Building a 1+3-Year High School to College Pathway to Prepare Students for High-demand Jobs in Information Technology

该项目旨在为高中生提供途径，使他们能够在西雅图社区学院获得信息技术应用科学学士学位，从而为学生从事高要求的IT工作做好准备。这些途径将使高中生获得最多一年的大学学分来获得学位。因此，他们有可能在转学到大学后的短短三年内完成学位。这个项目有潜力展示高中和社区学院在技术领域的应用科学学士课程之间的协调如何帮助学生走上并坚持高薪职业的道路。该项目满足了国家在应用开发、网络安全、IT网络和数据分析等领域对高要求工作的训练有素的劳动力的需求，同时也使劳动力多样化。该项目将追求两个主要目标：1)创建IT 1+3途径；2)在西雅图两所公立高中开设IT学院，招收IT 1+3途径的学生，这两所公立高中有大量低收入学生。为了实现第一个目标，西雅图学院区（Seattle colleges District）内的三所社区学院将把大学基础IT课程与高中双学分IT课程结合起来，并与高中合作制定IT 1+3途径。为了实现第二个目标，一个以社区为基础的组织“全民计算机”将协助向学生及其家长/监护人提供社区外展服务，以确保该途径为不同的学生群体提供服务，包括来自信息技术领域代表性不足的群体的学生。入职课程将帮助学生了解IT职业，同时培养他们成功获得IT学位所需的技能。合作院校将为资讯科技学院的学生提供广泛的支援。这种支持将包括指导、辅导和实地考察，以帮助学生在学院取得成功，并在高中毕业后顺利过渡到当地社区大学的学士学位课程。西雅图市将为该项目提供信息和建议，以解决学生和社区的数字公平问题。一个代表区内中小型及大型资讯科技公司的技术谘询委员会，负责资讯科技1+3计划的工作，确保该计划能切合区内对合格资讯科技专业人士的巨大需求。评估计划将包括定量和定性的措施来评估项目对学生、教师和学校的影响。一旦IT 1+3路径建立，该项目包括通过高中和学院的正常运营来维持该路径的计划。IT 1+3项目建立在其他NSF和ATE项目的基础上，这些项目正在开发通往华盛顿州应用科学学士学位的途径，有可能为IT和其他技术领域的类似高中和大学管道提供可持续和可复制的模式。该项目由美国国家科学基金会先进技术教育计划资助，该计划侧重于为推动国家经济的先进技术领域培养技术人员。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project aims to create pathways for high school students to pursue training that leads to a Bachelor of Applied Science in Information Technology (IT) from Seattle community colleges, thus preparing the students for high-demand IT jobs. The pathways will enable high school students to earn up to one year of college credit toward the degree. As a result, it will be possible for them to complete their degrees in just three years after transfer to college. This project has the potential to demonstrate how coordination between high schools and community colleges with Bachelor of Applied Science programs in technical fields can help students embark and persist on pathways toward high paying careers. The project addresses the national need for a trained workforce for high demand jobs in areas such as Applications Development, Cyber Security, IT Networking and Data Analytics, while also diversifying the workforce. The project will pursue two primary goals: 1) Create an IT 1+3 Pathway, and 2) Recruit students into the IT 1+3 Pathway by launching an IT Academy at two Seattle Public High Schools with high populations of lower-income students. To achieve the first goal, the three community colleges within the Seattle Colleges District will align foundational college IT courses with high school dual credit IT curriculum, and work with high schools to chart the IT 1+3 pathway. To achieve the second goal, a community-based organization, Computing for All, will assist with community outreach to students and their parents/guardians to ensure the pathway serves a diverse cohort of students, including students from groups that are underrepresented in IT fields. An onboarding class will help students learn about IT careers while they build the skills needed to successfully pursue the IT degree. The partnering institutions will provide extensive support to students in the IT Academies. The support will include mentoring, tutoring, and field trips to help the students succeed in the academy and transition seamlessly to bachelor-degree pathways at local community colleges upon high school graduation. The City of Seattle will inform and advise the project to address digital equity issues for students and communities. A Technical Advisory Committee representing small, mid-size, and large IT companies in the region will inform the work of the IT 1+3 Project, ensuring it is responsive to the enormous need for qualified IT professionals in the region. The evaluation plan will include quantitative and qualitative measures to assess the project's impact on students, faculty, and schools. Once the IT 1+3 pathway is established, the project includes a plan to sustain the pathway through the normal operations of both the high schools and the colleges. The IT 1+3 Project builds on other NSF and ATE projects that are developing pathways to Bachelor of Applied Science degrees in Washington State, with the potential to result in a sustainable and replicable model for similar high school to college pipelines in IT and other technical fields. This project is funded by the NSF Advanced Technological Education program that focuses on the education of technicians for the advanced-technology fields that drive the nation's economy.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.