Topic: Career Pathways
Career Pathways
All learners deserve a clear path to the career they want to pursue. Seeing the steps forward can help students envision who they might become and how to get there.
To achieve this, partners need to work together to align efforts across agencies and education levels. Connecting everything from career exploration to academic programs to in-demand jobs is central.
Career pathways are connected sequences of education that prepare students for postsecondary credentials and employment. SREB helps states, districts and schools align the elements necessary for high-quality career pathways.
Commission on Career Pathways and Credentials
Prepare for High-demand, High-skill and High-wage Careers
Leaders from the 16 SREB states are convening to improve education pathways that lead to valuable credentials and rewarding careers. The commission is chaired by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and will publish its recommendations in early 2026.
“Every student and adult needs to be able to see clearly how to get where they want to go.” ─ Dale Winkler, SREB senior vice president for school improvement
Our Labor Market Data Hub
Connect Education to Local Careers
Explore our interactive dashboard with detailed data on occupations in each SREB state and workforce region.
Students deserve a clear pathway to careers in their communities.
Local labor market data can help schools be sure the career pathways they offer lead to high-wage, high-demand, high-skill careers. See how your education programs connect to certificates, career pathways and state priorities.
Career Pathways
SREB defines career pathways as connected sequences of education that prepare to attain postsecondary credentials and employment.
This document details the six elements for successful career pathways and provides indicators states and schools can use to evaluate their own. Alignment of the elements is foundational.
In-Demand Career Pathways and High-Priority Occupations
This policy brief is the first of several publications to be produced by the Southern Regional Education Board’s Commission on Career Pathways and Credentials, chaired by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.
Career Pathways Offer a Better Approach to Postsecondary Education
A quality education and workforce system includes career pathways that combine rigorous academic and technical content that prepare students for both college and career.
To provide career benefits to students and meet workforce demands, postsecondary options for Americans must be purposeful, and students need clearer guidance to ensure that the training and education they receive and pay for is giving them skills they need for careers they want.
Partnerships to Align Education and Careers
Report of the Commission on Strategic Partnerships for Work-Ready Students
This commission report offers a vision of education connected to local careers and shows how to make it a reality through partnerships and policy. With 11 recommendations to help states build strategic industry sector partnerships, the report covers policies, funding and building the capacity of educators. It also spotlights innovative solutions from around the nation.
Designing a Ready Workforce
Opportunities for state leaders to align ESSA, Perkins V and WIOA funds
To support states as they finalize their new Perkins V and WIOA plans and consider updates to their ESSA plans, SREB reviewed a sample of states’ existing plans and identified six ways states have missed opportunities in the past to align work funded by the three federal statutes. For each missed opportunity, SREB provides questions for policymakers to consider and gives examples from states of well-aligned plans.
