Verified profile
Kauffman Foundation Real World Learning: A Verified Profile
Summary
Real World Learning (RWL) aims for every Kansas City-area graduate to earn at least one Market Value Asset by 2030. In its own words: “by 2030 all students in the Kansas City region graduate with one or more Market Value Assets.” RWL is an operating program of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and covers districts on both the Kansas and Missouri sides of the metro area.
A Market Value Asset (MVA) is an experience that employers or colleges value: an internship or client-connected project, college credit, an industry-recognized credential, or an entrepreneurial experience.
The goal year is 2030. One March 2023 Kauffman article gives 2032, but every current RWL and Kauffman page checked says 2030. The goal covers all graduates (100%), not a partial share.
The network now includes 34 districts and charter schools, more than 90,000 students, and more than 600 employers across six counties in two states. MDRC, the network’s independent data partner, compiled a figure of 52% of recent graduates earning an MVA before graduation. The 2019 baseline was about one in four.
No impact evaluation of RWL has been published. The attainment figures are descriptive counts. They show how many students earn MVAs, not whether MVAs change what happens to students after high school.
How Real World Learning works
The Kauffman Foundation, based in Kansas City, Missouri, convenes and funds the work. Districts opt in. Each participating district receives grants, technical assistance, and professional learning, and forms a design team that includes students and parents.
Origins. Kauffman sponsored a landscape analysis of career and technical education published in 2017. Donna McDaniel, later Kauffman’s Educator in Residence, wrote the report that highlighted MVAs. In 2017 Susan Wally, CEO of PREP-KC, observed that students who graduate with a diploma and MVAs “have a leg up.”
Community leaders and educators from both states created regional agreements in 2019. The work began with three superintendents in 2019 and grew to seven within a month. The first funded district cohort started in 2020-21.
Five guiding principles. Kauffman’s 2021 case study names five.
| Principle | What it means |
|---|---|
| Build Demand | Bring employers and districts together to find local opportunities; support each district’s own approach to MVAs. |
| Reduce Barriers to Entry | Use an opt-in strategy that elevates champions. |
| Build Capacity | Invest in technical assistance and clear communication so everyone understands the goals. |
| Learn Quickly | Run learning cohorts with shared learning agendas. |
| Align Funding with Expectations | Increase commitments to districts as they meet accountability measures and learning goals. |
Regional infrastructure.
- Education intermediaries provide services that connect districts, employers, families, and students.
- ProX is a regional paid summer internship program incubated at the Kauffman Foundation and piloted in 2022 with the DeBruce Foundation and KC Common Good. In 2023 it placed more than 600 students ages 14 to 19 with more than 125 employers. Students complete 125 hours over five weeks for a stipend; a June 2023 Kauffman article listed a $1,250 stipend and one academic credit.
- MDRC was selected in 2019. In early 2020 it built a Performance Management Framework for participating districts. It now serves as the independent data consultant and collects uniform MVA data across districts through data-sharing agreements.
Partners. RWL lists 22 collaborating organizations, including KC Rising, the KC Chamber of Commerce, MDRC, Big Picture Learning, Getting Smart, Junior Achievement of Greater Kansas City, KC STEM Alliance, and Startland. A group of CEOs supports the work through KC Rising.
Market Value Asset definitions
RWL’s published definitions set a floor for each of the four categories, with work experience split into two types (RWL MVA definitions).
| Category | Threshold and quality markers |
|---|---|
| Internship | 120 hours of engagement; academic credit (high school or college) or pay; performance evaluated by the work manager as well as the educator. |
| Client-connected project | 24 hours of engagement during the school day; the product solves a problem or meets an employer need; evaluated by the work manager as well as the educator. |
| College credit | Nine or more hours of college-level credit toward a degree. Some sources describe this as three courses. |
| Industry-recognized credential | Drawn from current state education department lists, then regionally customized and vetted. |
| Entrepreneurial experience | No hour threshold. Outputs include a market and stakeholder research summary and a business plan with costs and benefits. |
RWL’s current overview describes a high-quality MVA as including “a meaningful project, student agency, practical application, skill development, and professional networking opportunities.”
RWL also names ten Student Outgrowths: benefits from social capital, revisits and tests interests, seeks external feedback, communicates clearly, plans and manages projects, collaborates effectively, demonstrates proactivity, works through difficulty, adapts to different contexts, and conducts research and refines plans. RWL developed a survey with the University of Missouri-Kansas City Urban Education Research Center to measure outgrowths and teacher mindsets.
Scale, funding, and leadership
RWL grew from 15 districts in 2019 to 34 districts and charters today.
| Year | Districts and charters | Students | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 to now | 34 | more than 90,000 | Cohort 4 added three districts; 52% of recent graduates earned an MVA |
| 2022-23 | 31 | about 83,000 to 89,000 | 49% of seniors graduated with an MVA (22% of all high school students had one) |
| 2021 | 31 | 80,000+ in 75 high schools | Six counties, two states |
| 2019 | 15 (about 60 high schools) | not reported | Planning grants of about $75,000 per district; about a quarter of graduates had an MVA |
The 34 members by cohort: 16 in Cohort 1 (2020-21), 7 in Cohort 2 (2021-22), 8 in Cohort 3 (2022-23), and 3 in Cohort 4 (2024-25: Gardner Edgerton, Turner, and Frontier Schools) (RWL network list). Member sizes range from about 350 to about 25,000 students. RWL’s team page still says 31, which is out of date.
Funding. Kauffman’s 2021 case study reports that participating districts received grants of about $115,000 for planning, implementation, and mobilization. Earlier reports cited planning grants of about $75,000. No total dollar commitment to RWL was found in any public source. Confirm with the Kauffman Foundation. Last checked Oct. 3, 2026.
Two separate Kauffman commitments are sometimes mentioned alongside RWL. They are not K-12 RWL funding.
- KC Scholars: $232 million in Kauffman grants through 2032 for college scholarships.
- Great Jobs KC: $50 million for adult learners’ tuition and support in approved job training programs.
Leadership as of Oct. 3, 2026.
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Misty Chandler | Executive Director, Real World Learning (new role announced July 2025; previously Assistant Vice Provost of Academic Success, University of Kansas) |
| Eric Wilkinson | Director of Operations |
| Crystal Everett, Salvador Ocampo, Angee Simmons | Real World Learning Officers |
| Bill Nicely, Todd White | Consultants (Nicely has served as RWL’s Educator-in-Residence) |
| DeAngela Burns-Wallace | President and CEO, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation |
Missouri connection. Kauffman has provided financial support to Missouri’s Success-Ready Students Network, a group of 59 districts, four universities, and 14 organizations working with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. In September 2023 the State Board approved a three-year innovation waiver for its System Design Zone districts, and MVAs are part of that pilot.
What the evidence shows
RWL’s evidence is descriptive: attainment has grown from about a quarter to about half of graduates, and no study has tested whether MVAs change later outcomes.
| Claim | What supports it | Design |
|---|---|---|
| 52% of recent graduates earned an MVA | MDRC-compiled data reported by RWL’s Educator-in-Residence (Carnegie Foundation Q&A, first published Sept. 2024, updated Dec. 2025) | Descriptive (attainment count) |
| 49% of seniors earned an MVA in 2022-23 | RWL progress report, Feb. 2024 | Descriptive |
| About 25% baseline in 2019 | Forbes, Sept. 2019, citing the initiative | Descriptive |
| MVA earners are “more likely to pursue further education and successfully navigate the journey to employment” | Stated on Kauffman and Carnegie pages; no RWL study cited | Associational claim, untested for RWL |
| Internship-based learning and college enrollment | Arnold and Mihut (2020), Big Picture Learning longitudinal study, 1,900 graduates in six cohorts, compared with published KIPP figures | Descriptive (no causal comparison). Found similar college entry, somewhat lower six-year graduation, and high college attrition in both networks |
Evaluation status. No randomized or quasi-experimental impact evaluation of RWL was found. MDRC is described as the “learning and evaluation partner,” and its published RWL work is a measurement framework and data collection (MDRC podcast, Mar. 2023). RWL’s 2024 goals list a post-graduate impact evaluation; no results have been published. Changing. Confirm with MDRC or RWL whether that study is under way and what design it uses. Last checked Oct. 3, 2026.
The 52% figure does not name the graduating class. The likely reading is 2023-24 graduates. Confirm with RWL.
An accurate description of RWL. RWL is a strong example of regional coordination, shared definitions, and common measurement. Whether earning an MVA changes students’ later education or earnings has not yet been tested.
Elements a district can adapt
Seven features of RWL can transfer to a single district or region outside Kansas City.
- A shared local definition of what counts. Employers and educators agree on categories and thresholds, such as RWL’s 120-hour internship and 24-hour client-connected project.
- A graduation aspiration rather than a mandate. RWL uses an all-graduates goal pursued through opt-in participation.
- Client-connected projects. Student teams solve a real problem for an employer or community client inside a class. This needs a teacher, a partner, and a defined project, not a new building.
- Measurement from the start. A standard way to record MVA attainment in your existing student data system, as MDRC built for RWL.
- Design teams that include people outside the school. RWL district teams include students and parents; many also include employers and community partners.
- Funding tied to progress. Planning support first, then more support as goals are met.
- An intermediary for small or rural systems. A regional body brokers employer connections that one small district cannot staff alone. In Michigan this role could sit with an ISD.
If you add work-based learning, check federal and state child labor rules for each placement. Under federal rules, the student-learner exemption covers only Hazardous Occupations Orders 5, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, and 17.
Review status and sources
Status: Verified Oct. 3, 2026. Goal year resolved (2030). District count, MVA definitions, leadership, and per-district grant figures confirmed from primary sources. Total RWL funding and the impact evaluation remain open.
| Open question | Status | Who to ask |
|---|---|---|
| Total Kauffman dollar commitment to RWL since 2019 | Confirm with the Kauffman Foundation | Kauffman Foundation, RWL team |
| Which graduating class the 52% figure covers, and any newer figure | Confirm with RWL | RWL team or MDRC |
| Whether a post-graduate impact evaluation is under way, and its design | MDRC; RWL team | |
| Current MVA quality criteria beyond the 2021 thresholds | Confirm with RWL | RWL team |
| The 2032 date in one 2023 Kauffman article | Treated as an outlier; 2030 used | Kauffman Foundation |
Sources
- Real World Learning, home page
- Real World Learning, overview and strategies
- Real World Learning, network districts and schools
- Real World Learning, team and partners
- Real World Learning, What is a Market Value Asset? (PDF)
- Real World Learning, RWL 2.0 Progress and Goals for 2024 (Feb. 2024)
- Real World Learning, Market Value Asset Achievement guide
- Kauffman Foundation, Real World Learning case study (Oct. 2021, PDF)
- Kauffman Foundation, case study summary (Oct. 2021)
- Kauffman Foundation, commitment to regional workforce development (Mar. 2023)
- Kauffman Foundation, operating programs
- Kauffman Foundation, 2023 year in review
- Kauffman Foundation, Misty Chandler profile
- Kauffman Foundation, DeAngela Burns-Wallace profile
- Startland News, new RWL executive role (July 2025)
- Kauffman Foundation, ProX summer internships (June 2023)
- Kauffman Foundation, ProX students and employers (July 2023)
- ProX, parent information
- KC Common Good, Working for Youth and ProX
- Carnegie Foundation, Scaling Real-World Learning (Q&A with Bill Nicely)
- MDRC, Can Market Value Assets Better Prepare Students for College and Career? (podcast, Mar. 2023)
- Forbes, Kansas City High Schools Add Real World Learning (Sept. 2019)
- Forbes, New Changemaking Strategy Energizes Real World Learning (Apr. 2021)
- Education Week sponsor content, Kauffman Foundation (Oct. 2021)
- National League of Cities, Real-World Learning (Jan. 2022)
- Arnold and Mihut (2020), Big Picture Longitudinal Study, Teachers College Record
- ESRI summary of Arnold and Mihut (2020)
- Success-Ready Students Network, pilot request (June 2023)
- District news release, 20 Missouri districts will pilot meaningful assessments (Sept. 2023)
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