Newly released report encourages states to integrate career readiness

Source: careertech.org.  WIT:: Interesting read and very reaffirming of our mission.

Silver Spring, M.D. December 1, 2014 – The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) report, Opportunities and Options: Making Career Preparation Work for Students, provides a call to states to transform their approach to career readiness through three critical recommendations:

States must encourage secondary schools to engage employers and businesses as partners;
States must make career pathways a high priority spanning secondary and postsecondary schools, combining academics, work-based learning, career planning and guidance; and
States must hold secondary and postsecondary institutions accountable for career readiness.
Over the past year, CCSSO convened a Task Force on Career Readiness, which included Chief State School Officers from Kentucky, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Maryland, Louisiana, Minnesota and Georgia; State Career Technical Education (CTE) Directors from Vermont, Colorado and New Mexico; state postsecondary leaders; and key partner organizations, including the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium, (NASDCTEc) among others. NASDCTEc enthusiastically supports the recommendations detailed in this report, and encourages states to take the necessary steps to apply them to their secondary and postsecondary systems.

“This report acknowledges and supports the idea that successful career readiness pathways connects K-12, college and careers,” said Kimberly Green, Executive Director, NASDCTEc. “It is our hope that this report will truly catalyze action across the country to raise both the quality of and access to career pathways and programs of study for all students.”

“We commend CCSSO on this ground breaking piece of work,” said Scott Stump, Colorado’s Associate Provost for Career & Technical Education, current NASDCTEc President, and Task Force member. “The report makes a significant statement that career-based programs at the secondary level can and should help students become both college and career ready, while drawing on national and international models that states may consider when implementing these recommendations.”

John Fischer, Deputy Secretary, Vermont Agency of Education and Task Force member, said, “What makes this report so critical is its focus on providing greater opportunities for career readiness for all students through the transformation of CTE as well as through other state policies and efforts.”

NASDCTEc is pleased to see that 43 states and territories have signed onto this report to date, and looks forward to supporting states and State CTE Directors as they begin to implement the major recommendations of this report to help ensure all students graduate high school career ready.

To download the full report, visit CCSSO’s website here.