Strategic Consulting
Our team brings 100+ years of collective experience in education and nonprofit management to help our clients analyze current college and career readiness and success systems through comprehensive data analysis, develop targeted strategies for specific areas like advanced academics or Career and Technical Education (CTE), and implement lasting change through careful planning and proven management approaches. We pride ourselves on delivering practical solutions that bridge the gap between your vision and measurable student outcomes.
We partner with organizations to drive student success through three core offerings:
“Our district partnered with Contigo Ed last year to conduct a CCMR Audit. The level of support provided throughout the audit was top notch as was the data and information provided. Our district now has a much better idea on areas of need and action steps to take due to our Contigo Ed partnership.”
Lauren Long, CCMR Coordinator, East Central ISD
Comprehensive Data Analysis and Strategy
Contigo Ed’s comprehensive analysis explores a district’s college and career readiness and success programming, partnerships, and policies and how they impact student postsecondary outcomes. Utilizing a combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis, we partner with districts to identify strengths, areas of growth, and strategic opportunities that culminate in a set of recommendations designed to improve postsecondary pathways and outcomes.
Targeted Data Analysis and Deep Dives
Going beyond our comprehensive strategic analysis, we also help our district, higher education, and nonprofit / community-based partners go deeper into high-priority topics (e.g. advanced academics, CTE) and answer specific questions in order to help improve outcomes for their students. See below for a few of the more popular analyses we have conducted with our district and non-district partners.
“Working with the Contigo Ed group allowed us the chance to do a deeper dive into our CCMR data. With their guidance, we were able to identify areas of strength and growth and create a plan to better serve our students as we help them to prepare for their post-secondary goals.”
Karen McCarley, Director, College Readiness and Counseling, Pasadena ISD
-
From our work with our partners, we know that advanced coursework is an incredible opportunity to promote college success for students. As a result, we often conduct an Advanced Academics analysis with the goal of supporting districts in increasing student access to and success in advanced academics opportunities with a focus on equity.
To understand opportunities for growth, we explore various questions, including the following:
Who participates in advanced coursework opportunities? How has participation changed over time, and what equity gaps may exist by demographics, campus, etc.?
What are the current outcomes of students that participate in these courses? Do students go on to earn college credit? What are the long-term college success outcomes of these students?
What practices has the district implemented to ensure teacher success? What opportunities exist to increase teacher and student performance?
What are students’ motivations for engaging in advanced coursework?
What message is communicated at the district level regarding advanced coursework, and how does this compare to the internalized understanding of counselors and students?
-
In addition to advanced academics, many of our clients are interested in understanding and improving their current CTE offerings and programs. We have supported districts with their CTE strategic questions in a number of different ways.
Are students meeting accountability measures? Which courses / programs of study / schools help promote students reaching CTE completer / concentrator status, and ultimately earn a certification in high school?
What impact does CTE participation have on college enrollment? How does CTE participation in different programs of study impact college enrollment? Often, this analysis helps directly address staff / adult misconceptions around CTE pathways being for students not enrolling in college.
What CTE pathways should we offer to better promote student success? Using regional labor market data and research on student outcomes by CTE pathways, we help provide guidance to districts on high-priority programs they should offer to promote students attaining a living wage.
What pathways are our students / parents most interested in? We have supported a handful of districts in administering student and parent surveys to incorporate community interest into their decision-making around CTE offerings.
What colleges provide strong degree programs in each CTE program of study? To help support students in taking the necessary steps in their career pathway, we have supported partners in better communicating strong postsecondary opportunities aligned with students’ current pathways and arming counselors / advisors with these resources.
-
Beyond the analyses we mentioned above, we also have supported our partners with a number of other strategic questions. While we included a number of examples below, we would love to partner with you to see how we can answer your specific “top of mind” questions!
High school math pathways - We supported a district partner in understanding the impact of their change in their HS course offerings (order in which students took Geometry and Algebra 2) on students reaching higher level advanced math courses and attaining higher SAT scores.
Impact of external partners - We have supported multiple district partners by evaluating the impact student participation in these programs (e.g., college access providers) has had on student success metrics such as college enrollment, persistence, and attainment.
Impact of college persistence efforts - For a district that has dedicated staff to promote student success in college, we helped demonstrate the impact of the district’s efforts on improving student persistence in college. We also helped the district understand which programmatic components were having the most impact on which student groups.
Impact of test prep vendors/providers - We have supported district partners in understanding the impact of student usage of test prep providers on SAT scores to inform their wider test prep implementation strategy.
Where your students see the most college success - We have conducted multiple analyses to demonstrate what colleges promote better success rates for different student groups in districts. These analyses can then be shared with counselors to support their advising of students.
What courses are specific student groups struggling in - One of our district partners was struggling with the graduation rates of their EB/EL students. We were able to conduct an analysis that identified the key courses (and teachers) that were contributing to this gap.
College and career outcomes of our SPED students - For another partner, we conducted a data analysis across all college and career outcomes for their Special Education students. We were also able to put these outcomes into context by comparing the district’s SPED results to SPED results in other districts and the state.
“Contigo Ed provided effective and strategic coaching for our school counselors to impact student success.”
JoAnna Lujan, Coordinator of Counselors, Harlandale ISD
Change Management, Planning, and Implementation Support
Change is hard. Especially when thinking about changing school district systems, policies, and practices. Contigo Ed works closely with districts to not only identify changes that can be made to improve postsecondary outcomes for students, but to also navigate the planning, communication, and implementation processes that help ensure district vision is realized.
“Through our strong partnership with ContigoEd, we have been able to take deep dives into our CCMR data and processes to plan strategically and raise outcomes for all our students. “
Dr. Sandra Clement, Chief Officer of School Improvement and Innovation, Corpus Christi ISD
