A Quick Summary…
Launched in 2019 in partnership with the Colorado Education Initiative, the Homegrown Talent Initiative (HTI) is a statewide effort to develop career-connected learning experiences for K-12 students in rural communities. To better prepare for life after graduation, schools and communities strategically focus on skill development, career-connected learning experiences, and flexible, relevant opportunities that align to student interests and local industry needs.
HTI has come to set the standard for career-connected learning and community partnership in rural Colorado. What started with eight pilot communities in 2019 went on to expand to more than 60 districts in 2022 through advocacy and state and local investments. Now, plans are underway to scale and sustain HTI’s outcomes, increase opportunities for students, jumpstart local economic growth, and uncover new possibilities for Colorado’s communities, learners, and businesses.
Homegrown Talent Initiative has set the standard for career-connected learning and community partnership in rural Colorado… We are thrilled to join this network and ensure we’re offering opportunities that students are interested in, are relevant to our community, and meet the goals of our local economy.
– Denille LePlatt, Executive Director, South Central BOCES
The Problem We Were Seeing:
Rural Communities Lack Equitable Access to Education Resources
K-12 learners have limited access to robust programming, technology, and hands-on learning in diverse sectors.
These trends hit close to home in Colorado, underscoring the need for student-centered, career-connected learning opportunities that will connect real-world experiences and skill development with the workforce needs of local communities.
82.6%
of Colorado’s 178 school districts are rural or small rural
140,477
Colorado students attend a rural school (1 out of every 5 learners)
(Source: Colorado Department of Education.)
Colorado Succeeds, in partnership with the Colorado Education Initiative, envisioned an innovative model for career-connected learning that would improve student outcomes, and encourage collaboration between the education sector and economic development initiatives, ultimately driving economic growth at the local level.
Through HTI, we are preparing kids to see a place for themselves in our community, who see their skills, strength, and passions connected to what’s happening in our local economy.
– Karen Quanbeck, Former Superintendent, Clear Creek School District
What We Did About It:
Rural Collaboration & Career-Connected Learning
In 2019, Colorado Succeeds and the Colorado Education Initiative (CEI) launched the Homegrown Talent Initiative, a three-year initiative that brought together schools, businesses, and local communities across rural Colorado to generate career-connected learning for students, encourage collaboration, and economic growth – the educonomy.
Community design teams made up of superintendents, business leaders, educators, students, and community members come together to build unique plans to provide real-world experiences and skill development for their students, based on the strengths and needs of local communities.
HTI Goals
IMPROVE THE LIVES OF RURAL STUDENTS
and their communities by promoting relevant and dynamic skill development and work-based learning in students
EMPOWER RURAL COMMUNITIES
as champions of systems-level change in education
BUILD MOMENTUM
for future career-connected initiatives in other districts across the state
CHANGE THE NARRATIVE
around what’s possible in rural Colorado communities
Stages of the Career-Connected Learning Continuum (i.e. pathway)
Self-Identity and Career Awareness
Help students across diverse backgrounds develop awareness of their strengths, interests, and values, as well as careers and training opportunities
- Preference questionnaires
- Aptitude surveys
- Career fairs and presentations
- Classroom speakers
Educational and Career Pathways Exploration
Provide students with more in-depth learning of their strengths, interests, and values, as well as careers and training, often through interaction with professionals or in a work environment
- Monitoring
- Job shadowing
- Worksite tours
- Capstones
Essential and Technical Skills Development
Develop relevant skills and provide necessary credentials and social capital tied to workforce demands and opportunities
- K-12 institutions
- Traditional higher education
- Bootcamps
- Technical colleges
Career Entry and Progression
Provide students with opportunities to gain actual work experience that supports development of job skills and offers a clear path to a sustainable career
- Apprenticeships
- Internships
2019-2021:
3-Year Pilot Demonstrates Tangible Progress
During the 2021-22 school year, all 8 rural districts in HTI’s founding cohort achieved the following:
4,200+
high school students were engaged in career exposure and exploration activities
300+
students were placed in an internship
2,250+
students participated in increased career & technical education pathways, credentialing, and postsecondary offerings
500+
industry and community partners were engaged through HTI
HTI’s pilot districts demonstrated the power of rural communities to become champions for systemic change and serve as proof points for high-quality, career-connected learning. However, more work is left to be done to achieve true innovation and transformation.
As a leader, HTI is the most impactful program for our kids that I have been a part of in my career.
– Anonymous participant survey respondent, 2022
What Happens Next?:
Scale & Sustain Statewide Investment in Rural Collaboration
What started as an eight-district, three-year, $4M+ pilot has now, through legislative advocacy that led to the state’s more than $15 million Rural Coaction grants, expanded to a larger network of more than 60 districts committed to co-creating and expanding career-connected learning opportunities for students, and developing a shared vision of the future of education based on the strengths, needs, and aspirations for their unique contexts.
HTI Network districts – original and new – are working with Colorado Succeeds and CEI to build school and community momentum for career-connected learning opportunities. In addition to ongoing coaching and technical assistance, districts continue to work with and learn from one another in a cohort model, benefiting from the knowledge and resource sharing of an expanding network of other communities leading similar, but unique, initiatives.
Colorado Succeeds continues to support rural districts in obtaining funding to continue this momentum, including Opportunity Now Colorado, an $85 million grant program supporting talent development initiatives, funded through the state Office of Economic Development and International Trade.
2023:
Rural Coaction Expands Participation to 60+ Districts
Homegrown Talent Initiative Overview
More from Participating HTI Communities
Ali Williams – HTI
Colorado Education Initiative
Dr. Brenda Krage – HTI
Colorado Education Initiative
Improving Education, Together, for Colorado Learners
The Homegrown Talent Initiative was facilitated by Colorado Succeeds with the Colorado Education Initiative, and supported by local and national foundations.
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