Partnership, collaboration, and "collective impact," are all buzz words in the nonprofit field. But what do they really mean in practice? We know from history, social change movements, and common knowledge (e.g. "it takes a village to raise a child") that when groups work together towards a common purpose they are more likely to succeed and have a greater impact than they would have individually. OnTrack Greenville has embraced this concept and is committed to working differently with our focus schools, implementation partners, stakeholders, nonprofits, community members, government officials, funders, and others to achieve our common goal of keeping students on track towards high school graduation and future success. OnTrack is consistently convening school leadership, implementation partners, and funders to coordinate and implement key aspects of the initiative for the coming school year, while also building a shared vision, governance, and accountability for OnTrack's future. Engaging with the community, families, students, other nonprofits, and grassroots organizations will play a vital role in building this vision and will have a critical role in the next few months and continue for years to come.

A critical component of OnTrack Greenville is evaluating progress, impact, and outcomes and using it as a tool for learning, improvement, and engagement. Evaluation plans for each of the five funded implementation partners (subgrantees) are being developed by the Riley Institute at Furman University. These evaluations will measure the impact programs have on student attendance, behavior, and course performance as well as other factors. To become a funded implementation partner, each program had to prove significant evidence that their model can be successful in improving outcomes for youth. The goal of the OnTrack evaluation will be to build on the current body of research and further increase the evidence of impact of the individual programs and of the early warning and response system as a whole.