How can we encourage college-access programs to teach other organizations what they do and how?

We’ve encouraged college access programs to share best practices and expand their reach by training other organizations in what they do and how. Over eight years, College Access: Research & Action (CARA) has developed and refined college access and persistence programming in more than 100 high schools, nine CUNY community colleges, and 14 community-based organizations. In 2019, we provided funding that allowed CARA to develop more strategic partnerships—ones that would be sustainable beyond CARA’s active involvement. The approach for this includes extensive consultation with program leadership to determine the best ways to integrate CARA models and resources into existing structures and practices, and ensure dedication of needed resources; distribution of CARA’s high-quality resources and the modeling of their use; and professional development to implement programming with fidelity. Schools that have partnered with CARA, with our support, and implemented both programs for at least three years have seen an increase of up to 20% in post-secondary matriculation rates, and an increase of up to 10% higher than those of peer comparison schools in New York City.

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