August 29, 2019
SRI International
Alexandra Ball, REL Appalachia
Miya Warner, REL Appalachia
The question of how schools can best prepare students to enter the workforce is raised constantly in settings from classrooms to boardrooms; the answer, however, remains elusive. Employers increasingly critique the preparation of incoming graduates, with only 11 percent agreeing that students have the skills and competencies 1, 2, 3, 4 needed to succeed in the workplace. Statistics like these have spurred some to reassess the U.S. systems of K–16 workforce preparation. The rapid changes in the workforce 5, 6, make it challenging to reach consensus on what skills students should have when leaving high school. What does it mean today to be “career ready,” and how can such a complex and evolving concept best be assessed and supported?
To address these very questions, REL Appalachia recently brought together representatives from all ten RELs as well as nationally renowned experts to map the national career-readiness landscape. On July 23, in Arlington, Virginia, REL staff and career-readiness experts came together to discuss how educators and researchers in each region are addressing the development and measurement of career readiness, and shared ideas for how to improve and sync these efforts nationally. The table below includes links to more information about the REL projects featured during this discussion.
Prior to this convening, REL AP conducted a comprehensive literature scan on career readiness, organized around two simple questions: “What should we measure?” and “How should we measure?” The scan outlines considerations for selecting or developing a career-readiness framework and provides resources and strategies for sifting through the array of tools available for measuring career readiness in ways that are valid, reliable, fair, and useful in different contexts.
During the workshop, REL representatives discussed the work they are pursuing to support development of career readiness in their regions, and career-readiness experts—David Conley, professor, University of Oregon; Amy Loyd, associate vice president, Jobs for the Future (JFF); and Scott Solberg, professor, Boston University—presented on their work. Several common themes emerged from these presentations:
Building off of the day's discussion, REL AP released a full summary of the event and common themes and plans to host a webinar to provide practitioners with resources for measuring and supporting students' career planning and readiness.
______________Footnotes:
1 Lippman, L., Ryberg, R., Carney, R., & Moore, K. (2015). Workforce connections. Key “soft skills” that foster youth workforce success: Toward a consensus across fields. Washington, D.C.: Child Trends, Inc. Retrieved from https://www.childtrends.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/2015-24WFCSoftSkills1.pdf.