More than half of 9th graders in the United States will never complete a college degree. High schools must do more than prepare some students for college: They must prepare all American youth for productive lives as well as continued learning beyond high school. In this timely volume, two educational leaders advocate for a more meaningful high school experience. To accomplish this, the authors argue that we need to change the focus of our current high school reform efforts from "college for all" to "careers for all." This work shows how schools can prepare young people both for the emerging workplace and postsecondary education.
In order for students to compete in today’s global economy, our schools need to help them develop better cognitive and technological skills. School counselors have an enormous impact on students’ achievement and their success in their post-secondary education, yet initiatives to improve student outcomes often overlook them. Fitzpatrick and Costantini present their own action-based curriculum for high school counselors that will meet the needs of 21st century students, helping to foster their growth and ambition and actively engage them in learning what they need to succeed beyond high school. Important steps covered in this curriculum include Making the transition to ninth grade successful Using technology in the advising process, such as online resources for college and career research, assessing interests, and structuring advising sessions Preparing for standardized testing and using it to motivate students about the college application process Assisting students in researching careers and colleges, making the most of college visits, applying for college, and writing the application essay Equally important, the book focuses on the counselor and his or her role as an advocate and leader for students and details running a guidance office, working with parents, and writing Secondary School Reports. While applicable for all school counselors and students, the authors’ curriculum has a special focus on students in urban public schools to enable them to have the same experiences as their counterparts in suburban and private schools. An accompanying CD contains the tables, exercises, and charts from the book so they can be easily accessed and reproduced.
How is it possible that both university graduates and unfilled job openings are both at record-breaking highs? Our world has changed. New and emerging occupations in every industry now require a combination of academic knowledge and technical ability. With rising education costs, mounting student debt, fierce competition for jobs, and the oversaturation of some academic majors in the workforce, we need to once again guide students towards personality-aligned careers and not just into college. Extensively researched, (Re)Defining the Goal deconstructs the prevalent "one-size-fits-all" education agenda. The author provides a fresh perspective, replicable strategies, and outlines six proven steps to help students secure a competitive advantage in the new economy. Gain a new paradigm and the right resources to help students avoid the pitfalls of unemployment, or underemployment, after graduation.
"Dr. Carnevale analyzes the economic changes due to mass-production from the Civil War until the 1970's. He also examines and describes the standard competencies needed to enter the labor market as we survive the 21st century. Among the different new standards, he highlights the increasing need for individuals to become technically prepared and acquire robust skills to achieve ongoing career success."--Resource home page.
Most Americans no longer question whether and which students should be prepared for college. Rather, it is now widely accepted that ALL students should be prepared for postsecondary education in some form (e.g., certificate, 2- or 4-year degree), as these credentials are not only required for many jobs but are also the surest path to upward mobility (Carnevale, Rose, Cheah, 2011). There is also greater recognition that in addition to a more traditional approach to preparation for postsecondary education (e.g., taking college preparatory classes), students should also graduate high school with technical knowledge and employability skills to secure, retain, and advance their employment when they leave school, at whatever level that may be. Simply put, today’s high school graduates need a broad-based education that combines an array of knowledge, skills, and experiences to prepare them for life after high school. And indeed, state’s definitions of college and career readiness have broadened in recent years to include a variety of skills and dispositions, such as critical thinking skills, social emotional skills such as collaboration, and interpersonal skills such as resilience and perseverance (English, Rasmussen, Cushing, & Therriault, 2016). The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015, the key federal K-12 legislation, explicitly supports the notion of a “well-rounded” student, emphasizing readiness in areas beyond its predecessor’s (the No Child Left Behind Act, or NCLB) focus on core academic content. ESSA mandates that states ensure that students are provided an enriched, accelerated curriculum beyond courses and content areas in which state assessments are given (e.g., mathematics, reading) and that is aligned with the postsecondary experiences students are likely to encounter. ESSA also supports an expansion of readiness goals through provisions for the improvement of conditions for student learning that support social-emotional learning, intrapersonal skills, and other employability skills. And ESSA includes provisions in states’ accountability systems that support emphasis on broader definitions of readiness. Additionally, ESSA’s accountability framework includes important principles for supporting a broader definition of what students need to know and be able to do once they graduate high school. Accountability systems under ESSA may include multiple measures of college and career readiness. Indeed, several states had already added a career-focused indicator prior to ESSA passing (such as pathway completion or technical assessment achievement) to their accountability systems, and the number of states publicly reporting such indicators continues to increase (Achieve & AdvanceCTE, 2016). As definitions and measures of college and career readiness continue to evolve, we know one thing for sure: we need to better prepare ALL students for success after high school. This book explores the ways in which some education researchers are approaching this task. This was written in Corinne Alfeld's official capacity as part of the national conversation on education, is intended to promote the exchange of ideas among researchers and policy makers and to express views as pail of ongoing research and analysis, and is not intended to necessarily reflect the official views of the U.S. Department of Education.
Americans have long recognized that investments in public education contribute to the common good, enhancing national prosperity and supporting stable families, neighborhoods, and communities. Education is even more critical today, in the face of economic, environmental, and social challenges. Today's children can meet future challenges if their schooling and informal learning activities prepare them for adult roles as citizens, employees, managers, parents, volunteers, and entrepreneurs. To achieve their full potential as adults, young people need to develop a range of skills and knowledge that facilitate mastery and application of English, mathematics, and other school subjects. At the same time, business and political leaders are increasingly asking schools to develop skills such as problem solving, critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and self-management - often referred to as "21st century skills." Education for Life and Work: Developing Transferable Knowledge and Skills in the 21st Century describes this important set of key skills that increase deeper learning, college and career readiness, student-centered learning, and higher order thinking. These labels include both cognitive and non-cognitive skills- such as critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, effective communication, motivation, persistence, and learning to learn. 21st century skills also include creativity, innovation, and ethics that are important to later success and may be developed in formal or informal learning environments. This report also describes how these skills relate to each other and to more traditional academic skills and content in the key disciplines of reading, mathematics, and science. Education for Life and Work: Developing Transferable Knowledge and Skills in the 21st Century summarizes the findings of the research that investigates the importance of such skills to success in education, work, and other areas of adult responsibility and that demonstrates the importance of developing these skills in K-16 education. In this report, features related to learning these skills are identified, which include teacher professional development, curriculum, assessment, after-school and out-of-school programs, and informal learning centers such as exhibits and museums.
Praise for the First Edition: "Serves as an excellent foundational text...I am very thankful that the authors wrote this text. [It] is written for school counselors by school counselor educators!" -Gene Eakin, PhD, School Counseling Program Lead, Oregon State University "The school counseling focus makes it unique... This is...a great improvement to other texts I’ve used and I plan to continue using it." -Dr. Carolyn Berger, Chair, Department of Counseling, Nova Southeastern University Fully updated to serve the needs of school counselors in training, this remains the only text to present a comprehensive, developmental, and practical approach to preparing school counselors to conceptualize the career development and college-readiness needs of P-12 students. The second edition reflects the ASCA’s new Mindsets & Behaviors for Student Success, which focuses on college and career-readiness standards for all students, 2016 CACREP Standards, and the 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act. The text is uniquely grounded in developmental, ecosystemic, and career theories as a basis for career interventions. Considering the range of psychosocial, cognitive, and academic development spanning P-12 students, the authors review relevant developmental and career theories as a foundation for the design of sequential and developmentally appropriate career and college-readiness curricula and interventions. The text provides school counselors and educators concrete examples of how to select, implement, and evaluate the outcomes of interventions grounded in various career counseling theories and addresses career development and college readiness needs by grade level. Also included is expanded information on diversity; reflections and advice from actual school counselors; updated statistics, references, and appendices; and an updated Instructor’s Manual, test bank, and PowerPoint slides. New to the Second Edition: Features a “Building a College-Going Culture” section that expands coverage on college readiness counseling Reflects updated legislation and policy information including ASCA’s new Mindsets & Behaviors for Student Success, 2016 CACREP Standards, Every Students Succeeds Act, and the Reach Higher Initiative Completely new chapter on college and career decision making "Voices from the Field" highlighting experiences from actual school counselors Enhanced instructor resources including Instructor’s Guide, test bank, and PowerPoint slides Key Features: The only comprehensive text devoted to career and college counseling for school counselors; written by former school counselors Disseminates current data and research focusing on college readiness needs of diverse populations Includes interventions grounded in theory and connected to national standards
