Meeting the Career Readiness Imperative Study

The majority of K-12 students do not receive the career development they need to be successful in the labor market. As a result, they make uninformed decisions about their next steps after graduation—costing them time and money in the long run.This full-length study discusses how district leaders and staff can help students better understand their career options and successfully transition into the labor force after high school graduation. 

Introduction: Defining the Role of K-12 in Career Development

In recent years, career education has regained attention as a critical component to set students on the path toward lifelong success. Read on to discover more about the federal and state landscape for K-12 career development.

Chapter 1: Cultivate Early and Broad Career Awareness

K-12 is a critical time for career identity development, even within the primary grades of elementary school. But most students, regardless of age, will form an answer based on insufficient information. Read on to discover how you can help students better understand the vast variety of careers available to them.

Practice 1: Middle School Expo: Worlds of Work

Practice 2: Pathways Essentials

Practice 3: Pathways Teacher Development Lesson Plans

Practice 4: Structured Career Reflection

Chapter 2: Increase Access to Career Experiences

Students are picking their careers before testing their interests and are unaware about the day-to-day tasks affiliated with these jobs. Read on to discover how to expose students to career experiences so they can better understand how their personal strengths and interests align with potential careers.

Practice 5: Community-Sourced, Project-Based Learning

Practice 6: General Education Externships

Practice 7: Virtual Work-Based Learning

Chapter 3: Offer Personalized and Frequent Career Decision Support

For high school students, good career advice is hard to come by. School counselors have hundreds of students to attend to and more than half of students who do receive career guidance from counselors rate the experience “fair” or “poor.” Read on to discover how to increase access to better career decision support.

Practice 8: Career-Based Scheduling

Practice 9: Industry-Based Advisory Cohorts

Practice 10: Employer Mentorships

Chapter 4: Formally Aid Workplace Transitions

Traditionally, high school students developed professional skills and experience through part-time jobs. However, today’s adolescents are working less than those from previous generations. Read on to discover how to facilitate the transfer from academia to the professional space.

Practice 11: Employer-Led Workplace Skills Intensives

Practice 12: Ethnographic Career Research

Practice 13: Curriculum-Wide Transferable Skills Callouts

Practice 14: School-Wide Elevator Pitches

Practice 15: Career-Interests Capstone Presentation

Practice 16: Student Workplace Performance Awards

Appendix: Implementation Resources

This section includes supplemental implementation resources and guides.