Establishing Community Partnerships to Support the School to Workforce Pipeline in Rural School Districts

Strategies for rural districts looking to partner with community organizations to support the school to workforce pipeline.

At its core, the school to workforce pipeline is a pathway from parental care to employment. Between these stages is education, much of which school districts, higher education institutions, and organizations with technical training provide. However, rural districts face multiple location-specific challenges when supporting students along this pipeline (e.g., potential health and safety issues, lack of infrastructure, small businesses with limited capacity, substantial distances to travel). Given these and other obstacles to students’ post-secondary success, this resource presents strategies for rural districts looking to partnerwith community organizations to support the school toworkforce pipeline.

Also included is a community partnership discussion guide which provides district leaders with questions that facilitate conversations among community leaders, university staff and potential business partners regarding school community partnerships.