College and Career Ready – A Conceptual Framework for the American Labor Market: Engagement, Achievement, and Transition
College and career readiness (CCR) is a phrase that has captured the imagination if not the vocabulary of state and federal policy makers in the United States. What it means, however, is subject to a great deal of variance in interpretation. And definitions matter when it comes to policy. The basic college and career ready question is, what is the appropriate mix of academic skills, generalizable occupational skills, and specific technical skills required for the emerging labor market. A second-level question is, how can schools help students develop these skills?
In this paper, I intend to address these two questions from four perspectives. I will begin with a discussion of the elements required for developing a college and career ready secondary school graduate; strategies for developing those skills; systems that are evolving the United States through which these skills can be developed and conclude with a brief look at the role of career guidance in supporting the college and career ready efforts.
Stone, J. R. III. (2011, October). College and career ready – A conceptual framework for the American labour market: Engagement, achievement, and transition. Paper presented at the Education and Employers Taskforce Research Conference 2011, Warwick, UK.