VOICES: By following collective impact model, we have made progress in education

Editor’s Note: National organization StriveTogether announced this week that Learn to Earn Dayton received its highest designation - Systems Transformation. The honor signifies that Learn to Earn Dayton is on the leading edge of building the civic infrastructure necessary for all students to succeed, a designation bestowed on only three communities in the nation. Throughout this week, Learn to Earn Dayton’s local, state and national partners will highlight the successes of their collective action approach, and the power of aligning with a shared vision across the cradle-to-career continuum to ensure that all learners have equal opportunity to achieve.

For more than a decade, Learn to Earn Dayton has served as the leading cradle-to-career strategy organization in Montgomery County. When our region experienced a significant loss of employers and jobs amidst the 2008 economic downturn, community leaders came together to discuss how we could reverse the trend and strengthen our human capital. The solution was to form one organization, Learn to Earn Dayton, to lead the establishment of a shared vision, convening of stakeholders, collection and analysis of data, harnessing of community voice and implementation of best practices that lead to increased educational attainment.

Early in our existence, we embraced the collective impact model championed by the StriveTogether national cradle-to-career network, measuring progress using a set of six key milestones along the education continuum. Annually, we publish data to track trends for each milestone so we can refine our strategies according to need. We work with partners to incubate programs and drive change in systems in ways that enable students to succeed. Much of our effort is behind the scenes, focused on providing the data, expertise, and policy recommendations to move these initiatives forward.

By taking this approach, we have made progress. Between 2009 and 2021 there was a 6.3% increase in educational attainment in Montgomery County. Beyond the numbers, we have built the well-connected network that is necessary to accelerate new approaches from idea to implementation, and to respond when significant disruptions, like the pandemic, threaten the ability for our students to continue toward academic and career success.

Learn to Earn Dayton is one of three communities across the nation that has earned the Systems Transformation designation from StriveTogether in recognition of our success. While we are immensely proud of this honor, we know that there is so much more work to be done.

Learn to Earn Dayton recently engaged in a strategic planning process to examine how we can best elevate our work to improve educational attainment and economic mobility for all students in Montgomery County. At the core of the new strategic plan is equity. Focusing efforts on areas of greatest disparity benefits the entire region; targeted investments and interventions will have positive effects, including a strengthened economy and greater community cohesion, to help reach the goals of the wider region. Cradle-to-career strategies remain the heart of our work, taking thoughtful steps to advance progress on the continuum toward the goal of a more educated workforce. But education doesn’t happen in a vacuum. We’re deepening the commitment to educational outcomes through intentional place-based and cross-sector strategies. We cannot improve county-wide attainment and workforce goals without a focus on communities where the outcome disparities are the greatest. In order to reach bigger goals for the region, we will focus on smaller, targeted areas where resources must be directed to close gaps. We must also lead coordination across adjacent sectors, as a child’s experience with health, housing, and safety directly impacts attendance & readiness for learning.

As the work of Learn to Earn Dayton enters the next decade, we will scale our impact with a commitment to equity and elevation of community voice, a focus on data and policy, and the pursuit of continued systems transformation. We have made progress because we have been united in a shared vision with our partners, and that aligned commitment must continue. We need everyone on this journey with us.

Stacy Wall Schweikhart is the CEO and Dr. Thomas J. Lasley is the founder of Learn to Earn Dayton.