Transition: High School to Career

This resource from CLASP was developed with the purpose of helping interagency state teams identify and use federal resources to support career pathways. The toolkit was specifically designed to help these teams identify and facilitate "braiding" of federal resources to design and develop career pathways and bridges into them for adults and out-of-school youth. A Funding Options Worksheet is provided with sample tasks for the state teams, though CLASP does encourage the teams to customize the tasked based on their local context.

This resource from the Data Quality Campaign is a checklist that can be used by state policymakers to support their efforts to increase college and career readiness. It is meant as a guide to policymakers to use as they develop policies and procedures. The checklist provides information on the State Role, the State Responsibility, and the National Landscape. Users are able to then analyze how their state fits in compared to the provided information.

This resource from the Data Quality Campaign is a primer for state policymakers. The authors discuss the role that data plays in developing college and career ready policies. They specifically discuss the importance of state policymakers supporting the efforts to use data. A checklist is provided that policymakers can use to determine whether they have the necessary data capacity.

This brief from CLASP discusses six promising programs that show how career pathway bridges help lower-skilled students move farther and faster along college and career paths through dual enrollment in linked basic skills and occupational certificate courses. The brief finds that these bridges both engage instructors and administrators and bring basic skills students into the mainstream of colleges. Finally, it is asserted that at minimum, career pathways bridges should create shorter, more relevant paths to credentials that matter in the local economy.

This 2-year study evaluates how Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEARUP) and Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) affected the college plans of 4 cohorts of high school students. Findings showed that there were higher aspirations and college knowledge for AVID and GEARUP students, and considerably higher academic preparation for AVID students.

This study uses a nationally representative sample of students that were in grade 10 in 1980 that took the High School and Beyond Survey. The findings indicate that math courses do play an important role in predicting postsecondary education success for both men and women and students of different ethnic backgrounds, and students that took more advanced math courses on average had higher earnings.

This practice guide from the U.S. Department of Education examined studies of college access interventions. An expert panel recommended practices for promoting college access including use of college preparatory curriculum, assessment of the development of skills needed for college and surrounding students with adults and peers that reinforce college aspirations. Prepared by the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC), the guide notes the level of research evidence that demonstrates each recommendation’s effectiveness.

This report examined strategies used in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina to improve student achievement and, ultimately, high school graduation rates to ensure that students are equipped with 21st century skills and knowledge. Information on state-level high school reform initiatives in each state and state profiles were then analyzed to identify themes or “levers for change.” The report provides a detailed description of each lever and aims to give policymakers ideas about approaches to consider.

This study aimed to find out whether the expectations of the Central Region states match the expectations of colleges and the workplace, and if state standards for what students should know and be able to do in English language arts and mathematics are aligned with expectations common to two national studies on skills needed for entry to college and the workplace. Six states outside the region were selected as a comparison group. The report reveals specific findings on topics missing in the academic standards for the Central Region states.

This report from the Afterschool Alliance looks at afterschool programs designed to improve science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) skills, especially in students from underrepresented populations. The report analyzes evaluation reports on a variety of afterschool STEM programs and finds that benefits of these programs include improved attitudes about STEM fields and careers, increased STEM knowledge and skills, and higher likelihood of graduation and pursuing a STEM career.