Industry-recognized certifications (IRCs) are designed by businesses, industrial groups, and state agencies to enable students to demonstrate their skills related to a specific profession and to enable industries to know whether potential employees are qualified for specific jobs. To understand the value of these certifications, Matt Giani…

Despite significant societal changes, the high school experience hasn't changed much in recent decades. Joshua P. Starr reflects on his own high school experiences and that of his son and considers how schools might change their focus away from requiring students to learn specific facts and toward having them develop skills as they engage in rich…

Policy makers have taken more interest in career and technical education (CTE) in recent years, but evidence regarding what kinds of programs produce the most important outcomes is still emerging. Shaun M. Dougherty summarizes what recent research tells us about the impact of these programs. Evidence has shown that CTE-dedicated schools, career…

Preparing students for postsecondary life is among the most important roles that a high school plays. And yet, how schools approach this work, what schools should be preparing students for, and who should be responsible for this work have long been contested. Jeremy Greenfield draws on an emerging body of psychological literature exploring purpose…

Current career pathways initiatives recapitulate in many ways both the issues motivating the school-to-work movement of the 1980s and 1990s and its recommended solutions, notably more work-based learning, especially apprenticeship. But that movement's energy dissipated in the face of college for all. Nonetheless, some of its achievements and many…

Homelessness among U.S. K-12 students has been on the rise for decades, and it shows no signs of slowing down, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to significant unemployment. Joseph Bishop describes findings from a study of student homelessness in California. Interviews with those experiencing homelessness and those who serve…

Florida's College and Career Readiness Initiative (FCCRI) required schools to administer a community college placement test to 11th-grade students and enroll students who did not pass in a college readiness course. Christine Mokher, James Rosenbaum, Alexis Gable, Caitlin Ahearn, and Louis Jacobson surveyed teachers of the course and found that,…

In the age of fake news, teachers in every subject area should redouble their efforts to help students distinguish between credible and deceptive sources of information. The author calls attention to a few key resources, including the CRAAP guidelines developed at California State University, Chico, and promoted by the American Library Association.

At most high schools, the goal is to prepare students to make the leap to a college environment. By contrast, Philadelphia's G.W. Carver High School of Engineering and Science has decided to create an environment that mirrors the culture and expectations of college so the transition to college won't seem like a leap at all. Three changes have been…

School counselors play a key role in promoting students' academic achievement, social and emotional development, and college and career readiness. The author reviews the research on counselors' work in these areas and discusses how schools can ensure that their counselors are better able to succeed in supporting students.

Early colleges are intended to serve students from populations typically underrepresented in college and to prepare those students with the academic skills and dispositions to succeed in college. Another important attribute of early colleges is that they help students earn college credit during their high school years. Many such early colleges are…

Transitioning from high school to college can be a formidable challenge, especially for students who are the first in their family to attend college (first-generation) and/or are from low-income backgrounds. The authors' qualitative investigation of a college mentoring program illuminates the potential value of relatable peer mentors in helping…

While talk abounds in the buzzword-happy education arena of what it means to develop students who are college and career ready, the author paints a portrait of a vocational-technical school district in northern Delaware that is actually doing both with its students, and has been for some 40 years. The vo-tech experience is not for students who…

There is no doubt but that the education realm is replete with silos of experts of one discipline or another whose knowledge and teachings do not normally crossover into others. Yet the Common Core's call for career and college readiness virtually requires such subject integration--especially between the disciplines we consider academic and those…

Launched in 2011 by the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Jobs for the Future, the Pathways to Prosperity initiative is helping states create seamless transitions from high school to college and the workforce. Inspired by youth development systems that have long been in place in other high-performing nations--such as Australia, Switzerland,…