Pathways to College Network
WICHE has several initiatives to support our work toward educational access and excellence for all students in the West. An important collaborative effort is our work with the Pathways to College Network. Pathways to College is an alliance of major foundations, non-profit organizations, educational institutions, and the U.S. Department of Education, working together to improve college access and success for large numbers of underserved youth. WICHE is one of the lead organizations—working with SHEEO, ECS, and The College Board—in developing and implementing the public policy component of Pathways. We have conducted state case studies, state roundtables, and a public policy forum. Additionally, the policy component has created a searchable policy inventory database online (SPIDO) with current policies from the 50 states on several topics and is finalizing five strategy briefs on P-16 issues. See the links below for further information on these activities.
Western Policy Forum
Pathways to College: Linking Policy with Research and Practice
A major activity of the policy component of the Pathways to College Network project is a series of regional policy forums on expanding access to higher education for low-income and underrepresented groups. On September 17-18, 2002 , the Pathways to College Network and the Western Consortium for Accelerated Learning Opportunities (WCALO) cosponsored a Western policy forum in Albuquerque , New Mexico on the theme, Pathways to College: Linking Policy with Research and Practice. WCALO is a federally-funded project at WICHE to increase the numbers of low-income students participating in accelerated learning options such as dual enrollment and advanced placement. Check the links above for forum presentations and WICHE's Exchanges , a short publication summarizing the discussions and key issues. Future forums will be held in Pittsburg , May 15-16, 2003 and Atlanta in fall 2003.
State Policy Inventory Database Online (SPIDO)
SPIDO—State Policy Inventory Database Online—is a joint project between WICHE and the Pathways to College Network. SPIDO provides state policymakers, education leaders and education consumers with an inventory of state-level policies and resources in key policy domains related to student achievement, access and success in higher education. SPIDO contains links to state policy sources to locate statutes and board polices, links to state governance websites for state strategic plans, governors' web pages, and state education agencies, and additional resource hyperlinks for related information..
