The Conrad N. Hilton Foster Youth Strategic Initiative (FYSI) grew out of an extensive research and synthesis process that included the perspectives of a wide variety of stakeholders. Ultimately, the process helped the Foundation better understand the challenges facing transition-age youth (TAY) and identify successful models for change; this work became the foundation for FYSI. In February 2012, the Board of Directors approved FYSI. The FYSI launched in March 2012; the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) component (or evaluation) began in March 2013.

To address the myriad issues facing TAY, those in care and transitioning out of care, the Foundation provides grants to organizations and entities with the potential to meet the three overarching goals of FYSI: (1) to increase TAY selfsufficiency, (2) to strengthen and increase cross-system collaboration and promote systems change, and (3) to develop and disseminate new knowledge about the needs of TAY and effective strategies for meeting those needs. As of June 2015, the Foundation has awarded $32,772,500 to 39 grantees as part of FYSI.

In 2013, Westat joined with two subcontractors, the University of California, Los Angeles Luskin School of Public Affairs and the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, to evaluate the Foster Youth Strategic Initiative in Los Angeles County (LAC) and New York City (NYC). The Initiative grew out of an extensive research and synthesis process that helped the Foundation better understand challenges facing Transition-Age Youth (TAY), identify key levers and successful models for change, and incorporate the perspectives of a wide variety of stakeholders. The Initiative is built on a theory of change proposing that funding three components (TAY self-sufficiency services, systems change, and new knowledge) will synergize efforts in LAC and NYC around improving outcomes for TAY.

The Hilton Foundation provides grants to organizations and entities with the potential to actualize the Foster Youth Strategic Initiative's components. As of May 2014, grantmaking totaled $23,917,033. Currently 19 grantees are funded to support TAY self-sufficiency through direct services; 11 funded grantees are focusing on systems change; and 6 grantees are generating new knowledge about TAY. From a regional, or site-level perspective, there are 16 grantees focused on changes for TAY in LAC; 9 grantees are focused on TAY in NYC; and 4 grantees (designated as dual geography) are focused on changes in both LAC and NYC.

The primary goal of the evaluation is to inform learning about TAY. In order to investigate a multi-faceted and strategically informed initiative, the evaluation is designed to be broader than a program evaluation. Over 3 years, the evaluation team will assess the value added by Hilton Foundation's investments in improving outcomes for TAY and will ground the data in national and regional contexts.

In 2013, Westat joined with two subcontractors, the University of California, Los Angeles Luskin School of Public Affairs and the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, to evaluate the Foster Youth Strategic Initiative in Los Angeles County (LAC) and New York City (NYC). The Initiative grew out of an extensive research and synthesis process that helped the Foundation better understand challenges facing Transition-Age Youth (TAY), identify key levers and successful models for change, and incorporate the perspectives of a wide variety of stakeholders. The Initiative is built on a theory of change proposing that funding three components (TAY self-sufficiency services, systems change, and new knowledge) will synergize efforts in LAC and NYC around improving outcomes for TAY.

The Hilton Foundation provides grants to organizations and entities with the potential to actualize the Foster Youth Strategic Initiative's components. As of May 2014, grantmaking totaled $23,917,033. Currently 19 grantees are funded to support TAY self-sufficiency through direct services; 11 funded grantees are focusing on systems change; and 6 grantees are generating new knowledge about TAY. From a regional, or site-level perspective, there are 16 grantees focused on changes for TAY in LAC; 9 grantees are focused on TAY in NYC; and 4 grantees (designated as dual geography) are focused on changes in both LAC and NYC.

The primary goal of the evaluation is to inform learning about TAY. In order to investigate a multi-faceted and strategically informed initiative, the evaluation is designed to be broader than a program evaluation. Over 3 years, the evaluation team will assess the value added by Hilton Foundation's investments in improving outcomes for TAY and will ground the data in national and regional contexts.

In 2013, Westat joined with two subcontractors, the University of California, Los Angeles Luskin School of Public Affairs and the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, to evaluate the Foster Youth Strategic Initiative in Los Angeles County (LAC) and New York City (NYC). The Initiative grew out of an extensive research and synthesis process that helped the Foundation better understand challenges facing Transition-Age Youth (TAY), identify key levers and successful models for change, and incorporate the perspectives of a wide variety of stakeholders. The Initiative is built on a theory of change proposing that funding three components (TAY self-sufficiency services, systems change, and new knowledge) will synergize efforts in LAC and NYC around improving outcomes for TAY.

The Hilton Foundation provides grants to organizations and entities with the potential to actualize the Foster Youth Strategic Initiative's components. As of May 2014, grantmaking totaled $23,917,033. Currently 19 grantees are funded to support TAY self-sufficiency through direct services; 11 funded grantees are focusing on systems change; and 6 grantees are generating new knowledge about TAY. From a regional, or site-level perspective, there are 16 grantees focused on changes for TAY in LAC; 9 grantees are focused on TAY in NYC; and 4 grantees (designated as dual geography) are focused on changes in both LAC and NYC.

The primary goal of the evaluation is to inform learning about TAY. In order to investigate a multi-faceted and strategically informed initiative, the evaluation is designed to be broader than a program evaluation. Over 3 years, the evaluation team will assess the value added by Hilton Foundation's investments in improving outcomes for TAY and will ground the data in national and regional contexts.

In 2013, Westat joined with two subcontractors, the University of California, Los Angeles Luskin School of Public Affairs and the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, to evaluate the Foster Youth Strategic Initiative in Los Angeles County (LAC) and New York City (NYC). The Initiative grew out of an extensive research and synthesis process that helped the Foundation better understand challenges facing Transition-Age Youth (TAY), identify key levers and successful models for change, and incorporate the perspectives of a wide variety of stakeholders. The Initiative is built on a theory of change proposing that funding three components (TAY self-sufficiency services, systems change, and new knowledge) will synergize efforts in LAC and NYC around improving outcomes for TAY.

The Hilton Foundation provides grants to organizations and entities with the potential to actualize the Foster Youth Strategic Initiative's components. As of May 2014, grantmaking totaled $23,917,033. Currently 19 grantees are funded to support TAY self-sufficiency through direct services; 11 funded grantees are focusing on systems change; and 6 grantees are generating new knowledge about TAY. From a regional, or site-level perspective, there are 16 grantees focused on changes for TAY in LAC; 9 grantees are focused on TAY in NYC; and 4 grantees (designated as dual geography) are focused on changes in both LAC and NYC.

The primary goal of the evaluation is to inform learning about TAY. In order to investigate a multi-faceted and strategically informed initiative, the evaluation is designed to be broader than a program evaluation. Over 3 years, the evaluation team will assess the value added by Hilton Foundation's investments in improving outcomes for TAY and will ground the data in national and regional contexts.

As the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Postsecondary Success strategy enters its fifth year of learning technology investments, it is a good time to take stock of what has been learned and to draw implications for future investments. The foundation asked SRI Education to review the major courseware-related projects in the Postsecondary Success portfolio and provide an independent synthesis of findings.

The foundation identified the 12 major postsecondary courseware-related projects in Exhibit 1 as sufficiently completed to contribute to SRI's review. Three of the projects were actually sets of multiple grants or subgrants addressing a common goal. In total, the courseware investments reviewed by SRI involved 137 courses and represented approximately 90% of the foundation's financial investment in postsecondary courseware over the last five years.

Primary data sources for this synthesis and review were final and interim reports submitted by the 12 projects and their subgrantees, interviews with principal investigators, and project-related research articles and additional data provided in response to SRI's request. Proposals, RFPs (requests for proposals), and project websites provided additional background information.

SRI analyzed the features of the 137 different courses developed or evaluated through these projects and performed a quantitative meta-analysis of student outcomes for those projects that provided the data needed to estimate the impact of the project's courseware.

It is important to keep in mind that this review reflects a window in time. Technology advances rapidly, and product features and approaches that are commonplace today were either just emerging or even unheard of in 2009 when the first of the grants reviewed here was awarded. To take a prominent example, MOOCs (massive open online courses) as they are known today did not really arrive on the scene until 2012, and the MOOCs that were the products of some of the Postsecondary Success grants reviewed here were using early versions of MOOC platforms that have since been revised.

Since 2006, The James Irvine Foundation has invested more than $100 million in Linked Learning, a promising approach to transforming education in California. In 2009, the Foundation launched the California Linked Learning District Initiative ("the initiative) to demonstrate this approach in nine districts. The multiyear evaluation for this large initiative has a two-fold purpose: to document the work, results, and lessons from districts that are applying Linked Learning systemically; and to measure the effect of this comprehensive implementation on student outcomes.

SRI International's fifth annual evaluation report on the progress of the initiative comes at a time when Linked Learning is gaining momentum among K–12 and postsecondary educators, policymakers, and business leaders as a promising approach for preparing all students for college, career, and life. In early 2013, 63 districts and county offices of education were selected to participate in the California Linked Learning Pilot Program, which serves as a test of how Linked Learning can be expanded across the state. In June 2014, 39 partnerships received a total of $250 million through the California Career Pathways Trust, a competitive grant designed to develop work-based learning infrastructure, create regional partnerships, and improve and expand career pathway programs statewide. In 2015, a second round of grants will provide an additional $250 million to district and community college partnerships across the state.

It is within this context of increased funding and policy support for Linked Learning that we present this fifth-year evaluation report. Previous evaluation reports have focused on the development of district systems and structures to support new and existing Linked Learning pathways. As we close out the fifth year of our evaluation, we turn our primary attention to the students who participate in these pathways to ask the following questions: Who enrolls in pathways? Who stays? How do students feel about their experiences? What are their perceptions of the skills they are gaining? What effect does participation in a Linked Learning pathway have on students' high school outcomes?

To answer these and other questions, this report offers updated findings on student engagement and achievement outcomes from the nine districts participating in the initiative. Additionally, for the first time, our report takes an in-depth look at the issue of student equity and access to pathways through an analysis of student enrollment patterns across pathway career themes and of pathway retention among student subgroup populations. Finally, it assesses pathway students' experiences with academic and technical curricula and work-based learning, their perceptions of the skills they are gaining as a result of their pathway experiences, and their plans for the future.

Lessons from the experiences of the nine initiative districts are highly instructive for those that are just beginning to engage with or scale up Linked Learning. As context for understanding students' experiences in pathways and their outcomes, this report provides an update on the nine districts' efforts to develop and improve systems and structures to support Linked Learning and their initial plans to use new funding sources and regional partnerships to sustain Linked Learning.

Since 2006, The James Irvine Foundation has invested more than $100 million in Linked Learning, a promising approach to transforming education in California. In 2009, the Foundation launched the California Linked Learning District Initiative ("the initiative) to demonstrate this approach in nine districts. The multiyear evaluation for this large initiative has a two-fold purpose: to document the work, results, and lessons from districts that are applying Linked Learning systemically; and to measure the effect of this comprehensive implementation on student outcomes.

SRI International's fifth annual evaluation report on the progress of the initiative comes at a time when Linked Learning is gaining momentum among K–12 and postsecondary educators, policymakers, and business leaders as a promising approach for preparing all students for college, career, and life. In early 2013, 63 districts and county offices of education were selected to participate in the California Linked Learning Pilot Program, which serves as a test of how Linked Learning can be expanded across the state. In June 2014, 39 partnerships received a total of $250 million through the California Career Pathways Trust, a competitive grant designed to develop work-based learning infrastructure, create regional partnerships, and improve and expand career pathway programs statewide. In 2015, a second round of grants will provide an additional $250 million to district and community college partnerships across the state.

It is within this context of increased funding and policy support for Linked Learning that we present this fifth-year evaluation report. Previous evaluation reports have focused on the development of district systems and structures to support new and existing Linked Learning pathways. As we close out the fifth year of our evaluation, we turn our primary attention to the students who participate in these pathways to ask the following questions: Who enrolls in pathways? Who stays? How do students feel about their experiences? What are their perceptions of the skills they are gaining? What effect does participation in a Linked Learning pathway have on students' high school outcomes?

To answer these and other questions, this report offers updated findings on student engagement and achievement outcomes from the nine districts participating in the initiative. Additionally, for the first time, our report takes an in-depth look at the issue of student equity and access to pathways through an analysis of student enrollment patterns across pathway career themes and of pathway retention among student subgroup populations. Finally, it assesses pathway students' experiences with academic and technical curricula and work-based learning, their perceptions of the skills they are gaining as a result of their pathway experiences, and their plans for the future.

Lessons from the experiences of the nine initiative districts are highly instructive for those that are just beginning to engage with or scale up Linked Learning. As context for understanding students' experiences in pathways and their outcomes, this report provides an update on the nine districts' efforts to develop and improve systems and structures to support Linked Learning and their initial plans to use new funding sources and regional partnerships to sustain Linked Learning.