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Preparing Students for College, Career and Life

Preparing Students for College, Career, and Life During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Updates from REL West's Arizona Partnership for Education and Career Success


An increasing number of Arizona jobs require some form of postsecondary or career training. To meet this need, REL West researchers are partnering with counselors and administrators at Flagstaff High School in Flagstaff, Arizona to foster a district- and community-wide culture of college and career readiness (CCR). 

Two recent REL West blogs highlight the work of this partnership. The first discusses what was discovered at Flagstaff High about existing barriers to cultivating a CCR mindset, the resulting strategies to track and improve postsecondary preparedness, and how community connections helped boost the CCR effort beyond the walls of the school.

The second blog shares how leaders at Flagstaff High are continuing to champion students’ postsecondary plans during the COVID-19 pandemic — from the back of a vintage VW van — and have added "life readiness" to their supports for graduating students.

Read on for the full stories, or visit the Arizona Partnership for Education and Career Success page to learn more about our work with Flagstaff High and download resources on on cross-sector education and career partnerships. 

Questions? Comments?
We'd love to hear from you. Email us at relwest@wested.org.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences funds a network of 10 Regional Educational Laboratories (RELs). Each REL serves a designated region of the country and works with educators and policymakers to support a more evidence-based education system. In response to COVID-19, the RELs have collaborated to produce a series of evidence-based resources and guidance about teaching and learning in a remote environment, as well as other considerations brought by the pandemic. To access these resources, visit https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/projects/covid-19.