EduCon 2027

Schools are judged by graduation and college acceptance. Our alumni tell us the harder test comes later: the second semester, the first financial aid snag, the first time no one checks in. The kids the world will need are the ones who persist. So we asked whether our own system sees that coming. At South Bronx Community, students earn credit by showing mastery of competencies, including social-emotional skills such as self advocacy, planning and organizing time effectively, and reflectiveness . For this session, we analyzed National Student Clearinghouse data on college enrollment and persistence for SBC students as compared to peers. We'll be candid about what the data does and doesn't show. Some of what we include in our competencies may matter a great deal. Some may not matter at all, or may reflect our biases more than students' skills. Persistence is also affected by money, family, and campus support, which no high school rubric captures. Our College and Youth Development teams will explain how they are using the findings to inform advisory, postsecondary planning, and alumni support. Then we'll turn the question to the room: if you could only assess three non-academic skills, which would you choose, and how would you know you were right?