Innovation, iteration
sustainable implementation
Here's a small sampling of our recent work. Ask us about our work on adolescent literacy, high quality instructional materials, school transformation, leadership development and more.
Meaningful Pathways: Career focused, strategically sequenced academics.
Our work on pathways covers the range of traditional high school programming to accelerated and career- intensive pathways. At Launch, we’ve thought through a wide range of pathway options that meet multiple state requirements AND effectively prepare and engage youth in the planning and launch of college, careers and their future aspirations.
SAMPLE PATHWAY for an Early College high school program.
This General Studies pathway can be customized to a variety of career interests through selection of specific pathway courses.
College courses can be replaced with high school equivalents, including AP.
SAMPLE Healthcare High School Pathway This Healthcare pathway aligns with MassCore, the recommended Massachusetts course of study for high school students. The pathway can be customized to more specific career interests through selection of specific pathway courses.
The pathway can be adapted to Early College by including strategically sequenced core and career- specific courses, including those that cross both such as Intro to Psychology, completing key credits towards a college degree in high school.
Sample College & Career Advising Program Module
Launch supports the development and implementation of college and career readiness programming for non-profits, schools and systems. This work begins as early as 5th grade - according to the evidence shows that beginning the foundations early, in middle school, sets students up for success and deeper engagement in their educational journey.
This work includes needs and assets assessments to build on what you have in place, followed by detailed planning and implementation support for solutions. Experienced in the detailed operations of programs as well as their design, Launch supports solutions including evaluation and implementation of quality digital platforms that integrate with your SIS, program and content development, quality materials procurement, alignment to college-level Freshman Year Experience or similar courses, articulation support with higher education if relevant, and staff implementation training and support.
Launch works with you to build tools and templates to organize your program resources, and systems and practices to sustain implementation.
College and Career Readiness
Student-Centered School Design
Community Developed Portrait of a Graduate Creation: We facilitated the development of this Portrait of a Graduate and related tools and systems through school and community learning sessions on the purpose of high school. With the input of almost 200 students and over 200 staff and community voices, this Portrait of a Graduate represents one community’s unique, shared vision of what their graduates will know, experience and be able to do.
Implementation: From the POG we identified the specific Habits of Success, those life long learning competencies and skills, students would need most to reach the POG and thrive in high school, college, careers and the futures of their choice. Together we built systems and practices to teach and keep these Habits alive - all courses teach and assess Habits, and they are the focused standards for the district’s college and career Seminar course in grades 5-12.
Competency Based Models & Processes
Building a competency based school model centered on a Portrait of a Graduate enables a coherent, streamlined learning community truly focused on its stated goals with aligned evidence of student learning. This complex work requires integrated systems and clear processes to get there that build on existing assets and set students up for success. Reach out to learn more about advancing this critical work in your setting.
Aligning your assessment system to the Portrait of a Graduate requires interconnected systems and processes from the Domains in the Portrait to how tasks are designed and grades assigned.
One example of a systematic and aligned assessment approach centered on the communication domain. .