CENTER FOR THE FUTURE OF ARIZONA

EDUCATIONIN FY25, CFA CONTINUED ITS COMMITMENT TO BUILDING A STRONG EDUCATION SYSTEM THAT PREPARES EVERY CHILD TO SUCCEED AND THRIVE BY EXPANDING CAREER-CONNECTED PATHWAYS, ADVANCING STUDENT-CENTERED LEARNING, AND STRENGTHENING SCHOOL LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT. CFA CONTINUED ADVANCING A SIX-YEAR FEDERAL EDUCATION INNOVATION AND RESEARCH PROJECT - CFA'S FIRST-EVER FEDERAL GRANT - MARKING A SIGNIFICANT MILESTONE IN THE ORGANIZATION'S GROWTH AND NATIONAL CREDIBILITY. THE PROJECT ENGAGED 12 HIGH SCHOOLS AND SEVEN COMMUNITY COLLEGES ACROSS ARIZONA, WITH 345 STUDENTS PARTICIPATING IN DESIGN CHALLENGES THAT INFORMED THE EXPANSION OF DUAL AND CONCURRENT ENROLLMENT AND IT AND CYBERSECURITY PATHWAYS. THE PROJECT REINFORCED A CLEAR LESSON: WHEN SCHOOLS, COLLEGES, AND EMPLOYERS COLLABORATE TO OFFER MEANINGFUL, REAL-WORLD OPPORTUNITIES, STUDENTS ARE MORE LIKELY TO TAKE OWNERSHIP OF THEIR EDUCATION AND CAREER PATHS. (CONT'D ON SCH O) CFA IS CARRYING THESE INSIGHTS FORWARD BY INTEGRATING THE FINDINGS INTO ITS EARLY COLLEGE WORK AND SHARING THE RESEARCH BROADLY TO INFORM PRACTICE AND SYSTEMS CHANGE ACROSS THE STATE. FOR DECADES, CFA HAS PLAYED A LEADING ROLE IN ADVANCING THE FUTURE OF LEARNING IN ARIZONA - ALWAYS WITH A FOCUS ON THE SUCCESS OF EACH INDIVIDUAL STUDENT. CFA WORKS ALONGSIDE SCHOOL SYSTEMS ACROSS THE STATE TO HELP MOVE EDUCATION BEYOND A ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL APPROACH, SUPPORTING LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS THAT RECOGNIZE STUDENTS' STRENGTHS, NEEDS, AND PATHWAYS. IN FY25, CFA ADVANCED THIS WORK BY SUPPORTING LEADERS, SCHOOL SYSTEMS, AND EDUCATORS AS THEY PUT STUDENT-CENTERED PRACTICES INTO ACTION. IN COLLABORATION WITH KNOWLEDGEWORKS, CFA LAUNCHED THE EMERGING LEADERS COHORT, SUPPORTING CURRENT AND ASPIRING LEADERS WITHIN THE ARIZONA PERSONALIZED LEARNING NETWORK. THE COHORT INCLUDES 20 PARTICIPANTS FROM DISTRICTS ACROSS THE STATE, STRENGTHENING LEADERSHIP CAPACITY TO ADVANCE EQUITABLE STUDENT OUTCOMES.CFA ALSO EXPANDED ACCESS TO PROFESSIONAL LEARNING THROUGH THE ARIZONA PERSONALIZED LEARNING NETWORK (PLN). WITH KNOWLEDGEWORKS AND THE ASU PREP DIGITAL VIRTUAL TEACHERS INSTITUTE, CFA OFFERED PLN EXPLORE, A SERIES OF NO-COST, ON-DEMAND MODULES AVAILABLE TO ANY ARIZONA EDUCATOR, WITH MORE THAN 300 MODULES COMPLETED TO DATE. IN ADDITION, THE THIRD PLN LAUNCH COHORT ENGAGED MORE THAN 200 EDUCATORS ACROSS 30 SCHOOL-BASED TEAMS, SUPPORTING IMPLEMENTATION OF PERSONALIZED, COMPETENCY-BASED PRACTICES THROUGH PEER LEARNING AND COLLABORATION.THIS YEAR, CFA EXPANDED THE BEAT THE ODDS SCHOOL LEADERSHIP ACADEMY (BTO) TO YUMA COUNTY, PARTNERING WITH YUMA ESD AND MOHAWK VALLEY ESD TO LAUNCH THE REGION'S FIRST COHORT. COHORTS IN PHOENIX AND PARADISE VALLEY ALSO CONCLUDED, BRINGING THE TOTAL NUMBER OF BTO PARTICIPANTS TO MORE THAN 460 LEADERS ACROSS EIGHT ARIZONA COUNTIES. THROUGH BTO, CFA EQUIPS LEADERS TO ALIGN VISION, PRACTICE, AND SYSTEMS IN WAYS THAT IMPROVE OUTCOMES FOR STUDENTS.

WORKFORCEIN FY25, CFA STRENGTHENED WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT IN OUR STATE BY BRINGING TOGETHER EMPLOYERS, EDUCATORS, AND COMMUNITY PARTNERS TO HELP MORE ARIZONANS PREPARE FOR AND SUCCEED IN CAREERS THAT SUPPORT LONG-TERM ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY. CFA CONTRIBUTED KEY DATA AND ANALYSIS TO ARIZONA TOWN HALL'S BUILDING ARIZONA'S WORKFORCE BACKGROUND REPORT, INCLUDING INSIGHTS ON UNTAPPED WORKERS, WORKFORCE PARTICIPATION, AND SECTOR-SPECIFIC TRENDS SUCH AS RETAIL. RELEASED IN APRIL 2025, THE REPORT IS SERVING AS THE FOUNDATION FOR VIRTUAL AND IN-PERSON CONVERSATIONS ACROSS ARIZONA, HELPING COMMUNITIES BUILD SHARED UNDERSTANDING OF HOW ARIZONANS WANT TO MEET WORKFORCE NEEDS AND SUSTAIN A VIBRANT ECONOMY.CFA ALSO ADVANCED EFFORTS TO BETTER CONNECT SKILLS, CREDENTIALS, AND EMPLOYMENT THROUGH AN INNOVATIVE LEARNING & (CONT'D ON SCH O) EMPLOYMENT RECORDS (LER) INITIATIVE. THE CURRENT PILOT BRINGS TOGETHER ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY'S MY SKILLS POCKET DIGITAL CREDENTIAL WALLET, PIPELINE CONNECT'S RECRUITMENT PLATFORM, AND ADULT LEARNERS AT RIO SALADO COLLEGE EARNING NATIONAL RETAIL FEDERATION FOUNDATION CREDENTIALS - CREATING ONE OF THE FIRST COMPREHENSIVE TALENT MARKETPLACES IN THE NATION.COMPLEMENTING THE LER WORK, CFA IS PARTNERING WITH THE BURNING GLASS INSTITUTE TO IDENTIFY HIGH-DEMAND JOBS IN HEALTHCARE, CONSTRUCTION, AND ADVANCED MANUFACTURING AND APPLY THE JOBS THAT MOBILIZE METHODOLOGY. THIS APPROACH FOCUSES ON FEEDER JOBS WITH TRANSFERABLE SKILLS, WIDENING THE APERTURE FOR POTENTIAL TALENT POOLS THAT MAY NOT REALIZE THEY ALREADY HAVE PATHWAYS TO HIGHER-DEMAND ROLES - WHILE HELPING EMPLOYERS ACCESS CANDIDATES THEY MAY HAVE PREVIOUSLY OVERLOOKED.CFA CONTINUES TO INVEST IN LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT THROUGH THE SOUTHERN ARIZONA WORKFORCE LEADERSHIP ACADEMY. IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE ASPEN INSTITUTE AND PIMA COMMUNITY COLLEGE, CFA LAUNCHED A SECOND COHORT OF 18 FELLOWS. THE ACADEMY BUILDS THE SKILLS AND NETWORKS LEADERS NEED TO DRIVE SYSTEMS CHANGE AND ADDRESS URGENT WORKFORCE CHALLENGES ACROSS SOUTHERN ARIZONA. FELLOWS WILL GRADUATE IN NOVEMBER 2025, STRENGTHENING REGIONAL CAPACITY TO ADVANCE COORDINATED, LONG-TERM WORKFORCE SOLUTIONS.