To address cross-continuum issues in education (e.g., chronic absenteeism, student health challenges, workforce demands, etc.), state policymakers are considering cradle-to-career and place-based learning solutions based in immersive supports and learning experiences at the community level.
Many types of supports, services and experiences can fall under the umbrella of place-based education approaches (e.g., community schools, wraparound services and neighborhood partnerships). All of these approaches intend to connect students and families with the resources needed in a common community-based location through public-private partnerships.
With support from Blue Meridian Partners, Education Commission of the States conducted listening sessions across Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio and Wyoming. These sessions focused on state and community approaches to establishing place-based partnerships and cradle-to-career education policy efforts. These states were selected to reflect varied geographic, governance and policy contexts, as well as different entry points into place-based and cradle-to-career work.
As with all education policy issues, states approach place-based learning with varying resources, political contexts and policy support, and states enter this work from widely different starting points in terms of their policy landscape.
This playbook is designed to help state policymakers — no matter their entry point — create durable, community-driven place-based partnerships that improve learner outcomes from cradle to career.
This work aligns with 2025-27 ECS Chair and Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon’s Community Hubs for Addressing Needs for Greater Education (CHANGE) Initiative, which emphasizes partnerships between states and communities to ensure education systems reflect local priorities, deliver measurable results and prepare learners for success in life and work.
Key Terms and Definitions
Community Partnerships: Collaborative relationships between schools and local organizations that provide resources and services. (Health Politics, Policy and Law)
Community Schools: Schools that integrate academics with health, social services and family partnerships to support the whole child. (Learning Policy Institute)
Cradle-to-College Pipeline: A coordinated system of supports designed to improve outcomes from early childhood through adulthood. (Education and Urban Society)
Integrated Supports: Coordinated academic, health and social services designed to remove barriers to learning. (RAND Corporation)
Place-Based Education: An approach to learning that takes advantage of geography to create authentic, meaningful, and engaging personalized learning for students; and immersive learning experience that “places students in local heritage, cultures, landscapes, opportunities and experiences–using these as a foundation for the study of language arts, mathematics, social studies, science and other subjects across the curriculum.” (Getting Smart)
Wraparound Services: Coordinated, individualized supports organized around student and family needs. (Learning Policy Institute)
