A BluePrint for Success: Case Studies of Successful - Educational ...

What We Do Best
A Blueprint for Success
Geraldine Sonobe, Executive Officer of Programs, listed five areas in which she believes College
Track has had great success. These include: creating an environment that is both familial and focused
on college eligibility and success; providing structures that help students succeed academically,
including the summer program for entering 9th graders; providing a range of financial support, particularly
the College Track “bank book;” building an extensive network of strategic partnerships;
and, continual building and strengthening the organization’s institutional knowledge. Bank Book
Dollars can be used toward college expenses and students earn them by meeting important benchmarks
each semester over their four years in high school. Students can earn up to $1,400 a year from
9 th through 12 th grade, for a maximum of $5,600.
The success in building and strengthening the organization’s institutional knowledge supports the
other successes by enabling rapid replication of the program attributes. Sonobe noted:
As we continue to grow both geographically and programmatically, we have found that
our essential documents have served as an anchor in grounding us in our work. These
documents include: 1) Student and Program Expectations; 2) Student-Parent Handbook;
3) the College Track web site; 4) Bank Book Policy; 5) Cycle of Inquiry results distributed
internally three times a year; 6) our advisory curriculum; and, 7) Professional Learning
Community description and structure.
Further, College Track utilizes a management information system (Salesforce), which they see as “an
invaluable resource of student data, range of reports, program descriptions, curriculum, dashboards
and detailed records of all of our financial disbursements.”
Ms. Sonobe attributed these successes “to an incredibly committed and smart Board and staff.” She
further noted:
The Board is comprised of outstanding individuals who are strong in raising funds and
very sharp in terms of moving the organization strategically. They are 100 percent passionate
about supporting the College Track mission. Our staff is also comprised of highly
talented, well-educated individuals. Our staff works hard, they are smart and resourceful,
they love the students and it shows; they are deeply committed to improving the communities
our students live in.
Lessons Learned
As College Track has opened new sites, concerns about successfully replicating the program have
been raised, but overall, CT feels that they have identified the set of criteria for selecting new sites
and replicating the model. Among these criteria, there are five components of the CT programs that
have proven to be effective for each of College Track’s sites: a) the five core programs; b) the way
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