Do K-12 Educational Leaders Understand Career Readiness?

High schools do not focus enough on college readiness. “Our findings suggest that high schools have prioritized credit accrual necessary for graduation over knowledge and skill development that would prepare students for

The American College Testing (ACT), 2010 concluded that a large number of high school students and high school graduates do not possess the knowledge and skills for college level work or career training. With the creation and implementation of common core standards, states and school districts have a clear set of student expectations to target

FOCUS 2 was a great computer program to help continue my career journey. My career planning readiness results seemed to fit in where I am at in my life. My score was a 3.67, this indicates that I am moderately involved in my interests, values, personality and skills. Agreeing with this because I have been not only trying to figure out who I am as an adult but also making life changes. Although having a clear understanding on these topics, career exploration and career planning satisfaction were both low threes in scores. For example, my career planning score suggested that I may be experiencing some problems with planning. By writing this paper it has immensely helped clear my perspective on where I am and where I should be.

Education no longer fits your parent's vision of the three R's. To be career and college ready should be the goal of every high school student today. Students must learn to read and gather information efficiently. This research proposal subject matter resulted directly from the fact my mother, her mother and her grandfather have all been educators. One could say education is in the bloodline. As a high school student, the effects of the controversial Common Core Standards are apparent and personal. For the community, as a whole, the Common Core, if successful, will permit students to enter college or a career adequately prepared. Thus, preparing a workforce that is competent and therefore, better equipped for available employment.

Hispanic high school graduates exposed to two different curriculums: Common Core and College and Career Readiness

Although remedial education is necessary, it is costly. Some estimates place the cost to students and state at around 2.3 billion each year. The stigma associated with remedial coursework pervades. Additionally, many students feel trapped in a remedial web that takes time and money away from their academic and career goals. Drawing on work by Boylan and Saxon that includes multi-state data, Adams et. al. (2014) points out that up to 40% of students who take remedial courses do not complete them or remediation within a year. Recent data from the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) found that in addition to cost of remedial education "is the fact that remedial students are more likely to drop out of college without a degree …” and that “[l]ess than 50 percent of re¬medial students complete their recommended remedial courses…Less than 25 percent of remedial students at community colleges earn a certificate or degree within eight years” (para.

In our generation today High School students are at the age of having to know what they want to do for a career and what are the components the students need to have to achieve this. When choosing a career or career choices this is a main focal point in a young person’s life. There are many practical approaches and beliefs when approaching career selecting and it can be an intensive process. A first step in a career planning process would be assessing an individual/client with evaluating their willing/eagerness in the process (Gerstan, 2013). When looking into a specific career, planning with a high school

Rojewski (2017) identified that traditional roles of secondary and postsecondary career and technical education are significantly challenged to keep pace with the 21st-century workplace. Rojewski suggests for career and technical education to remain relevant, leaders need to initiate a collective response to the changes that are taking place in today's workforce and workforce education. Those elements are career navigation, work ethic and innovation. The author also states that the connection between vocational content areas and between career and technical educators and academic educators need to be strengthened and better communicate with stakeholders. Rather than structuring curriculum with specific work skills as the end goal, Rojewski

We continue to miss the fact that we must prepare all students the same, this disproportionately impacts low-income students. The Economist summarizes: “America is one of only three advanced countries which spends less on the education of poorer children than richer ones” (Minton-Bedoes, 2012). A child’s zip code continues to play a role in that child’s future. By providing high-quality education for all students, we can make sure that all students have the potential to succeed no matter what they can afford. (“Education..”). Today, graduating from high school and going to college, obtaining a postsecondary degree can mean the difference between a lifetime of poverty and a secure job to bring in money to support you and maybe a future family. However, in the United States, high school graduation and college-readiness rates are alarmingly low. “Just over 69 percent of students—and only about 50 percent of African-American, Hispanic and low-income students—graduate from high school on time, many without the skills needed for college or work.”(“Education and Poverty”)

Colleges have been changing how they approach education dramatically over the last decade. For many years, the common perception of how colleges were preparing students involved, teachers providing lectures, students doing various homework assignments and then being evaluated. Students either passed or failed. How much time and effort individuals put into their studies became the only way colleges measured student success outcomes. Often, colleges did not find themselves bearing the burden of responsibility for poor student outcome statistics. In recent years, the responsibility for student success has begun to fall more heavily on the schools. As the shift in responsibility switched, colleges have challenged themselves with redefining how they approach educating students. According to Grubb and Associates’ article, From Black Box to Pandora’s Box. Evaluating Remedial/Developmental Education, “Accepting this responsibility means identifying and then correcting the many possible reasons for non-completion or failure to learn- in short, providing remedial/developmental education, tutoring, counseling, and other forms of student services” (4). Within college education, there are two main types of schools. Students either enroll in a four-year university or a two-year community college. Where they are able to gain acceptance, often, depends on their level of preparedness. Two- year colleges have less demanding admission requirements. Christopher Shults article,

Two decades ago, it became the federal government’s mission to boost student competencies across the board. With a strict focus on making all students successful in the common core, there

Gysbers (2013) defines what career readiness is and what the qualities of a career ready student is. Students today are required an education that provides them with the academic, career and technical, and guidance to be career ready upon graduating from high school. When a student is career ready they know how to participate in numerous current and potential life roles which include learning and working. Gysbers and Lapan in 2009 (cited by Gysbers, 2013) defined a career ready student as “a proactive, resilient, and adaptive style of interacting in the in the present and use that style to assertively move toward self-defined career futures that add meaning, purpose, and satisfaction to their lives.” Once a student meets the definition they

“Following years of complaints from both employers and academic institutions of higher learning that many high school graduates lacked basic educational skills in reading, writing, and math, both legislators and educators agreed to work toward raising educational standards nationwide” (“Competency Testing” 1). In recent years, several states have pushed for statewide tests that are required prerequisites of high school students in order to graduate. These tests, better known as exit exams, have been under great scrutiny ever since they first came into existence. It needs to remain necessary for students to pass a high school exit exam before they are pushed out into the real world. High school exit exams are necessary, because they ensure that graduating seniors have the proper basis of knowledge to achieve higher aspirations, either in college or the workplace.

The sixth proposition explains that often a family’s socioeconomic status, mental health, education, skills, personality characteristics, and career maturity will lead to a career pattern for the offspring (Brown, 2016). The Status Attainment Theory further dives into to this concept. A person with a lower level in the above list will have a harder time breaking the mold their family set. It is not impossible, but will be a challenging road. An individual in this situation will face challenges other will not. One example is the FASFA. Parents with limited higher education will not be familiar with the process. This could result in the student not receiving the help that is available. This family shortcomings are one reason why high school counseling is so important. All students should be able to enter college on a level playing field, regardless of their family dynamic. Brown (2016) explains the importance of “being in the right place at the right time” and “getting breaks”.

The authors recruited 199 French-speaking participants to engage in a career counseling intervention (Perdrix et al., 2012). Nearly 70% of the sample consisted of students, i.e., middle school (at the end of mandatory education), high school, or university, and the rest were adults (Perdrix, et al., 2012). In addition, all participants sought career counseling services voluntarily (Perdrix, et al., 2012). The authors attempted to recruit a sample that was representative of individuals who were actively seeking career advice in Switzerland (Perdrix et al., 2010). Perdrix et al. (2010) organized the participants into two groups based off of age, i.e., 14 to 21 years old and 22 to 56 years old. Perdrix et al. (2010) stated that this bimodal age distribution was helpful for the interpretation of results because individuals under the age of 21 tended to be seeking initial career advice, where as individuals over 21 tended to be in the process of changing careers. While there were originally 199 participants, only 84 completed all pre- and post-measures (Perdrix, et al., 2012).