Education and Career Research
Pathway2Careers integrates research that impacts K-12 education and leads to practice in the classroom. We value our product and service evaluations and regularly have professional entities assessing our work. As a matter of best practices, we invest in thorough, professional reviews of our products and services because Pathway2Careers is committed to excellence.
Presently, diverse evaluations assess topics of comprehensive learning, effective teaching, and student experience including:
Learning List
- Learning List is a Center within the College of Education and Human Development. It is well-known for teacher preparation and creating mathematics and science education doctoral programs that “are nationally competitive.” The Center promotes interdisciplinary work and collaboration between University of Louisville Engineering and Arts and Sciences faculty and educators in local school districts.
- This assessment conducts a standard-by-standard review of the alignment of the material to standards and an analysis of the curriculum’s technology compatibility. To access the P2C review, contact Learning List for subscription information.
University of Louisville, CRIMSTED
- CRIMSTED is a Center within the College of Education and Human Development. It is well-known for teacher preparation and creating mathematics and science education doctoral programs that “are nationally competitive.” The Center promotes interdisciplinary work and collaboration between University of Louisville Engineering and Arts and Sciences faculty and educators in local school districts.
- This unique evaluation provides valuable data and insight related to the P2C five P2C Math courses: pre-algebra, algebra I, geometry, algebra II – A, algebra II – B. The evaluation team (of Dr. Thomas R. Tretter, Dr. Katherine Marin, and PhD candidate Stephanie White) looked at P2C’s work from a different methodology based on the effectiveness of teaching and learning; the scholars focused on teaching approaches and asking how the teacher will use and implement the solutions.
- CRIMSTED’s scholarly team conducted a three-fold evaluation approach to meticulously analyze course application and exploration lessons’ content and examine the courses holistically. CRIMSTED reported that complete math standards are addressed across all P2C courses and recognized four notable curriculum strengths: breadth of career integration; a rich array of career connections of high interest; incorporation of comprehensive mathematical ideas; and systemic integration of engaging mathematical representations.
- Dr. Tretter emphasized, “One unique and high-profile feature of this curriculum across all of the courses is the very systematic and thorough integration of careers into the mathematics.” According to Dr. Tretter, the systematic integration of multiple representations in P2C made for a “powerful way to think about learning mathematics.”
- For More Information: NS4ed. (2022, April). Pathway2Careers (P2C) Math Curriculum evaluation summary: Based on the 71-pg evaluation prepared by the University of Louisville’s Center for Research in Mathematics and Science Teacher Development (CRIMSTED) April 2022 evaluation. From: P2C_Math_Curriculum_Evaluation_Summary.
Carnegie Mellon University, METALS Project
- The CMU Master of Educational Technology and Applied Learning (METALS) Program is a rigorous interdisciplinary program of Carnegie Mellon University’s Department of Psychology and their Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII). The HCII was founded in 1993, and it brings together researchers in PA and around the world, as they are dedicated to collaboration. Its innovative and interdisciplinary “living laboratory” produces research and assessments to improve relationships between technology, human activity, and society.
- The evaluation team will specifically research: middle to high school students’ career exploration and perform a qualitative analysis of the P2C platform’s effectiveness and the learners’ experience.
Apex Evaluation
- Apex believes evaluation empowers organizations to address complicated issues that communities and stakeholders are invested in. Apex deliberately bridges “the gap between data and insight” to provide meaningful assessment.
- The primary objectives of this evaluation process are for Apex to assess the relationship between the student use of the Pathway2Careers mathematics curricula related to students’: career awareness, attitudes toward mathematics and careers, and mathematical performance.
- The evaluation also explores teacher and student opinions of the P2C curricula connected to use/implementation and user satisfaction of the curricula experience.
The Bridge of Southern New Mexico
New Mexico was awarded a $5 million grant from the US Department of Education and released the Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE) grant to spark an innovative new approach for helping students learn about and prepare for 21st-century careers. Working together, NS4ed, LLC, a national career-connected-learning leader, and the STEM Outreach Center of the College of Education at New Mexico State University, Pathway2Careers (P2C) emerged as the first guided, scaffolded career exploration curriculum for grades 6-12.
Intended to be deployed across subject areas (English, Math, Social Studies, Science, Physical Education and more), Pathway2Careers brings a full set of tools to the classroom to help students in their unique career journeys, from awareness to exploration, preparation, and ultimately employment.
Based on two surveys deployed to 48 students (grades 8-12) and 18 teachers (middle and high school core and CTE), Pathway2Careers positively impacted the majority of students and teachers in achieving its intent and stated outcomes. Review the findings.
New Mexico Public Education Department
The U.S. Department of Education sought to spark innovation in meeting students’ unique learning needs and improving student outcomes with the announcement of the Expanding Access to Well-Rounded Courses Demonstration Grants to State Education Agencies (SEA). New Mexico was one of six states receiving $5 million in grant funding to advance its project: New Mexico Career Ready and Equitable CTE.
The New Mexico Public Education Department conducted a survey of 537 students and 42 teachers in the state implementing the curriculum in their classrooms. The survey discovered that Pathway2Careers Math (Pre-Algebra, Algebra I and II, and Geometry) is successfully improving students’ attitudes about math and helping inform their plans for the future about careers and the education needed to get there. Review the findings.
Quality Evaluation Services
Pathway2Careers was built upon the principle of empowering educators with quality solutions to create the best possible curricula, programs, and services that support long-term student success. Pathway2Careers is a valued partner in the education industry and believes that quality research leads to quality solutions.
Pathway2Careers’s founder and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Joseph L. Goins, has worked extensively in educational research and evaluation, specializing in outcome and process evaluation, cost-effectiveness analysis, matching procedures, and modeling student growth.
Dr. Goins and the Pathway2Careers Evaluation Team were selected for an Education Innovation and Research (EIR) Mid-Phase evaluation for Expanding Access for Early College High Schools. The EIR Mid-Phase is an evidenced-based Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) Tier 1 evaluation and was chosen as the highest-rated application in the country in 2021. The Extending Equity into the Digital Workforce (EEDW) project was developed from this federal evaluation project. It is the first major re-envisioning of Early College High Schools (ECHSs) since their introduction almost 20 years ago. The EEDW project extends the ECHSs model’s commitment to equity by: (1) creating an IT career pathway to build students’ digital skills for today’s workforce; (2) developing the pathway as an online course, available to a potentially unlimited number of students, particularly in rural areas where districts do not have the resources or enrollment to support an onsite IT program; and (3) bringing business partners online (from every industry and across the state of NM) to support and mentor students.
Assessing Student Outcomes
Employing quantitative, qualitative, and community-based research methods, Dr. Goins and Pathway2Careers conduct thorough evaluations designed to gauge short-term and long-term student outcomes for newly implemented innovative school initiatives. Many assessment projects involve research of grades 6-12 student outcomes of:
- attitudes about college/careers,
- attitudes about mathematics and real-world relevancy or applications,
- college and career readiness,
- High school completion and graduation,
- post-secondary enrollment,
- alignment of students’ skills with workforce needs, and career selection.
Custom evaluations are designed to address program effectiveness, and student experience, and to conduct correlation research.
Evaluating Career-Connected Learning Initiatives (CTE, Early College, Professional Learning Programs, Coaching)
Executive Director of Early College and Leadership Initiatives Dr. Jamisa Williams, Program Manager, Education Services, Kelly Kennedy, MEd, and Sr. Early College Coach Dr. Lenny Howard lead career-connected learning data analysis and assessments of:
- K-12 innovative school, educational leadership,
- professional learning,
- (CTE) faculty/teacher training and evaluation,
- early college leadership coaching, and
- best practices for new innovative school implementation.
The P2C team employs comprehensive strategic program and service evaluations using data collections, student/teacher user surveys, longitudinal studies, and other observational studies.
