Despite Montana’s size, this “frontier” state has one of the smallest student populations in the country, making regional access to high-quality career pathways a unique challenge. As such, the Montana state project team approached Phase One of the New Skills for Youth initiative with a plan to expand existing career pathway models in the health care and manufacturing sectors and leverage regional partnerships, distance delivery mechanisms and program review processes to scale statewide pathways and reach underserved student populations.
Phase One of JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s New Skills for Youth grant extended from May to October 2016. With bold visions for improving career readiness in K-12 education, each Phase One state spent the grant period performing a diagnostic assessment of their career preparation system and preparing for implementation of a new action plan. This snapshot describes Montana’s experience and progress in Phase One, including promising practices and innovations. Additional snapshots from other Phase One New Skills for Youth states are available here.
