The Coalition for Career Development Center (CCD Center) recently released their inaugural Condition of Career Readiness in the United States report, which
summarizes state-level progress toward a nation in which young adults are both college and career ready. This blog post will outline the report’s key findings related to career readiness policies, investments and outcomes.
Career Readiness Policies: To measure the quality of states’ career readiness policies, the CCD Center performed a policy analysis focused primarily on states’ personalized and academic plans (PCAP). The report found that 30 states have high-quality PCAP policy language and guidance. Additionally, 36 states identify PCAP standards or curriculum for districts and schools, and 32 offer PCAP-related professional development opportunities. However, only 20 states have identified funding to support PCAP implementation and even fewer states provide students with free access to a PCAP technology platform.
Career Readiness Investments: Complementing prior research with their own, the CCD Center examined states’ career advising, postsecondary readiness and work-based learning policies to measure career readiness investments. In addition to other indicators, researchers examined Perkins V state plans and CTE concentrator rates as part of their analysis. They concluded that 24 states identified career advisement strategies in their Perkins V state plans, primarily on the secondary level, while more than half of states are using Perkins funds to support work-based learning opportunities. Their analysis also found that, across the nation, 42% of CTE participants on average were gaining the required credits to be considered a CTE concentrator in 2020, with a very wide range in variation across states: from 5% to 83%.
Career Readiness Outcomes: Lastly, the report analyzed high school completion, postsecondary engagement, wages and youth not involved in education or the workforce to assess state-level career readiness outcomes. Researchers found that, in nearly every state, 90% or more of CTE concentrators graduated high school in 2018. In the same year, on average, 84% of CTE concentrators immediately entered postsecondary education, the military or the workforce after graduation, with state-level variations between 45% and 100%.
The report includes an abundance of state and local examples of career readiness policies and programs and details five steps that states can take to improve career readiness: prioritizing career planning, expanding access to career advising, increasing work-based learning opportunities, providing access to career development technology and ensuring accountability when measuring career readiness.
ACTE Senior Director of Public Policy Alisha Hyslop contributed to the development of this report.
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