Modeling an education to employment collective impact strategy for science, technology, engineering and math for economically disadvantaged students in New York State

Educational inequalities in our nation's schools have perpetuated systemic intergenerational poverty. Expanding STEM college and career opportunities has been established as one approach to improving economic mobility for low socioeconomic students and efficiency in regional market industries. As global demands for human capital increases to fill anticipated STEM jobs, Cradle to Career and P-16 pipeline partnership programs are well positioned to respond to calls for a skilled workforce. This study explores STEM and other educational programs and policies that provide evidence of successful outcomes and promising practices. The purpose of this research is to develop new approaches to funding, graduating, and employing economically disadvantaged students in New York State who are pursing STEM majors and careers.;This qualitative study used semi-structured interviews, document reviews, and web analysis to research funding opportunities, evidenced-based practices and models for new partnerships for implementation in scaling existing STEM initiatives for New York State. The findings affirm the need for partnerships designed to respond with complex interventions for collective impact in closing the achievement gap for New York's students from low socioeconomic households. In response a collective impact model was designed based upon study recommendations and best practices identified in the research. The model used the National Football League's organizational structure as a framework for implementation. It offers policy makers, educators and practitioners a unifying design for change management and a guide for implementation.