Overview

The Opportunity

Students with learning differences bring valuable perspectives and strengths to postsecondary education, and community colleges are uniquely positioned to support their success given the high proportion of learners with disabilities they serve. By strengthening existing systems and expanding awareness of available services, community colleges can create more welcoming and navigable environments that enable all students to thrive.

This capacity-building experience will empower community colleges to better support students with learning differences as they transition from high school to college. Building on ATD's proven cohort model, which accelerates impact through individualized and peer-based support, the program will convene a collaborative cohort of community colleges to identify, design, and test innovative solutions that enhance accessibility and foster student success.

Participating institutions will leverage evidence-based practices and foster a culture of continuous improvement to create systemic change. Anchored in ATD’s Community Vibrancy Framework, this work advances the economic mobility of students with learning differences by ensuring their access to college, driving early momentum, and supporting timely completion.

Initiative 

The LIFT cohort fosters a vibrant community of practice, enabling institutions to collaborate, innovate, and share insights that drive meaningful progress. Participants will benefit from tailored coaching, dynamic learning modules, and peer engagement — all designed to build institutional capacity and sustainability. Ultimately, this experience will create lasting impact by equipping colleges to champion inclusive excellence and advance the success of learners with diverse abilities, ensuring transition pathways and campus supports are designed to meet their needs.

Objectives

The LIFT cohort is designed to support eight Achieving the Dream (ATD) colleges in identifying, designing, and implementing strategies to improve the transition for students with learning differences to community college. It also builds the capacity of faculty and staff to support their success.

By the end of the capacity-building experience, each participating college will have completed the following actions:

Analyze Impact: Examine access, progress, and outcomes of students with learning differences through rigorous data analysis.

Build Capacity: Enhance the institution's ability to serve students with learning differences through instruction and holistic support.

Strengthen Partnerships: Identify and implement best practices for engaging local high school partners to support the transition of students with learning differences into postsecondary education.

Develop Strategy: Create a data-informed action plan to improve access and momentum for the target student population.

Ensure Sustainability: Build a sustainability plan that embeds successful practices into the institution’s broader student success agenda in ways that allow for adaptation over time, fostering ongoing learning, continuous improvement, and long-term support for students with learning differences.

Scale Impact: Share lessons learned with the broader higher education community through ATD peer learning events, publications, and collaborations.

Applicant Commitments

Over the course of 21 months, selected institutions will develop and launch data-informed plans to support student success and will design sustainability efforts and actions.

Colleges in the LIFT cohort commit to do the following:

1. Convene a cross-functional and cross-organizational team to participate in the cohort
2. Receive support from a pair of ATD coaches with expertise in supporting students in K–12 and postsecondary education
3. Identify an area of focus and develop an action plan
4. Develop a data-informed strategy that directly impacts access and momentum for students with learning differences
5. Actively participate in teaching and learning and holistic student support modules focused on supporting students with learning differences
6. Participate in bimonthly community of practice meetings
7. Complete an assessment tool designed to inventory current practices, available data, and partnership capacity
8. Share lessons learned with the ATD Network and our funder

Achieving the Dream Commitments

ATD commits to support the eight successful applicants in the following ways throughout the grant period:

• Distribute a total of $15,000 (to be allocated between Year 1 and Year 2 based on available grant funding) to each of the eight successful college applicants upon execution of the contract
• Provide two ATD coaches with expertise in both K–12 and community college education to ensure that transition pathways and college supports are aligned and cohesive
• Deliver technical assistance workshops on teaching and learning and holistic student supports focused on the success of students with learning differences transitioning from high school to college 
• Convene bimonthly community of practice sessions
• Provide monthly virtual coaching between site visits

Timeline

Applicant Eligibility

Institutions must demonstrate their commitment to supporting the holistic success of students with learning differences transitioning from high school to community college.

Indicators of College Readiness

• A commitment to the success of students with learning differences is reflected in the institution’s or system’s strategic plan or student success plan.
• The success of students with learning differences has been prioritized in employee professional learning at the institution or system.
• The institution has demonstrated a commitment to disaggregating student success data to reveal patterns of educational disparities that impact students with learning differences.
• The institution collects and analyzes enrollment trends of students with learning differences transitioning from high school year over year
• The institution has implemented emerging practices, programs, or supports dedicated to students with learning differences.
• The institution has a documented history of collaboration with local school districts (e.g., partnerships with college staff and high school transition coordinators or counselors).
• The institution has a presence of a disability office or designated officer.

Proposed Use of Grant Funds

Each participating college will receive $15,000 to support their engagement in this project. Funds may be used for any effort that will support the planning and implementation of a strategy to increase success for students with learning differences. Valid uses of the funds include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Personnel costs, including stipends for faculty, staff, and high school partners to participate in the cohort
• Professional development costs, including conferences and travel
• Implementation costs associated with any of the practices identified by the college that are directly related to increasing the success of students with learning differences

Before beginning your online application form, please access the Word version of the application provided here to assist you in crafting the strongest submission possible.

• LIFT Application - Word Version

Questions can be directed to:

Francesca I. Carpenter, Executive Director of Equitable Programming and Inclusive Learning, Achieving the Dream, lift@achievingthedream.org