The San Francisco-based James Irvine Foundation has awarded $7.5 million, its largest grant ever, to ConnectEd: the California Center for College and Career.ConnectEd, founded in 2006 with a $6 million grant from the Irvine Foundation, develops high school curricula designed to prepare California students better for colleges and careers.
Using a nontraditional “pathways” model that combines classroom instruction with real-world experience, ConnectEd tailors high school study toward the economic sector students plan to enter after graduation. Sixteen model pathway programs are in place in California public schools, representing such major economic sectors as business and finance, transportation, and law and government. ConnectEd plans to use the Irvine Foundation grant to develop more pathway programs in California public schools.
