DRAFT 3-1-12
CRADLE TO CAREER
A 2020 VISION FOR SONOMA COUNTY
“By the year 2020, we envision that Sonoma County will be the healthiest county in California… It will be a healthy place to live, work,
and play… a place where people thrive and achieve their life potential.” Health Action, 2020 Vision for Sonoma County
To provide every child with ample opportunities to succeed and achieve their life potential, we must come together as a community to
address barriers and challenges to educational attainment and workforce development. Students who get off to a strong educational
start are more likely to graduate from high school, are more likely to attend college, have dramatically higher earning potential over a
lifetime, have better health outcomes, and are better able to contribute to the economic, social and cultural life of the community.
Cradle to Career Sonoma County is a historic partnership that connects all segments of the educational pipeline – early childhood,
K-12, college/technical training, careers – with broad community support to improve the educational, economic, and health outcomes
for all Sonoma County youth.
Cradle to Career Sonoma County engages community partners to coordinate and align the education efforts and resources in
Sonoma County to ensure that all of our youth are prepared to succeed.
Vision
Successful Students… World-class Workforce…Thriving Economy…Healthy Community
How will we achieve our Vision?
Facilitate the development of a common agenda, goals and indicators.
Build commitment to the common agenda: Encourage organizations to align their work to common goals and indicators.
Engage parents, families, businesses, local government, and broader community.
Align funding: Align private and public investments with shared goal, indicators and priority strategies.
Measure and report results: Compile and transparently report indicator data and progress toward goals. Identify what is
working and share best practices throughout the county.
Cradle to Career Pipeline
Prenatal-4 Years old
Grade K
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2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16 Labor Force
Goals:
Every child succeeds
academically
Every child enters
kindergarten ready
to succeed
Every child is supported in and
out of school
Every young adult is
prepared to achieve
their life and career
goals
Every young adult
thrives and becomes
a contributing
member of the
community
Indicators (draft):
1. Percent of students reading at or above
grade level by the end of third grade
2. Percent of on-time graduates
3. Percent of students completing UC/CSU
a-g requirements
1. Percent of children
with access to quality
preschool
2. Percent of children that
are assessed as ready
for kindergarten
3. Percent of children with
access to medical and
oral care
1. Percent of 7th, 9th, and 11th graders
reporting connectedness to school
2. Student retention rates
Address Health Disparities
1. Percent of students enrolling in
postsecondary education
and/or training
2. Percent of students needing
remediation at the post
secondary level
3. Percent of students earning a
postsecondary credential
4. Percent of students
participating in formal
internships or apprenticeships
Reduce Achievement Gap
1. Employment rate among
18-25 year-olds
2. Young adults living in
households below 300%
of the federal poverty
level
3. Number of juvenile and
adult arrests
Reduce Economic Gap
Cradle to Career Sonoma County is a cross-sector initiative coordinated by Health Action
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Cradle to Career Sonoma County aligns the community to invest in effective and achievable strategies to improve education,
economic and health outcomes for our youth. For the five goals in the Cradle to Career pipeline, evidence-based recommendations
to address the leading barriers to educational attainment and workforce development are presented below. See Appendix 1 for a
summary of the literature that provides the evidence for these recommendations, best practices and potential strategies.
Goal 1: Every child enters kindergarten ready to succeed
How will we achieve this goal?
1.1
1.2
1.3
Improve health and healthy development of children
Provide resources and supports for families and caregivers to support literacy and parenting capacity
Improve quality and availability of early care and education
Goal 2: Every child succeeds academically
How will we achieve this goal?
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
Make curricula more hands-on, relevant, and engaging
Provide academic and social support, especially during key transition years
Develop and use early warning data systems to prevent failure and help at-risk students
Enhance professional development to build effective teaching skills
Re-engage dropouts in school
Goal 3: Every child is supported in and out of school
How will we achieve this goal?
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
Improve early grade reading proficiency
Increase family involvement and connections
Align school and out-of-school time (OST) programs to reinforce and enhance learning
Engage and mobilize community to create safe environments, support families, and promote youth achievement
Connect youth to extra-curricular and volunteer activities that contribute to the community
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Goal 4: Every young adult is prepared to achieve their life and career goals
How will we achieve this goal?
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5
Promote better coordination and alignment between the Pre K-12 and post-secondary education systems
Help students begin to connect to careers and develop career-ready skills (linked to Objective 5.2)
Help students plan for, access, and pay for college or other postsecondary training
Provide support to help students succeed in college or other postsecondary training
Provide alternative pathways to graduation and postsecondary training for disconnected youth and those with special needs
Goal 5: Every young adult thrives and becomes a contributing member of the community
How will we achieve this goal?
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4
5.5
Increase the number of post-secondary students who are work-ready at 18
Expand training and work-linked learning opportunities for students and youth, beginning with age-appropriate options for
secondary students and culminating in paid internships and “education-friendly” job opportunities for post-secondary students
(linked to Objective 4.2)
Align training opportunities with identified workforce development needs to assure the skilled and nimble workforce needed to
support the Sonoma County economy
Support education, employment and employment training for special needs populations (e.g., older youth, foster youth,
probation, disadvantaged, developmentally disabled)
Provide resources and support to increase the financial literacy and stability of young adults and their families.
Appendix 1:
Literature on best practices and potential strategies
Appendix 2:
Inventory of existing initiatives for each goal area
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