Meeting the Career Readiness Imperative Executive Brief

Key Insights

In reality, a large share of students make uninformed decisions about their next steps. Correcting these mistakes at a later date is costly in terms of time and money. More than half of all high school graduates believe their school did not support them in exploring and identifying which postsecondary steps and careers would align with their interests and capabilities. Consequently, only 36% of high school graduates make postsecondary industry-specific decisions that align with their strengths and interests.

Districts are well-positioned to propel students towards career success due to their access to all students, regardless of their eventual educational attainment levels. The good news is that districts can provide all students with ongoing career development support without sacrificing academics or requiring additional resources.

The four practices outlined in this brief provide a sample of some of our most promising findings. In addition to describing the steps and details necessary to execute these practices, we have included sample tools/templates to ease the implementation process for school leaders.