ARCHES

ARCHES Mission and Vision

The Alliance for Regional Collaboration to Heighten Educational Success (ARCHES) was launched in 2005 as an initiative of the California Academic Partnership Program (CAPP) — a collaborative program administered by the California State University on behalf of all the state's educational sectors — and the California Education Round Table — the voluntary association of the chief executive officers of all educational sectors in the and its programmatic arm, the Intersegmental Coordinating Committee (ICC).

ARCHES is a voluntary confederation of over 21 collaboratives linked by both their goals and the shared strategies by which they intend to reach those goals that supports a growing number of regions meet timely and important missions. Moreover, this confederation, or alliance, serves as a professional community in which the members:

• learn from each other;
• identify and promote effective practices;
• provide professional development and technical assistance;
• mentor new projects;
• share strategies to optimize efficiency; and,
• advocate for public policies that improve student achievement. 

The vision of ARCHES is to connect every public school in California with community colleges and baccalaureate-granting institutions, private sector representatives, community-based organizations, and family-centered associations. The objective is to improve student achievement in the public schools in order to ensure California's future social, political, and economic vitality through the education of a generation of Golden State students who will have the skills and knowledge to compete in the global workplace of the future.

Additionally, ARCHES seeks to close the resources and opportunity gaps that are linked to student achievement, with a special emphasis on African-American, Latino, and low-income students with which California's public school system has been least effective in the past.

Early Collaborations

From its inception, ARCHES has linked with two entities that share its visions and goals:

• The State Superintendent of Public Instruction's P-16 Council that was announced in December of 2004. ARCHES is strengthening a role as a regional implementation arm of this policy-oriented Council and has aligned its priority areas with those of the Council in order to support dissemination of the Council's recommendations and action at the regional level.
• The California Engaging Latino Communities for Education (ENLACE) initiative funded by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation brought expertise, resources, and experience to our mutual commitment to close the resources and opportunities gaps for all students. 

Achievements of ARCHES to Date

ARCHES conducted two grant competitions and funded 15 regional collaboratives through these competitions. While these collaborative programs have vastly different goals, are embryonic, and rely on diverse resources, several have evidenced significant outcomes:

• Linking Career-Technical and College Preparation Pathways. Five Career-Technical Education courses have been certified to meet the admissions requirements for California public universities from the collaboration led by the Merced County Office of Education.  Likewise, this collaborative venture has initiated course pairings of Career-Technical Education and traditional academic classes that are being team-taught.
• Providing Additional Learning Opportunities. Students who were identified on an Algebra Readiness Test as not prepared for placement in Algebra were enrolled in an Algebra Summer Institute conducted by the collaboration based at the California State University, Northridge. After attending the Summer Institute, the students scored at nearly the same level as students who had been identified as proficient on the pre-test.  Additionally, the Institute students significantly out-performed students on a post-test who had been identified as not prepared for Algebra and did not enroll in the Summer Institute.
• Expanding Enrollment in Pre-School Programs. The collaborative team convened by the San Luis Obispo County Office of Education substantially increased the number of students in its county who enrolled in quality pre-school.

ARCHES has additional achievements of which it is proud:

• Garnered financial support totaling nearly $1.7 million from myriad governmental agencies, including the educational sectors in the state, and foundations to expand the number of regional collaborations and offer professional development to collaboratives at various stages of development;
• Convened both regional and statewide professional development conferences attended by over 1,000 educators and representatives from the private sector and community-based agencies;
• Assembled a cadre of trained educators who are dedicated to facilitating the development and nurturing of regional collaborative groups through their participation on the ARCHES Advisory Panel and/or as Liaisons providing direct services to grantees;
• Focused attention on the importance of a collaborative strategy for achieving significant educational outcomes;
• Established relatively formal associations with 10 organizations who have served as Affiliates in supporting both ARCHES and its regional collaborations; and,
• Developed and maintained a web site (arches-cal.org) that serves as a communications hub of information, resources, and materials.

The ARCHES Team

ARCHES team members, current or past affiliation, and their organizational role are:

• Dennis Galligani: ARCHES Co-Executive Director (Associate Vice President (Emeritus) for Student Academic Services for the University of California System).
• Diane Siri: ARCHES Co-Executive Director (Former Santa Cruz County Superintendent of Schools).
• Penny Edgert: ARCHES Coordinator (Executive Director of the California Education Round Table Intersegmental Coordinating Committee).
• David Jolly: ARCHES-ENLACE Team Member (Director of the California Academic Partnership Program).
• Julie Mendoza:  ARCHES Southern California Director (former Regional Director of the University of California College Preparation (UCCP) Initiative).
• Sara Lundquist: Director of California ENLACE (Vice President for Student Services, Santa Ana College).

Contact: galligani@arches-cal.org or 949-824-4496 and siri@arches-cal.org or 831-728-8485.