 James E. Canales
President and CEODear Friends, California high schools have faced extraordinary challenges this year. State budget cuts and the economic downturn have forced many schools to resort to drastic measures, including teacher layoffs and shorter school years, to balance their budgets. And in a state where students already lag their peers elsewhere in the country in academic achievement, there is concern that these measures will only put them further behind. Yet there are reasons to be optimistic about California's educational future, including the work of some of our grantees as described in this quarter's letter. The efforts of our partners demonstrate that despite the considerable, short-term fiscal challenges we face, the state's top educational policymakers have not lost sight of longer-term goals that ultimately will have more far-reaching impact on California's young people and our economy. Last month, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell released a report outlining a bold vision for transforming California's high schools through an approach called Linked Learning. This approach, originally known as Multiple Pathways, seeks to engage more students and prepare them for college and career by combining the best of college-prep academics, demanding technical education and hands-on work experience. The report, titled "Multiple Pathways to Student Success: Envisioning the New California High School," was written in response to a law authored by Assembly Speaker emeritus Karen Bass requiring the state to explore the feasibility of expanding the Linked Learning approach. In the report, Superintendent O'Connell endorses Linked Learning as the state's central strategy for transforming California's high schools and offers a road map for policymakers as they consider how to improve outcomes for students. As many of you know, the Linked Learning approach has for years been the primary focus of Irvine's Youth program, its partner ConnectEd: The California Center for College and Career and scores of other stakeholders, including industry, labor, community-based organizations and a wide range of educators and policy experts. Much of the progress already achieved through Linked Learning — as outlined in the state's report — is the direct result of the hard work of these organizations, as represented by the Linked Learning Alliance, a broad and surprising coalition of interests committed to making Linked Learning available to all of California's youth. As the report points out, Linked Learning is already working in many high schools around the state. A growing body of evidence shows that students enrolled in these programs are more likely to graduate high school and to be better prepared for college. The research also shows they will have better career options and higher earning power when they graduate. Last year, Irvine made one of the largest grants in its history — $11.4 million — to ConnectEd to create the California Linked Learning District Initiative aimed at expanding the approach at the school system or district level. Initially, six school districts were selected to implement Linked Learning pathways not just in individual high schools but across their entire districts. These six districts have just completed their first year of implementation, and an additional three districts were recently added to the initiative to begin implementation in the fall. Ultimately, our collective ability to build this field and make Linked Learning available to a majority of California youth depends on the broader acceptance and adoption of this approach. That is why, from a policy perspective, the state Department of Education's report on Linked Learning is so important. At a time when it would be easy to hunker down and retrench, the report lays out a forward-thinking and inspiring vision for how California can transform its high schools to ensure that all of our students are prepared for life in the 21st century. I encourage you to read the report and share it with others. I welcome your reaction, feedback and suggestions about how we might build on this development to bring the Linked Learning approach to more of California's young people. Sincerely,  James E. Canales President and CEO top of page | 
