PeopleFirst!
A college education has become the ticket to play in today’s global economy. However, our nation and most of its communities have fallen behind other developed nations in college attainment.
In response to this challenge, Tennessee has enacted the Complete College Tennessee Act of 2010 which funds state colleges and universities for degree attainment versus enrollment. The state’s aggressive goal is to ramp up statewide college degree and certificate attainment from 39,000 per year currently to 72,000 per year by 2025.
As must the nation and our state, Memphis/Shelby County must increase its percentage and number of college graduates and technical certificate holders, particularly in career fields that show promise of future growth. That can only be accomplished by strengthening the educational pipeline throughout a student’s trajectory from prenatal to career.
In response to this challenge, the PeopleFirst Parntership of Memphis Fast Forward -- a group of leaders in early childhood development, K-12 public education, public post-secondary education, and career development, as well as from business and government sectors -- has adopted a PeopleFirst Action Agenda...
Four Goals, Ten strategies and One outcome: A Career-Ready Workforce for Tomorrow's World
One: Prenatal Health & Early Parenting
Improve early development through expansion of evidence-based programs that improve pre-natal health and early parenting success.
Two: High Quality Early Learning
Increase enrollment in Pre-K, Head Start, Early Head Start, and other high-quality, community-based early learning programs through advocacy and driving parent demand.
Three: Great Teachers & Leaders
Increase the number and expand distribution of effective teachers through improved hiring and evaluation, professional development and retention programs for high-quality teachers.
Four: Instructional Reform & Higher Standards
Implement research-based approaches for instructional reform based on increased standards and aligned curriculum Pre-K through grade twelve.
Five: Student Support
Indentify and connect struggling students to interventions proven to help students overcome academic, health and behavior-related obstacles to learning.
Six: Parent Engagement
Promote parenting that is supportive of student academic success.
Seven: Post Secondary Preparation in Middle & High School
Expand successful middle and high school efforts to prepare students for post-secondary experience.
Eight: Post-Secondary Completion
Increase attainment of bachelor’s degrees, associate’s degrees and certificates by expanding financial support and implementing data-based strategies to identify and address retention and dropout challenges.
Nine: Career Pathways & Job Connections
Increase post-secondary attainment for “high-demand occupations” through partnerships that align post-secondary programs, workforce development resources, and workplace-based activities such as internships, mentoring and job placement.
Ten: Talent Outreach & Engagement
Increase the number of college educated people in Shelby County through targeted outreach, recruitment, employment and community engagement.