Key points:

• The exposure gap limits students’ motivation to strive for in-demand careers
• Helping students navigate college majors
• To foster young talent, employers need to share their social capital
• For more news on career readiness, visit eSN’s Innovative Teaching page

Students have the aptitudes (or natural talents) for the nation’s most in-demand career fields –including healthcare, manufacturing, technology, and finance– but they are not inclined to pursue those occupations due to a profound lack of exposure, according to The 2024 State of the Future U.S. Workforce Report from tech provider YouScience, which aims to solve the skills gap crisis for students and employers.

The report includes analysis of anonymized data from more than 540,000 YouScience Aptitude & Career Discovery assessments completed by U.S. middle and high school students across all 50 states in 2023.

In the assessments, students completed a series of science-backed brain games to discover their aptitudes, interests, and matching best-fit careers. The analysis found that:

• 39 percent of students have an aptitude for careers in Health Science
  • A field where employment for jobs such as health information technologists and medical registrars is projected to grow 16 percent in the next decade
• 32 percent of students have an aptitude for careers in Computers & Technology
  • A field where employment for jobs such as computer and information research scientists is projected to grow 23 percent in the next decade
• 30 percent of students have an aptitude for careers in Agriculture & Natural Resources
  • A field where employment for jobs such as agricultural and food science technician is projected to grow 5 percent in the next decade.
• 29 percent of students have an aptitude for careers in Advanced Manufacturing
  • A field where employment for jobs such as industrial engineers is projected to grow 12 percent in the next decade

While students possess the aptitudes for occupations in these key areas, the findings highlight a significant exposure gap that is preventing these students from pursuing education pathways toward those career fields:  

• 75 percent more students have an aptitude for careers in Computers & Technology than interest
• 66 percent more students have an aptitude for careers in Advanced Manufacturing than interest
• 48 percent more students have an aptitude for careers in Agriculture & Natural Resources than interest
• 43 percent more students have an aptitude for careers in Health Science than interest

“Our report highlights a crucial issue in education today: the exposure gap. Students have untapped potential for in-demand occupations but lack a clear understanding of their skills and how they align with careers. Failing to address this deprives students of valuable insights into their aptitudes and their connection to the evolving world,” said Edson Barton, Founder and CEO of YouScience. “In an era of rapid economic and technological changes, it’s essential for students to grasp their full range of abilities. This understanding empowers them to confidently prepare for the future and pursue specific career pathways. It also enables our society to make education and career opportunities more equitable for all students.”

The findings of The 2024 State of the Future U.S. Workforce Report also prove that students –regardless of gender and race– have the necessary aptitudes to fill the skills gap plaguing many industries today and well into the future. Key takeaways include:

• 87 percent more female students have an aptitude for careers in Computers & Technology than interest
• 73 percent more Black students have an aptitude for careers in Advanced Manufacturing than interest
• 69 percent more Hispanic students have an aptitude for careers in Computers & Technology than interest
• 54 percent more male students have an aptitude for careers in Health Science

This press release originally appeared online.

This post on CTE Month originally appeared on iCEV’s blog and is reposted here with permission.

Key points:

• CTE is a valuable experience for students–here’s how to highlight opportunities
• Voters skeptical of college, more supportive of CTE
• Companies go to high schools for career training
• For more news on CTE, visit eSN’s Innovative Teaching hub

As a career and technical education (CTE) teacher, you know the importance of preparing students for the workforce–no matter which CTE career cluster or pathway they follow.

But how do you express that importance to your students, school, and community?

That’s where CTE Month comes in!

Every February, students, educators, and administrators raise awareness of CTE programs by celebrating CTE month.

So how can you celebrate CTE Month and show support for your program?

These are the five best ways you and your students can join in:

1. Share the facts about CTE
2. Invite visitors to see your CTE program in action
3. Increase involvement in career and technical student organizations
4. Spread the word on social media
5. Make CTE Month official in your city

After reading, you’ll have plenty of ideas on how to celebrate CTE month and get your students excited about their future careers!

1. Share the Facts about CTE

Knowing the facts about CTE — and sharing those facts — is a key part in celebrating CTE Month. It’s a great idea to start by sharing basic information about CTE as a whole. In addition, read up on information that pertains specifically to the career cluster your program falls under.

But where can you find this information? There’s three great places to start.

First, the Association for Career & Technical Education (ACTE) has fact sheets that you can download and share in a heartbeat. The documents include lots of data and even some infographics to make a lasting impression about CTE!

In addition, Advance CTE has fact sheets all about what CTE is, how it works, and more that show its benefits. Combined with your passion for CTE, this data can help turn you become an extraordinary advocate!

Once you’ve got the information down, it’s important to find people to share it with. That’s where the next idea comes in!

2. Invite Visitors to See Your CTE Program

A great way to spread the word and show off your CTE program is to host visitors. Visits can increase awareness of the importance of CTE and help others understand the opportunities CTE provides for your students and the community.

While you can invite just about anyone to come check it out, it’s smart to start with business leaders and local policymakers. These individuals are great references for hiring your future graduates and empowering your CTE program with funding.

To plan and conduct a visit to your classroom, you can follow a nine-step process created by the ACTE.

But visits are just the beginning. You have a golden opportunity to take your celebration and advocacy to the next level by getting your students more involved!

3. Increase Involvement in Career and Technical Student Organizations

A career and technical student organization (CTSO) is an extracurricular group for students in CTE pathways to further their knowledge and skills by participating in activities, events, and competitions.

As the National Coordinating Council for Career and Technical Student Organizations (NCC-CTSO) says:

“CTSOs extend teaching and learning through innovative programs, business and community partnerships and leadership experiences at the school, state and national levels.

CTSOs are a powerful avenue for helping our nation address key challenges such as workforce development, student achievement, economic vitality and global competitiveness.”

There are nine CTSOs currently authorized:

• Business Professionals of America (BPA)
• DECA
• Educators Rising
• Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA)
• Future Business Leaders of America – Phi Beta Lambda (FBLA-PBL)
• Future Farmers of America (FFA)
• HOSA – Future Health Professionals
• SkillsUSA
• Technology Student Association (TSA)

Encourage CTE students who haven’t yet joined to learn more about CTSOs by sharing the benefits of joining with them. You can find information on each organization on the CTSO website.

This doesn’t just get students involved in CTE — it also encourages them to celebrate CTE Month themselves. The more students are invested, the more of a positive impact they can have on your community!

One other way students can get involved is through the next idea on our list — spreading the word on social media.

4.  Spread the Word on Social Media

Talking about CTE Month on social media is one of the easiest and most powerful ways to make an impact.

You can celebrate on social media by sharing CTE facts, information about your CTE programs, highlighting CTSOs, and more.

Use each social media platform in different ways to celebrate and spread the word. Try finding related groups, pages, and hashtags to connect with others in the CTE community and amplify your reach.

For some ideas, the ACTE has a page dedicated to social media advocacy with tips, hashtags, and other information you and your students can use to really make an impact via social media!

Want to do even more as an advocate for CTE? The last item on our list will make the biggest impact of all for your community!

5.  Make CTE Month Official in Your City

If you want full-fledged support of CTE in your city (or even state), encourage your policymakers to designate February as CTE Month.

Pushing for recognition of CTE month shows your community that you and your local government have an interest in modern education.

By getting CTE Month officially proclaimed in your city, you introduce an entire city to the benefits and importance of CTE.

Local businesses, broadcasters, and citizens can all get involved in promoting a form of education that benefits everyone!

Start Celebrating CTE Month Today!

As a Career and Technical Education (CTE) teacher, you want to champion the importance of CTE to your students and your community. Celebrating CTE Month in February is a terrific way to raise awareness about your field, gain support from policymakers and community leaders, and get your students excited about future opportunities.

You can start celebrating CTE Month by choosing one item on this list to start making a difference for CTE in your community.

Key points:

• CTE is evolving and linking students to relevant and engaging career paths
• See article: Voters skeptical of college, more supportive of CTE
• See article: More high school grads are rejecting 4-year pathways
• For more news on CTE, visit eSN’s Innovative Teaching page

In 2024, career and technical education (CTE) is not simply an alternative for students whose future plans don’t include college. It’s a fundamental part of the K-12 experience and a viable career pathway for many students.

CTE lets students understand the relevance of what they’re learning in school. It exposes them to career pathways they might not have known about otherwise. It prepares them for rich and rewarding careers in high-paying, high-demand jobs, whether they go on to attend college or not.

For K-12 leaders to succeed in creating high-quality CTE programming, here are five key trends and challenges I believe will affect this important field in 2024 and beyond.

Administrators (and parents) need to understand that CTE career pathways are highly attractive.

A generation ago, CTE career pathways (aka vocational schools) were widely considered to be appropriate only for students with few other options. This created a vacuum over time and a huge shortage of workers for lucrative, life-long careers. Take manufacturing, for instance: Many jobs were moving overseas, the workplace environment was noisy and dirty, and the opportunities for advancement were seen as very limited.

But that’s all changing now. Aided by advancements in technology, manufacturing has made a huge comeback in the United States, and skilled workers are now in high demand. Today’s manufacturing facilities are clean, modern workplaces that offer many exciting opportunities for students to work with cutting-edge technologies, such as cloud computing, robotics, programmable logic controllers, or PLCs and simulation software

CTE training gives students a head start in preparing for high-growth, high-wage jobs, even those students whose plans after high school include a college education. It’s no longer a dumping ground for students, but an opportunity for everyone to thrive.

Students are benefiting from learning about careers at an earlier age.

High schools often hold career days to help students understand various career options, but waiting until high school is too late: Many students have already eliminated entire career paths from their minds by then.

By exposing children to possible career pathways at an earlier age, we can open up many more worlds of possibilities for them. This is why a growing number of school systems are introducing students to career pathways at younger ages. That is why STEM education is so important in elementary and middle school.

Giving students early exposure to career options is a critical strategy for closing economic gaps and putting them on a path toward college or directly to ahigh-paying career, the nonprofit Center for American Progress (CAP) argues—especially those from low-income communities.

Connecting what students are learning to possible career pathways not only helps them make more informed choices about their future, but it also deepens their engagement in school, as many educators have found. When students can see how the skills they’re learning in the classroom apply to various careers, this helps them answer the all-important question: “Why do I have to learn this?” It also helps them become more confident in their abilities, because every child learns in a different way. For example, think about learning about X, Y, and Z in math classes. If students have the opportunity to learn about robotics, they will be able to directly apply the math learning with a real-world robotic application.

Schools need to find alternative paths for recruiting CTE instructors.

Recruiting and retaining CTE instructors was already challenging for many districts—and the pandemic has only exacerbated the situation. According to the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE), 28 states and territories have reported CTE teaching shortages to the U.S. Department of Education for the 2023-24 school year.

With school systems competing with industry employers for talent, many schools already struggled to hire enough CTE teachers to meet their needs. Somebody who can teach about PLCs and robotics can easily make six figures applying those skills within a manufacturing facility, instead of making $50,000 a year teaching those skills to students.

After the pandemic, the shortage of qualified CTE instructors has only grown. COVID placed enormous stress on educators, and especially CTE teachers who were trying to teach historically hands-on courses in a completely new way, using technologies they weren’t comfortable with. In the wake of COVID, many teachers have taken early retirement or left the classroom for the private sector.

School systems need to be creative in finding new ways to recruit CTE instructors. For instance, they might consider establishing programs for pulling future CTE teachers from their current student pool. K-12 leaders also must work with policy makers to establish flexible credentialing options for CTE instructors. It’s bad enough that districts face a pay gap when competing with the private sector for talent—but if employees also have to go back to school to earn a master’s degree and a teaching certificate if they’re leaving an industry position to become a CTE instructor, that’s just not realistic.

Virtual tools that can support effective CTE instruction are emerging.

One positive trend to emerge from the pandemic is that tremendous strides have been made in the development of augmented and virtual reality software, simulation tools, and online learning platforms.

These technologies can help bridge the gap between theory and application of career-based skills. They don’t completely replace the need for hands-on learning within CTE programs, but they can give students a solid foundation at an earlier age, while reducing the amount of time that students need in a lab setting to get the kinetic, hands-on experience of actually performing a task for real—such as programming a robot or repairing a motor.

Online simulations can also supplement a teacher’s capability, which can reduce the challenges associated with hiring CTE instructors. For instance, a gamified computer science environment can help good math or science teachers to be confident in teaching coding skills to students even if they aren’t a coding expert for themselves.

Policy makers must understand the need for more CTE funding.

The main source of federal funding for CTE is the Perkins Basic State Program from the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act. In the 2023 fiscal year, Perkins grants were funded at $1.44 billion. However, this funding source has remained relatively flat since the 1990s. During that time, the practical impact of Perkins grants has fallen by more than $900 million in inflation-adjusted dollars—amounting to a 45-percent reduction in the program’s purchasing power.

At the same time, technology is evolving rapidly, and schools don’t have the budgets to keep up with these changes. In addition, the gap between the skills that students are graduating with and the skills that employers require is widening.

CTE programs are pivotal in helping to close this skills gap, but that can only happen if lawmakers make the necessary investments in CTE instruction. ACTE is calling for a $400 million increase in Perkins grants to address this funding deficit.

To summarize these thoughts: Despite millions of job openings around the country, nearly three out of four employers in this ACTE report note a persistent mismatch between the skills they require and the skills their workers possess. CTE in schools can help prepare students more effectively for the jobs of the future, provided that administrators, parents, and students see the value of CTE pathways and students are exposed to career options earlier in their education. Schools must find creative ways to increase the pipeline of CTE instructors and integrate new technology tools into CTE courses, and policymakers must invest more in CTE programs.

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters.

It’s more important for Colorado schools to prepare students for the workforce than to prepare them to attend college.

That’s the opinion of more than 60% of respondents in a recent poll of education attitudes among Colorado voters. Magellan Strategies surveyed a representative group of 1,550 Colorado registered voters in September. The survey has a margin of error of 2.5%.

Magellan Strategies has done regular polling about education attitudes for several years. This is the first time the firm has included questions about CTE and higher education attitudes.

Respondents cited the high cost of college and questioned how useful college is to helping graduates get jobs, even though the majority of the respondents had a bachelor’s degree or higher themselves. Registered voters as a group have higher education and higher income levels than the general population.

Magellan Strategies CEO David Flaherty said some Republicans and conservatives brought up ideological concerns — such as colleges being hotbeds of “woke” thinking — but across the political spectrum, respondents wondered about the value of higher education, sometimes citing their own experiences of high student debt and low-paying jobs. Others worried about increasingly sophisticated artificial intelligence systems doing away with jobs.

“You can feel that skepticism about the availability of a white-collar job at the other end,” Flaherty said.

Magellan’s findings echo those of a national poll of Gen Z students earlier this year that also found growing skepticism among young people of the value of a four-year degree. Those respondents still thought education after high school was important, but they were more interested in trade schools, industry certificates, and two-year programs that would help them get good-paying jobs with less debt.

Flaherty said colleges should take note of the findings, especially as they brace for declining enrollment. They need to get costs under control and show families and policy makers that an education is worth the investment of time and money, he said.

The flip side is that career and technical education scores very well with voters and helps counter concerns among conservative voters that schools are on the wrong track, Flaherty said.

Magellan found that more than half of respondents weren’t sure if their local school districts offered career and technical education, but more than 86% would have a more favorable view of their school district if they knew about such programs, which can range from auto mechanics and cosmetology to health sciences and graphic design.

The poll showed that nearly half of voters think that schools are on the wrong track, and less than a third think they’re on the right track. That’s a worse view of education than voters had before the pandemic but similar to more recent polls.

Among conservatives, negative views of schools appeared to be shaped by national conservative media, Flaherty said, with respondents noting concerns about how schools handle gender identity and whether books in school libraries contain sexual content. Progressive voters are concerned about low funding and what they see as conservative attacks on public education.

Compared to last year, more Colorado voters said schools would provide a better education if they had more money — 61% compared with 56% in April 2022. But nearly half of respondents said they doubted their local school district was managing its finances wisely.

Asked about their top priorities, respondents said schools should focus on attracting and retaining high-quality educators, raising pay to keep pace with inflation, and preparing students for the workforce.

Magellan also asked respondents how they feel about the prospect of closing schools. With lower birth rates, many Colorado school districts are seeing fewer students, which in turn means less state funding. Jeffco Public Schools, the state’s second largest school district, closed 21 schools in the last two years, despite pushback from parents. Others, such as Denver Public Schools, have balked at widespread closures in the face of community backlash.

When the downsides of small schools — such as offering fewer students services and less arts programming due to budget constraints — were explained to respondents, more than half said that school districts should consider closing schools.

See the full poll results, including regional breakdowns, here.

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.

Related:
Gen Z youth on nondegree paths feel workforce ready
As teens rethink college and career options, counselors are trying to adapt
For more news on CTE, visit eSN’s Innovative Teaching page

This article originally appeared on the Christensen Institute’s blog and is reposted here with permission.

Key points:

• Employee volunteers can help further students’ accomplishments by creating relationships
• See related article: How did the pandemic impact students’ social capital?
• For more news on career readiness, visit eSN’s Innovative Teaching page

In July 2023, our team published “People-powered pathways: Lessons in how to build students’ social capital through career-connected learning.” In the report, we describe successes and challenges in bringing social capital–building strategies to a variety of educational settings. Our observations draw from an 18-month pilot during which we leveraged our social capital playbook to provide direct support to a group of three intermediary organizations—Education Strategy Group, Generation Schools Network, and Hawai‘i P-20—collectively supporting 20 sites in the K–12 career pathways space. In the course of the pilot, we sought to understand how schools and nonprofits can make social capital-building an explicit, effective, and equitable component of existing career-connected learning models. 

In career-connected learning, employee volunteers like internship supervisors or guest speakers typically see their role as providing students job-specific knowledge and skills. However, these individuals have an equally important role to play in students’ networks: fostering students’ well-being and economic mobility by creating lasting relationships that involve sharing resources, connections, and opportunities. 

To make this kind of role a reality, employers need to understand the goals of social capital-building, what will be expected of them, and how it can benefit both parties. As one nonprofit leader explained, helping employers take on that role may require upfront reflection, encouraging them to consider pre-conceived notions they may have about young people:

 “[If] everybody is committed to working on interrogating all of the thoughts that we as adults have about young people, good and bad, then the effect ends up being social capital. Because you’ve actually taken down the barrier or the silo that says ‘I am this and you are that. I’m here to provide a service and you’re here to get one.’”

For organizations and schools brokering connections to employers, infusing social capital into the purpose behind those connections influenced how they recruited, vetted, and prepared employer partners who would be interacting with students. One nonprofit leader stated, 

“We vet our employers that we work with and we have an orientation. They start perhaps from different places and they might not know how [to work with us]. They might have an idea about what an eighth grader is or is not, what ‘risk factors’ youth of color may come with or what their story may be. Part of what is important to us is working with worksite partners so they can see a whole person, an eighth grader who is a complete asset now, and the net value later of working with young people.”

Acknowledging and tackling the “burden of investment”

During our pilot, surveys of site staff revealed that 40% found it somewhat difficult to educate employers about how they can help build students’ social capital. Although nonprofits who were heavily involved in internship or apprenticeships often had the time and expertise to design and conduct orientations for employers, other sites with less capacity were wary of asking too much of their employer partners. In these circumstances, additional training for employers specifically focused on building relationships with students was rarely an option.

While emphasizing return-on-investment (ROI) can help some employers see the long-term benefits of this type of work, one intermediary partner pointed out that for some employers it’s also about avoiding the short-term burden it places on their employees. In addition to ROI, the partner explained, 

“There’s also BOI, which is ‘burden of investment.’ Making it easier for [employers] to see that the burden of their investment in this is not that burdensome, and that the experience is enjoyable. [Employees] enjoy the experience of the personal relationship with the kids, and that reduces the burden of investment as well. And it grows our partners’ social capital.” 

When working with employers concerned about upfront burden on their employees, one option is to provide a menu that describes different options for getting involved based on employee volunteers’ capacity and interests. This arrangement not only allows employers to understand what is expected of them and their employees, but also allows them to choose the types of experiences that they feel will be enjoyable and meaningful for them. With this mutual understanding, work-based learning can take shape much more easily.  

Example in action: 

Apprentice Learning is a Boston-based nonprofit organization that provides real-world work experiences for eighth graders. Given that Apprentice Learning’s students were already immersed in work settings as part of their apprenticeships, the Boston site planning team felt that these experiences were a natural fit for building social capital.

While most career-readiness programs ask, “How prepared are young people to build relationships with adults?,” Apprentice Learning equally emphasizes the other side of the equation by asking “How prepared are adults to build relationships with young people?” 

During the pilot, Apprentice Learning communicated its vision to employer partners in multiple ways. First, it held an orientation for employers in which Apprentice Learning staff used an asset-based frame to gently challenge employers’ beliefs about what young people can do and what it means to have relationships with them. The goal was to help employers realize that they are building meaningful relationships with human beings who are still learning, yet capable of tremendous success. 

Apprentice Learning also communicated with employers via weekly emails. These emails contained guidance for apprenticeship supervisors about how they could best support students, including conversation starters such as “consider talking with your apprentice about your first job,” or “consider sharing about a time when you encountered a struggle in your job and how you navigated it.” As one program leader stated, 

“Because of the questions that we put in our weekly letter to our worksite partners, there are more opportunities for them to have conversations about their interests and their trajectory. One of the things that’s resulted in is that at least three, maybe four of our kids have been offered possible summer opportunities. And it is because the worksite partner and the young person took the time to get to know some things about each other a little bit beyond the ‘how to work’ part.”

Finally, Apprentice Learning staff visited each student’s worksite and engaged in one-on-one conversations with their worksite supervisors. These conversations further reinforced the foundation that Apprentice Learning built during the orientations and maintained with the weekly emails. Describing a recent visit to a worksite where two students were apprenticing, a program leader recalled how the conversations they had with employers about building social capital influenced supervisors’ behaviors. When she walked into the worksite, the students’ supervisor immediately offered to provide references for the students if they needed them. “We didn’t have to ask the guy—it was offered. And [the students] understood that their [supervisors] are a resource that they didn’t necessarily know that they had.”  

In conclusion, it’s time that employers’ roles in career-connected learning go beyond imparting skills. As decades of research show, it’s skills plus connections that truly move students up the economic distribution ladder. 

However, accomplishing this goal requires a shift in perspective and intentionality. What we need are systems that incentivize sharing of social capital. Schools and nonprofits like Apprentice Learning are well positioned to start the conversation with their employer partners. But employers participating in these efforts have a responsibility to allocate resources and create policies that foster more student-centered experiences. While it requires upfront investment, focusing on young people now provides a solid foundation for the society of the future. 

Key points:

• Choosing a college major is one of the biggest decisions for most students
• Future earnings and career satisfaction should be carefully balanced
• See related article: A smarter way to think about college
• For more news on college readiness, see eSN’s Innovative Teaching page

Deciding on a college major is a tricky decision for even the most dedicated of students. Before enrolling, students have to consider their own skills, their career prospects, and their ability to thrive within the department at large.

As a parent, guidance counselor, or teacher, you can help students navigate college majors by doing a little research of your own. Focus on learning more about the student’s goals and motivations, and look into potential professors before the semester starts. This will help you guide students toward a major that is both enjoyable and financially rewarding. 

Interests

Many students attend college with the knowledge that they’ll earn an average of $1.2 million more over their entire lifetime. While the financial reward of graduating shouldn’t be overlooked, neither should student’s interests when choosing a degree.

When trying to figure out the best major for a prospective student, focus on understanding their needs and motivations. What questions keep them up at night? Which classes do they enjoy the most in high school? How do they perform in their favorite class? Asking these questions will help students navigate their potential major and avoid disappointment in the future.

Remind students that choosing a degree in a subject they enjoy is more beneficial than pursuing a degree that they feel is sensible. Oftentimes, students enroll in degrees out of a misguided belief that some degrees are more practical than others. This is a mistake, as students who enroll in subjects they don’t enjoy are more likely to fail classes and miss out on their degree altogether.

If students are having a hard time deciding between subjects that interest them, encourage them to enroll in pre-requisite classes that fulfill both degree requirements. Oftentimes, courses like chemical engineering and mechanical engineering have the same requirements for students in their freshman and sophomore years. Taking classes strategically will give students a chance to develop their skills and gain experience while delaying their decisions.

Earnings

There’s nothing wrong with choosing a college major that will lead to a high-income career. In fact, many students find that projected earnings help simplify the decision-making process and find a degree that suits them. 

Pursuing a profitable career is more important today than ever before, too. Federal student loans are more expensive now as interest rates range between 5.5 and 8.05 percent. This, coupled with the fact that college credits are more expensive, means that many students are putting their financial well-being first during the decision-making process.

As a teacher or parent, you can help students manage the financial strain they may face by alerting them to assistance programs. Some students who are already enrolled may be eligible for student relief programs, while others will be able to sign up for the new income-driven repayment plan.

Remind students that the best-paying careers are often the ones where their interests align with their roles. However, you shouldn’t sugarcoat the reality that certain degrees tend to bring in more cash than others. Currently, the highest-paying degrees for graduates include:

• Chemical Engineering
• Computer Science
• Business Analytics
• Economics

These degrees can set graduates up for life and lead to interesting career paths. STEM-oriented degrees usually champion transferable skills, too, meaning your student will be set up to succeed as the world of work changes.

Assessing the department

Enrolling in college classes and taking courses is exciting for any student. However, as a parent or teacher, you know that the quality of the professors your student will work with is just as important as the subject matter they’ll cover.

Research the department together before your student enrolls. A quick search in Google will let you know if the department is undergoing a restructuring or has been under fire recently for poor performance. You can also use sites like RateMyProfessor to learn more about lecturers and professors before enrolling.

Ask about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives before your student enrolls for a particular degree. This is particularly important if your student comes from a traditionally marginalized background. Discrimination, intentional or otherwise, does occur on campus and can detract from a student’s ability to learn.

When researching a department, you may be surprised to learn about initiatives to increase inclusion. This is because many fields are falling behind due to poor representation. For example, the tech industry currently needs more LGBTQ+ voices to guard against stereotypes and overcome bias in program development. Your student may even be eligible for scholarships if they’re part of the LGBTQ+ community and have a passion for tech.

Conclusion

Settling on a college major can be a difficult process for students. There are hundreds of degrees to choose from and many students feel pressured to choose a degree that is regarded as practical. Help students choose a major by discussing their interests as well as their projected income. This will ensure that students enroll in degrees that will lead to future success in a field that they love.

Key points:

• Three in four high school grads say they feel ready to enter the workforce thanks to a nondegree pathway
• High school graduates need more information about these pathways to better make decisions about their futures
• See related article: Companies go to high schools for career training
• For more news on college and career readiness, see eSN’s Innovative Teaching page

A new survey commissioned by American Student Assistance (ASA) and Jobs for the Future (JFF) found that while young people who pursue nondegree pathways report having confidence in their future, there is a pervasive lack of awareness about these diverse pathways to success and how to judge their quality. In fact, two in three youth who did not pursue a nondegree education pathway indicated they would have considered this option if they had known more about it.

As college enrollment remains below pre-pandemic levels and survey after survey captures growing public skepticism about the value of college, ASA and JFF commissioned a survey – conducted by Morning Consult – of more than 1,100 high school graduates who have opted not to go to college directly after high school to better understand their decisions. 

The survey explores the perceptions, feelings, and choices of three groups of students pursuing a nondegree postsecondary program, such as apprenticeships, bootcamps, certificate programs, industry certifications, and occupation licenses versus students who are not pursuing postsecondary education or training programs. The three groups of learners surveyed include: Non-college youth: Those neither enrolled nor graduated from a college (encompasses all survey respondents); Pathway youth: Those who pursued or are pursuing any nondegree postsecondary pathway (describes 558 of survey respondents); and Non-pathway youth: Those who didn’t pursue or aren’t pursuing any nondegree postsecondary pathway (describes 561 of survey respondents).

Among the key findings:                                                               

1. Young people in nondegree pathways feel confident. In comparison to the experiences and perceptions of youth who aren’t on a defined pathway, 70 percent of “pathway youth” have high confidence in their post-high school plans. Nearly all (9 in 10) respondents are satisfied with the pathway they are pursuing or pursued. The top reasons for that satisfaction were the opportunity to engage in hands-on work and learn by doing, that pathways were faster to complete and provided them the education and training they needed to obtain a job in their desired field.
   
2. Young people in nondegree pathways perceive that they are workforce-ready. Nearly three in four (71 percent) of pathway youth respondents said they felt prepared for the workforce. Across these respondents, around one in three had pursued a certification (31 percent) or certificate (33 percent), and 20 percent had pursued a competency-based license. 
   
3. A higher proportion of pathway youth report being employed. More pathway youth (65 percent) report working part- or full-time, compared to 51 percent of non-pathway youth.     
      
4. Information gaps persist for high school graduates. Nearly 1 in 3 non-college youth (32 percent) report a lack of confidence in knowing the steps they need to take to transition into a post-high school career and education. Two in three (64 percent) non-pathway youth say they would have considered pathway programs if they knew more about them. They report several barriers to not pursuing pathway programs, including a lack of encouragement by the school to explore them. Non-college youth identified searching the web (87 percent) and watching online videos (81 percent) as the most preferred sources of information for their post-high school plans.

“A growing number of young people are interested in diverse postsecondary pathways that enable them to build a life and career on their own terms. But acquiring the skills needed to thrive in a dynamic workforce can be unclear and confusing for learners. It’s the responsibility of policymakers, advocates, and educators to ensure young people have the information and opportunities necessary to build those skills,” said Jean Eddy, President and CEO of ASA. “With this survey, we seek to learn from young people in order to better understand the support needed to help them with their future planning.”

“It’s clear many Gen Z youth are looking for faster, more affordable, and more relevant pathways to meaningful jobs that offer life-sustaining wages and are aligned to their aspirations and interests,” said Maria Flynn, President and CEO of Jobs for the Future. “As we transform education and workforce development systems by blurring the lines between high school, postsecondary education, and career training, helping young people access clear, accurate, and timely information about diverse education-to-career pathways is critical.” 

The complete survey findings can be found in a new white paper, “Success, Redefined: How Non-Degree Pathways Empower Youth to Chart Their Own Course to Confidence, Employability, and Financial Freedom,” released today by ASA and JFF. In addition to the survey findings, the white paper highlights direct accounts from four young people who have pursued a range of pathways after high school from on-line courses and certificates, to bootcamps and apprenticeship programs.

This press release originally appeared online.

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters.

When students come into Danielle Insel’s college and career advising office with their sights set on higher education, she has a checklist of next steps ready. For years, around nine out of 10 kids fell into that camp, she estimates.

But recently, a growing number of seniors–upwards of 30 percent, she guesses–have told her they have no intention of going to college. And more kids than ever are considering ways to make money without a college degree, Insel said–driven in part by people and jobs they’ve encountered on social media. For those students, there’s no equivalent checklist.

Insel has one student this year determined to be a tattoo artist. But after researching potential trade school options and finding nothing affordable, Insel — the postsecondary readiness counselor at Urban Assembly Institute of Math and Science for Young Women in downtown Brooklyn — said they came up with a plan for the student to visit tattoo parlors and ask if they’d take her on as an apprentice. So far, one has invited her back for a more in-depth conversation.

The shift in Insel’s office is not an isolated case.

The pandemic profoundly reshaped the college and career landscape for high school graduates in New York City and across the country. And the counselors who advise them have had to change their approach in response.

The rate of city students enrolling in some form of higher education within six months of graduation fell from 81% in 2019 to 71% in 2021 — the lowest rate since at least 2007, according to city data. Nationwide, 62% of recent high school graduates enrolled in college in 2022, down from 66% in 2019, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

That drop combined with the increasing interest in non-college options has spurred counselors like Insel who have historically focused primarily on pushing students toward college to spend more time and effort helping students navigate the world of work and trade school.

“I’ve changed my language to, ‘I’m not here to push college on anyone, there are plenty of different pathways,’” said Insel. 

That shift in language mirrors one across the entire New York City Education Department, which went from touting a program called “College Access For All” several years ago, to pushing a new initiative focused on “career-connected learning” and multiple “pathways.” 

Roughly 100 high schools across the city are getting money through the new FutureReadyNYC initiative to roll out career and technical education courses, and thousands of students are participating in paid internships or apprenticeships.

“What you’re seeing all across the nation, this idea that everybody’s just promoting college, college, college … There’s got to be another way and another track and another pathway for kids to be successful,” schools Chancellor David Banks previously told Chalkbeat.

Helping students with detailed post-graduation plans

In many ways, that’s a welcome change, counselors said. Previously, Insel sometimes felt the singular focus on college could be alienating and make some students “upset and scared and confused.” It could also push some students who weren’t ready into college, leading them to drop out and wind up with debt, not degrees.

Even as many counselors welcome the new acceptance of non-college pathways, it presents some challenges.

Some counselors still worry about the availability of long-term, economically-secure life paths for their non-college bound kids.

The majority of new jobs posted in New York City require a bachelor’s degree, and there are still stubborn disparities across a range of life outcomes – including a growing gap in life expectancy – between Americans with a college education and those without.

Moreover, the roadmap for how to best support kids uninterested in college is often less clear than for their college-bound peers, counselors said.

Educators in New York City feel “overwhelmed” by keeping track of the many programs across the five boroughs for students looking to enter the workforce without a college degree, according to a September report from College Access: Research and Action, which conducted in-depth interviews with educators from nine city schools.

Multiple counselors who spoke to Chalkbeat lamented the lack of affordable, quality trade school options for recent high school graduates, and said the few programs they’ve traditionally relied on, like the Coop Tech program run by the city Education Department, have gotten harder for students to get into as demand has grown.

For Adeola Alexander, a veteran college counselor at Kurt Hahn Expeditionary Learning High School in Flatbush, Brooklyn, the challenge lies in striking the right balance between supporting students’ immediate goals, interests and economic needs, and looking out for their long-term prospects.

“Once young people start to work, that’s a good thing,” she said. “But the money you make at 16 is not sustainable for you when you’re 26. …  I just want to ensure that when students are being exposed to careers and jobs that there’s a long-term plan for them.”

Education Department officials say they’re planning to ensure by 2030 that every high school graduate – college-bound or not – leaves school with a detailed plan of their next steps.

“If you think about how fast the world is changing, and the different kinds of occupations and careers,” Jade Grieve, the Education Department’s Chief of Student Pathways, recently told reporters, “that’s deep, hard work.”

Students facing a new college reality

Counselors said a number of factors drove down college enrollment during the pandemic.

Many students disengaged from school during remote learning, and came back “a little bit disillusioned with college-going,” said Alexander.

Other teens had family members who lost jobs, and felt additional pressure to make money – putting the idea of college temporarily out of the question, counselors said.

Still others were frightened by the prospect of attending any in-person classes while COVID-19 was spreading, or were deterred by vaccine mandates at colleges, counselors said.

It’s clear that the pandemic wasn’t the only force driving the decline in college enrollment.

Students in New York City, like those across the country, have long been concerned about the potential risks of student debt and whether investments in higher education will pay off, counselors said. And some educators said they saw those worries escalate in recent years as the national conversation on the student debt crisis intensified.

“Absolutely I have noticed more students talking about debt and talking about either people they know or people they’ve seen on social media who have taken out a lot of debt and couldn’t pay it,” said Alexander.

The kids most likely to fall off the college track were those who might’ve in past years attended community colleges, which offer two-year programs and enroll higher shares of Black, Latino and students from low-income backgrounds, data suggests.

There are signs of a modest rebound this year. After years of enrollment declines, the City University of New York, by far the most popular destination for New York City public high school graduates, saw a slight uptick in this year’s freshman class compared with last year.

Some schools like Insel’s require all students, even those certain they won’t attend, to submit applications for CUNY.

The city Education Department launched an initiative this year to deliver a CUNY acceptance letter to every high school graduate in the hopes that having a physical letter in hand may give students who were on the fence the extra boost they need to enroll.

Alexander, the counselor in Flatbush, patiently walks her students through a thicket of misconceptions about the economics of college, explaining that it’s often feasible to work and attend school at the same time, like she did. Most students who attend CUNY, moreover, graduate with no debt, and in some cases, taking on a small amount of debt can be a responsible financial decision, when it’s likely to reap long-term gains, she tells students.

Alexander’s work with students often continues after they graduate. Every year, she gets a trickle of students returning to her office because they’re interested in restarting college after dropping out or enrolling for the first time.

Counselors navigate the world of work

Postsecondary counselors seeking to advise students who don’t plan on attending college often have to navigate a world of work where the steps are less clear, and the resources more scattered, than they are for students pursuing higher education. 

For many students, trade school can seem like a logical first step. But finding trade schools that are affordable and vetted for quality is often a challenge, counselors said.

“I do struggle still with helping students find what I want to say is viable trade school options,” said Alexander.

Many trade programs don’t offer their own financial aid, and may not accept the same state and federal aid as colleges, counselors said. 

And while colleges are required to provide public information on costs, completion rates, and long-term work outcomes for their graduates, that information can be harder to find for trade and vocational programs.

In this vein, the September report from College Access: Research and Action stated that “educators are rightfully asking about the return on investment of the alternatives that are being offered.” 

Counselors guiding a student directly into a specific line of work can feel additional pressure to understand the economics of that industry, since the student won’t have the flexibility that comes with a college degree.

Jasmine Benzvi, a counselor at Queens Metropolitan Expeditionary Learning School in Forest Hills, said it’s part of her job to keep up with “what’s happening in the job market, where the jobs are going, and which fields pay well.” But she acknowledged it’s “not possible to be an expert on all of those things.”

Several counselors pointed to another factor that may be swaying students’ views on whether they need higher education.

“I honestly believe TikTok and social media has shown our students can earn money in a variety of ways without a college degree,” said Insel.

Students interested in cosmetology, for example, who see online influencers making money from hair and makeup tutorials, may see it as a more viable path, Insel said. 

Insel said she’s started looking into the economics of a career as a social media influencer so she can have more concrete information to share with kids.

“I’ve definitely had to learn along the way,” she said.

Michael Elsen-Rooney is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Michael at melsen-rooney@chalkbeat.org.

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.

Related: More high school grads are rejecting 4-year pathways

Key points:

• In preparing students for the modern workforce, think globally
• A globalized curriculum helps children learn without barriers
• See related article: 10 things schools need to do to build students’ networks
• For more news on global learning, visit eSN’s Innovative Teaching page

Learning should be lifelong. Our curiosity for the world around us and its people should be unwavering, and yet school curriculums around the globe do not reflect our ever-evolving landscape and impede the transition to developing technology. In my view, education should inspire a passion for things beyond our immediate circle.

We should be aiding our children and future generations in their journey of lifelong learning and equipping them with the skills they can transfer in any job or business they find themselves in. Education shouldn’t be narrow. Children need space to learn and grasp new concepts and ideas; that’s how we get innovation and a more prosperous future. Rolling out a globalized curriculum will achieve just that—and more.

It will culturally enrich students

Culture influences us all, and the mediums we participate in, but much of it is neglected in the traditional curriculum–particularly in Western countries. Having a globalized curriculum would culturally enrich students because it encourages critical thinking about global challenges such as climate change, poverty, and international conflicts.

A globalized curriculum would develop problem-solving skills, too, as students could analyze complex global issues from multiple perspectives and formulate their own solutions individually and as a group. Having students work together is crucial, not only for their personal development, but also to enhance their communication with others. In a work setting or in entrepreneurship, it’s advantageous to be able to work with different people and adapt to their personalities and thinking, and combined with technology, students’ social skills will greatly benefit. Debates can be held in different formats, such as virtual games, facilitating a different type of conversation but not completely abandoning human oversight. Further, a globalized curriculum would take teamwork to the next level with the use of immersive technology like VR so students can participate from their classroom or bedroom and connect with others from anywhere in the world.

Finally, a globalized curriculum creates unity through diversity. Growing awareness of other cultures, and reducing discrimination on race or culture, opens the door to more opportunities for collaboration and equitable opportunities for all.  Granting this connection will produce more open-minded and free-spirited students with a deeper understanding of global issues and how different countries operate. As remote working is becoming the norm in many countries, students should be learning how to work from different places and to use technology at their disposal to create their own work. Entrepreneurship can involve lots of travel and exploration, and a globalized curriculum would incorporate that and make knowledge much more accessible.

Promotes thinking outside of the box

We should move away from the idea of a ‘dream job’ or pursuing a career we love. We all have different skills and talents. Not many of us can put ourselves in one box, but a traditional curriculum puts value on pleasing others and responding to their ideas rather than cultivating your own and making something out of it. A globalized curriculum would not only equip students with the skills they can take into the workplace, but also would equip them to set up their own business if they wish. The ability to create jobs should be fostered, but it is not promoted or integrated into daily lessons. A globalized curriculum ties entrepreneurial skills such as management, leadership, and financial literacy with digital skills like AI and coding, which means students would have tools for leadership roles or creating their own ventures. Financial literacy is not something that is widely taught in schools, so a globalized curriculum would fill that gap and ensure more students don’t fall behind in these vital life skills.

Encourages global citizenship

We need a more humanitarian approach to education to embrace our own humanity, understanding what makes us human and what makes us unique, and to embrace diversity, growing our Emotional Quotient (EQ) and Social Quotient (SQ).  IQ tests, the traditional methods of measuring a person’s intelligence, do not measure the critical skills for the future.  They measure one kind of intelligence–the type that AI can do far better than humans.

Generation Z, the most social-media savvy generation, is aware of global events and challenges and is more conscious of social issues. A globalized curriculum would support their activism and role as global citizens. In addition, entrepreneurship requires you to be a leader on many fronts, not just for your business and team but on the world stage. A globalized curriculum would emphasize the importance of pragmatism and contributing to your community and therefore create respectable business leaders.

Bridge gaps between students from different socio-economic backgrounds

A globalized curriculum enables students from various backgrounds to find common ground and foster mutual respect. It helps overcome stereotypes and prejudices, promoting a more inclusive and harmonious school environment. Remote learning tools create an inclusive environment as they can participate no matter where they are from. Furthermore, having a globalized curriculum would break down prejudicial barriers by getting students to engage with people from different backgrounds to them. Keeping learning and students insular does so much harm.

When we know our strengths and abilities, we can embrace our passions and follow our purpose, so that we are working with our very reason for being and as such can make a greater contribution to society. Learning 21st-century skills and solving real-world problems, our students are primed for success as they enter the world of business or academia.  As Richard Branson says, “Entrepreneurship is about turning what excites you in life into capital, so that you can do more of it and move forward with it.”  Globalization is critically important for the success of humanity because we need global collaboration to solve global problems.  We need EQ, empathy, and understanding to collaborate with people from other cultures and belief systems and we need entrepreneurial thinking to come up with the solutions.

Key points:

• More than half of surveyed students say they will opt out of the traditional four-year undergraduate path
• This decision to pursue alternative post-secondary options hints at an evolving postsecondary landscape.
• See related article: Companies go to high schools for career training
• For more news on career readiness, visit eSN’s Innovative Teaching page page

A significant trend is growing among high school graduates in the class of 2023, with 55 percent opting out of the traditional four-year college route, according to a new survey from YouScience, a technology provider dedicated to solving the skills gap crisis for students and employers. The findings from YouScience’s second annual national 2023 Post-Graduation Readiness Report.

Comparatively, for graduates spanning the 2019-22 classes, this figure stood at 48 percent, signaling a noteworthy transformation within the education landscape. This paradigm shift highlights a growing sentiment among recent high school graduates, who are increasingly questioning the value of pursuing a conventional four-year college degree and exploring alternative pathways.

The report, based on a nationwide online survey encompassing more than 500 students from the high school graduating classes of 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023, highlights the evolving trajectories of postsecondary education, the driving forces behind these changes, and the growing necessity for more personalized guidance in today’s swiftly evolving educational and workforce environments.

In a time when industry leaders grapple with talent shortages and nearly six million Americans remain unemployed, this survey emphasizes the critical importance of enhancing the education and engagement of our future workforce. 

Key findings of the report include:

The decision to pursue alternative postsecondary options hints at an evolving postsecondary landscape. Twenty-seven percent of respondents in the class of 2023 reported attending a 2-year college, while 13 percent are working as part of a career plan, 9 percent have no plan, 7 percent are attending trade or technical school, 8 percent are taking time off and/or gap year(s) and 5 percent are joining the military. 

There’s a pressing need to raise awareness of the variety of postsecondary career or educational opportunities at the high school level. Thirty percent of the class of 2023 graduates were unaware of available career and technical education (CTE) programs. A breakdown in student-educator communication may be a factor behind the lack of CTE program awareness. 

Sixty-five percent of the Class of 2023 graduates had five or fewer conversations with teachers or counselors about post-high school choices, and high school graduates feel uncertain about their current chosen pathways. Nearly one-third (31 percent) of the class of 2023 are not sure they are where they want to be in their education or career path. Thirty-four percent of those who graduated from 2020-22 expressed similar uncertainty.

Sixty-four percent of students who graduated from high school from 2020-23, reported changing their major since their initial selection and 45 percent reported changing their major two or more times. 

During their middle and high school years, students are encouraged to shape their educational and career paths through courses that provide a foundational knowledge base. However, a common issue arises when students make these decisions without a clear understanding of their own strengths, often resulting in post-graduation dissatisfaction and disengagement.

The research also found that for two consecutive years:

• Eighty-three percent of respondents wished they understood their natural aptitudes better, as it would have increased their engagement in learning
• Only 33 percent of the class of 2023, unfortunately, reported regular exposure to various post-graduation career options. This highlights a gap in exposing students to various education and career choices.

“Empowering students with a deeper understanding of their unique strengths enables them to proactively plan their future and make well-informed post-graduation decisions,” said Edson Barton, Founder and CEO of YouScience. “Our research highlights the urgency of providing students with more individualized guidance and exposure to diverse pathways. By arming our students with aptitude-based guidance and insight into a wider variety of potential careers. earlier and more effectively, we can instill the confidence needed to navigate through high school, postsecondary and career, and ultimately set them up for future success.”

To address the need for more personalized student pathways and guidance YouScience offers the following recommendations: 

• Utilize aptitude and interest assessments
• Institute collaborative planning
• Use interdisciplinary teaching approaches
• Introduce career-connected learning 
• Utilize education-to-career tools and solutions
• Leverage industry-recognized certifications 
• Implement work-based learning, internships, and apprenticeships

This press release originally appeared online.

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters.

Every now and then, Ayden Corbett has to explain to surprised homeowners what he’s doing in their front yard.

Since the second semester of his senior year of high school, he has responded to field calls as an employee of the largest underground utility locating company in North America — the Indianapolis-based U.S. Infrastructure Company (USIC). The white truck and multicolored flags marking the location of water, power, and telecommunications lines usually give it away. 

“You learn how to work with people,” he said. 

Corbett graduated in 2022 from a unique program at the Hinds Career Center in Elwood that trains high schoolers for the little-known underground utility locating industry. As demand for the profession skyrocketed during the work-from-home boom of the pandemic, USIC representatives approached the career center about creating a high school graduation pathway that would lead to a diploma, an industry certification, and a job offer.

While still uncommon in Indiana, partnerships between schools and private companies that lead students directly into employment in highly specific trades are growing — the Hinds Center program is the newest among four that have been started statewide.  

“Their goal is to have trained employees ready to enter the field; ours as a career center is to give students the workforce and soft skills to be employable in whatever they choose,” said Jim Pearson, director of the Hinds center. 

And creating more of these programs is a top priority for state education officials, who have been charged under a new state law with reworking high school requirements to encourage more students to work and earn credentials before they graduate. 

It’s part of an effort to counter Indiana’s declining college going rates by connecting high school students to in-demand and high-paying jobs without the need for postsecondary education. 

“Young people are really wanting a variety of options for leading to viable, successful futures. That’s not necessarily a four-year degree,” said Rachel Rosen, senior research associate at the Center for Effective Career and Technical Education at MRDC, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization. 

‘Employable in whatever they choose’

The underground utility graduation track at the Hinds Center is a slower version of the standard company training program, hosted inside a former sewing classroom that USIC equipped with a virtual reality system and a wall showing the typical utility connections on a home. The company also provides the two instructors, said Darrin Haynes, senior manager of career and technical education at USIC.

Students study the underground utility maps of Indiana cities like Westfield, where new home construction is booming, and learn to use the equipment that allows them to detect underground utility lines both through virtual reality and in the field. They spend part of the day at the center for career training, but also take traditional academic courses at their home high schools. 

USIC has hired 14 of the 16 graduates of the Elwood program over two years, and fielded calls from its competitors looking to hire students as well, Haynes said. As of this year, students will also earn college credit at Indiana Tech upon completing the pathway. 

One of the main draws of the track is the opportunity to start working during senior year, said Jacob Wright, another 2022 grad. Students who are at least 18 years old are paid the same rate as new hires to respond to calls to 811, the service that companies and homeowners are supposed to call before digging projects, according to Haynes. 

“You get a job out of high school, a (company) truck second semester, and you get paid to take calls,” said Wright. 

Programs should connect to college and career

Several other local graduation pathways in Indiana offer students direct links to local companies, including the RV construction pathway at Wa-Nee Community schools, and a now-defunct aviation sheet metal pathway at Decatur schools. 

The latter operated for a year before the pandemic created challenges for teaching and recruiting students, said Michael Gehrich, director of aviation at Vincennes University, which worked with Decatur schools on the pathway. 

Like the utility locating program, the aviation pathway sought to expose students to a local industry that’s in need of workers, with a lower barrier to entry than existing dual credit aviation programs that require additional college education, Gehrich said. 

Other similar programs can be found in New York City’s P-TECH schools, said Rosen, the researcher, which are six-year schools that partnered with companies to allow students to graduate with STEM skills, a high school diploma, and an associate’s degree. 

Where vocational schools of the past contributed to inequity by directing low-income and students of color into low-wage jobs, modern career training can give students a window into their options, Rosen said. 

“CTE in high school provides students an opportunity to explore what they don’t want to do as much as what they do want to do,” Rosen said. “We may see a failure because the student did not want to go into that field, but higher-resourced students have more opportunity to explore and make mistakes. If they wait till college to explore what they don’t like, there can be a real cost to doing that.”

The goal should be preparing students for a career with mobility, Rosen said. 

Haynes said underground utility locating offers that mobility. Graduates can work for municipalities instead, move into management and training roles at USIC, or request to be relocated to another state. 

The pathway opens a new option in a community where the college-going rate has dropped, said Haynes.

State data shows the rate for Madison County dropped 16 percentage points from 2015-2020, mirroring the state’s drop of 12 points in that time period. 

Though no students have yet changed their minds about the senior-level course, Pearson said one advantage of the career center is that it has the flexibility to redirect students to one of its other career paths.

Plans to expand in Indiana and other states

Pearson said the Hinds center is open to working with other companies to develop local graduation pathways and meet workforce needs — but that they would need to work closely with educators on curriculum and standards. 

The career center would aim to stay away from low-skill, low-pay tracks, but wouldn’t outright reject retail pathways, for example, if they led into supervision and management positions, Pearson said.

Haynes said that other companies interested in creating their own pipeline programs at local high schools need to commit to an upfront investment with a slow return. In addition to a workforce pipeline, one major benefit to USIC is that graduates have more time to absorb the training, and begin working with more experience, often making fewer mistakes than other new hires. 

Haynes said the company isn’t working with students who are using Indiana’s new career scholarship accounts, which give students money to take career training outside of their schools. Those students could apply for a job with the company and take the training there, he said.

The company plans to continue recruiting in high schools. Haynes said USIC has replicated the high school training program in Oklahoma and New York, and hopes to grow it further throughout Indiana and other states. 

“Most of our graduates have moved out, have a place of their own. They start their lives in a way that we all dream of when we’re teenagers,” said Haynes. “We’re putting them on a pathway to do that.”

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news organization covering public education.

Related:
4 ways to enrich CTE programs
How our district engages students in a CTE program

Key points:

• Students need more than skills to succeed–they need networks of people willing to help them on the path to success
• Building students’ social capital and their networks is critical to their future success
• See related article: How did the pandemic impact students’ social capital?

While durable skills and career-connected learning are important in setting students up for success as they enter college or the workforce, focusing on these skills alone won’t help students reach their goals, particularly in light of growing opportunity gaps.

If students are to be aware of potential career paths, they’ll need not just classroom learning and skills, but also personal and professional relationships that serve as gateways to career opportunities.

Life opportunities are often found where students’ human capital (what they know and can do) and their social capital (who they know and can depend on for support and access) meet. To start a career and achieve postsecondary success, students need more than skills—they also need people willing to take a bet on their potential.

People-Powered Pathways: Lessons in how to build students’ social capital
through career-connected learning, a new report from the Clayton Christensen Institute, aims to help school leaders implement effective, equitable strategies for building students’ social capital, and offers field-tested considerations for piloting social capital building within existing career pathways initiatives.

The authors’ observations draw from an 18-month pilot during which they leveraged the Institute’s social capital playbook to provide direct support to a group of three intermediary organizations–Education Strategy Group, Generation Schools Network, and Hawai‘i P-20–collectively supporting 20 sites in the K-12 career pathways space. During the course of the pilot, researchers sought to understand how schools and nonprofits can make social capital building an explicit, effective, and equitable component of existing career-connected learning models.

Schools and programs that are interested in expanding students’ networks can consider 10 lessons learned from the pilot:

1. Stick with relationship outcomes: Use relationship data to develop goals and measure progress.

2. Audit your current practices: Look for untapped opportunities to strengthen students’ social capital within existing career-connected activities.

3. Prepare to build, not just buy: Given scarce off-the-shelf curricula, allocate time and resources for social capital training and curriculum development.

4. Honor relational norms and values: Adapt your approaches to both culture and context.

5. Incorporate immersive experiences: Pair social capital concepts with practice and opportunities to build real-world relationships.

6. Skills and access both matter: To seed positive interactions, develop communication skills alongside access to relationships.

7. Prime employers to share their social capital: Shifting employee volunteers’ mindsets can orient them to build relationships and share resources.

8. Source social capital across your enterprise: Individual social capital is a critical, but limited, lever for scale.

9. Embed social capital into systems: Enthusiastic practitioners foster change, but infrastructure maintains it.

10. Benchmark collective progress: Communities of practice build practitioner confidence.

Equipped with these lessons, educators can build models that embed both career know-how and know-who into students’ journeys, further expanding their access to opportunity.

Related:
Are you measuring students’ social capital? You should be
5 on-ramps to building students’ social capital

Key points:

• The pandemic has impacted college-going students’ views on higher education
• Cost and mental health concerns are other factors influencing students’ decisions
• See related article: A smarter way to think about college

A growing number of high school students point to concerns over affordability as well as academic and mental health preparedness as primary reasons behind their decision not to enroll in college, according to a new report from education company EAB.

The report summarizes the results of a new survey of more than 20,000 “Gen P” high school students–those whose college-going behaviors have been influenced by the pandemic.

“It’s no secret that the pandemic has taken a toll on student mental health and academic preparedness,” said EAB President, Enroll360, Hope Krutz. “This new data shows us that it is having a profound impact on whether high school graduates decide to attend college at all.”

According to the National Student Clearinghouse, total undergraduate enrollment is down by more than 1 million students compared to pre-pandemic levels. The recent slide exacerbates a national trend of declining college enrollment over the past decade.

EAB’s new survey shows that 20 percent of students who indicate they will not enroll in college right after high school say their primary reason is that they believe college is not worth the cost, compared to just 8 percent who expressed this view in EAB’s 2019 survey.

More than one in five (22 percent) have decided to opt out because they are not mentally ready, a sharp increase from pre-pandemic levels (14 percent in 2019). This view is particularly prevalent among first-generation and lower-income students. “I’m not mentally ready for college” was a concern expressed by 28 percent of first-generation students versus 20 percent of non-first-generation students.

Twenty-six percent of students surveyed by EAB selected “whether I’ll be successful in college” as a top concern, behind only concerns related to affordability and value. EAB notes that diminished access to in-person instruction during the pandemic created gaps in academic achievement and decreased opportunities for social development through classroom interactions with peers and teachers. The resulting impacts on mental health, socio-emotional development, and academic preparation may have made students feel less confident that they will succeed in college or find a sense of belonging on campus, creating increased retention risks.

“So many negative effects of the pandemic make it harder for today’s students to see college as a viable option,” Krutz continued. “EAB’s new report includes advice for university leaders on adapting and engaging ‘Gen P’ students in new ways to ease concerns and demonstrate the value of a college education.”

Within the report, EAB offers recommendations for universities, which are centered on the following themes:

• Ensure that messaging addresses families’ worries about academic and mental health support available to students.
• Highlight career services and opportunities for internships and job placement.
• Build strong relationships with community-based organizations, which can serve as a vital connection point between colleges and underserved students.

Related:
Labor market problems start with the K-12 system
Fewer than half of underserved students believe post-high school education is necessary

Key points:

• Students often struggle to transition to the workforce, and mental health can be a big factor in that struggle
• One educator launched a new approach to student mental health to complement an existing emphasis on pre-vocational skill development
• See related article: How our district engages students in a CTE program

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters.

As a longtime public school occupational therapist, I know what students look and sound like when they’re ready to transition from the work lab to the workforce.

In recent years, I’ve personally witnessed more of my students struggle to make that transition or not make it at all. It has nothing to do with a lack of technical skills, as I’ve seen them master complicated vocational concepts and tasks — graphic design, woodworking, 3D printing, and CNC programming. The struggle has everything to do with skyrocketing anxiety, depression, and trauma experienced by my students as they prepare to enter the workforce. 

Our students are experiencing a mental health crisis across our state and country, and that’s something all of us can and must work to address. That’s why I’m focused on helping our general education and special education students develop job skills and strengthen their mental health while still in our hallways. 

Starting about six years ago, I worked with my colleagues at Warren Woods Public Schools in Warren, Michigan, to launch a new approach to student mental health and wellness to complement our existing emphasis on pre-vocational skill development. The program, available at our district’s two high schools, includes an OT lab that combines technology-driven and traditional machines, a reset room where students can process emotions in a calming environment, and an after-school program called Scratch the Surface. 

When we first launched the after-school program, it served only as an alternative to traditional disciplinary measures for students who were skipping school or getting behavior referrals in class. But nearly all of the students referred to the program voluntarily continued attending well past what was required. 

I also collaborate with our school social worker to provide students with a series of weekly sessions that center on mindfulness, self-compassion, and the principles of psychological flexibility. This curriculum helps students process uncomfortable feelings, such as loss, grief, or anger, and recognize that painful thoughts will pass and do not define them. My program has reached up to 82 students year-round, including programming offered over spring break and during summer.

In our OT labs, students use raw materials (donated by a local kitchen and bath manufacturer) and machines, such as lathes, 3D printers, CNC routers, laser engravers, and wood burners to make functional art infused with meaning and messages related to mental health. Student art has included granite memorial markers, engraved wood cutlery, mosaic art, candles, jewelry, and more.

The results speak for themselves. 

Attendance has gone up and behavior referrals down to near zero for every Warren Woods-Tower High School student who has participated since the program began. At Enterprise High School, the principal of our alternative education program says the OT lab has given students a supportive outlet when they need it most since they can choose when during their school day to visit. Through the power of mindfulness, my students have learned to process their feelings in a constructive way at school. This has allowed them to refocus on developing job skills and preparing for career success.

As our program has evolved, we have gained partners at the local and state levels, including Michigan Works! and Michigan Rehabilitation Services, which support program costs and pay students an hourly wage during spring break and summer sessions. I’ve also worked with interns from occupational therapy programs at Eastern Michigan University, Macomb Community College, and Wayne State University, developing a pipeline of prospective OT lab practitioners. It’s been exciting to see professional and community partners recognize the value of our work and help keep it going.

I’m not a psychotherapist. The good news is that occupational therapists, too, can have a long-lasting impact on student well-being. The key to our success has been making a personal investment in their health, welfare, and happiness — not just one focused on grades or performance. 

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news organization covering public education.

The U.S. has a two-pronged labor market problem: a labor shortage and a skills gap. If every unemployed individual in the U.S. found a job right now, there would still be 4 million open jobs. Furthermore, a National Federation of Independent Business survey found that 54 percent of business owners struggle to hire qualified workers. As it becomes increasingly evident that schools are not providing students with the requisite skills to succeed in the labor market, the root of the persistent labor shortage and skills gap in the U.S. can be traced back to the K-12 education system.

However, career and technical education (CTE) programs have shown great promise in addressing this issue. The Department of Education (ED) notes that students who focus on CTE courses in high school have higher median annual earnings, graduation rates, and employment rates than non-CTE students. Despite the proven efficacy of CTE programs, inadequate federal investment remains a primary barrier to implementing successful programs nationwide.

It’s essential to adopt new funding methods and policies to mitigate this barrier, expand CTE programs in K-12 schools, and encourage widespread adoption of these programs to bridge the skills gap and foster student success. Like most education programs, CTE programs are primarily funded by state and local resources. Accordingly, increasing the implementation rates will be predicated on encouraging outside funding sources, such as private-sector partnerships and philanthropic organizations, to bridge the gap in federal funding and support the growth of CTE programs.

Additionally, refining the federal funding model to focus on equity grants and improved metrics, such as the number of program completers and certifications issued by a school district, can help incentivize schools to implement and expand CTE programs. Furthermore, reducing the stigma around CTE programs and promoting their value as viable pathways to success will encourage more students to participate and benefit from these opportunities, ultimately contributing to a better-prepared workforce and a more robust economy.

While 77 percent of high school students knowingly or unknowingly participate in a CTE course, only 37 percent are CTE concentrators taking two or more courses in a single program. Yet, evidence shows that CTE concentrators go on to graduate high school, enroll in college, and earn higher salaries on average than non-CTE concentrators.

Perkins V, the primary federal legislation that provides funding for CTE programs, appropriated only $1.38 billion to states for the 2022-2023 school year. However, CTE programs are estimated to be 20-40 percent higher than traditional instructional programs. The one component of Perkins V that incentivizes states to implement innovative CTE programs through equity grants, “Perkins I&M,” disbursed only $1.4 million (0.1 percent of total Perkins V funding) in 2021.

With the goal of modernizing CTE to better prepare students for success in the workforce, Perkins I&M embodies the ideal role of the federal government concerning CTE. To maximize the potential of CTE, the federal government should significantly expand its equity grant approach to ensure states can implement successful programs at scale.

Public-private partnerships are essential to bridging the gap in terms of federal government support for local K-12 districts. In 2016, the Department of Education awarded Social Finance and Jobs for the Future a five-year, $2 million grant to help implement high-quality CTE opportunities for underrepresented youth. The “Pay for Success (PFS) financing model illuminated the importance of integrating public financing with philanthropic dollars.

The nature of public education financing is primarily based on per-public formulas, as opposed to outcome measures. Unfortunately, CTE outcomes (long-term wages and employment rates) are impossible to evaluate in the near term. To address this, Social Finance focused on interim measures, such as CTE completions and credential attainment, to demonstrate program success in an abbreviated time period.

In addition to financing difficulties, the stigma behind how CTE is perceived remains a primary barrier to advancing access. Antiquated stereotypes such as “it’s for kids who can’t get into college” or “it’s only meant for struggling students” dictate how districts prioritize students to enroll and drive budget allocation decisions. In turn, such stereotypes undermine the ability of CTE programs to maximize their inherent potential.

The federal government should introduce financial incentives to encourage public-private partnerships supporting CTE programs. This can be achieved by offering a matching program, where federal funding is provided to schools based on the amount of private-sector investment they secure for their CTE programs. Furthermore, the government can offer tax benefits to companies that contribute to developing and expanding CTE programs, creating a mutually beneficial relationship between schools and industry partners. These incentives will not only facilitate public-private partnerships but also ensure that CTE programs remain relevant and aligned with the needs of the labor market.

Addressing the labor shortage and skills gap in the U.S. starts with transforming our K-12 education system. By expanding access to CTE programs, we can equip students with the skills they need to succeed in the workforce and contribute to a thriving economy. This will require increased federal investment, targeted funding models, and the removal of the stigma surrounding CTE programs. Ultimately, through these efforts, we can empower our youth, strengthen the American workforce, and secure a brighter future for future generations.

Related:
4 ways to enrich CTE programs
How our district engages students in a CTE program

As the principal of a brand new “pathways in technology early college high school” (P-TECH), I’ve had to become comfortable with the idea of building a program even as students are enrolled in it. Fortunately, my leadership team and I understand what our school will look like when everything is in place.

We have a blueprint that we’re implementing one year at a time, so we don’t have to do everything at once. We also have a partner, the Ulster Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES), that has successfully run a similar program for eight years providing guidance and support. Here’s how it’s working so far and why it’s so important to our students and our community.

Building the plane as we fly—with excellent mechanics aboard

I became principal in July 2022, after the first year of the Ellenville P-TECH Academy’s existence. One of the first things I did was to reach out to Ulster BOCES and the State University of New York (SUNY) Ulster. These are important partners for us. Ulster BOCES helped to write the grant that secured funding to launch our school and has served as a model for us. Our students, like theirs, will take classes at SUNY Ulster and some will even take classes at Ulster BOCES itself.

With the Hudson Valley Pathways Academy at Ulster BOCES serving as a model both in its own operation and in its relationship with SUNY Ulster, we were fortunate to not be starting from scratch, but working to adapt a successful model to meet our own community’s needs. It was important to me to understand what role those institutions play and what expectations they would have of me and my students.

At the same time, I started making contacts at the Council of Industry. As a P-TECH, we educate many students who will go on to fill jobs in local industries, so I wanted to connect with local leaders about what we could offer them and what they could offer our students. That was also an opportunity to begin working toward putting together an advisory council of local employers. Ellenville is quite secluded from the rest of our county, so advisors from within our community are particularly important because they understand the needs of our local industry.

While the pieces of our advisory council are still falling into place, our students are off and running. We are rolling the P-TECH program out to one grade each year, so we currently have first-year and second-year students, for a total of 38 scholars. Our first-year students take their first college course, which is through our network administration pathway. They also take US history, English, Spanish I, algebra, and environmental science. Our second-year students take English, Living Environment, geometry, global history, art, and music.

Second-year students also have some classes in blocks to prepare them to complete the five required New York State Regents Exams by the end of their second year. The goal is to free them up to focus on their pathways. Then, in their third year, they’ll be able to take the prerequisite classes for enrollment at either SUNY Ulster, for the network administration pathway, or Ulster BOCES for the manufacturing pathway.

Professional opportunities for disadvantaged students

Arranging the schedule the way we do gives students room to really drill down on their pathways, and allows them to be open for opportunities such as job shadowing or internships. Most of our students are disadvantaged in some way and face challenges other college-bound students don’t.

These students are eager to be a part of the P-TECH program. Our application process takes place in the spring, and we already have a waiting list. We held an open house and parents of 5th-graders were putting their children’s names on the list, even though we don’t accept students below 9th grade.

Our current students include a broad mix of students from a range of demographics. This year, we even had more girls than boys apply to join the program, which is great, considering that network administration and manufacturing are fields traditionally dominated by men.

Even if students don’t end up working in one of those fields, P-TECH offers them an opportunity to reconnect to school, discover their own passions, and build a foundation for postsecondary success. At 14-18 years old, coming to a firm answer about that might be a little tough, but they have the opportunity to earn a college degree if they complete the program. Maybe a student in our manufacturing pathway will decide that they don’t want to work in manufacturing, but the associate degree they leave the program with is a great stepping stone to further education in, for example, engineering.

Our students really seem to appreciate the opportunities they’re receiving here. Recently, some of them took part in a workplace challenge at Viking Packaging, a local business that makes boxes for other companies. Students were tasked with designing a package for a specific customer and purpose. A 14-year-old student told me about how getting everything in under deadline was stressful, but that she felt good about the overall project and the experience it provided. She had to work with other students to decide who was going to be the project manager, who was going to design the product, how they were going to figure out the cost, and then to present their product to professionals who do that same work every day. They knocked it out of the park, and seeing professionals who are actually interested in their ideas is powerfully motivating for students who may not have realized how much impact they can have on the world around them.

Our students aren’t in mainstream classrooms, but we are in a wing of the junior high school. The Ellenville P-TECH program is a school within a school, allowing students many of the same experiences of traditional high schools such as chatting in the hallway or spending time together at lunch while also creating a distinct community with unique opportunities.

We think it’s important that students understand their options as much as possible before committing one way or the other. In the future, we plan to visit classrooms to tell younger students about our program and perhaps even to allow prospective students to shadow current scholars so they can get a feel for what it’s really like.

Connecting with the community

We just hired our workplace learning teacher in anticipation of our oldest students being ready to take on some of those different opportunities in the 2023-2024 school year. She was the English teacher for our program, and she has a plethora of contacts with industry leaders and employers in the area. We’re looking forward to seeing how her contacts inform our program in terms of local industry’s needs, and feel she will help provide our students the best opportunities to learn about different workplaces through job shadowing and internships.

Next year we are also looking forward to sending our first class of third-year students to Ulster BOCES, where they’ll be able to take computer aided drawing (CAD) classes, among other opportunities. As we’ve been learning what local industries need, CAD has come up again and again as a marketable skill. At Ulster BOCES they’ll also be able to take welding, which is a skill a local window company looks for in employees. They don’t make standard windows, but create huge walls of windows for penthouses and expensive homes or to overlook the scenery in ski resorts.

A core value of P-TECH is working with students and families to ensure they are prepared to navigate internships, applying for college, or beginning a career. It’s also a real benefit for local companies who want skilled employees eager to make a home in their community. We may have just started, but we’re already making a difference in these students’ lives, and I can’t wait to see our program grow as our partnerships with Ulster BOCES and SUNY Ulster swing into gear next year.

Related:
10 ways to teach students for a changing world
Fewer than half of underserved students believe post-high school education is necessary

This month, hundreds of thousands of graduating high school seniors are weighing their college options. For many, it’s an intensely stressful time as they are rejected or waitlisted by schools they aspired to attend and decide where they will spend the next four years of their lives. Unfortunately, most will base those decisions on criteria that don’t actually determine the quality of their education and ignore the criteria that do.

Choosing a college to attend is not like choosing a product to purchase, though students often approach the decision with a consumer’s mindset. There is no Consumer Reports to rely on, leaving students and their parents unduly influenced by a school’s reputation, the glitziness of the admissions materials, the amenities in the student housing, the impressiveness of the recreational facilities, and the quality of the campus tour. None of these bears any relation to the quality of the instruction you will receive as a student.

Even sampling a class or two while visiting a school tells you virtually nothing meaningful.  As any teacher knows, there are good days and bad days in every course.  What you experience is not generalizable to the course as a whole, much less to the entire school.

The much-followed US News and World Report ratings are misleading at best.  They base their rankings on data that may not be reported consistently and on the subjective impressions of college presidents and senior administrators.  More fundamentally, the rankings falsely suggest that a single assessment scale is equally applicable to all, whereas students have a range of priorities and values.  The selection tool recently introduced by the New York Times, which allows students to search schools by criteria they choose and rank, is far more useful.

But there are metrics that matter, and it’s worth knowing what they are. 

Assuming that you’re going to college to learn, you want to know about the faculty who will be teaching you.  How much of their time do they devote to teaching and how available will they be to you?  Is there a Center for Learning and Teaching to nurture young faculty and keep senior faculty from growing stale, and do faculty avail themselves of its programs?  How do faculty rank the support they receive from their institution, as measured by the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) survey?  You want to attend a college where faculty feel supported and respected by the administration, and where they are invested in teaching undergraduates.

There are several ways to investigate the student culture and the quality of student learning.  Ask to see the results of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) for the schools you’re considering, which will provide data on everything from social climate to the prevalence of binge drinking to the level of participation in extracurricular activities.  Every school also conducts surveys of its graduates; you’ll want to know how satisfied alumni are with the education they received.  Inquire whether the school has recently administered the Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA), a tool that measures the acquisition of critical thinking skills, and how students scored.  Take some time to read the student newspaper and explore the bulletin boards on campus, which give you a window into the campus climate.

Find out whether your school offers its own off-campus study programs and, if not, how easy it is to get credit for study abroad.  In our increasingly interconnected world, living and studying off campus is among the most valuable opportunities you’ll get in college.  Similarly, ask about how many service-learning courses are offered, which enable you to apply classroom learning to projects with community partners.  Studies have repeatedly shown these to be extremely impactful educational experiences. 

Find out about the availability of health services, including mental health counseling.  How quickly can you get an appointment, especially on weekends?  And how close is the nearest hospital?  Over four years there’s a good chance you’ll need to see a healthcare provider for something and when you do these things will be vitally important.

Finally, inquire about the effectiveness of the academic advising program.  In nearly forty years of teaching and administration I have rarely encountered a student who didn’t need guidance–to navigate college requirements, overcome academic challenges, or revise their academic plans.  Find out how academic advising works, what the ratio of advisors to students is, and how the institution supports the advisors who will support you.

Choosing a college can feel overwhelming.  The stakes are high and the financial investment is enormous.  But you don’t need to rely on superficial impressions, questionable rankings, or prestige.  There’s a smarter way to assess your options.  In college, you’ll be expected to address challenging questions by carefully gathering and assessing all the relevant data.  Now is a good time to start practicing. 

Related:
Most high school grads feel their skills aren’t up to par
Major gender disparities harm students’ college and career readiness

The world is changing rapidly, with new technology being developed daily and jobs being replaced by automated machines and artificial intelligence (AI). These changes have brought about tremendous opportunities for those who can take advantage of them. However, these changes could spell disaster for those who are not prepared for the future. This is why it is so important that schools and educators take the necessary steps to ensure that our students are prepared for the future.

The 2023 Brain-Centric Design report estimates that by 2030, demand for higher cognitive skills will increase by 19 percent, while demand for physical and manual skills will decline by 14 percent. This means that the future of work will require a different set of skills than needed in the past. Therefore, schools and educators must equip students with the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in this new environment.

Here are 10 steps schools and educators must take to ensure that students are prepared for the future due to the rise of AI technology in the workplace:

1. Offer More STEM Classes

STEM classes are essential for preparing students for the future. With the rise of AI, knowledge of science and technology is becoming increasingly important. Schools and educators should offer more STEM classes to equip students with the necessary skills for the future. The primary focus must be increasing cognitive demand for our students. Classrooms should be mental workspaces complemented by the hands. It is urgent to shift the focus from merely “hands-on” learning to “brains-on” learning.

2. Make Learning Relevant to the Real World

To be successful in the future, students must be able to think critically and solve problems. Schools and educators should provide real-world examples and classroom situations to help students develop these skills. This will also help to ensure that students can apply the knowledge they gain in the classroom to real-world situations. Increasing mental rigor and struggle will ensure that students are given the opportunity to use critical thinking skills and learn to see outside the box and create new patterns and trends.

3. Teach Students About AI

AI is becoming increasingly prevalent in the workplace, and students must understand what it is and how it works. Schools and educators should provide lessons and activities that teach students about AI and how it will affect their lives. Doing so will help to ensure that students are prepared for the future. ChatGPT and other AI programs are not enemies of education. These tools are the future of education. Therefore, our staff must have the knowledge and skills to implement these programs in the classroom effectively. The train has left the station and will not wait for us to acknowledge its existence.

4. Highlight the Benefits of AI

Students must understand the benefits AI can bring. Schools and educators should focus on the potential positive implications of AI and its use in society, such as:

Improved Learning Experience: AI can be used to personalize the learning experience for students by analyzing their performance and adapting the content to their learning styles. This can help students learn more efficiently and effectively.

Increased Engagement: AI-powered tools like chatbots and virtual assistants can help students stay engaged with the content by answering their questions and providing feedback in real-time.

Better Performance: AI-powered tools can provide students with personalized recommendations based on their performance, helping them identify areas where they need to improve and providing targeted resources to help them succeed.

5. Teach Students to Pursue Non-Traditional Careers

With the rise of AI, students will be presented with a variety of new opportunities for employment that have not been available before. Schools and educators should teach students about these new careers and encourage students to pursue them. Due to the increased use of AI in many industries, teaching students about its existence and impact can help prepare them for future careers in fields like data science, robotics, and artificial intelligence. Career paths and dynamics are shifting; classrooms must pivot and consider industry and the workforce it will seek to employ.

6. Encourage Creative Thinking

Creative thinking is becoming increasingly important in the workplace. Schools and educators should provide opportunities for students to develop their creativity and think outside the box. Doing so will help ensure students are prepared for the future.

Here are several strategies that teachers can use to encourage creative thinking in the classroom:

• Provide Open-Ended Assignments: Open-ended assignments that allow for multiple solutions can encourage students to think creatively and develop unique ideas.
• Use Brainstorming and Mind Mapping Techniques: Brainstorming and mind mapping effectively encourage students to generate new ideas and connections between different concepts.
• Encourage Risk-Taking: Encourage students to take risks and explore unconventional solutions to problems. This can help them to develop confidence in their own creative abilities.
• Provide Opportunities for Collaboration: Collaborative activities and projects can foster creative thinking by encouraging students to collaborate and share ideas.
• Offer Constructive Feedback: Provide constructive feedback encouraging students to continue exploring and developing their ideas. Positive feedback can help students feel more confident in their creative abilities.
• Provide Time and Space for Reflection: Allowing students time and space to reflect on their work and ideas can help them identify areas for improvement and develop new and innovative solutions.
• Incorporate Play and Exploration: Incorporating play and exploration into learning can help students to develop their creative thinking skills. Encourage students to experiment with different materials and approaches to learning.

7. Promote Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is an essential skill for success in the future. Schools and educators should provide activities and lessons that promote critical thinking and help students develop this skill. AI can be used to help solve complex problems and make more accurate predictions. Educators should provide relevant instruction to foster the development of problem-solving skills and provide students with complex challenges to tackle.

8. Teach Students the Value of Collaboration

In the future, collaboration will be essential for success. Schools and educators should be teaching students the importance of collaboration and providing opportunities for them to practice it. The following tried and true methods should be a staple of our classrooms.

Group Projects: Assign group projects that require students to work together to achieve a common goal. This will help students to develop teamwork and collaboration skills.

Peer Review: Encourage students to work in pairs or small groups to review each other’s work. This can help them learn from each other and improve their work.

Class Discussions: Encourage class discussions and debates that require students to work together to build on each other’s ideas and find common ground.

Cross-Curricular Activities: Incorporate cross-curricular activities that require students to work together across different subjects. This can help them to see the value of collaboration in different contexts.

Role-Playing Exercises: Use role-playing exercises that require students to work together to solve a problem or achieve a goal. This can help them to develop communication and problem-solving skills.

Collaborative Technologies: Use collaborative technologies like online discussion boards or shared documents to allow students to work together outside of the classroom.

9. Provide Opportunities for Students to Use AI

It is crucial for students to gain hands-on experience with AI to be prepared for the future. Schools and educators should provide students with opportunities to use AI in projects and assignments. This truism comes with the caveat, show educators first, not just the how but also the why—successful integration of AI in the classroom will be contingent on effective professional learning for teachers and leaders.

10. Prepare Students for the Job Market

In the future, the job market will likely be very different from how it is today. Schools and educators should prepare students for the job market by teaching them about the skills employers are likely to value and providing them with opportunities to develop these skills.

• Focus on STEM: Encourage students to develop STEM skills. These skills are in high demand and are likely to continue to be so in the future.
• Emphasize Soft Skills: Emphasize the development of soft skills such as communication, problem-solving, critical thinking, and collaboration. These skills are essential in many jobs and will be even more critical as technology changes the job market.
• Encourage Lifelong Learning: Emphasize the importance of lifelong learning and encourage students to develop a love of learning. This will help them adapt to job market changes and stay up-to-date with new technologies and skills.
• Provide Career Counseling: Provide career counseling services that help students to identify their strengths and interests and explore potential career paths. This can help students to make informed decisions about their future.
• Incorporate Technology: Incorporate technology into the classroom to help students develop the skills they will need in the future job market. This can include programming, coding, and the use of digital tools and platforms.
• Provide Work-Based Learning Opportunities: Provide opportunities for students to gain real-world experience through internships, apprenticeships, and other work-based learning programs. This can help students to develop the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in the job market.
• Teach Entrepreneurship: Teach entrepreneurship skills to students to help them develop an entrepreneurial mindset and prepare them to start businesses or work for startups.
• Encourage Global Competence: Encourage global competence and cultural understanding, which is increasingly important in the globalized job market. This can include exposure to different languages, cultures, and international experiences.

The future of work is changing rapidly, and schools and educators must take the necessary steps to ensure that our students are prepared for the world of tomorrow. By offering more STEM classes, making learning relevant to the real world, teaching students about AI, highlighting the benefits of AI, encouraging creative thinking, promoting critical thinking, teaching students the value of collaboration, providing opportunities for students to use AI, and preparing students for the job market, schools and educators can help ensure that our students are ready for the future.

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As school district leaders continue to worry about students’ college and career readiness, a new survey finds that less than half of students from traditionally underserved populations believe education after high school is necessary.

The new survey conducted by ECMC Group, in partnership with VICE Media Group, surveyed more than 1,000 high school students ages 14-18 from low-income, first-generation and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of color) backgrounds and found that only 45 percent believe education after high school is necessary, compared to 52 percent of all high schoolers.

In addition, only 8 percent feel fully prepared to make the decision of what to do after high school.

This study is the latest in a series of national surveys conducted since February 2020 to uncover insights from high schoolers about their academic and career plans after high school. The previous five surveys gathered information from a cross-section of more than 5,000 students from across the country.

The latest survey, conducted in October 2022, focused specifically on gathering insights from historically underserved high school student populations. The data is part of ECMC Group’s Question The Quo campaign, designed to empower Gen Z teens to take the education and career path that is right for them.

“This latest round of data provides a clearer picture of the issues and barriers faced by our most under-resourced students as they seek to determine their future trajectory,” said Dan Fisher, president and CEO of ECMC Group. “With this information, we have an opportunity to not only hear the concerns but develop solutions that will enable these students to persist and thrive in the future.” 

The survey also found that 83 percent of students surveyed feel pressure—often self-directed—to pursue a four-year degree, but more than half (53 percent) are open to a path other than four-year college, and nearly 60 percent believe they can be successful without a four-year degree.

As they ponder their future, most would like their high school to provide guidance on questions about finances (62 percent), support for their mental and physical health (48 percent), identifying postsecondary education options (46 percent), and managing future debt (37 percent) or handling unexpected costs (37 percent).

“Students from underserved communities are looking at education through a practical lens,” said Fisher. “They want to know what the cost is, how they’re going to pay, how they will get through everyday life and whether there’s a job at the end of the road.”

Students from underserved populations feel unprepared to make decisions about their future

The study found that 86 percent of students surveyed think about their future path at least weekly (52 percent think about it every day) and 59 percent have a career path in mind, but few are receiving the guidance they need to make an informed decision.

Only about one-third of students surveyed have been offered a program that helps them explore careers; 38 percent have taken a class on career exploration, and only 41% of students attend high schools that provide college fairs.

When thinking about their future, more than half look to their family to provide information, 48 percent seek insight from teachers and counselors, and 36 percent turn to friends and classmates.

Students from underserved populations are focused on ensuring their ability to meet their basic needs

The survey found that underserved students put basic needs at the top of their decision-making criteria:

• 75 percent listed mental health in their top decision-making criteria for choosing a path after high school
• When asked about their top three needs in making a decision about their post-high school education:
  • 43 percent listed “I need to be able to feed myself”
  • 34 percent listed “I need to have safe housing”
  • 31 percent listed “I need to be able to take care of my physical health”

In addition, 48 percent wish their high school provided more guidance on managing their health (physical/mental).

Students from underserved populations are concerned about the cost of education after high school

The cost of education after high school is a key concern for these populations:

• 70 percent listed the cost of tuition in their top decision-making criteria for choosing a path after high school
• 56 percent worry about how they will pay for college

The most common areas where students lack the financial information they need include:

• Scholarships available to them (43 percent)
• Earning potential based on different career paths (38 percent)
• Jobs they should consider to help manage costs while attending school (37 percent)
• Average costs they will have to pay outside of tuition (33 percent)

In addition, 65 percent would choose a career they are passionate about over one that provides a high salary.

Even among underserved populations, there are differences in education and career outlook

• Low-income students are least likely to consider four-year degrees
• First-generation students are most likely to have started career exploration in high school
• First-generation students are more worried about costs outside of tuition
• BIPOC students have the lowest understanding of the income/cost tradeoff of pursuing a career over pursuing education immediately after high school
• Low-income students feel more strongly about postsecondary education requiring less time to complete
• First-generation students are most likely to believe the government has a role in funding education
• First-generation students are most concerned about how they will pay for education

Additional findings include:

Careers are top-of-mind for low-income, first-generation and BIPOC students

• 57 percent started exploring career options in high school
• 78 percent say it’s important or very important to have career plans determined when they graduate from high school

Shorter, career-focused education pathways make sense for underserved students

• 55 percent said their post-high school education should last less than four years
  • 39 percent said post-high school education should be two years or less
• 33 percent say post-high school education should only include subjects directly related to their program/major
• 58 percent say a skills-based education makes sense
• 32 percent say education would be better in several short experiences over a lifetime vs. one longer experience
• Because of the pandemic, 34 percent feel more comfortable with following a path other than four-year college

Low-income, first-gen and BIPOC students believe the government and businesses have a role to play in their education

• 46 percent say the government should provide additional money to pay off student loans
  • 40 percent say the government should subsidize/pay for education
• 40 percent say businesses should provide formal education
  • 38 percent say businesses should provide additional money to pay off student loans

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A student’s credentials and accomplishments, stored on and secured by blockchain technology, can set students up for college acceptance and college success, said Joshua Samuel, the CEO of Coins for College.

During a session at FETC 2023, Samuel explored how blockchain can be used in real world to solve problems like knowledge gaps, student motivation, attendance, teacher compensation.

Blockchain technology holds the promise to change much of what’s plaguing education today, he asserted. Blockchain relies on methods of cryptography, which secures data from unauthorized access and keeps students’ information safe.

A comprehensive learning record (CLR) holds all student data in a protected format and follows student wherever they go. It carries their accomplishments and information, ensuring that their academic and personal progress is not lost.

Coins for College uses a system called Scholarship Points, which are digital records of student accomplishments stored securely through blockchain and accessible to colleges. This, Samuel said, helps paint a more equitable picture of a student’s potential, beyond test scores and grades, because the points are valid data points that can be used to make a more informed and holistic decision regarding admissions and financial packages.

Students earn Scholarship Points for doing four different activities, and when done consistently, they’re on trajectory to go to any college of their choice, Samuel said:

1. Attendance: Students have to show up. If you aren’t there, you can’t learn what you need to learn and build on previous knowledge. Each time a student shows up, they earn points.
2. Supplemental learning: Some demographics don’t reach the “end of the textbook” for various reasons – behavior issues in classroom, funding, teacher availability, etc. In that sort of demographic, if the classroom is a student’s only access to that knowledge, that student will operate at a deficit. Supplemental learning through Coins for College’s platform takes students outside the classroom so they can continue to learn.
3. Assessments: These reveal knowledge gaps, and as revealed, they can be corrected and place you on the right trajectory.
4. Extracurriculars: Community service, clubs, athletics, and so forth.

“What if we could take the value we place on the SAT and spread those points out throughout an entire K-12 journey, via blockchain?” Samuel asked. “And colleges are able to see the whole student, from kindergarten to 12^th grade, beyond the classroom, including childhood events [such as trauma] or systemic barriers that prevent students from demonstrating their true skills and talent.”

What’s more, through nonprofit partnerships, corporations and philanthropists can donate directly to an individual student or group of students to cover additional college expenses not covered by standard scholarships.

Samuel said Coins for College’s main benefits include:

1. Students who are empowered can share responsibility for their own learning, thereby developing the intrinsic values needed for success
2. The CLR provides students a way to distinguish themselves from others as they pursue college and career goals
3. Blockchain technology can provide equitable opportunities for college and career for all students be removing the mental, financial, and academic barriers to college

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