Cerritos Colleges Project Lead The Way Partnership Helps Students Succeed

Nick Real presenting at the conferenceCerritos College created more than 50 new articulation agreements with local unified school districts in the 2015-16 academic year, providing more than 550 high school students with Cerritos College credit for the engineering and manufacturing classes they passed in high school through the agreements.

The Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Technology Linked Learning (AMETLL) Consortium was established 2013 by educational partners committed to the principles of linked learning, an approach that energizes students through interdisciplinary curriculum, project-based learning, and the integration of Career Technical Education with traditional academic disciplines.

In 2014 the Consortium was awarded the California Careers Pathways Trust (CCPT) grant and pledged to address the significant workforce shortages in Los Angeles in the Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Technology industries. The Consortium seeks to establish a new workforce pipeline for this industry cluster by working closely with industry partners and respective Unified School Districts to develop clear pathways, which begin in high school and continue through a bachelor's degree.

Cerritos College partners with the school districts in its serving area, Project Lead The Way, and El Camino College through the AMETLL grant. Project Lead The Way is a non-profit organization that develops STEM curricula for elementary, middle, and high schools. PLTW also provides professional development training for instructors.

Both colleges saw an increase in the number of high school students entering their engineering and manufacturing programs since the inception of AMETLL grant and the PLTW partnership.

“Cerritos College has developed and strengthened partnerships with K-12 and significantly improved our programs. aid Nick Real. “The number of high school students that take Cerritos College classes while in high school has tripled since 2013. These students now have a jump start on their college and career goals.”

 

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