Career readiness resources and events

By Claire Suh
August 25, 2017

A number of high-quality resources related to career readiness are available online. We curated the following resources, including several from REL Midwest.

On August 17, REL Midwest hosted a webinar on culturally responsive strategies to promote college and career readiness for American Indian students. The webinar featured Dr. Amanda Tachine, postdoctoral scholar at Arizona State University, and Tami Johnson, counselor on special assignment for the Indian Education Program at Minneapolis Public Schools. Stay tuned for the event archive, which will feature slides and recordings of the presentations.
REL Midwest's Impacts of Ramp-Up to Readiness™ After One Year of Implementation (2017) investigates various elements of the impact of the Ramp-Up program for high school students.
REL Midwest examines the impact of the Early Warning Intervention and Monitoring System (EWIMS), an early warning system that uses research-based warning signs to identify students at risk of dropping out of high school, in Getting Students on Track for Graduation: Impacts of the Early Warning Intervention and Monitoring System (EWIMS) After One Year (2017). The findings provide initial rigorous evidence that EWIMS is a promising strategy for reducing rates of chronic absence and course failure, two key indicators that students are off track for graduation.
The REL Midwest report Characteristics and Postsecondary Pathways of Students Who Participate in Acceleration Programs in Minnesota (2017) examines participation rates, achievement, and early college outcomes for students in Minnesota's acceleration programs. Nearly half of Minnesota's 2011 high school graduates participated in acceleration programs, but participation varied by student characteristics and was associated with early college outcomes.
- The corresponding infographic further discusses the findings.
- Two blog posts in an Education Week series on research-practice partnerships look at the study from the perspectives of a researcher and a practitioner: New Study Sheds Light on Students in Acceleration Programs (2017) and Study Sparks Conversation about Equal Access to Acceleration Programs (2017).
In the brief Competency-Based Education: Staying Shallow or Going Deep? (2017), the College and Career Readiness and Success (CCRS) Center, the Great Lakes and Midwest Regional Deeper Learning Initiative, and the Center on Innovations in Learning explore how states and districts can define competencies that reflect a full range of knowledge, skills, and dispositions that are necessary for students to achieve college and career readiness.
The REL Midwest public television program Preparing Students to Succeed in College and Careers (2016), produced in partnership with Twin Cities Public Television, discusses how educators, parents, and community institutions can work together to advance college and career readiness and student success.
The professional learning module Integrating Employability Skills: A Framework for All Educators (2016) offers resources for states and districts to build their capacity to integrate and prioritize employability skills. The module was developed by the CCRS Center, the Center on Great Teachers and Leaders, and RTI International.
The CCRS Center's professional learning module Designing a Career Pathways System: A Framework for State Education Agencies (2016) includes a facilitator's guide, slides, and activities to help state education agency staff design, implement, and evaluate a career pathways system.