Use the Social Capital Scope & Sequence to identify expectations for student learning that make sense for your organization. Design with the end goal in mind. What do you want all students to be able to do? What should every student be expected to learn and experience in order to get them there? Follow the four-step progression to outline how and when students will:

• Be introduced to the concept of social capital and its importance 
• Map their current networks and relationships
• Be equipped with the skills, mindsets, and tools for building their networks
• Be empowered to practice their skillsets and advocate for themselves

Use your work from Identify Assets (Phase I) to organize your existing resources and tools and notice where your gaps are. What recommended activities from the scope and sequence might you incorporate? How can these complement your organization’s existing activities?

Create your Pathways Integration Strategy, using your work from Identify Assets and Map Opportunities (Phase I) to follow our three-step guide to integrating the Social Capital Scope & Sequence into pathways. 

1. Embed expectations into foundational planning and/or academic experiences for all students – Ensure all students are learning key concepts and developing relevant skill sets by embedding social capital strategies to introduce social capital, map networks, and equip students through required foundational activities. Design considerations should include: 

• • How social capital can be incorporated into career and academic planning requirements, such as through Individual Career and Academic Plans (ICAP)
  • What standards for academic core courses can be met through social capital skill development activities
  • What additional advising and exploration periods (e.g., advisory periods) exist where social capital-oriented lessons and tools might be integrated

Step 2 in a Pathways Integration Strategy: Customize experiences across pathway offerings to grow and mobilize networks. Build on foundational social capital learning by customizing student experiences in pathways-related courses and activities that help them build and mobilize their networks. Design considerations should include:

• How students can be better prepared for engaging with professionals during career awareness or exploration activities, like job fairs, job shadows, and guest speakers 
• What opportunities exist within Career and Technical Education (CTE) and other pathways courses for students to practice identifying and reaching to new connections in fields of interest
• How students might build their networks during early postsecondary opportunities (EPSOs), like dual enrollment and AP courses
• Where within electives and advanced courses might students map their networks and  identify goals for strengthening their social capital
• How students can be better equipped to take advantage of work-based learning (WBL) experiences, like internships and apprenticeships, to make new connections and build their social capital skills
• How students working toward attainment of a credential of value might be connected to credential-holding professionals for mentorship and support as they prepare for their exams

Step 3 in a Pathways Integration Strategy: Reinforce learning through extracurriculars where possible – Where possible, reinforce the foundational and customized learning through extracurriculars that take place in- and -outside of school experiences and activities. Design considerations should include:

• How Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO) advisors are engaging industry and community partners to discuss aligned postsecondary pathways and career fields
• What opportunities exist within student clubs, sports, and volunteer activities for students to build their interest-aligned social capital
• How mentorship programs that involve near-peers, alumni networks, and community members might include a more explicit focus on social capital development

Consider where social capital can bolster your current measurement and evaluation processes, particularly as it relates to growth and outcomes for students. Review your Pathways Integration Strategy and identify how and when you’ll monitor and evaluate your strategies. Some proposed steps for building a measurement approach:

• Select a small number of social capital metrics from which to establish an aggregate-level student baseline, set goals, and monitor progress (e.g., can every student identify at least one mentor? What percentage of students feels confident reaching out to someone to discuss postsecondary plans? Did every student’s network grow by at least three people this academic year?)
• Integrate the review of social capital metrics and progress toward goals into established routines and system-wide evaluations of student outcomes
• Provide guidance to teachers and staff for incorporating identified social capital metrics into their existing data collection and measurement processes
• Disaggregate data by student groups to identify any equity gaps in student progress and build targeted supports for those students who may need them
• Evaluate aggregate-level program standards, routines, curricula, and activities through the lens of student social capital growth to ensure continuous improvement
• Consider more qualitative methods, like student surveys and focus groups, for documenting successes and challenges

Organizations might also empower students to understand their own social capital growth, through learning how to map their networks, setting goals for themselves, and identifying evidence of growth.

The adults who support students through their educational journey should be empowered to see themselves as brokers of students’ social capital growth and facilitators of the development of their social capital skills. Develop a professional development plan that considers what role your different adult stakeholders will play in your strategy, the strengths they each bring, and what they may need to be prepared and engaged throughout the year to support students. Some might simply need a “101” training to get started, while others would find it beneficial to go deeper into ideas on mindsets or best practices before engaging with students.

Use the professional development modules co-created by ESG and the Clayton Christensen Institute to design a training that encourages buy-in, customizes for the audience, and equips participants with the skills and mindsets they need. 

Organizations should also reflect on their internal culture and beliefs, which shapes assumptions about students and, as a result, the opportunities that are (or are not) made available to them. Adult mindsets influence the messaging, guidance, and support that young people receive as they navigate and make decisions along their educational journey. There is important work to be done to help adults better understand their prevailing assumptions and strengths as they support a diverse population of students in a way that is culturally responsive and asset-based. The following reflection prompts can help organizations consider how to develop more confident adult advocates: 

• How can school counselors, career coaches, and advisors support students beyond psychosocial or personal development to help them recognize their current networks, strengthen existing relationships, or form new connections? How can they serve as a source of social capital themselves as students navigate their college, career, and personal journeys?
• Where are the opportunities for educators and teachers to receive and observe strategies for facilitating social capital growth in the classroom, whether through integration into curriculum or incorporation of relationship-building activities? What common expectations established and support provided to encourage them to see themselves as a bridge for student social capital?
• What guidance and support do postsecondary faculty need to meaningfully support students’ social capital development in early postsecondary opportunities? Where are there opportunities for them to serve as a bridge to a postsecondary community to better establish a sense of belonging for students before they arrive on their campus? 
• What explicit expectations and guidance can be developed with community and industry partners when it comes to helping students develop their social capital across different types of experiences? What agreed upon measures will help partners define success?