What is college and career ready? Simply put, it means that students who graduate from high school are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary opportunities—whether those opportunities involve enrolling in college, seeking advanced employment skills for a sustainable wage career or enlisting in the military. How do we judge if our students are ready? They enter their postsecondary experiences without need for remediation.
This page will list and provide resources that detail examples and best practices to graduate students with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to succeed.
Career and Technical Education: Building New Pathways into the Labor Market - Developed by the Center for Public Education (2016), this report provides a brief history and purpose of career technical education, explanation of how CTE is funded and operationalized at various levels and the outcomes for students who have participated in CTE programs. The report concludes with questions for policy makers to help guide them in implementing or expanding their own CTE offerings.
A New Look at Apprenticeship: Linking School to 21st Century Skills - Developed by the Center for Public Education (2018), this report provides an overview of apprenticeships in the United States, from the following dimensions: 21st century apprenticeship in the U.S., data from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) and U.S. apprenticeships, challenges facing international and national educators, and perspectives districts should consider when developing apprenticeship programs.
The Path Least Taken: A quest to learn more about high school graduates who don't go to college - Developed by the Center for Public Education (2014-2016), this report was conducted to address the gap observed between the attention and resources poured into college readiness, but not necessarily workforce readiness. It is critical that policymakers, school leaders and educators gain a better understanding of how non-college goers fared in the years after graduation, particularly those who attained “success” in life and the labor market.