Career Connected Pathways
Education Innovation Research Grant
The Center for the Future of Arizona’s (CFA) Career Connected Pathways (CCP) project is nested within the Arizona Pathways to Prosperity portfolio. Funded by a Department of Education’s Education Innovation Research grant and in partnership with Arizona State University, CCP addresses the urgent need to increase high school student interest and enrollment—particularly of high-need students—in pathways focused on careers in STEM fields, including Computer Science, with a focus on cybersecurity (CS/Cy). CCP paves the way toward Arizona’s education attainment goal that by 2030 60% of Arizona adults, ages 25 to 64, will hold a postsecondary credential or degree.
Project Mission
Increasing high-need students’ access to high-quality and seamless career guidance in CS/Cy career pathways.
Theory of Action
The CCP project responds to a critical need for high-quality college and career advising for students and their families-particularly high-need students. It provides additional resources, information, and support and helps students make more informed, economical and sustainable career choices in order to better understand their interests, what career opportunities are available in their region, and what skills, education, and training are required to pursue those opportunities. Through the development of a new evidence-based, field-initiated advising strategy, the CCP project will train 120 secondary and post-secondary educators to provide students and their families with high-quality career information and advising frameworks, models, and resources in order to increase the number of students who enter and persist in Dual Credit courses and CS/Cy pathways, thereby preparing more students for success in postsecondary education and in careers in the STEM fields vital to Arizona’s economy.