Date
Jun. 09, 2022
Duration
30 months
Description
While the nation has made impressive strides toward greater high school completion, college and career readiness have not kept pace and achievement gaps remain. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing challenges and created new obstacles for those young people on the cusp of their transition to postsecondary opportunities. The Corporation’s longstanding investments in secondary and postsecondary models that blend academic and applied learning are particularly salient now. For twenty-five years, Big Picture Learning (BPL) has provided these opportunities to tens of thousands of high school students across twenty-eight states. With Corporation support, BPL has expanded its work outside of the BPL school network to launch work-based learning (WBL) programs in a variety of contexts. Continued support will allow BPL to increase access to real world learning experiences for students inthirty-six schools, inform city- and state-level policy in New York to create favorable conditions for schools to launch these experiences, and to deepen partnerships with five schools interested in implementing the Key Distinguishers that define BPL’s school model.
Website
Project Title
For developing programming and infrastructure for high quality internship experiences in New York State
Date
Dec. 05, 2019
Duration
30 months
Description
Real-world learning experiences, including internships, hold promise to address the disconnect between students’ high school experiences and the demands of the twenty-first century. Big Picture Learning (BPL) provides these opportunities to tens of thousands of students, supporting them to build strong networks and to develop the skills and knowledge necessary for long-term success. With Corporation support over the past year, BPL launched a pilot program with two districts in New York State to capitalize on the Career Development and Occupational Studies (CDOS) pathway, a local policy shift that allows students to replace one Regents exam with a workplace learning experience but that has been underutilized since its introduction in 2013 due to policy- and capacity-related challenges at the school and system levels. With renewed support, BPL will expand this pilot to increase student access to high-quality workplace learning experiences, build capacity of partner districts to support those efforts, and inform policy to create favorable conditions for the work.
Website
Project Title
For a pilot project to develop programming and infrastructure for high quality internship experiences that leverage the Career Development and Occupational Studies (CDOS) options in New York State
Date
Dec. 06, 2018
Duration
21 months
Description
Big Picture Learning (BPL) has two decades of experience creating learning environments that connect students’ education with the real world, and has been supporting schools in New York State since 2002. In 2013, the advent of the Career Development and Occupational Studies (CDOS) pathway presented a new opportunity to bolster career readiness among high school students in New York. However, this pathway has been underutilized due to policy- and capacity-related challenges at the school and system levels. Now, leveraging their extensive experience and new internship platform, ImBlaze, BPL will partner with schools in three New York communities—Rochester, Newburgh, and Brooklyn—to capitalize on the opportunities presented by CDOS. With Corporation support, BPL will launch a pilot program to test a new, more cost-effective and dynamic way of supporting schools and communities in providing high quality internships for all students.