American Student Assistance® in collaboration with Education Strategy Group recently published a report that explores the resources and mechanisms that state leaders, school administrators and CTE educators are leveraging to implement and expand middle grades career exploration.
Researchers noted a worrying trend of 45% of young Americans in Generation Z who say a high school diploma is all they need to get financial security, while 72% of U.S. jobs are expected to require some form of postsecondary education by 2031.
Experts suggest that the solution to better prepare learners to make decisions about their careers is intervention at an earlier age in the form of middle grades career exploration. Most states having identified middle grades career exploration as an important component of a student’s education (73%), have dedicated funding to support such activities (92%), and have policies that require some type of middle grades career exploration (92%). Twenty-seven states require students to develop an individual career and academic plan in middle school. Additionally, all but one state reported offering material supports for schools and districts to guide their middle grades career exploration work, often in the form of templates, tools, lesson plans and platforms.
Despite this recent progress, only 11 states (22%) have explicitly codified the term middle school career exploration in state statute. In addition, only 20% of states collect data on middle grades exploration while only 14% include this topic in their state or federal accountability systems.
When it comes to funding, the majority of states (96%) have allocated some funds to support middle grades career exploration although amounts vary greatly. Forty-one percent of states fund middle grades exploration only through federal sources such as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), Perkins V and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.
School administrators are most frequently using this money to invest in customized online platforms that facilitate students’ career planning. Three states report using their funds to increase districts’ capacity through career advisors and coaches, while only a few states are dedicating funds to specifically support career and technical student organizations with middle grade chapters.
The following recommendations describe how Perkins V and CTE can be leveraged to support middle grades career exploration:
- Use state Perkins V and ESSA plans to set middle grades career exploration expectations and to monitor quality and data collection.
- Revise state policies that limit students’ abilities to access diverse career exploration opportunities, including restricting CTE course enrollment by grade point average or grade level.
- Ensure explicit commitment to middle grades career exploration in local Perkins V subgrantee applications.
- Use Perkins V to set aside funds to support professional development and to encourage localities to prioritize middle grades career exploration in grant applications.
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