Meeting healthcare workforce needs through the COMPASS framework: a strategic planning approach with school teams

Demand for skilled health professionals is expected to increase across the United States over the next decade. Workforce shortfalls will persist without expanded opportunities for K–12 learners to build interest and preparedness through science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) education focusing on health and biomedical science. Although resources exist to introduce learners to STEMM, structured opportunities remain limited for school leaders to strategically plan health workforce development or implement campus and/or district-wide health science pathways. Traditional science classes also provide few opportunities for students to explore diverse health careers or develop knowledge for informed health decisions. To address this need, we developed the STEMM Planning Institute for School Leadership Teams, grounded in a Community-Oriented Model for Pathways and Success in STEMM (COMPASS) framework with three components: campus planning, professional development, and communities of practice, with shared responsibility as a guiding principle. This work examines the value and feasibility of our approach. Participating school teams were recruited from campuses developing or redesigning STEMM health sciences programs. Participants completed anonymous pre- and post-program surveys aligned with components of the COMPASS framework using Likert-type items and opened- ended prompts. Pre/post changes were analyzed quantitatively and follow-up data on program implementation were gathered through in-person or virtual follow up sessions. Using pre/post items to measure perceptions of changes in skills related to the planning institute’s objectives, we found that (1) positive changes in perceptions and program outcomes offer evidence of a scalable model for STEMM education planning that previously did not exist; and (2) the COMPASS framework provides an effective and feasible structure to catalyze campus and district administrators toward program planning. Follow-up with school districts found that the institute jump-started the launch of new programming and enhanced the expansion of existing programs in 24 of the 27 locations. Professional development for teams of educational leaders built on the COMPASS framework offers a promising results-oriented approach for other individuals or organizations interested in creating sustainable health and biomedical education pathways that directly address workforce demand. The institute enhanced participants’ knowledge and laid the groundwork for developing unique STEMM pathways tailored to community needs.