Pathways to Prosperity: Scaling High-Quality Career Academy and Charter Authorizing Models 

Across the United States, students face a widening gap between what schools teach and what the modern workforce demands. Many charter schools and authorizers lack high-quality tools to design, oversee, and scale rigorous career-focused pathways. Without aligned systems, too many students—especially those historically underserved—miss out on pathways leading to postsecondary success and economic mobility.

Purpose

Pathways to Prosperity aims to document and scale the highly effective career academy model of the Charter School Network of Public Schools (CANOPS) and build authorizer capacity to support high-quality CTE-focused charters. Through research, field documentation, tool development, and national dissemination, the project will translate an evidence-based model into practical resources for schools, authorizers, and workforce partners. WestEd and FACSA will codify key practices, develop replication guides, strengthen oversight tools, and launch national learning networks to improve college-and-career readiness outcomes. This U.S. Department of Education CSP-funded project supports states and authorizers in fostering high-quality, equitable career pathways at scale.

Audiences Served

This project serves school leaders (including those leading charter, traditional public, and private schools), state education agencies, charter authorizers, and workforce and postsecondary partners seeking to design, evaluate, and scale high-quality career academies. Students ultimately benefit from improved pathways that connect rigorous academics, technical skill development, and real-world career opportunities.

Project Activities

CANOPS, the prime recipient, leads development of a comprehensive documentation of its career academy model. As a subcontractor, WestEd conducts validation and cross-site documentation and develops tools to support model replication and high-quality implementation. FACSA leads the creation of authorizer guidance and oversight tools tailored to CTE and career academies. Together, the partners launch national learning networks, provide capacity-building supports, and disseminate resources to strengthen postsecondary and workforce outcomes.

Project Director

Aimee Evan

Aimee Evan is a senior research associate and school improvement specialist at WestEd, recognized for her impactful contributions to education. With a strong commitment to enhancing schools and ensuring student success, her expertise is grounded in extensive experience as a teacher, in-depth research, and a proven track record of building leadership capacity to sustain improvement initiatives.

Funder

This project is funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Charter Schools Program (CSP) Model Demonstration and Dissemination Grant.

Project Duration

5 years (10/01/2025–09/30/2030)