Achieving the Dream

I. Network engagements -servicesachieving the Dream (atd) is a partner and champion of more than 300 community colleges across the country. Drawing on our expert coaches, groundbreaking programs, and national peer network, we provide institutions with integrated, tailored support for every aspect of their work from foundational capacities such as leadership, data, and equity to intentional strategies for supporting students holistically, building k12 partnerships, and more. We call this whole college transformation. Our vision is for every college to be a catalyst for equitable, antiracist, and economically vibrant communities. We know that with the right partner and the right approach, colleges can drive access, completion rates, and employment outcomes so that all students can access life-changing learning that propels them into community-changing careers.a college will typically join the atd national network through a structured 3-year experience, foundations of transformation, in which it is supported by coaches to examine institutional data, identify equity gaps, assess core institutional capacities and develop strategies to redesign policies, practices and structures so that all students have accessible, equitable and relevant academic and social experiences. Throughout this three-year foundations of transformation experience and beyond, atd supports colleges in building their capacity to conduct continuous improvement towards closing equity gaps. In fy24, atd brought in 17 new colleges into the network. Colleges who have completed their first three years move to accelerate their transformation by selecting more tailored supports in subsequent years. Colleges can delve into holistic student supports, equity services, k12 partnerships, or teaching and learning services, which come with more in-depth assessments, coaching and technical assistance. These innovations drive institutional transformation around equity, access, momentum, and mobility.atd also continued its work, with support from ascendium education group, coaching 28 tribal college and universities. These institutions have demonstrated vast improvements in their ability to collect and use data effectively to close equity gaps and the grant has enabled atd to create content and coaching processes that are culturally responsive. With support from an anonymous funder, atd has continued curating holistic student supports and teaching and learning high impact practices in the tribal community college and university setting.evidence-based institutional transformation requires colleges to evaluate data to identify equity gaps. Through a bill & melinda gates foundation postsecondary data partnership initiative, we are supporting dozens of atd network colleges' transition to the post-secondary data partnership, allowing schools to capture more precise data points and access data from one portal. To move atd's strategy forward, we continued our work with the community vibrancy cohort with support from ascendium education group and the crimsonbridge foundation. the cohort engages 16 mature network colleges in pilot testing of resource materials and processes that will be modified and rolled out to the broader atd network. the intent is to help all colleges move from institutional transformation to community transformation. the project emphasizes a set of next generation metrics pertaining to access, early momentum, milestone momentum, mobility, and community vibrancy. Learning events throughout the year serve an important role in furthering the transformational work at the colleges. These events include our marquee network-wide convening, Dream, where more than 2200 community college leaders, practitioners, and funders gathered in person in orlando, Florida to work together and learn best practices and the annual data & analytics summit, attended by more than 300 practitioners, focused on improving student success outcomes by building capacity and developing a culture of inquiry across the institution. At Dream, we recognize the accomplishments of institutions that have shown meaningful engagement with atd and growth in student outcomes through our leader college, leader college of distinction, and leah meyer austin award (recognizing four -year improvement in three-year college graduation rates or improvement in transfer out to bachelor's completion). Dream and other highly focused peer-learning events allow atd to deepen its connection to network colleges, showcase effective practices, and draw in new colleges interested in engaging in institutional transformation. In addition to Dream and the data & analytics summit, atd hosted a virtual equity & justice institute, that garnered more than 500 registrants at no cost to attendees, sponsored by the ascendium education group.

Ii. Network programs our work in this area focuses on the ideation, design and incubation of programmatic supports for the colleges and partners we serve as well as strengthening atd's capacity to do this work. - atd and the university of southern California, with funding from the kresge foundation and greater Texas foundation, supported a group of eight colleges to craft change efforts to reduce or eliminate barriers to success for groups of students and faculty beginning in 2023 and continuing through the spring of 2024.- through an ongoing grant from the william and flora hewlett foundation, atd continued our oer work with the Tennessee board of regents aimed at removing financial roadblocks that can derail students' progress and spurring innovation in course design that will increase the likelihood of course completion. - with an increased focus on profoundly expanding access to college, atd is working to bolster enrollment of adult learners. the prioritizing adult community college enrollment initiative supports 20 community colleges across the nation scale promising efforts to reenroll adult learners in community colleges, with support from the lumina foundation for education. - in october of 2023, atd launched the alliance for black learner excellence cohort initiative at the american association of community colleges trustees leadership congress. With planning grant support from ecmc foundation, the initiative seeks to identify strategies required to expand access and opportunity for black learners and, in doing so, identify and scale high-impact practices that lead to greater access and momentum for black learners.- atd's support of rural colleges continued through a grant to support engagement with seven rural network institutions focused on preparing and connecting students to careers in the digital economy by identifying and closing equity gaps, developing and strengthening community partnerships, and fostering a culture of evidence.- atd's k12 partnership work includes continued its support of our nearly 30 gateway to college programs, which reengage off track and out of school youth in college-based reengagement programs and continued work with a cohort of four communities in building school to college to career pathways, with support from the carnegie corporation of new york. - finally, over the last year, atd continued its work as a partner in the every learner everywhere (ele) network, with support from the bill & melinda gates foundation. Through ele, atd and its partners build the capacity of colleges to improve student outcomes with digital learning through direct technical assistance, timely resources and toolkits, and ongoing analysis of institutional practices.