Toss a stone in a pond, and you get ever-expanding ripples. We want to learn from you — what is Pathways’ ripple effect? On October 18th, tweet using #PathwaysRipple to let us know how YOU have used Pathways in your work. (If you are as excited as we are and you can’t wait until the 18th, get going now!)
A couple of years ago, the NC Pathways to Grade-Level Reading initiative launched as an invitation to North Carolina’s public, private and nonprofit leaders to imagine what would be possible if we adopted shared measures and aligned strategies to support children’s optimal development beginning at birth. In true North Carolina fashion, you have imagined . . . and acted. You’ve shown up, engaged, and worked hard to determine what NC should measure and do.
Together, hundreds of North Carolinians have worked across disciplines, systems, geography, and the political aisle to:
- Co-create shared measures of success. In Phase I of Pathways, a Data Action Team identified shared birth-through-age-eight, whole child measures that research has demonstrated can move the needle on third grade reading proficiency to create the Measures of Success Framework.
- Define where to act first. In Phase II, Learning Teams looked at the NC data around those measures and, based on overall need and equity considerations, recommended three areas to move to action on first — children’s social-emotional health, high quality early care and education, and regular school attendance.
- Identify an action framework. In Phase III, Design Teams have co-created a Pathways Action Framework to help North Carolina align around policy, practice and capacity-building strategies that will shift the prioritized measures of success, particularly for children of color.
We have heard from partners who have used the Measures Framework to organize community conversations, inform early childhood initiatives, and align their metrics with partner organizations. We have started seeing groups endorsing the Action Framework and thinking about their part in implementing it.
On October 18th, Pathways stakeholders will come together to share the #PathwaysRipples they have noticed and think together about what implementation of the Pathways Action Framework should look like. We will have a graphic artist in residence that day to capture the #PathwaysRipple effect in a large illustration. Tweet us the ripple effects you have noticed, and he will add them to the artwork!
NC Pathways to Grade-Level Reading (Pathways) is based on the belief that together we can realize greater outcomes for young children than any of us can produce on our own. Implementing Pathways will continue to take all of us – and we are excited to dive into what this should look like at our October 18th meeting!
Join us and endorse the Pathways Measures of Success and the Action Framework!