Strive is catalyzing a national movement focused on the success of every child from cradle to career. For decades, communities have worked to improve student achievement through a piecemeal set of reforms and a siloed set of systems and programs. These efforts have not led to the desired improvements in student achievement, calling for a dramatically different means of supporting student success.
THE STRIVE NETWORK
Strive’s approach helps communities build on existing opportunities within their communities by using lessons learned through the national network. Strive has designed a strategic assistance framework that acts as a guide by which communities can organize existing assets and identify gaps in order to create their own unique civic infrastructure as quickly as possible.
“Civic infrastructure” is not a program, but a way in which a community comes together around a common vision and organizes itself to identify what gets results; improves and builds upon those efforts over time; and invests the community’s resources differently in order to increase impact.
As the movement to build civic infrastructure grows, Strive is building the Cradle to Career Network to enable communities to connect with those at similar places in the work, and to create new and innovative tools and resources to help build the field.
RESULTS
Strive has supported the development of cradle to career partnerships in seven communities:
Cincinnati, OH
Houston, TX
East Bay, CA
Portland, OR
Richmond, VA
Seattle, WA
Boston, MA.
Strive’s goal is to establish 25 Cradle to Career Communities by 2015. To date, over 100 communities have shown interest in taking on this difficult work and joining the Network to support the success of every child.
