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It’s one thing to support a particular approach to solving one of society’s toughest challenges. But as Irvine’s Youth program team is learning, it’s quite another to create a movement around that approach, especially one that seeks to transform something as large and complex as California’s high school system.

With its partners, Irvine’s Youth program has spent much of the last three years developing and refining an approach to high school education called California multiple pathways — a synthesis of rigorous academics and real-world experience that seeks to engage youth in the serious learning needed to graduate high school prepared for success in college and career.

The multiple pathways approach is flourishing in high schools throughout California, with promising results, but its reach is limited. Now it is poised for expansion at a much larger scale, with 10 high school districts in California developing plans to implement multiple pathways districtwide, reaching tens of thousands of students.

In June, Irvine made its largest grant ever — $11.3 million to ConnectEd: The California Center for College and Career — to support this district initiative. Ultimately, the Foundation’s goal is to make these programs available to youth across the state and accessible to a majority of low-income youth, whose circumstances put them at the greatest risk for dropping out of high school.

Irvine, ConnectEd and other key partners did not set out to establish a whole new field when they began focusing on multiple pathways three years ago. But as a growing number of education, industry and community organizations have signed on to support multiple pathways and develop the infrastructure needed to support it, there came the growing realization among this diverse group that building a field was exactly what they were doing.

“We are learning as we go,” said Anne Stanton, Irvine’s Youth program director. “It’s fascinating to see all the new questions that come up almost daily, and it’s inspiring to have a broad coalition that is really trying to figure out how we collectively build this system to benefit the young people of this state.”

Building a new field is an ambitious, long-term challenge. Some of the more successful examples include the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s multipronged approach to reducing smoking. Beginning in the 1990s, the foundation helped build the anti-smoking field by supporting research, advocacy, public information and policy development.

Another example is the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation’s trailblazing work to establish the conflict resolution field. The foundation launched a program focused on that topic in 1984, which resulted in the establishment or support of nearly all facets of current conflict resolution efforts around the globe.

But for foundations and nonprofits pursuing social change on this scale, there are no field-building guides and few resources to define what a field is, how to build one and how to measure its success. So, as part of Irvine’s effort last year to refine its focus on California multiple pathways, the Foundation hired consultants at the Bridgespan Group to assess the multiple pathways field and recommend strategies for how to build it successfully.

Assessing California’s Multiple Pathways Field	The Strong Field Framework

Bridgespan began by developing a framework for what constitutes a field, which it defines as “a community of organizations, agencies, companies, and/or individuals working together towards a common goal by using a set of core approaches to achieving that goal.”

Bridgespan then used the framework to look specifically at multiple pathways in California. Their report, "Assessing California’s Multiple Pathways Field," provides an overview of the field, its strengths and challenges, and what it needs to grow. As Irvine and its partners continue to nurture the multiple pathways approach, the framework will serve as an important tool to measure their success.

The Bridgespan framework outlines five key characteristics of strong fields: shared identity, standards of practice, knowledge base, leadership and grassroots support, and funding and supporting policy. Following is an overview of Bridgespan’s assessment of the California multiple pathways field in terms of each of these characteristics.

Through the Coalition for Multiple Pathways, there is already a strong shared identity among the more than 140 education, industry and community organizations statewide who are advocating for the approach, the report concluded. But it noted that there is still work to do in getting the different parties to agree on terminology and key concepts./p>

To establish standards of practice, ConnectEd has developed a network of model programs at 16 schools throughout California. The report concludes that the next step should be to demonstrate how multiple pathways can work at a much larger scale by implementing systems of multiple pathways programs at the school district level. That is the focus of the California Multiple Pathways District Initiative. As part of this initiative, a number of key partners are providing technical support and curriculum development as well as leadership development for school and district leaders. (See box for a list of these organizations.

As noted by the Bridgespan report, Irvine is promoting ongoing research about multiple pathways, which will lead to a deep knowledge base. At the same time, ConnectEd is building leadership support through the Coalition for Multiple Pathways and by developing a learning community of school leaders, teachers, parents and students who are involved in the District Initiative.

With district-wide implementation and growing evidence of multiple pathways’ effectiveness, the field will be able to broaden its engagement of parents and students, and these elements, in turn, will create the basis for strengthening the fifth component of a successful field: funding and supporting policy. Although many policymakers are already supportive of multiple pathways, the field will eventually need a broad policy framework and dedicated funding streams to reach its goals.

As Bridgespan’s analysis concluded, the multiple pathways field is an emerging force, gathering momentum, with leaders committed and taking actions to strengthen and sustain the field. Multiple pathways could also provide an example of how to build a field for others engaged in social change movements, said Don Howard, a partner at Bridgespan.

“There’s a growing realization among foundations and nonprofit leaders that creating durable social change requires more than what any single organization can accomplish on its own,” he said. “We’re seeing more strategies that recognize the need to build a strong field, united toward a common impact goal, with the knowledge and leadership to succeed.”

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