Families and community members are challenging secondary schools to improve career readiness preparation. Family and consumer sciences (FCS) educators can be instrumental in helping students prepare effectively for a career with school-to-work transitions through work-based learning (WBL). This article presents the implementation of a 2-day FCS…

In this mixed methods phenomenology rooted in Social Cognitive Theory, a school district in Maryland is examined from an outsider's perspective to determine the degree to which structured post-secondary planning interventions by the district were successful in cultivating career decision resilience in its former students who were in their early…

This qualitative multi-case study delved into the perceptions of five immigrant and refugee high school students enrolled in an early childhood pathway program in a Midwest high school in the USA. The primary objectives were to explore how these aspiring teachers' Funds of Identity (FOI) influenced their perceptions of teaching in the USA,…

A scarcity of workers calls into doubt our capacity to support and care for an aging population. To gain a better understanding of the next generation of potential workers that will serve the aging population, 644 French-speaking students in grades 10 and 11 in the province of New Brunswick (Canada) were surveyed. The goals were to learn more…

High school students need to be prepared for postsecondary education and enter the workforce to solve real-world problems including food and energy sustainability. Real-world problems require students to apply critical thinking and problem-solving skills and transfer their learning across disciplines. Framed as a grand challenge to students, the…

Jobs for the Future (JFF) and BigFuture want all students to have the sense of agency and purpose that comes with feeling hopeful, motivated, excited, confident. An essential step in achieving this is to ensure that high school students and their families receive a timely and abundant flow of information, resources, and advising in order to…

The current study identified career-development profiles in a sample of 4815 Chinese adolescents (M[subscript age] = 16.19 years, SD = 0.67) and examined their associations with academic self-efficacy and academic motivation. The latent profile model was built on four facets of career development (career feeling, career belief, career exploration,…

In 1972, the Marland Report included leadership as a domain of giftedness in the first federal definition. Although federal and state descriptions of gifted and talented services still include identifying and developing leadership talent, in many states, services are not mandated or funded. Consequently, leadership development is often left to…

This quasi-experimental study examined the impact of participation in college-run STEM career days on American high school students' STEM career aspirations. Data were collected from a nationwide retrospective cohort survey of 15,847 U.S. college students who provided information about their experiences during high school. Accounting for…

This article presents a study that explored the implementation of a "Say Yes to FCS" Teaching Camp, a local community initiative in Texas, to address the critical shortage of family and consumer sciences (FCS) teachers in secondary schools. Aimed at incoming 9th- and 10th-grade students, the 4-day camp offered hands-on learning…

This playbook provides ways in which Career & Technical Education (CTE) Directors and their teams can blur the lines between high school, postsecondary education, and the workforce. CTE Directors can play a significant role to Raise the Bar for student success by developing an "education-to-workforce system" that focuses on Unlocking…

Motivating students in mathematics requires innovative and engaging approaches. This Spotlight explores strategies to foster a love of math and cultivate students' problem-solving abilities. From creating motivating classroom environments to connecting math to potential careers, these articles offer valuable perspectives. Discover how to build on…

The Maryland Action for Drug Discovery and Pharmaceutical Research (MADDPR) Program provides hands-on lab experience and mentoring to underserved minority high school students. Over 4 years, 93 high school students and their science teachers participated in the two-week summer camp program which was led by 15 faculty from the School of Pharmacy.…

This study examines the process and outcome of a life design group intervention with grade 9 students. In a sample of 139 participants (91 girls and 48 boys), a quasi-experimental design was applied to analyse the intervention's effectiveness at fostering vocational identity, career adaptability and career decision-making self-efficacy. Seventy…

Research suggests that the likelihood of students entering into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers can be increased by promoting and maintaining students' interest in STEM during middle school years, a critical developmental stage when students' interests begin to solidify. One way to attract students to STEM is…