鈥淚n high school, a lot of students will be like, 鈥極h, what happens if they don’t like this aspect of me?鈥� said Sheikh Ali, 17, a student at Fridley High School just north of Minneapolis. 鈥淲hat happens if I’m not intelligent enough for this role? What happens if I can’t communicate enough?鈥�

On a whim, Sheikh Ali applied to Genesys Works, one of the country鈥檚 largest high school internship programs, and was accepted. Her confidence grew as she learned communication and technical skills at the national organization鈥檚 summer training sessions.

Now, just a few months later, she鈥檚 thriving as an intern at headquarters of the SPS Commerce software company in downtown Minneapolis, working on the technology helpdesk aiding employees with computer and other device issues. 

鈥淲hen I saw the fruits of my labor, I was stunned,鈥� she said.

The Genesys Works non-profit has been working with students like Sheikh Ali since launching in Houston in 2002 with a goal of connecting high school students to paid internships that go beyond typical afterschool jobs and can start them on paths to fulfilling careers, often in the聽white collar world.聽

Such internships are rare despite all the lofty talk nationwide about creating more work-based learning opportunities for students that let them try out different fields and can lead to good-paying careers. Fewer than five percent of high schoolers have a chance to do an internship or apprenticeship before graduating, according to federal data and surveys by the American Student Assistance nonprofit.

But Genesys Works has found a formula that gives companies 鈥� not just nervous teens 鈥� the structure and confidence to succeed with internships. Genesys Works has placed nearly 1,100 students in internships at 202 companies in eight metropolitan areas this school year: Chicago, Houston, Jacksonville, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York, San Francisco, Tulsa and Washington, D.C.

While many work in small, local companies, interns are also landing spots at corporate giants like Target, Accenture, 3M and Medtronic, often in the information technology, marketing or human resources departments. Students typically work 15 to 20 hours a week their senior year for $14 to $18 an hour, depending on the market. 

鈥淲e’re focused on building careers and building pathways for students and giving them access to what it looks like to work in a corporate environment and to be part of a team,鈥� said Mandy Hildenbrand, Genesys Works chief services officer.

Helping students find out if a career is right for them or what skills and certifications they should pursue in college is incredibly meaningful to success. 

鈥淲e want to make sure that we’re putting students in those types of roles,鈥� Hildenbrand said.

Genesys Works鈥� model, in which the non-profit acts like a hiring and staffing agency, is key in clearing a major block to high school internships nationally 鈥� coaxing companies wary of hiring high school students to take the leap. 

Genesys Works takes on duties that companies often don鈥檛 want to bother with, removing administrative burdens that scare many employers away. These include recruiting students and reviewing applications, pairing students with mentors, working with schools so students have time to work and acting as students鈥� employer of record so interns are on Genesys Works鈥� payroll and covered by the nonprofit鈥檚 insurance.

Genesys Works also adds another step that only a few internship programs do well 鈥� training students before sending them to companies. Genesys Works has each student complete an eight-week summer training program of professional conduct and some technical skills, including use of Microsoft Office applications.

In return, companies pay Genesys Works about twice the students鈥� hourly wages.

鈥淓verybody wants work-based learning, but it’s very difficult to figure out how to do it,鈥� said Hildenbrand. 鈥淲e take the heavy lifting off of the schools and off of the corporate partners.鈥�

Allison Barmann, executive director of Genesys Works in Minneapolis, the city with the most interns in the program, said the support structure makes a big difference to employers.

鈥淪ometimes we’ll talk to corporate partners who are like, 鈥極h, well, we’ve never had a high school internship before. Like, that’s too much work鈥�,鈥� Barmann said. 鈥淣o, no, we’re doing the hard part for you. You just have to find some work for these young people to do and find a good supervisor to help challenge them.鈥�

Peggy Krendl, a senior managing partner of the Fortune 500 company Accenture, agreed that Genesys Works鈥� model makes it much easier for a company that doesn鈥檛 have youth training programs or staff to hire younger, short-term employees. Companies also rarely have relationships with school districts that allow students to miss class to work.

Accenture has taken on the second-most interns through Genesys Works nationally, behind only medical technology giant Medtronic. 

鈥淲e don’t have to worry about that at all, so it’s an entire infrastructure and onboarding support network that we get working with Genesys Works,鈥� said Krendl.

The summer training is a big part of that support, especially for teenagers who have never held a professional job. Students spend eight weeks in the summer between junior and senior year learning six bundles of skills 鈥� communication, time and project management, work ethic and professionalism, problem solving and critical thinking, collaboration and teamwork, and initiative and independent work. 

Students are then evaluated three times over the summer on their progress to determine their 鈥渨orkforce readiness.鈥� Students are rated as to how well and often they show traits including punctuality, taking feedback well, willingness to learn and for setting plans with timelines for completing tasks.

Students are even rated on how well they stay attentive and participate in online sessions.

鈥淲e have to keep you guys engaged and focused,鈥� instructor Ravin Boihr told students at a training session last summer. 鈥淒uring your internships, you may be on screen four hours a day, the same way you are here, and your supervisor is counting on you to remain active and engaged in getting your work completed.鈥�

She stressed: 鈥淲e have to make sure that we confidently are placing you guys to them.鈥�

Lauren Loeffler, who manages interns for SPS, said students may come without specific skills, but those that make it through Genesys Works hiring process always view the job as part of building a career and want to do well. She said she sees few of the problems 鈥� behavior, tardiness, lack of work ethic 鈥� some employers might imagine in hiring students this young.

鈥淭he earlier they can kind of be exposed to the workforce, the farther ahead they’re going to be when it comes time to find that full time job,鈥� Loeffler said. 鈥淭o answer some questions that might scare future employers 鈥� like they kind of make this story up in their head 鈥� I have never seen a behavior issue. I have never seen students blatantly doing a bad job because they don’t care, they don’t like it. They are extremely motivated to do a good job.鈥�

Land O鈥� Lakes, the dairy and agricultural products company based just outside Minneapolis, is so invested in the program that it takes about a dozen interns from Genesys Works each year. The interns, as at most companies, don鈥檛 work directly with the core products and services 鈥� they don鈥檛 actually make the butter at your local grocery store 鈥� but in information technology, security or other support services.

Luke Kocon, telecommunications manager for Land O鈥� Lakes, has two interns a year in his department, typically helping manage distribution of computers and phones to employees.

Kocon said the first few weeks are a big adjustment as students acclimate to a new culture and expectations, but they learn quickly.

鈥淚t’s mutually beneficial,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here’s definitely a ramp up period, right? But my two interns that are with us right now are delivering just as any member of my team.鈥�

鈥淭hey usually surprise me with how much they can get done and how quickly they adjust to the workflows,鈥� he added.

Salim Kadi, a senior at Blaine High School north of the city, said his internship at Land O鈥� Lakes is an adjustment from a previous job he had as a cashier at Target, which was more focused on rapid-fire work with customers than handling several projects on a deadline. While his tasks are not an exact match for his hopes of working in computer science after college, he is excited for the rest of this year.

鈥淚t helps me gain experience and (understand) how the corporate world works,鈥� Kadi said. 鈥淓ven if I don’t get a position that’s like my career, I still learn how to be more professional in a corporate setting. I can also learn how to network and talk to other people too. And I can still ask about things that I want to learn about, that’s going to align with my future career.鈥�

Land O鈥� Lakes, like many other companies in the program, often keeps interns even after their senior year as they move on to college. Yareni Flores, now pursuing an associates degree at Century College, remains with Land O鈥� Lakes鈥� information technology department two years after finishing her senior year in the internship.

Flores, 18, said the internship taught her a lot of professional skills.

鈥淏ack in high school, you wouldn’t really see me being here because I did not like talking to people,鈥� Flores said. 鈥淚t was my first ever job too, so I learned how to manage my time more, and how to be more responsible.鈥�

Sheikh Ali, like Flores, said the internship can really help students grow. So she urged students to overcome their hesitancy and make the leap.

鈥淚t鈥檚 something that you really have to push for,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou really have to just try hard.I feel like having courage to pursue Genesys works is something that’s really needed.鈥�

Like those old-school dream gigs, today鈥檚 hot online careers are mostly unattainable and unstable. For some young people, they鈥檙e also a capitulation: 鈥淢y job feels like a dead end and business school isn鈥檛 in my future. Maybe people will watch me unbox purchases.鈥�

The next generation, a huge reservoir of talent, is rarely challenged to set a higher bar 鈥� and they get a lot more advice about building a personal brand than about building a career. Those of us leading organizations owe it to them to demystify professions and create new pathways.

Here are three promising practices for the new workforce, especially for young people without traditional access: intensive mentoring, cross-organizational cohorts, and early experiences with professional environments.

Mentoring

The traditional approach to mentoring is the 鈥渙ld boy network.鈥� Since the 1990s, more workers have also benefited from informal networks such as alumni associations or sometimes nonprofits that serve this purpose. However, young people may need more formal mentoring within the workplace to thrive and persist.

Many companies assign mentors to brand new employees, but not generally for the long term. The next generation needs ongoing mentoring. First-gen professionals, especially, can find it difficult to seek guidance. They may not want to appear vulnerable; they may not know what they don鈥檛 know. Online courses 鈥� valuable for a population that has grown up watching videos 鈥� can help. But there are a million; which ones are useful? And perhaps the new employee fears being caught trying to learn their job. To address such needs, they need more than a mentor. They need a navigator.

Beyond knowledge gaps, some young employees also need help with organizational culture. I know a recent college graduate in a start-up job where colleagues regularly drink at work. She felt she had to participate to be taken seriously. Some other, more senior colleagues who had opted out could have helped her find another way to engage. It鈥檚 on us to assist young coworkers struggling with fit.

These new members of the workforce also need encouragement to find ongoing mentoring and keep seeking engagement. For many of them, an elevator ride with the CEO would be a terrifying moment, rather than an opportunity. A lack of guidance leads to frustration, and ultimately nonpersistence.

Cohorts

It doesn鈥檛 always take a senior person to help a new employee navigate. Peer cohorts can also help. Most young workers are already comfortable traveling in packs socially. An ongoing professional conversation with their peers can benefit both them and the company, and shared responsibility for problem-solving can be liberating. Women in particular have a stereotypical but real inclination to be useful, and they are more apt to receive if they can also give. Cohorts offer a way to do that.

Even for midlevel employees, there is value in connecting across silos. I know one organization where colleagues from different departments meet monthly to catch up on their work. Individuals offer each other expertise, and departments pitch in together, which creates efficiencies.

Engaging like this especially helps employees who are more reticent. Helping as well as being helped creates social glue 鈥� and it can also build organizational loyalty, as employees see themselves in a bigger picture.

Early exposure

鈥淪ummer camp鈥� experiences on college campuses are a common way to create access and persistence for first-generation students. When middle schoolers visit campuses, they can imagine college life. Similarly, Take Your Child to Work Day has, since the 1990s, offered glimpses of the working world鈥攁t least, for children of white-collar professionals.

But when parents work in a meatpacking plant, their children have no opportunity to get to know office culture. More and more next-gen workers lack a vision of how to belong in a corporate or institutional setting. Yet that is the most powerful element: the vision of oneself in a new context, and permission to be there.

To get the farm team ready and overcome the sense of 鈥渘ot for me,鈥� employers must invite them in early. Google, for example, invites school groups to its campus. If these young people eventually land an interview, the campus already feels familiar.

If these promising practices seem self-evident to you, consider where you learned about your work environment. If the answer is 鈥渋n college鈥� or 鈥渇rom relatives,鈥� you might ask: Who in my workforce did not get that experience? And if the answer is 鈥淚 learned the hard way,鈥� can you help someone else not to have to learn the hard way, too? 

When asked about how they paid for what they considered their most important license, 71% said they used their own money while 19% reported tapping into government or private loans and nearly 25% said they received support from their employer. 

Ama Takyi-Laryea, a Pew senior manager who contributed , said up until now, there鈥檚 been a gap in knowledge about how individuals are financing this level of skill acquisition, even as the number of people pursuing credentialing is rising dramatically.

鈥淗aving data to inform different pathways towards quality credentials 鈥� no matter what form it takes 鈥� is what’s essential right now,鈥� she said.

A third of all adults in the United States have a nondegree credential, Pew found, and of those, 18% also have a college degree.

Michelle Van Noy, director of Rutgers University鈥檚 Education and Employment Research Center, said understanding where the money is coming from for certificates and professional licensing sheds light on whether that type of education and training is being properly supported.

鈥淚f we see so many people paying on their own, we want to know if this is fair for people who are trying to seek out these pathways,鈥� she said. 

The underlying data for the Pew report comes from the pilot, a survey of 15,734 respondents, ages 16 to 75, administered by the U.S. Census Bureau. For a number of key indicators, this dataset is the only nationally representative source, according to researchers.

Nondegree credential programs are typically designed to train students in specific skills, like dental assisting or computer programming. There is no industry standard definition, yet they differ from associate and bachelor鈥檚 degrees in a number of ways: they are often much shorter in duration, ranging from a few weeks to less than a year; they are offered by both accredited and unaccredited schools 鈥� as well as businesses, associations and government agencies 鈥� and they can expire.

Critical to the cost consideration is the fact that they have historically been ineligible for government aid, though recently passed will mean that starting in July 2026, federal Pell Grants for low- and middle-income students can be applied to select accredited programs.

When asked about their most recent vocational certificate vs. their most important active license, the financial sources shifted: fewer people (about half vs. roughly 70%) said they paid using their own money, about the same amount (20% vs. 19%) reported relying on loans and the number looking to their employer for funds shrunk from nearly 25% to 15%.

鈥淚t is concerning that most students pay out of pocket for their sometimes-costly NDCs [nondegree credentials], especially because one study found that over half of these programs鈥� hourly costs minimum wages across 15 states,鈥� according to the Pew report.

Researchers found that the annual rates at which people recall earning nondegree credentials tripled between 2009 and 2021. During this time, rates in vocational certificate attainment jumped from 0.4% to 1.2% and those earning professional licenses jumped from 0.5% to 1.6%. Researchers noted that these shifts occurred against the backdrop of waning enrollments in traditional college programs.

Nationally, over 1.1 million credentials are available, ranging from big tech certifications to community college programs, yet quality and outcomes are highly mixed, according to by the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute. They found that only about 12% of programs lead to significant wage gains for workers beyond what their peers make without the credentials.

And while the top 10% of credentials boost annual earnings by almost $5,000 within a year of completion, the average credential increases earnings by just $1,200, and 鈥渕any credentials fail to move the needle at all, leaving learners exactly where they started,鈥� according to the report.

鈥淲ithout better data and transparency, countless Americans risk wasting time and money on credentials that lead nowhere,鈥� the AEI report says.

This variation in quality, paired with a scarcity of reliable data, 鈥渓eaves people to sort of fend for themselves, 鈥� Rutgers鈥� Van Noy said. 鈥淚t points to this larger systematic problem.鈥� 

While these initial findings provide significant new information and are 鈥渢he best we have,鈥� Pew鈥檚 Takyi-Laryea stressed that they have limitations and should be viewed as a jumping off point for future work. 

She said forthcoming research will look more granularly at payment methods; analyze educational pathways that lead to these programs and the industries they鈥檙e in; and look at student perceptions of their programs in terms of both value and quality. 

The goal is to allow students to make better-informed decisions and for states to set guardrails. This is particularly important as state-level investment in these programs has significantly increased, with to short-term credential initiatives.

鈥淚 cannot stress enough the need for researchers to fill these data gaps around quality and value for students, for states that are investing heavily in these programs, for employers 鈥� even for the providers,鈥� Takyi-Laryea said.

Admittedly, I was on the fast track toward becoming one of the or NEETs 鈥� youth between the ages 16 to 24 who are 鈥渘ot in education, employment, or training鈥� 鈥� who live here in southern Nevada. I was on the verge of becoming a statistic. 

Across the country, , , were considered NEETs. Alarmingly, this propensity to disconnect seems to afflict boys more than girls. , the share of young men aged 18 to 24 who were NEETs increased from 4% to 8%. In my home state of Nevada, the percentage is 19%, the second highest in the country. Moreover, as a male in Nevada, I was 15% more likely to drop out than my sisters. 

Not surprisingly, outcomes for NEETS are troubling. About without a high school diploma are either incarcerated or on parole at any given time. Among African American males, the proportion is closer to 30%. Lower educational attainment is associated with isolation, loneliness, and addiction. 

The trajectory that I had been moving along for those first two years pivoted sharply after I landed my first job. The summer following my sophomore year, I told my parents that I wanted to work. Knowing that I was on the verge of dropping out or failing out of school, my parents were desperate. A grand bargain was struck: I could work as long as I stayed on top of my schoolwork. 

Not only did I stay on top of my schoolwork 鈥� I outperformed. Throughout my junior year and beyond, I worked at least 20 hours a week while maintaining a 4.0 grade point average and an above average course load.

Having a job was rewarding and valuable on several fronts. First, my job helped me connect what I was learning in the classroom to the real world. I am applying my health science knowledge to my work as a lifeguard. Additionally, I have invested most of my wages, which has helped me understand the importance of mathematical concepts, such as compounded interest, that previously seemed so irrelevant. Second, my work 鈥� both as a lifeguard and an internship with the county government 鈥� is teaching me important durable skills: like showing up on time (even when I鈥檓 tired), being responsible, and working with people with whom I have nothing in common. 

Finally, my employment has given me confidence and purpose and helped me realize that “” 鈥� taken from 鈥淚nvictus,鈥� a poem by William Ernest Henley that I memorized in fifth grade.

My experience is not unique. Research indicates that students who work and participate in internships, apprenticeships, and employment have better outcomes. One reported that the 鈥渆vidence to date indicates that summer youth employment programs have the potential to reduce delinquent behavior, enhance academic aspirations and performance, and improve social and emotional development.鈥� 

Youth employment programs are associated with 鈥�, who saw improvements in their sense of belonging, ability to contribute to their communities, and conflict resolution skills.鈥�  A found that 鈥減rivate sector job experience significantly increases attendance, reduces course failures, and raises proficiency on statewide exams. Participants are more likely to take the SAT and enroll in college with a shift from two-year to four-year institutions.鈥�  

According to the , 鈥淓xpanding employment opportunities for opportunity youth 鈥� including through proven year-round and summer job training programs 鈥� can help improve work readiness, expand professional networks, boost earnings, and reduce interaction with the criminal justice system.鈥� The potential cost of not helping a disconnected youth at $13,900 annually. 

While I have meaningful employment, my experience feels like an outlier, especially among my African American peers. Many friends have been looking for jobs and internships for months without success. Workforce development experts have confirmed my observation鈥攏oting that internships and jobs are rare. 

As 社区黑料 has reported, at most 5% of students have the chance for the gold standard of work experiences: apprenticeships or internships.  As of , the U.S. unemployment rate among youth ages 16 to 24 was 10.5%, significantly higher than the national rate of 4.3%. Among African American youth, the rate was over 14%. 

Given the benefits of youth employment and the association with lower crime rates, governments and political leaders should do more to offer incentives to businesses to provide internships and job opportunities. Currently, only a handful of states provide programs to encourage businesses to hire young people. 

In , the state provides an 鈥淓xperiential Learning Tax Credit Program,鈥� which offers a $2,000 tax credit for every apprentice, pre-apprentice, or student intern that a business employs. has a Work-Based Learning Tax Credit that offers businesses a $2,500 credit if they hire a youth. Earlier this year, there was a to provide $15 million to support NEETs in Nevada. Sadly, the bill didn鈥檛 even get a hearing. 

While barriers remain, such as transportation or student schedules,聽 some states are getting creative to address these. For example, Indiana has that grant students funds to cover the cost of getting to work, and have rolled out more flexible school schedules in some schools so that students can work at an apprenticeship, job, or internship.聽

There are millions of young people 鈥� especially young boys like me 鈥� who are wandering, feeling disconnected, and facing significant barriers. College is expensive. Jobs are hard to come by. There are fewer organized ways to engage. 

As such, opportunities to work and learn 鈥� in the form of internships, apprenticeships, and employment opportunities 鈥� are the best vehicles to help youth learn about and connect to their interests, and from that, build confidence to explore and connect to their community.  Increasing job opportunities for young people is a proposition that will benefit the entire community. 

Earning the certification for basic teaching skills will let her work as a paraprofessional, or teaching aide, right out of high school, allowing her to earn more money and gain more experience than other students.聽

鈥淚’ve always wanted to teach special ed, like, it’s just my passion,鈥� said Manzo, a junior at Valley Forge High School just outside Cleveland. 鈥淲ith the ParaPro certification, I could become a para directly out of high school. You can’t beat that.鈥�

Manzo very deliberately chose to pursue the certification because of the doors it would open for her. It’s the ideal states aim for when they promote credential programs in high schools.聽

But the system isn鈥檛 working as well for students in other fields.聽Many students are spending their high school years earning credentials that won鈥檛 help them land a job.聽

The number of students earning career credentials has exploded nationally as states and schools increasingly encourage students to pursue them 鈥� tripling in some states over the last few years.

But experts warn that not all credentials are created equal.

Researchers are finding massive mismatches between the credentials students are earning and what employers seek. With thousands of non-degree credentials to choose from, it鈥檚 a challenge to sort through the chaos and find the programs teaching valuable skills that lead to good jobs and good pay. Guidance for schools and students is spotty and riddled with gaps. Consider:

• Students , such as national basic construction skills and Occupational Safety and Health Administration safety certificates, the partnership between the Burning Glass Institute, a leading employment research nonprofit, and ExcelinED, a right-leaning education policy nonprofit, reported in 2022.
• The credentials don鈥檛 always lead to higher pay. Just one of every eight career credentials available today leads to better wages than without them, Burning Glass estimates.聽
• Meanwhile, the researchers also of students earning credentials employers want, such as Microsoft Office Specialist certifications, or nursing, electrical and commercial drivers鈥� licenses.
• Some of the mismatch is because just over a quarter of all high school credentials only provide workplace readiness skills, such as digital and financial literacy, rather than technical certificates for things like auto repair, construction or welding.
• There are only a few resources available on hiring and wages that can help students and schools assess whether a credential has real value.

before steering schools and students toward them, Advance CTE, the association of state leaders of career technical education, reported this summer.

How does your state review credentials for high school students?

Though states often give lists of available credentials to schools to consider, Advance CTE found, they don鈥檛 always find out whether companies are hiring in that field, or which credentials matter when it comes to hiring or pay.聽

Some states are even creating paths for students to receive their high school diplomas by earning career credentials without carefully evaluating their demand from employers, AdvanceCTE and Burning Glass data shows.

Not one state is closely aligning the credentials that schools offer to employer needs, according to ExcelinED and Burning Glass 鈥� and just 16 states are moderately aligned.

ExcelinED earlier this year called the low rate of students earning in-demand credentials 鈥渕ore than just a missed opportunity.鈥� 

鈥淚t鈥檚 a potential waste of time and resources for learners and education systems,鈥� . 鈥淐redentials that don鈥檛 lead to viable employment opportunities fail to open doors for students, leaving them unprepared for the realities of the job market and potentially dead-end opportunities.鈥�

This results in too many students earning credentials for jobs in certain fields while too few are earning credentials for others.

“Seven out of eight credentials are not resulting in wage gains for credential earners,” said Emily Passias, deputy executive director of Advance CTE. “That’s substantial.”

Passias said she is concerned that states and schools could be “over-identifying what holds value in their credential lists” while students and schools spend time and money pursuing them.

“Getting this identification and approval of credentials right helps produce a strong return on investment, both for learners and for states that are aiming to… ensure that learners have the skills and the credentials that they need to get the good jobs that are most important in their state,鈥� Passias said.聽

Students in high school vocational programs, now known as Career Technical Education, have traditionally sought licenses or apprenticeships in specific fields. But for the majority of students, especially those headed to college, their school鈥檚 diploma was the only credential they ever sought in high school.

But CTE programs are expanding as demand from companies for people with specialized work skills has increased. High school and college diplomas, long viewed as a catch-all verification of a student鈥檚 skills and aptitude, aren鈥檛 carrying the same weight as before.

So there has been a movement toward students to demonstrate some work skills even if they’re going to college. And there is increased urgency for students not going to college to leave high school with some verifiable skills so they can find work that pays a living wage after graduating.

States are doing an uneven job helping districts and students make the best decisions of which credentials to spend time and money on, Advance CTE found in its Credentials of Value report in July. Among its findings:

• Only 34 states have state agencies that formally review and approve credentials for schools, leaving 16 states that don鈥檛.

• Just 34 states asked employers what credentials they recommend.

• And less than half looked at employer demand for a credential (24 states) or wage data for the kinds of jobs a credential would let students step into (23 states)

The ultimate goal 鈥� tracking the jobs students land and how much they earn after receiving a given credential 鈥� is still difficult for states. Only eight聽 鈥� Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, South Dakota 鈥攁re able to look at that data, Advance CTE reported.

Even where states take many of the steps Advance CTE is tracking to verify the value of credentials, there are still challenges. The experience of Ohio, one of the highest rated states by Credentials Matter, is a good example.

Ohio actively consults employers in creating and annually updating its list of industry recognized credentials students can pursue.聽

Ohio goes a step further by giving each of those credentials a value rating that students can use to earn their diploma. Each approved credential is given a 鈥減oint鈥� value so students can accumulate enough credential points to graduate through one of several pathways.

Ohio also adds another guide by creating a second list of credentials of extra-value, then awards schools extra money for each of these earned through its Innovative Workforce Incentive Program (IWIP).

But even after taking those three steps, Ohio still has challenges. Students and schools are still gravitating toward credentials that are not in demand, in part, some believe, because they can be an easy way to satisfy state requirements to earn diplomas.

鈥淲hat appears to be happening in Ohio鈥檚 urban districts is some kind of distorted form of CTE in which low-achieving students are getting routed into less rigorous IRC (Industry Recognized Credentials) programs to get them diplomas at the last minute,鈥� the Fordham Institute鈥檚 Aaron Churchill鈥淭his does nothing for the students who receive certificates that have nothing to do with their career aspirations and have little value in the workforce.鈥�

Though the state IWIP list is supposed to guide students toward valuable credentials, the ones students earn the most聽 – OSHA safety, CPR, retail and customer service certificates聽 – are not on it and have low employer demand. Of the 141,000 approved industry credentials Ohio students earned last year, only 22,000 鈥� 16% 鈥� are from the IWIP list.

Ohio districts also varied greatly in how much they steered students to higher value credentials. The Cleveland school district, for example, had its 34,600 students earn just 23 IWIP credentials last school year. Students at the similarly-sized Columbus and Cincinnati districts did 10 times better, earning more than 300 and more than 200 respectively.

Cleveland trailed even the suburban Parma school district, just over a quarter Cleveland鈥檚 size, 145 to 23.

Cleveland students instead followed the state trend, just more intensely, by earning聽 less intense and less in-demand credentials that offer few career advantages.

Hundreds of students in Cleveland completed CPR certificates and the from the National Retail Federation, which require students just to pass written tests with no workplace training聽

ExcelinED found no employers in Ohio seeking the CPR training from job applicants and just three seeking the RISEUP certificates.The National Retail Federation declined to discuss the low demand for these credentials with 社区黑料.

The two RISEUP credentials, however, give students enough “points” when combined to satisfy an Ohio graduation requirement.

鈥淪tudents can bundle them to earn a diploma,鈥� . 鈥淎nd yet, according to job posting data, neither credential is in demand by employers.鈥�

Selena Florence, Cleveland鈥檚 chief academic officer, said the district hopes to increase the聽 number of students earning in-demand credentials under a plan the district is developing to start next fall. She would not say when that plan would put Cleveland on par with Cincinnati or Columbus, saying only that she hopes it will be soon.

鈥淲e have students who are walking out the door, out of the high school, without needed credentials,鈥� Florence said. 鈥淪o absolutely, it is a concern.鈥�

She bristled when asked if Cleveland awards so many CPR and RISEUP credentials mostly as a way to help students graduate easily instead of preparing students for careers.

鈥淚 don’t see those things as being mutually exclusive,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o yes, they are used to help kids get diplomas, and yes, they’re used to help kids get prepared for a career.鈥�

鈥淭hey may not be of value as the state defines it, but they are,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey are credentials that we think kids need. Kids need to know how to do CPR. Kids need, if they’re going into a service industry, they would need the service credential. It would be a value.鈥�

In neighboring Parma, Chuck Caldwell, who heads district CTE programs, says the district still offers the RISEUP credentials, but is steering students much more toward Microsoft Office credentials that employers want..聽

Caldwell and school staff said the RISEUP training is useful as a way to teach students basic workplace skills. And several local stores, including Wal Mart and Target, pay students with the credentials $1 more per hour. But Caldwell also conceded that they prepare students for entry-level jobs more than a career and are sometimes used mostly as a handy way to satisfy diploma requirements.

鈥淚 do see some value in it,鈥� Caldwell said. 鈥淏ut I will be honest. In some ways, it’s a way to meet a bureaucratic end goal too.鈥�

He also stressed that RISE UP and OSHA certificates may look like they have little demand, but still hold value as building blocks of a larger training program.

OSHA certifications, for example, may not show up in job ads, but the school requires students to obtain them at the start of all CTE programs so students don鈥檛 hurt themselves while learning. Apprenticeships or jobs will require OSHA training of new hires too if they haven鈥檛 done it already.

RISEUP credentials can also be a building block. A student in the Parma schools this fall, for example, is combining that training with health care classes for a career in health management.

Other CTE school leaders in Ohio agree judging a credential just on employer demand isn鈥檛 the only way.

David Mangas, superintendent of the Cuyahoga Valley Career Center south of Cleveland, said he strongly believes some classes and credentials should be focused on skills employers need, but others can be starting points for students to explore a field, learn some skills and decide whether to go further.

鈥淭hey’re trying to see what interests those students have, not necessarily get them ready for that skilled position right out of high school,鈥� Mangas said.聽

Jeremy Varner, the deputy director of the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, said Ohio is reviewing its credential recommendations and point values for graduation requirements over the next year. Now that a few efforts have been in place for a few years, it鈥檚 time to reassess and refine the state鈥檚 approach.

Ohio鈥檚 plan largely follows what Advance CTE and Credentials Matter are recommending 鈥� gathering the best data to see the return on investment for each credential and really weighing what can work best for students.

鈥淲e’ve had explosive growth in industry credentials,鈥� Varner said. 鈥淎ll the policy structures are working. They’re doing exactly what we intended, which is to get students more industry credentials. Now we just need to bring more focus to those that have the most value to students and employers.鈥�

The American Federation of Teachers, the nation’s second-largest teachers union, and CareerWise USA, which runs apprenticeship programs for high-schoolers in five states, announced the Education and Apprenticeship Accelerator late last month.

The International Union of Painters and Allied Trades and the governors of California, Colorado, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania have also joined the coalition.

Its goal is to improve and expand Career Technical Education (CTE) both in high schools and community colleges and create more student internships and apprenticeships where students are paid to both work and go to school. Only about 5% of high school students nationally have a chance at an internship or apprenticeship, estimates available show.

AFT President Randi Weingarten said the union sees a need to shift away from the 鈥渃ollege for all鈥� mindset of the last 20 years, and be a part of giving students other ways to prepare for work and life.

鈥淟ook how many kids we’ve seen in schools that feel totally at sea,鈥� said Weingarten, who also called for changes in a May 6 New York Times opinion piece

Instead of working independently and sometimes at cross-purposes, which has kept the number of opportunities for students low, CareerWise founder Noel Ginsburg said the new partnership will help government, business and schools work together in support of training efforts.

Challenges include aligning school and work schedules, finding transportation for students between work and school, giving students course credit for work-based learning and making sure students are working in fields that are hiring.

Both Ginsburg and Weingarten said the states can serve as laboratories to find the right formulas to succeed, then the partnership can promote them and find a common plan that covers all states.

鈥淭his is intended to truly create鈥xamples for the country in multiple states that can show how this matters,鈥� Ginsburg said. 

鈥淲e’ll bring resources to it, both financial, technical and consulting, to enable these states to accelerate faster, to make this happen,鈥� Ginsburg said. 鈥�(We鈥檒l) bring these systems together so that our gears aren’t grinding, that they are connected and, in fact, we’re moving forward.鈥�

Governors of the participating states echoed the call for improving training opportunities for students.

Apprenticeships are common in Europe, with more than half of students in countries like Switzerland participating. Apprenticeships In the U.S. usually start after high school, instead of the equivalent of junior year in Europe, and have traditionally been in construction trades.

But apprenticeships across the country have been growing in recent years and in other fields, particularly health care, information technology and advanced manufacturing. New U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon has also , and has called for more CTE, apprenticeships and tuition assistance for career training.

President Donald Trump signed an. But the administration also shut down a Department of Labor advisory panel on apprenticeships that Ginsburg had a major role on and , a training program for 25,000 young people a year, a decision that is being

The $10.5 million the state provided to help people pay for job training and industry certifications ran out approximately six months ahead of schedule.

Legislators added an additional $7.5 million worth of grants to the last week during a budget hearing. The initial $10.5 million for the program was supposed to last through June but ran out in December, .

Named for former Gov. Mike Foster, the grants provide financial support for students looking to earn credentials in high-demand, skilled industries such as construction, health care and information technology.

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The money can be put toward programs at Louisiana鈥檚 community and technical colleges and the state Board of Regents has approved. Students can generally receive $3,200 per academic year or $1,600 per semester if they are enrolled full time. The award maxes out at $6,400 in total over three years.

People who qualify must come from households earning less than 300% of the federal poverty level, which is $43,740 for a single person or $90,000 for a family of four. They also cannot have previously earned an undergraduate degree, and the students must also be at least 20 years old to qualify for the current academic year.

The types of job training the grant covers include nursing degrees, masonry, roofing, plumbing, cloud computing and .

The extra $7.5 million being used to fund the programs is unspent money from 2023, the first year the grants were awarded. Not as many people took advantage of the program that year because it was new and not well known at the time, officials said.

Monty Sullivan, head of Louisiana鈥檚 Community and Technical College System, said he believed the surge in interest in the program is related to economic factors, such as the rising cost of groceries. People are seeking ways to make more money, he said.

鈥淭he program is working. That鈥檚 the bottom line,鈥� he said.

The Louisiana Board of Regents has asked that state lawmakers double the funding available for M.J. Foster grants to $21 million for the next academic year.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Louisiana Illuminator maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Greg LaRose for questions: info@lailluminator.com.

He won one of 20 available slots in a new 鈥�  just one of three at Accenture 鈥� in a city of 20,000 public high school students. 

Three years later, Brown-Weaver, now 19, has become a full-time employee, earning more than $20 an hour as a package app developer at Accenture.

But a good friend who missed out on the apprenticeships is struggling. 

鈥淏ecause of the luck of the draw that I had (I’m working) 鈥� in the field that I want to be in,鈥� Brown-Weaver told a recent .

His friend, he said, 鈥渨orks part time at Target, making minimum wage.鈥�

鈥淚t’s sad to see that I simply just got lucky that day,鈥� Brown-Weaver said.

Providing high school students like Brown-Weaver a chance to try out possible careers has become a growing focus for families, public officials, schools and even businesses the last several years. 

But all work opportunities aren鈥檛 created equal. 

There’s a hierarchy of experiences that rise in commitment, intensity and benefit for students and providers 鈥�  with career days and job fairs at the low end. At the top end are internships, where students work with adults; and apprenticeships, longer programs where students are paid to work and earn career credentials.

Schools and communities routinely boast of making great efforts to better connect students with real work opportunities, but the reality is these efforts rarely go beyond career exposure events like career days or job shadows.

鈥淭he ultimate internship…a paid experience鈥e still have a long way to go to provide more opportunity for young people to experience those,鈥� said Julie Lammers, senior vice president of American Student Assistance, a non-profit connecting students to career training.

The best estimates available suggest five percent of students or less have the chance for the gold standard of work experiences 鈥�  apprenticeships or internships. 

At the request of 社区黑料, the U.S. Department of Labor compiled data showing a little over 10,000 16- to 18-year-olds started apprenticeships nationally last year 鈥� less than a tenth of a percent of the more than 13 million students that age. That鈥檚 including 18-year-olds who started apprenticeships after graduating high school.

It鈥檚 a dramatic difference from European countries such as Switzerland, where more than half of students use apprenticeships to start a career or as a stepping stone to university. Apprenticeships in Switzerland have the attention of Linda McMahon, the new appointee for U.S. secretary of education, who on the day her appointment was announced. 

There are more internships than apprenticeships for high schoolers, but still not many. A 2018 survey of more than 800 students by American Student Assistance, a non-profit that works with students on career choices, showed while 79 percent were interested in trying a work experience, only 2 percent completed an internship in high school.

Though the percentage of employers offering high school internships has, ASA estimates only four to five percent of students actually are participating in internships.

鈥楾hat鈥檚 still a very small number of young people,鈥� Lammers said. 鈥淭hose organizations may only be offering one or two opportunities, so the volume is still not there.鈥�

Lammers said schools are instead adding 鈥渢hings that expose young people to work, but are not necessarily training them in specific skills.鈥�

ASA鈥檚 recent survey found that close to half of employers offer mentorships, job shadowing, open houses and field trip visits 鈥� all valuable experiences for students but that barely scratch the surface of providing  the skills and training needed for the world of work.

Noel Ginsburg, co-chairman of the U.S. Department of Labor鈥檚 said schools and businesses can鈥檛 stop at just exposing students to careers.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not a bad thing,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just not enough.鈥�

鈥淚t’s a lack of understanding what quality actually means when a school says, 鈥榃e have these partnerships with XYZ company, and they come in, they’re helping us in class, and sometimes they’ll donate old whatever (equipment to train with),鈥� Ginsburg said. 鈥淭hat’s not what apprenticeship is鈥ut that’s historically what it has been for them.鈥�

Experts have agreed on a rough hierarchy of work experiences for several years, often distinguishing between those where students 鈥渓earn about work鈥� and those where they 鈥渓earn how to work.鈥�

As a co-written by Advance CTE, the national association of state directors of career technical education, notes, 鈥淲ork-based learning includes a continuum of experiences ranging from less intensive opportunities such as career awareness and career exploration to more intensive opportunities such as career preparation and career training.鈥�

The Advance CTE hierarchy below is similar to those created in 2009 like, a Bay Area non-profit that has worked on career efforts in California and New York. It鈥檚 also similar to those used by nonprofits like Brookings, ExcelInED, ASA or adopted by states such as , , , or , sometimes labeling the top level as career immersion, development or participation.

Some take that hierarchy even farther. As officials in Indiana started developing plans for a statewide expansion of high school apprenticeships they ranked student work experiences with full registered apprenticeships at the top, pre-apprenticeships and other apprenticeships a level below, internships below those and work opportunities that teach students general employability skills a step lower.

The trouble is that while low-level career experiences like job fairs take just a few hours of time for students and businesses, apprenticeships and internships require much more effort from both sides. 

CityWorks DC, the program that organized Brown-Weaver鈥檚 apprenticeship, would like to expand to many more students, but is growing slowly.

鈥淲e definitely need more opportunities and hope to offer more, but one reason there are so few are the systemic barriers that make what we do very resource intensive and challenging,鈥� said Lateefah Durant, CityWorks鈥� vice president of innovation.

She said it can be hard to find students that can commit to working several hours a week and fit that within their high school class schedules. It鈥檚 also hard to find companies willing to take on high school students and train them.

In 2019, the program鈥檚 first year, one of nine companies that took on apprentices backed out. And one of the other Accenture apprentices alongside Brown-Weaver had trouble meeting standards and was dropped.

ASA鈥檚 2023 survey highlighted several common challenges businesses see as they start high school internships, including finding appropriate work for them, devoting staff to training them, scheduling around class schedules and whether students have transportation to work.

Companies are less likely to view high school apprenticeships as a key part of building a workforce than just as a way to give back to the community. Using apprenticeships and internships as a real talent strategy, as they are in Europe, is key to them ever becoming widely available, experts say.

Those findings are in keeping with challenges experts have pointed to as holding growth of internships and apprenticeships back.

Transportation is a big problem for lower-income students, who often need to improve their career chances the most but rarely have their own car. And class schedules, along with extracurricular activities, can be a big hurdle too since they can limit the time a student can spend in a workplace each day.

Indiana is among states trying to overcome these issues. Transportation costs could be covered by new Career Savings Accounts – state grants to students for training expenses. And the state is considering more flexible class schedules, so students can work at an apprenticeship a few days each week.

In many cases, with few companies stepping up to take on interns or apprenticeships, students are placed instead in government offices or with nonprofits that advocate for work opportunities. The D.C. program has apprentices with the Department of Labor and with New America, a left-leaning think tank that is part of the national Partnership to Advance Youth Apprenticeship.

Indiana also placed early apprentices with Ascend Indiana, a non-profit that helped create them.

Schools and communities also lean on experiences that partly simulate or mirror work experience. These can include students doing exploratory summer internships with industry associations or schools that partner with companies so students earn money by doing a project, such as a small coding or marketing task, through school for the company.

Though there鈥檚 no consensus on where these fall on the continuum of work experiences, ASA鈥檚 Lammers said they can be worthwhile, if students are working on real-world problems for employers that intend to use the work product.

鈥淚f it is high- intensity project based learning, where young people are still exposed to a career鈥nd are able to understand that it’s not just sort of an academic exercise鈥� there is huge value in that,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t might not just be the nine-to- five paid experience that we sort of see in an internship, and that might be okay.鈥�

Others look to third parties that the field is calling 鈥渋ntermediaries鈥� to navigate some of the complex legal, liability and training issues, as well as to recruit, select and train students, along with training company staff in how to work with teenagers.

In Boston, the city鈥檚 Public Industry Council helps run paid summer internships for high schoolers, while also running staff training sessions to make sure students and companies benefit. CareerWise acts as an intermediary on some levels. Genesys Works, a non-profit, fills that role in eight regions 鈥� Houston, Minneapolis-St. Paul, San Francisco, Chicago, New York City, Tulsa and Washington, D.C., with Jacksonville coming next year.

Genesys gives students eight-week of unpaid training in the summer after 11th grade before placing them in paid internships for 20 hours a week as seniors. Students are paid employees of Genesys, not the companies, but they work in the offices of companies like Accenture, Medtronic or Target, the latter in corporate offices, not stocking shelves or working a register like Brown-Weaver鈥檚 friend.

鈥淲e’re going to our corporate partners saying, like, what are the roles, entry level roles in your corporate offices that you are filling over and over again?鈥� said Mandy Hildenbrand, chief services officer of Genesys. 鈥淟et’s talk about how we can be a pipeline for that.鈥�

For many apprenticeship advocates, some of the barriers are more about attitudes than real problems. 

鈥淐ulturally, U.S. companies haven’t traditionally viewed themselves as a training ground or an extension of the classroom,鈥� said Ginsburg, founder of CareerWise, the nation鈥檚 largest youth apprenticeship program. 鈥淭here’s a big difference between having an intern look over your shoulder and actually expecting real work from an apprentice.鈥�

He said businesses should recognize that while they won鈥檛 see immediate returns, they will if they are patient and take the time to train students well.

鈥淚t’s hard,鈥� he said, 鈥渂efore it gets easy.鈥�

Why? In 2023, employers added 3.1 million jobs 鈥� but many of those openings are going unfilled. In fact, there are 88 available workers for every 100 available jobs in the U.S.

According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s , 36% of people aged 25 to 34 say they鈥檙e primarily focused on acquiring new skills, education or training before they re-enter the job market. In an ideal world, the time to train them would be while they’re in school. However, counselors are stretched too thin to provide students with tailored guidance and steer them toward pathways that are essential for selecting degrees and certificates that align with their interests and aspirations. 

This shortage of high-quality advising and college and career exploration creates gaps not only between higher- and lower-income populations, but even within the same school, as students from specific populations 鈥� like those with disabilities, children of color or English learners 鈥� face additional barriers. Federal support is crucial for helping students from these underserved groups. It can help bridge these gaps and safeguard against disparities, ensuring that young people are guided to opportunities that will set them up for long-term success. By investing in these pathways, the federal government can help create a more equitable education system, which in turn contributes to a stronger economy. 

As detailed in our new report, “,” at the heart of a successful system is navigational support 鈥� dedicated guidance that helps students and their families make informed decisions at every stage of their educational journey.

Our vision for an ideal system is built on five key elements:

• Clear Choices: Students need a thorough understanding of their educational and career options. This includes knowing what pathways are available 鈥� from a traditional four-year degree to a certification earned at a community college to an apprenticeship 鈥� what each entails and potential outcomes.
  
• Start Smart: It is crucial that students and their families understand these available paths before high school. Early exposure and education about these options can help set students on a successful trajectory.
  
• Access for All: Information must be accessible to all students 鈥� in multiple formats and languages 鈥� to ensure that no one is left behind.
  
• Guided Beginnings: Students should have regular opportunities to explore postsecondary options beginning early in high school, and these should be integrated into the regular curriculum. This will allow students to make informed decisions as they progress toward graduation and will ensure that they don’t miss out on opportunities.
  
• Final Prep: As students approach the end of high school, they need dedicated, targeted support to prepare for their next steps. This includes help with college applications, financial aid guidance and career readiness programs.

For these reforms to be properly implemented in every school, All4Ed and EdTrust are advocating for a comprehensive federal response. This could include enhanced support and oversight through new grant programs and legislation mandating universal access to pathways counselors. Innovation and best practices must be incentivized, with partnerships fostered among K-12 schools, higher education and industry. Additionally, national training and certification for pathways counselors should be established, alongside robust monitoring and accountability.

These measures can help eliminate barriers that stand in the way of equitable access. Among these are the legacy of racialized tracking in career and technical education, a shortage of counselors and insufficient data-sharing about how long it might take to reach the top salary in a certain profession, job-associated health risks and similar issues. These are in addition to challenges faced by specific student populations, such as those in rural areas and multilingual learners.

This vision is not just an educational or economic imperative; it is a moral one. America must ensure that all children, regardless of their background, have the opportunity to pursue their dreams and contribute their talents to society. Federal leadership is essential in making this vision a reality, transforming pathways counseling from a privilege for a few into a right for all. Only then can the United States build a future in which every young person is empowered with the resources, opportunities and guidance needed for success.

Its , or party platform, describes , including one on education and workforce training named 鈥淏reak down barriers to opportunity.鈥� Details are provided in a companion 130-page focused on “Learning and Skills.“

Labour鈥檚 education and workforce training agenda for working families in the United Kingdom is similar to those numerous states and communities in the U.S. are creating under the banner of career pathways programs. It also has similarities to the bipartisan bill reauthorizing the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, which was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives and is under consideration by the Senate. 

This approach reflects , a viewpoint that encourages policymakers to create different education and training pathways and personal support programs so individuals can acquire the knowledge, skills and networks they need for jobs and careers. Policymakers and other analysts could benefit from comparing these similar U.S. and U.K. agendas, even though education governance in America is more decentralized than in Britain. Creating an opportunity pluralism learning agenda would advance the interests of working families and the prosperity of both nations.

The Manifesto describes a strategy for 鈥� career pathways for those 16 and older that include guaranteed job training, an apprenticeship and personal assistance in getting a job. It proposes changing how apprenticeships are funded by letting employers use some , which is currently paid to the national government, to develop local job training programs. It would allow vocational programs known as to apply to become Technical Education Colleges, which offer teenagers academic and specialized training 鈥� much like U.S. high school career and technical education. The shift would provide additional funds and allow the schools to respond to local community job needs. Finally, a new organization called Skills England would oversee implementation efforts by employers, training providers and unions.

In short, this approach dovetails with U.S. conversations on career pathway programs, created by education and training providers to prepare individuals for jobs that align with local labor market demands. These programs include apprenticeships and internships; career and technical education; dual enrollment in high school and college; career academies; early college high schools; bootcamps for learning specific skills; and staffing, placement and other assistance for job seekers, and they have five common features: an academic curriculum linked to labor market needs, leading to a recognized credential and decent income; career exposure and work, including engagement with and supervision by adults; advisers who help participants answer any questions they might have and deal with issues may they confront, ensuring they complete the program; a written civic compact among employers, trade associations and community partners; and local, state and federal policies that make these programs possible and track outcomes.

“Learning and Skills” proposes a makeover of the national government鈥檚 school and adult career services. This includes placing a career leader in each school and requiring all schools to become part of the current network of . These offer advice and technical assistance as schools develop their programs so they align with national benchmarks for good career guidance. Schools would also have access to all the career planning resources and job search tools that the hub offers, including a job mentor for every student.  

Some of the work of these hubs is akin to U.S. state-based efforts that develop career services and education frameworks. For example,   includes three program and activity categories: learning about work, learning through work and learning at work.  approach is based on career exploration, preparation and job seeking and advancement. The includes descriptions of the roles and responsibilities of training providers, primary and secondary schools, colleges, workforce boards and other community organizations. 

Central to these approaches is the  of career navigators and navigator organizations, similar to the Labour proposal for career leaders and hubs. Navigators provide information and guidance to students and families as they explore career pathways. They  participants identify their strengths, understand job requirements and get the education and credentials they need for career success. Their organizations have  that collect and aggregate information to assist in this navigation process, including using  to help navigators and their clients.

This approach to career pathways programs provides insight into the two dimensions that are needed to prepare individuals for meaningful work. The goal is to give people the knowledge, skills, relationships and networks they need to flourish and achieve success. As the adage reminds us, it is not only what you know but also who you know. Pursuing opportunity involves acquiring knowledge that pays and relationships that are priceless. 

A U.S. and U.K. learning agenda, sharing lessons learned from implementing an education and training agenda as described above, would have many benefits for each country. 

For example, the U.S. could profit from learning how the U.K.鈥檚 approach to apprenticeships beginning in the 1990s has increased the number of prepared job-seekers. As Ryan Craig explains in his book , many factors contributed to this growth. Two that would be particularly pertinent for the U.S. are the role of the federal government in providing financial support to states and communities to create more training providers and in developing national frameworks that describe the knowledge and skills needed for different occupations.

On the other hand, the U.K. could profit from examining how America’s decentralized system of education and training has produced many approaches to implementing an opportunity program that begins as early as middle school; how navigation services and their technology platforms have been used to assist students, their families and mentors; and whether using states and communities as laboratories of democracy and opportunity has a U.K equivalent. 

Britain鈥檚 Labour Party has embarked on its own July Fourth revolution for opportunity. It bears watching, as both nations can learn much to advance their opportunity agendas for students and the working class.

Those last three examples offer a glimpse into the nearly 300 career and technical programs available to Rhode Island high school students, a 30% increase since 2019.

These aren’t the CTE programs of the past, remnants of an outdated track for at-risk students whom traditional high schools didn’t serve well. Historically, CTE failed to help students get to and through college or on a path toward future-ready careers and economic stability. In Rhode Island, we’re changing that reality and hope to serve as a model for others.

Today, students in our CTE programs take three or more courses that help them earn industry- credentials on top of other rigorous academic classes we expect all high schoolers to take, including four years of college-ready math. Additionally, many take free college courses while still in high school and enroll in Advanced Placement classes. Rhode Island has the for students earning a passing score of 3 or higher on AP tests, and many of them participate in CTE programs.

Improving outcomes for students is critical as the nation recovers from the pandemic’s disruption to education. Student achievement took a huge hit, as seen on the and other measures. And that will have a lasting impact on students’ earnings and other outcomes, unless policymakers come up with innovative recovery strategies.

In Rhode Island, we’ve grown and strengthened career and technical programs following conversations with students that revealed many felt a disconnect between what they wanted for their futures and the opportunities schools prepared them for. Students are much more engaged when they see their learning experiences as purposeful, and engagement is especially critical now, amid the nation’s

We also sat down with employers to improve the quality of our CTE offerings. We redesigned learning standards for each of these programs to ensure they helped students develop the knowledge and skills employers say are needed. And we’ve formed partnerships with businesses that have led to real opportunities for young people. For example, General Dynamics Electric Boat, which builds submarines essential to national security, hosts annual 鈥渟igning days.鈥� This year, nearly 100 Providence Public Schools seniors who were either enrolled in a CTE program or expressed interest in a career in the trades were offered full-time jobs once they graduate, with starting salaries around $60,000.

I also love hearing individual stories about students, like Macey Nenna, forging their own path.  She received her emergency medical technician certification while attending Westerly High School and is now working toward her nursing degree at Rhode Island College. Since she earned college credit while in high school and can make money as an EMT, she’s in a vastly better financial position than most college students. And her twin brother, Michael 鈥� who participated in a construction CTE program at Westerly High School and interned with a civil engineer 鈥� is studying engineering at the University of Rhode Island and runs his own landscaping business.

We’re so committed to making opportunities like these available to all students that we allow students to attend CTE programs outside their home school or district if a similar program isn’t available there. Students can attend a school that has a CTE program they鈥檙e interested in, regardless of their zip code or family background. Furthermore, schools work hard to improve existing programs and build new ones when demand is there.

We’ve also made it a priority to ensure our programs are inclusive of differently abled students, through targeted grant funding that provides CTEnteachers in every district who are trained to meet the needs of students with learning differences and individualized education plans. The training has included coaching, guidance on modifying instruction and assignments, and instruction in making learning experiences and workspaces accessible.

I’m the proud mom of a differently abled high schooler. It’s great to know schools in Rhode Island are not placing unnecessary barriers on his, or any other student’s, opportunity to learn and thrive.

Parents and educators want all students to have the kind of educational experiences that ignite big dreams and build bright futures. CTE programs like the ones we’re offering in Rhode Island can help serve those goals by being centered on student interests and employer needs, are rooted in academic rigor and are forward-looking.

CRPE鈥檚 in-depth interviews with students and educators across six high schools in New England yielded a resounding message: the primary purpose of high school is not to prepare every student for college. 

Instead, parents and students in wide-ranging circumstances describe happiness, fulfillment, and a 鈥済ood life鈥� as their priorities. 鈥淚 just hope that she鈥檚 happy, [that she finds] something that she enjoys doing and that she can just find her place,鈥� said a parent of a student in credit recovery. A parent of a straight-A student taking multiple AP courses said, 鈥淚 want her to just pursue whatever makes her happy, honestly.鈥� A rural student said, 鈥淗ow I measure success isn鈥檛 exactly in scores or numbers. It鈥檚 more of, do I enjoy where I鈥檓 at in life, and is this where I saw myself going, and where can I go from here?鈥�

Underneath these desires hum a host of economic and social pressures. 鈥淪uccess would mean for me that I am not living a paycheck-to-paycheck life, or I鈥檓 not struggling to provide for me and the others around me,鈥� said one student. A parent added, 鈥淗onestly, I think it鈥檚 really hard for kids to settle on what they want to do right out of high school right now, given the state of our environment and our world and everything that鈥檚 happening.鈥�

What leads to happiness and stability? Some students have told us about college plans, convinced that college is the path to 鈥渂eing my best self and earning my own money and doing a job that I enjoy.鈥� But others aren鈥檛 so convinced that college will lead to success on their own terms. The reasons are varied: young people don鈥檛 want to do more school; they鈥檇 prefer to avoid high-stakes tests and applications; they鈥檙e concerned about finances; or, they would simply prefer to start earning money in a job they know rather than make a big bet on future opportunities they can鈥檛 access yet.

Administrators in our study are also noticing a trend away from college as the agreed-upon best path out of high school. 鈥淎t one point, people defined success by college,鈥� said an assistant superintendent. 鈥淎nd I think that people have come to realize now that that鈥檚 not the ultimate measure of success.鈥� 

Letting go of 鈥榗ollege for all鈥� 鈥�

Our study鈥檚 findings aren鈥檛 an anomaly. Since the pandemic, Americans as a whole have college prep as a key function for high schools. 

In many ways, this shift is a good thing. Present and future workforce needs are changing rapidly, demanding continuous waves of learning. Meanwhile, college graduates even now aren鈥檛 reliably showing proficiency in skills that employers value. CRPE and others have argued for years that the old 鈥�4+4鈥� equation鈥攆our years of high school and four years of college鈥攊s increasingly outdated. That鈥檚 especially true when for a four year degree top $35,000 and student debt is crushing across income levels, with few solutions in sight. Over the past decade, Gallup surveys that three in four Americans do not believe college is affordable for everyone who needs it.

鈥� Without exacerbating inequities

The challenge for high schools is how to make the shift beyond college for all without reverting back to fundamentally inequitable patterns. While historically underrepresented groups have made notable gains in and over the past decades, disparities persist along the lines of race and income. Those inequalities are cause for concern because evidence still that college can be a powerful engine of economic mobility. Students from low-income and high-income families who attend the same college, especially selective colleges, end up having similar earnings in adulthood. But students from families in the top 1% of income distribution are 77 times more likely to attend elite colleges than students from the poorest families. Taking into account persistent racial wealth gaps, this means that , and learners face multiple structural barriers to economic mobility.

The push for K-12 schools to prepare all students to enroll in a four-year university represented a laudable effort to address this staggering inequality, but the problem hasn鈥檛 been solved. In 2022, Black, Hispanic/Latino, and Asian Americans all college prep as a much higher priority for high schools than White Americans did. In our study, one teacher from a Title I high school said, 鈥淚 worry for every single student that leaves us, that they鈥檒l have the tools to make a real life for themselves, with choices.鈥� Could leaving 鈥渃ollege for all鈥� behind mean giving up on a commitment to equity? 

The way through this conundrum is to reject the between going to college or not. If the options are either 鈥渃ollege鈥� or 鈥渘o college,鈥� then inevitably only some students鈥攎ainly those already advantaged鈥攚ill get support toward a college degree. But if the options include many paths to family-sustaining careers, with further education and credentials at multiple points on each path, then many choices can be good choices. 

High schools that internalize this mantra won鈥檛 be any less committed to college readiness for all students, and they won鈥檛 divide their students between kids who are college-bound and others who prefer to 鈥渨ork with their hands.鈥� Instead, they鈥檒l help every young person be ready for the adult world of work, aware of the trade-offs of choices they make, and academically prepared for higher education鈥攚hen they choose it or need it.

What high schools are learning

No school we鈥檝e studied has fully solved how to move beyond the traditional mindset while still avoiding the harm of low expectations, especially for historically underserved students. But some schools are approaching it in deliberate, thoughtful ways from which that others can learn.

At Nokomis Regional High School in rural Maine, educators believe that a wide range of college and non-degree options requires students to develop self-knowledge and articulate their own personal life values. Nokomis starting in ninth grade and develop a concrete plan by senior year. A critical new step is an interdisciplinary course called 鈥淭he Good Life,鈥� which helps, according to one student, to define 鈥測our version of the good life and how are you going to achieve it.鈥� She also noted that comparing visions can help students expand their thinking about options. At Nokomis, as well as several other schools in our study, educators describe success as a viable postsecondary plan for every student, whether or not four-year college is part of it.

KIPP Academy Lynn Collegiate in Massachusetts was founded with the KIPP network鈥檚 commitment to guarantee college access and success for underrepresented communities, especially students of color. The school has long focused on college prep courses, robust college counseling for every student, and for students through their college years. But now, administrators are listening to students who don鈥檛 yet feel ready to commit to college, and others who have dreams of entrepreneurship, beauty school, performance arts, and beyond. The school is expanding its own postsecondary counseling services to support a wider range of options, while staying committed to rigorous academic preparation so every student is at least college ready, if not college-going.

The high school every student deserves

In these and other high schools across the country, the work ahead will be difficult. High schools have proven remarkably resistant to change, and past efforts to transform them have seen limited results at best. 

Most critically, schools will need to maintain a laser focus on setting and maintaining high expectations for every student, even if the endgame for those expectations鈥攖raditionally, a bachelor鈥檚 degree鈥攊s shifting. Students who don鈥檛 choose college right away cannot be given an 鈥渆asier鈥� high school experience; they need a challenging one that maximizes their potential. 

Doing this well means listening seriously to families about their goals and priorities, not telling them what鈥檚 best. It also means exposing students to a far more diverse range of education, training, and work opportunities. Every student will need information and adult mentors to help them learn about their options, think through the trade-offs, and make an informed decision. They鈥檒l also need relationships with a diverse range of adults to gain a foothold in their careers. Schools can鈥檛 do this alone: they will need help from employers and community partners. They also need their states to redesign policies on credit and seat time, since existing policies allow precious little flexibility for learning through internships and outside of school walls.

Skeptics who are hesitant to let go of the college-focused reform agenda need only think about the vibrant individuality of young people in their lives. In our study, one academically ambitious student dreams of being an opera singer, another student with a history of truancy aims to be a judge, and a third from a family of educators just wants to start working. They need their high schools to take them seriously. They each deserve an education that helps them to set and pursue goals that matter to them鈥攁nd to adjust course when their interests or circumstances change.

See more from the Center on Reinventing Public Education and its .

To solve these challenges, the state and the nation at large need a that is prepared to address the concerns of today, find solutions for tomorrow and transition the country to a more climate-conscious economy. Unfortunately, the rapidly growing clean-energy sector is bumping up against serious labor constraints, having difficulty filling jobs and ensuring that workers have the needed skills. In the next seven years, there are expected to be over  in the U.S. In 2022 alone, green job postings on LinkedIn jumped 20% 鈥� yet the pool of workers with the skills required to fill them grew by only 8.4%.

Regions like the Yampa Valley need help attracting and developing talent that can combat this worsening crisis. A leader in this initiative is Lyra, a nonprofit that seeks to reimagine education by designing and broadening climate-driven career pathways and empowering school communities to drive their own reforms. The organization does this through : innovation zones, mission accelerators and that is increasingly pertinent to solving some of the state鈥檚 most dire challenges. 

The Climatarium brings together education, industry and state and local policymakers to encourage collaboration to build climate-related education pathways and offer youth leadership and career opportunities in relevant fields. There are five in the state, including one in the Yampa Valley. The hubs have created regional partnerships among seven colleges, 20 rural K-12 school districts and more than 40 employers and community-based organizations. They are developing and sustaining a range of green job pathways, including in energy, agriculture and outdoor tourism.聽

These offerings have the potential to impact more than by creating college and career opportunities in highly in-demand fields. This, in turn, can boost the economic prosperity of rural areas of the state by creating strong talent pipelines that are attractive to industry. To expand these best practices and ensure their impact, there needs to be broader, statewide support, which is why it is so important that , the Seal of Climate Literacy Diploma Endorsement, recently passed through the House Committee on Education.

Students can earn the seal on their high school diplomas by, for example, taking Advanced Placement physical, life or earth sciences, or participating in a career education program geared toward alternative energy, like solar farms. The bill’s sponsor, Democratic state Sen. Chris Hanson, said the seal would help students get skills for jobs that are expected to grow by , including installing solar panels, electric chargers or heating and cooling systems. The seal would also prepare students for college by signaling their understanding of climate-related issues to admissions officers and could even result in college credit. 

The bill is also endorsed by Superintendent Kirk Henwood of the South Routt School District, which is located in the Yampa Valley. Henwood that, 鈥渉aving a seal of climate literacy furthers our efforts to ensure that our high school graduates have the verified skills and knowledge needed to enter the workforce and postsecondary education opportunities.鈥� He added, 鈥渦nderstanding the climate and environment is critical to sustain a rural way of life where land and water are literally the building blocks of our world.鈥�

While the bill is waiting for final passage, it shows that progress is being made to prepare Colorado鈥檚 workforce for the energy-related jobs of today and tomorrow. It’s a win for the state 鈥� and, said Lyra CEO and founder Mary Seawell, other states are interested in replicating both the Seal of Climate Literacy and place-based approaches to climate education.

Other state and federal leaders can and should commit to this work 鈥� supporting a 21^st century education system that is more responsive to labor market demands, the community and the . This includes expanding high-quality opportunities in career and technical education, youth apprenticeships, STEM programs and other pathways so young people are prepared for careers across the energy sector. This work is critical to transforming students’ lives, ensuring that communities stay economically vital and guaranteeing that places like the Yampa Valley never stop being breathtaking.

Disclosure: Walton Family Foundation and the City Fund provide financial support to the Progressive Policy Institute and 社区黑料.

But new career scholarship accounts the state legislature created this spring have slashed costs for Bounds and students across Indiana in career training programs.

Bounds and 13 classmates at the ABC Construction Prep Academy are among 1,000 students statewide landing the new $5,000 scholarships from the state that pay for career training and extra expenses like the tool belts, hammers, squares, and eye guards 鈥� which used to be out-of-pocket costs for students.

鈥淚 feel like I would still be able to get stuff done (without the scholarship), but I definitely think it helps me with better tools,鈥� Bounds said.

The state will spend about $5 million this school year on scholarships for the first 1,000 10th, 11th and 12th graders to win them, then $10 million next year for 2,000 students.

The scholarships are part of two large movements. Similar to 鈥淓ducation Savings Accounts鈥� that have grown in more than a dozen states in recent years they allow students to attend private schools; and are also a major piece of Indiana鈥檚 mission of rethinking high school to provide much more career exposure and training to students.

Like Education Savings Accounts, which act like vouchers by giving money to families to use at schools they choose, the Career Scholarship Accounts give students state tax dollars to spend on job training from private training sites or from local public vocational schools.

State Rep. Chuck Goodrich, a sponsor of the bill that created the scholarships, said he hopes they will create more hands-on learning experiences for students and allow them to earn career credentials while still in high school.

鈥淲e want our students to graduate with not only a diploma, but also a credential, currency they can take with them,鈥� he said.

Beyond letting students choose training sites, Goodrich and other elected Republicans hope business and other non-profit training programs will grow or be added, now that there is state money to pay for them. Industries could create their own training for skills they don鈥檛 think schools in the area are teaching enough of, then have the state pay for students to attend.

There are concerns, though, that the scholarships will simply funnel money to businesses, , to cover training that is otherwise just the cost of doing business.

But backers of the scholarships say they could also reduce the reliance of some small, non-profit pilot programs on donations to survive and may allow them to expand.

Goodrich said high schools, career technical education programs and private trainers are all valuable partners if the state is going to make training a common part of high school.

鈥淲e’re gonna need them all to get our folks skilled up,鈥� he said.

One key way they can avoid just being a business subsidy is by offering direct help to students for needs such as uniforms, books, equipment like the tools for the Marion construction apprentices or transportation, in the form of transit passes or gas cards.

Those costs can prevent some students from learning job skills they want, said Jason Bearce, vice president of education and workforce development of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. The scholarships are a crucial 鈥済ap filler,鈥� he said, that can wipe out barriers blocking low-income students from training to help their lives.

鈥淯ntil these career scholarship accounts, I don’t believe there’s been specific state-supported funding that has ever had the kind of flexibility to be used for those types of expenditures,鈥� Bearce said. 鈥淪o that in itself is a big step forward.鈥�

Republican State Sen. Brian Buchanan praised the scholarship proposal as it was debated this spring, saying businesses tell him constantly their primary need is for skilled employees.

鈥淭he lack of workers is one of the biggest challenges employers face,鈥� Buchanan said. 鈥淭his is trying to bridge that gap. It may not be perfect, but I certainly think this is a very good tool in the toolbox and the step forward.鈥�

The program isn鈥檛 popular, however, with Career Technical Education centers around the state that already provide training for multiple fields as part of standard public high schools. They have questioned the need to pay private trainers to duplicate their efforts.

鈥淲e have never paid employers to hire or train our students,鈥� said Steve Shaw, director of Blue River Career Programs, a training center for five high schools southeast of Indianapolis. 鈥淚 have concerns about this provision鈥o pay third parties from tax dollar funds for educating high school students when it’s already been done successfully by Career Centers.鈥�

There鈥檚 also confusion about which training providers should qualify, which expenses the scholarships could cover and what value students should receive from the money. The legislature left most of those details to the Governor鈥檚 Workforce Cabinet, the state treasurer and Indiana Commission for Higher Education, which are still developing rules on the fly.

This fall, the state has started awarding scholarships on a limited basis to programs that have already been running training programs for students, like ABC Construction Prep Academy, which is run at several sites by the Associated Builders and Contractors of Indiana and Kentucky, or the Modern Youth Apprenticeship program being piloted in Indianapolis.

Josh Garrisson, chief of staff, of the state higher education commission, predicted in October that money this year would mostly be used for extra expenses students have, with some being used to grow programs so more students can participate.

But it’s not clear that鈥檚 happening. Attempts by 社区黑料 to talk to students at several programs, beyond ABC that are using the scholarships, were rebuffed. Training programs said the scholarships are too new to know how the money will be spent and offered only vague promises that training will be enhanced.

社区黑料 also asked several programs to talk to students who are using their scholarships for transportation, but none could provide any. Some told 社区黑料 students don鈥檛 even fully understand the scholarships that they applied for because they are so new.

Among the programs that could not provide clear answers on what added benefits students would receive was Gaylor Electric, an electrical contractor where Rep. Goodrich is CEO. The likely value of the scholarships to his company drew some controversy as the bill was debated. Goodrich said at the time that he did not consider whether his company would receive money when drafting the bill.

鈥淲e want kids educated,鈥� he said when asked about the potential conflict during hearings. 鈥淲e want kids career ready, and I think it takes private business to do that.鈥�

State Rep. Bob Behning, chair of the house education committee, said the confusion and lack of clear gains for students so far 鈥渋s something we’re going to have to continue to work through.鈥� He said this first year, with limited numbers of providers and scholarships, is a 鈥渓earning year.

鈥淚t’s going to be an opportunity for us to learn more and to come back and think about what we have to tweak,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think by next year you’re gonna see a lot more robust offerings.鈥�

Minnesota鈥檚 forward-thinking initiative was the subject of a Dec. 5 Reinventing America鈥檚 Schools webinar, co-sponsored by 社区黑料, and Minnesota鈥檚 .  

The successful passage of these laws provides funding to replicate programs like the one at , an alternative public school in St. Paul serving students aged 16 to 24. The school鈥檚 director, Jody Nelson, participated in the webinar, which was co-created by PPI’s Taylor Maag and Tressa Pankovits. 

Nelson explained that GAP鈥檚 construction program:

• Enables students to learn marketable construction skills, giving them a head start on a well-paying career

• Produces homes that help to meet Minnesota’s need for affordable, permanent housing

• Helps to provide workers for construction and related fields, which are encountering significant shortages

鈥淥ur students have renovated four houses and built two new homes,鈥� Nelson reports. Another is in the works, and the school has plans to do more. 鈥淟ots of our students are immigrants and refugees. This is a great way into high-wage, high-demand jobs.”

The school鈥檚 construction career pathway has been affiliated for years with the national , as well as . GAP also recently won a national from the U.S. Green Building Council.

GAP alumnus Hser Pwe was born in Burma and grew up in a refugee camp in Thailand after his family fled murderous Burmese soldiers. This year, he before the state legislature that the YouthBuild program at GAP not only taught him construction skills, but helped him improve his English and realize that he really did have opportunities. When he graduated in 2014, GAP helped him find a job installing floor covering. Eight years later, he has been promoted to foreman. He loves his career and makes more than $44 per hour.

Pwe told lawmakers, 鈥淏ecause of this program, I can speak English and support my wife and children. I have even become a U.S. citizen. Without YouthBuild, I do not know where I would be today.鈥�

, co-director of , helped lead the legislative effort, and with good reason. Rogers, who also is featured in the webinar, personally experienced homelessness.

After moving from Chicago from Minneapolis for what they hoped would be a better life, the Rogers family found their resources were soon exhausted by hotel bills and by landlords who demanded bogus rental application fees. The family was forced to sleep in their car. Finally, they found a shelter, but it would accommodate only his mother and siblings. His father wasn鈥檛 allowed to stay. Rogers recalls being in kindergarten and not knowing how to respond when a teacher asked students to draw a picture of their home. He described the experience as 鈥渄ehumanizing.鈥�

He has documented similar experiences of more than 30 young people, in collaboration with the nonprofit organization , and Rogers shared his findings with  and . As he testified before the Minnesota legislature in 2021, 鈥淢any students find shelters to be dangerous places 鈥� we need to provide permanent housing options.鈥� In part because of those efforts and youth activism, Minnesota legislators allocated $20 million per year over the next six years to help produce more permanent affordable housing.

In December 2022, Rogers and Joe Nathan convened 40 advocates, including Minnesota House Member Matt Norris, educators, city, county and state officials, lobbyists for people experiencing homelessness and 12 students already learning construction skills and building homes, to discuss possible legislation for 2023.

Based on these conversations, the Center for School Change led a coalition that produced the two laws during the 2023 legislative session. Lawmakers  for , a program that helps at-risk young people earn a high school diploma while developing marketable construction skills and knowledge. They also modified another state program to allow public schools, for the first time, to apply for up to $100,000 from a pool of more than $40 million to help construct permanent affordable housing. The success of schools with home-building career pathways convinced legislators to scale up these programs.

To help public schools seek this funding, the center has produced four free case studies of school home-building initiatives. These include  and a between GAP and Good Will/Easter Seals Minnesota that is constructing housing for low-income veterans and those who are experiencing homelessness. Two other brief reports describe schools where students are building tiny homes: and . Additional case studies are being prepared.

Educators and policymakers in other states also may find these brief reports useful.

Minnesota , lead sponsor  and  in the Minnesota House, was also on the Dec. 5 webinar鈥檚 panel. Norris calls these bills 鈥渨in-win-win.鈥� That鈥檚 because the programs efficiently help meet needs for strong career preparation, more workers and affordable housing.

That was the foundation of a special Dec. 5 webinar sponsored by the Progressive Policy Institute and 社区黑料. Featured speakers included Executive Director of Change Inc.’s Jody Nelson; State Rep. Matt Norris; Khalique Rogers, founder of Good Riddance Consulting and Co-Director of the Center for School Change; and PPI’s Tressa Pankovits.

This panel’s focus: The Guadalupe Alternative Programs in St. Paul, Minnesota, a community-based middle and high school serving grades 7-12, and its work expanding career opportunities in residential construction.

Watch the full replay of the event:

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• Charters Yield More Learning, Higher Earnings than District Schools Per $1 Spent
  
• Alaska Leads States in First-Ever Rankings of Charter Performance on NAEP
  
• Indiana Seeks To 鈥楾ransform鈥� High School, Making Work Skills A Priority

Repeatedly , the state legislature ordered Indianapolis education officials to rethink the mission of high schools. 

Current graduation requirements will be thrown out next year and new ones calling for more career preparation will take their place.

鈥淎re the four years of high school as valuable as possible for students?鈥� state education secretary Katie Jenner asked in an interview with 社区黑料. 鈥淚’ve yet to meet a person who said, 鈥榊es, they are.鈥� Most people say … if high school looked different for students, then we could better connect them to what鈥檚 what’s next.鈥�

鈥淚f that’s the case, then what barriers do we need to get out of the way?鈥� she continued. 鈥淗ow can we transform it in order to make it better for students.鈥� 

Jenner said having students spend time in workplaces to see what careers fit them, or earning career credentials, will help both students and businesses.

鈥淭hat’s really what we’re trying to think through in Indiana, to not only better support Indiana students, but to also be mindful of Indiana’s talent pipeline,鈥� Jenner said.

Republican State Rep. Chuck Goodrich, who helped lead the charge earlier this year to create a key piece of the new focus 鈥� $5,000 Career Scholarship Accounts that sophomores, juniors and seniors can use for career training 鈥� said students need better opportunities to gain skills.

鈥淕iving students hands-on applied learning opportunities and the ability to earn a credential before graduation is a game changer, not only for the student, not only for the family, but for Indiana,鈥� Goodrich told the state Senate this spring.聽

Indiana already has a requirement students show 鈥渄emonstrable employability skills鈥� to graduate from high school, but it currently counts playing on a school team, other extracurricular activities, community service, an after-school job or a capstone research project the same as doing an internship or apprenticeship.

The new requirements will be more work and skills-focused.

The Career Scholarship Accounts are an early piece of the overhaul the legislature passed this spring in House Bill 1002. The bill contains another immediate change 鈥� requiring schools to teach students more this upcoming academic year about career planning, available training programs, scholarships, and different jobs available, 鈥渨ith an emphasis on high wage, high demand industry,鈥� according to the new law. 

Major parts of the overhaul, particularly which career preparation steps should be required to graduate and which just encouraged, are still to be determined.

The Indiana education department is holding focus groups with parents, educators and businesses about how to shape the new vision and should have proposals for the state board to discuss early next year. New graduation requirements will be set by the end of 2024, Jenner said, to kick in for the class of 2029.

Among the key items being discussed:

• A greater emphasis on students鈥� job shadowing, internships and apprenticeships that only 鈥渁 tiny percentage鈥� of students experience now, according to Jenner.
• Changing the courses required to graduate.
• Requiring more meeting time with career counselors or businesses
• Requiring students to earn credentials for careers before graduating.
• Piloting 鈥渕astery鈥� approaches to measuring student progress, throwing out traditional A-F grades, replacing them with tracking student progress toward their mastery or competency of skills. Workplace skills like teamwork and critical thinking would be measured, not just core subjects like English and math.

The efforts are attracting some national attention. Patricia Levesque, CEO of the Excellence In Education Foundation, visited Indianapolis this fall to praise the state for being a national leader in preparing students for careers, not just college.

Though Indiana is better than other states in helping students earn credentials, she warned too many students are being guided to many credentials businesses aren鈥檛 seeking.

“Nearly 60 to 70 percent of the credentials earned by high school students that year had no value,鈥� she said of Indiana. 鈥淣o company was asking for those credentials, right? Students were earning something that didn’t have currency in the marketplace.鈥�

Some legislators say they are concerned the overhaul is more an attempt to help businesses find employees than help students.

鈥淭his rethinking, reimagining of high school is our attempt at filling these jobs to me,鈥� said Democratic State Sen. Shelli Yoder before voting against House Bill 1002. 鈥淲e’re doing a disservice for students. And that’s not to say we don’t need to reimagine it … It’s going to help the workforce. But is it helping students?鈥�

Schools, like Victory College Prep high school in Indianapolis, are already on board with the main idea of the change. That school has placed every 11th and 12th grader in internships with companies or nonprofits for 10 school days a year the last five years, other than some pandemic adjustments.

鈥淲e really believe here that graduation is not the end goal for our students,鈥� said Rahul Jyoti, the school鈥檚 chief readiness officer. 鈥淲e don’t want them to celebrate and say, 鈥楬ey, I graduated. This is great鈥�. Because then real life hits you, especially for a lot of our students that come from the underserved communities, here in Indianapolis, and so really, this is the starting point.鈥�

Jyoti said his school has been able to find 25 and 40 employers a year to host students, but wonders what will happen if every school in the state tries to find similar opportunities for every student.

Jenner said connecting with enough employers willing to take on the work of running internships or apprenticeships will be a challenge. 

鈥淥ne of the threats is that we transform the high school diploma and鈥eadiness for Work Based Learning … and there aren’t there aren’t enough spots for kids,鈥� she said.

Solving that issue is a big part of her work this fall and was a key reason the state sent delegations to Switzerland, where school and business cooperation on apprenticeships is a part of the culture. She said work based learning experiences may need to be different for different industries and may have to evolve over time, but the state has to start somewhere.

鈥淲e’re getting after it because we have to and we must for kids,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e’re going to learn some lessons along the way and we’re gonna keep getting better from there. But we can’t wait to get started. We have to go. We have to try some things.鈥�

The United States has an education problem鈥攍ow and declining test scores, disengaged students, and growing teacher shortages, among other challenges. In Indiana, fewer high school students are pursuing postsecondary education or completing a credential or degree. This decline in postsecondary enrollment and educational attainment is sharpest for Black and Hispanic/Latino students, especially males. 

We also have a skills gap problem鈥攏ot enough people with the skills to handle the jobs of the future鈥攁nd the pandemic has accelerated this misalignment in supply and demand. In Indianapolis alone, at last count, we needed 215,000 people with job-ready credentials to close our skills gap. 

Traditional approaches aren鈥檛 working. Communities like ours must become much more innovative if we wish to ensure a future of inclusive economic prosperity. 

A continuum of career-connected learning

EmployIndy, a quasi-governmental intermediary organization, is doing what we can. We work closely with businesses, K-12, postsecondary and higher education, city and state agencies, and philanthropic organizations to ensure all local residents earn a livable wage and that local employers have the skilled talent they need to grow. In order to make our vision a reality, we invest in what works: good jobs, talent connections, coaching and training, and career-connected learning. 

We leverage a continuum of career-connected learning to ensure Indy鈥檚 youth and young adults are positioned to meet the future needs of the local economy. This continuum includes a broad array of exploration, engagement, and experience opportunities. As part of this learning continuum, one of our most ambitious initiatives is a reinvented approach to apprenticeship, a job training model that dates back to the Middle Ages. Through the Modern Apprenticeship Program, which we operate with a sister intermediary, Ascend Indiana, we鈥檙e preparing high school students for the jobs of the future. By blurring the lines between education and work, we鈥檙e making learning more relevant for students. We鈥檙e giving businesses a fresh approach to a time-tested model. And we鈥檙e creating more pathways to prosperity for all students, with a particular focus on the underserved, underrepresented, and underprivileged in our community. By blurring the lines between education and work, we鈥檙e making learning more relevant for students. We鈥檙e giving businesses a fresh approach to a timetested model. And we鈥檙e creating more pathways to prosperity for all students. 

More than 40 participating local employers and 14 high schools have come together to co-develop talent, offering apprenticeships across seven industries with the highest student interest: 

鈥� Healthcare services 

鈥� Information technology

鈥� Business operations 

鈥� Advanced manufacturing 

鈥� Construction 

鈥� Education 

鈥� Financial services 

Specific jobs range from project coordinators and staff accountants to maintenance technicians and IT support. 

High school students earn while they learn. As juniors, they spend two days a week on the job, which increases to three days as seniors. One year after graduation, young adults have earned a high school diploma, college credits, and industry credentials. They have built a professional network. And they have a choice for their next step鈥攃ollege, postsecondary training, or work. What parent wouldn鈥檛 want that for their 18-year-old? 

We鈥檙e having an impact. We鈥檙e helping diversify our workforce: about 88% of current apprentices are students of color, 60% are female, and one-third come from low-income households, doing jobs such as IT and accounting that historically have been dominated by white men. We鈥檙e reducing employer turnover: 94% of Indiana employees say they would stay with their companies longer if they invested in learning. And we鈥檙e having a positive return on investment: every $1 invested in apprenticeship returns $1.47.

Scaling what works

Our primary challenge now is to expand what鈥檚 working. We鈥檝e incubated success. Now we must scale it. Doing so will require all parties to adjust how they do business in the 21st century.

Employers need to play a much bigger, more well-defined role in this new system. They must cocreate learning opportunities, advise on occupations and curriculum, become training companies for apprentices, and invest more time and treasure to ensure education and government partners are providing the most comprehensive education possible to young people. They need to engage their future workforce early, starting in middle school, and not wait until unprepared graduates fill out a job application. 

High schools must continue to become more flexible, offering students more choices and pathways. They must work with their community partners to ensure all students are receiving the career-coaching support needed to make important decisions about their future. Graduation day must be seen as the starting line, not the endpoint. 

Colleges and universities must become more adaptable, awarding credits for prior learning (including on the job) and working more closely with local employers on teaching applied skills. Clearly, there is a continued role for elite postsecondary programs, but we are equally committed to working with innovative community-focused institutions. 

Government agencies must continue to broaden their measures of accountability to track not just high school graduation rates, college-going rates, or completion data, but more longitudinal and actionable data that allow institutions to make informed and equitable decisions about the needs of their constituents. 

Young people themselves must step up and benefit from the growing opportunities to take charge of their own learning. Of course, they need to learn math, science, and reading. But just as important, they need a career plan. And they need to master durable skills such as problem solving, teamwork, and conflict resolution that will help them in school鈥揳nd in life. 

Apprenticeships are just one of the gateways we鈥檙e providing to young people to build skills and become future-ready. Working with multiple partners, we also support dropout prevention and recovery programs, administer career coaching and job training programs, and deliver a curriculum for young adults to learn durable skills in mindsets, self management, learning strategies, social skills, workplace skills, and launching a career. 

Thanks to the leadership of Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett, we鈥檙e also able to award college scholarships, provide completion grants, and connect teens to summer jobs, among other efforts. The City of Indianapolis has dedicated millions of dollars annually over the last five years to Indy Achieves, which works to ensure that every Indianapolis resident can pursue and complete a postsecondary credential or degree program. We empower residents to pursue careers that put them on a pathway to the middle class by removing barriers and providing a debt-free pathway to a better future. Mayor Hogsett also launched Project Indy as a critical first step in helping young people explore job opportunities and gain valuable experience and skills toward a future career. We鈥檝e connected thousands of in-school and out-of-school youth in Marion County to summer jobs and work-based learning experiences. 

One of our most innovative programs, YES Indy, invites out-of-school youth to play basketball at reengagement centers (RECs) as a first step in building the trust needed for them to reengage with school and work. The Indianapolis area has more than 30,000 such young people. It costs us about $12,500 each to reengage with them鈥攁 smart investment, considering it costs society three times more if they continue to stay out of school or work. As an intermediary working with many stakeholders, we鈥檙e a catalyst, a translator, and a funding go between. We鈥檝e made hopeful progress since our founding in 1983. Our real success, however, will be when we鈥檙e not needed anymore, when businesses and institutions are working together as a matter of course, and routinely engaging students with real-world, hands-on, and creative assignments that help them become the lifelong learners every community needs.

See more from the Center on Reinventing Public Education and its .

Walker Reese was picking the company where he wanted to launch his career.

Reese, now 19, had a huge head start on his career through a groundbreaking program: The German-inspired Georgia Consortium for Advanced Technical Training (GA CATT) starts students in Coweta County south of Atlanta as apprentices sophomore year, likely the youngest members of any apprentice program in the U.S. Other areas of Georgia are trying similar apprenticeships, just not as young as in Coweta County, where German-based companies have American plants.

By starting early, Reese finished his three-year apprenticeship as a maintenance technician as he finished high school last spring and walked into a full time job at Blickle Wheels and Casters in the city of Newnan. 

鈥淚鈥檇 consider myself much further ahead than most,鈥� said Reese, who bought himself a new car and started renting a house soon after graduating. 鈥淥ne, I already have a degree. Two, I鈥檓 living on my own paying my own bills at 18…19 comfortably , and three I鈥檝e gained knowledge and expertise that most won鈥檛 have until they鈥檙e mid to late twenties.鈥�

鈥淭he people who waited until they were out of high school are a little behind now,鈥� he added.

Apprenticeships 鈥� programs in which students are paid to train and work at the same time 鈥�- have been common in the U.S, for years in construction trades such as carpentry and plumbing. But apprenticeships in other fields like manufacturing have started to grow only in the last decade or so. 

And apprenticeships in construction generally start after high school, which often leaves high school students in unpaid pre-apprenticeships or career technical education programs at their high schools. Even those CTE programs typically don鈥檛 fully start until junior year.

But in Europe, starting a path toward university or a career is standard by age 15. German-based companies like Blickle or the Grenzebach Corp., which have plants in Newnan, a town of 43,000 about 30 miles southwest of Atlanta Hartsfield Airport, think nothing of taking on students that young. By starting as sophomores, students can finish the three year program by graduation. 

So German companies in the Newnan area partnered with the German American Chamber of Commerce and local CTE centers to launch the apprenticeships in 2016. Other areas of Georgia are starting to join the program, just at older ages. Though companies like the concept of apprenticeships, they still have reservations about starting students so young.

鈥淲e don’t start early because we (Americans) thought of starting early,鈥� said Mark Whitlock, CEO of the Central Education Center of Coweta County, the school that handles much of the apprentice training. 鈥淲e started early because the German companies said 鈥榯his is the way we do it in Germany鈥� and that’s what they needed.鈥�

Whitlock said a change in state law passed in 2015 plus some additional cooperation from the U.S. Department of Labor allowed younger students to work in manufacturing facilities as part of the program.

Scott Chahalis, CEO of Blickle USA, which started near Stuttgart, Germany, said it鈥檚 natural to have 15 year olds working in his building while also taking classes.

鈥淭hey do this in Germany,鈥� Chahalis said. 鈥淚t’s not like they’re making necessarily a life altering decision, because they’re going to get their high school degree. Maybe they want to go to college. So go to college. You want to be a lawyer, doctor? Go. Go do that.鈥�

鈥淏ut you’re going to get out of the classroom, which is actually a big plus for many kids,鈥� he added. 鈥淭hey’re not going to be in the high school classroom sunup to sundown. They’re going to have the best of both worlds. It is kind of exciting to come to this building, and basically be treated to the real world.鈥�

He鈥檚 so happy with Reese, his first apprentice, that he鈥檚 adding two more.

For Reese, starting young was no issue at all, even if it meant shifting to a year-round program and losing summer breaks.

鈥淚t depends on the person and if they鈥檙e willing to make the mature decision to start young and sacrifice some summers to be successful in life after high school,鈥� he said.

And he prefers hands-on work, so he was happier learning to adjust wheels with lathes or test how smoothly they can carry heavy loads than taking high school classes.

鈥淚’m not a pen and paper type person or sitting and typing on a computer,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 feel like that’s harder on me mentally.鈥�

So far, 34 students have started the program as sophomores. Many are still in the three-year program, but five have finished it, earning their diplomas and German manufacturing certifications. They have also earned credits toward associates degrees in precision manufacturing. 

Other areas of Georgia are starting to join the program, though they have not made the leap to starting at 15, at least not yet. Solmax, a company that makes synthetic fabrics for environmental projects northeast of Atlanta, just added its first apprentice a year ago. But since company policy was to only let people over 18 work on the factory floor, they had him do personal training projects until he turned 18.

Wendy Davis, the company鈥檚 human resources director, said the company may relax its policy and start with juniors soon as CTE schools in the area add more training.

鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to remember, we’re still in the beginning,鈥� Davis said. 鈥淪o we’re learning as we go.鈥�

So when other students at McGill-Toolen Catholic High School in Mobile, Alabama, started talking last summer about Flight Path 9, a new afterschool and summer program that teaches high school students early skills to build airplanes, Joseph was hooked.

A partnership between Bishop State Community College and airplane manufacturer Airbus, Flight Path 9 is a fledgling pre-apprentice program designed to put high schoolers on a path to careers at Airbus鈥� only U.S. airplane assembly plant located right in their backyard.

Berault and more than 40 other just-graduated high school seniors from across the Mobile area attended classes at Bishop State from 4 to 8 p.m. two nights a week this past school year. 

This summer, they pack a workshop floor at Bishop State for 32 hours a week to learn manufacturing skills like riveting, precision cutting and using multimeters. 

In August, most will become full apprentices at the Airbus Final Assembly Line, where they will be paid real salaries while they continue to learn and work on the A220 airliners used by Delta, Air Canada and Air France.

鈥淪ome students say, when you’re going into this two days every week, 鈥業 just don’t want to do that,鈥� because it鈥檚 taking up their senior year,鈥� said Berault, who graduated this spring. 鈥淏ut I think it was completely worth it.鈥�

鈥淚 feel like I feel like I didn’t know much of anything when I came into this program, but the amount I’ve learned in the past couple months is just insane.鈥�

Fellow trainee Nicole Olivares, whose parents both work for Airbus, was also excited for a chance to work in aviation. She urged students to join the program, even with the classes two nights a week.

鈥淚 think it’s so worth it,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou can still do other things. You have a life outside of Flightworks.鈥� 

Based in France, Airbus is one of the two largest airliner manufacturers in the world. It鈥檚 also very used to training new employees at a young age. As is typical in Europe, its plants there start students as full-time apprentices at around age 15 or the equivalent of junior year of high school here.

But that鈥檚 part of the culture in Europe, where general high school education typically ends after 10th grade and students must shift into either a career skills or an intense university academic path. With the United States locked into its 12-year system of students working toward a general high school diploma, Airbus can鈥檛 just bring its European model here and start apprentices at 15. Students still have to finish high school.

But company officials knew even as they opened the Mobile plant in 2015 that they needed a pipeline for high school students to train to work there. Michelle Hurdle, director of workforce and economic development of Airbus Americas Inc., started visiting other Airbus facilities and began working with schools, community groups and Bishop State to create a curriculum and program that launched in 2019. After a hiatus because of the pandemic, the program re-started in fall of 2022.

鈥淲e want our facility to reflect our community,鈥� Hurdle said. 鈥淪o what better way to do that than to recruit and train and grow from within because that’s what creates loyalty.鈥� 

Students in the program earn a certificate in Aviation Manufacturing Technology from Bishop State, several industry certifications for working with things like blueprints, sheet metal and multimeters and they also leave with 18 credit hours that can go toward an aviation manufacturing associates degree when Bishop launches that degree program in fall of 2024.

Having credentials that matter to most manufacturers, not just for Airbus, was important from the start, said Hurdle and Akareem Spears, dean of workforce and economic development at Bishop State,

鈥淛ust say 5-10 years from now, they don’t want to work at Airbus, they still have these credentials that they can take with them,鈥� Spears said. 鈥淭hese individuals have something that are tangible that they can carry with them.鈥�

During the school year, Bishop State instructors and others from a nonprofit created by Airbus teach the evening classes. Students are not paid for that time, but are given dinner at the school.

鈥淣o mama wants to cook at 8:30 when your children come home,鈥� Hurdle said.

In the summer, students are paid a $40 per day stipend as they take classes for five weeks. Airbus declined to say what apprentices are paid during the 14-month apprenticeship. As apprentices, they are monitored and have their work checked by full employees and only work independently after completing the apprenticeship.

Airbus and the college want to go even further with Flight 9 over time.

鈥淗opefully, we can start younger, and start getting into middle schools, and maybe by elementary school,鈥� Spears said. 鈥淲e can introduce multimeters, and all those kind of things early on, and we built an ecosystem.鈥�

Berault said he may go back to school some day to earn the Federal Aviation Administration鈥檚 Airframe and Powerplant license or to be an engineer. For now, though, he is anxious to start as an apprentice.

鈥淚 love the work.鈥� he said. 鈥淚 love being busy. I just like having stuff to do with my hands, like getting to drill, getting to do electrical, stuff like that.鈥� 

聽sits near the heart of Louisville, Kentucky, down the street from a community college, two big hospitals, a museum, and a short hop to the Jefferson County courthouse and the central business district. But take a different turn off the nearby Interstate and you see a far less prosperous Louisville, with homeless encampments, empty lots, public housing, and the flashing lights of police and ambulance sirens day and night.

Central, the alma mater of heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, has a mostly Black student body and 70 percent of its students are from low-income families. It鈥檚 had some tough knocks against it over its 150-year history, and it鈥檚 not where Rikaiya Long, now a junior, first thought about going after middle school. She was a high-achieving student, doing well in advanced classes. Many who knew her assumed she would head to , widely considered one of the best high schools in the state.

But Rikaiya, an aspiring lawyer, felt confident about choosing Central instead, where more than 60 percent of graduates go to college. 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 put myself in a position to get a subpar education,鈥� she says. Middle schoolers can apply to a high school in Louisville, and every year school representatives make their pitch to eighth graders, touting their school鈥檚 offerings. At one such session, Rikaiya learned that Central had a solid reputation for supporting its students while providing rigorous pathways toward their futures. 鈥淚 knew I wanted to be in a legal profession,鈥� says Rikaiya. Central offered a Law Magnet program with a sterling record. Its alumni, she found out, included attorneys, elected officials, and judges. Seven Law Magnet graduates were in law school in 2022. And that鈥檚 what Rikaiya wanted as well 鈥� to go to law school.

Pathways to career options

Not many eighth graders are as focused as Rikaiya. For too many teens, high school is little more than an annoying habit they must put up with until graduation. Beyond that, their goals are often vague. Some, like Rikaiya, have been steered to college, but chances are high that many teens haven鈥檛 received much guidance.

Some educators are changing this by giving every student an education that provides a solid direction 鈥� a pathway 鈥� after graduation. At Central, Magnet Coordinator Cynthia Eddings-King explains that students are encouraged early on to think beyond high school, and they鈥檙e given several pathway choices through the school鈥檚 magnet programs that lead from getting a diploma to getting a life.

Pathway programs combine academics with exposure to careers in specific fields.  include Innovation (STEM), Medical/Health Services, Teaching and Learning, Montessori, and, of course, Law and Government. Each pathway includes real-life experiences, such as job shadowing or internships, connections to community businesses and professionals, and in some fields, professional certification that can lead to a job right after graduation.

Teachers at Central also see part of their role as making sure youth of color realize all their options, explore them, and go for what they want. Shantel Reed, nursing pathway coordinator and a registered nurse, says she is thrilled to watch teens learn about different medical professions available to them. They return from visiting a hospital, she says, amazed at seeing jobs they didn鈥檛 even know existed鈥攍ike a speech language pathologist checking patients鈥� swallowing function. 鈥淚 can tell them all day, but when they are following someone all day, they get it. There are jobs they never imagined.鈥�

School culture is part of its mission

While Central gets high marks for its magnet structure and curriculum, what seems to be the glue holding the pieces of the puzzle together is its school culture, where administrators, teachers, students, and staff all feel as if they have each other鈥檚 back. That was something new for Rikaiya.

鈥淚鈥檝e always been in (advanced) classes,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd I鈥檝e been the only Black girl. At Central, I have classes where everyone looks like me. It鈥檚 an amazing feeling; I feel extremely comfortable.鈥� She adds that this has created a more relaxed learning atmosphere for her. The academics are still rigorous, but the sense of being with family makes learning natural, she says.

Central was Louisville鈥檚 high school for Black students until 1956, when a school busing program began. After that initiative ended, Central, located in a Black neighborhood, reverted to a mostly Black student population. Today the school is 77 percent Black, 12 percent Hispanic, 7 percent white, and 4 percent other.

Principal Dr. Tameka Coleman is thrilled about that 7 percent. She sees Central鈥檚 culture having a positive effect on white kids, too. 鈥淭hese students will be the most well-versed, diverse kids because they have been able to garner an experience that their white counterparts will never have. They will see when an environment lacks diversity.鈥�

Many of the other 93 percent, however, might experience culture shock in the other direction when they leave Central. At predominantly white institutions and workplaces, they won鈥檛 see as many Black and brown faces. They may wonder where they fit in.

Central will have given them one big advantage, however. They鈥檙e academically ready, says Coleman. 鈥淥ur college partners are always so complimentary on how Central students come in with an edge,鈥� Coleman says. The culture may be different, but the work is familiar because of the pathways program. The nursing students know how to draw blood. The law students are already dissecting cases and writing briefs. The engineering students are programming robotic animals. And Central鈥檚 vet students are doing things that many college students don鈥檛 learn until vet school 鈥� post grad, Coleman adds. 鈥淭hey can approach the work unapologetically and unafraid.鈥�

Sometimes, the pathway changes

The culture of Central is supportive, but the schoolwork obviously has an impact. Assignments in all of the programs are often multilayered, for instance, with multimedia documentation and team presentations. Students meet and learn from local, practicing professionals. Students in every program are out in the community, participating in city forums, mentoring and teaching elementary school children, shadowing medical professionals at the hospital, or working at dental, vet, or law offices.

Rikaiya鈥檚 law magnet teacher (and magnet coordinator), Joe Gutmann, is a former prosecutor, 鈥渨ith a lot of experience and a lot of stories,鈥� says Rikaiya. The Law Magnet has a double-sized classroom, half of which is decked out as a courtroom to allow students to practice what they learn. After first seeing it in eighth grade, Rikaiya has become the one presenting in it. The junior classes鈥� mentors/student teachers from University of Louisville鈥檚 Brandeis School of Law sat on the bench listening to oral arguments from the briefs each student had written. The assignment regarded 鈥渟trict liability,鈥� and the case revolved around a Tiger King incident. 鈥淭he judges ask a lot of questions, and you鈥檙e defending your side. It鈥檚 not a debate, but it鈥檚 very intense. It makes you think on the spot,鈥� says Rikaiya, who adds enthusiastically that she enjoyed the presentation, and, at least for a while, the rest of her law studies, too. The curriculum鈥檚 practical, participatory education about law, democracy, and human rights also matched one of Central鈥檚 key principles, social justice, something Rikaiya feels strongly about.

Despite all that, she realized something during her sophomore year: 鈥淟aw didn鈥檛 grab my attention like I thought it would.鈥� That was during the pandemic, when the campus was closed and lawyer-wannabes had to figure out what practicing law meant over Zoom. 鈥淚 was still interested in the business aspect of things; I was still looking at a corporate career, but no longer a law job,鈥� she says. Rikaiya made the decision to change her intended college major. Through studying various law specialties, she came across public relations. 鈥淚 started to get to know what they actually do, and I kind of fell in love with the idea of becoming a public relations specialist.鈥�

But now what? Just as at the end of eighth grade, she faced another big choice. Back then, she had successfully become one of a class of 350 accepted to Central, applying with the Law Magnet in mind. She鈥檇 spent the requisite first semester learning about all of Central鈥檚 magnets before joining Law and Government. Once you鈥檙e in a magnet, it鈥檚 a commitment. The curriculum from semester to semester, and year to year, is linked to your pathway. Changing magnets, though not impossible, would require a lot of catching up on classes and adjusting.

Another option, of course, was to change schools. Rikaiya never considered that. Ultimately, she decided it just wasn鈥檛 necessary. Her core academic classes would still provide the rigor she needs, and the skills taught in the law magnet would not go to waste. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to be a lawyer just because you鈥檙e interested in law. You can use your law degree for anything,鈥� Rikaiya says. She is reminded that Gutmann had often told them that the law touches everything: If there are regulations, policies, and contracts, the law is involved. One of the big advantages of pathways over older, more traditional vocational programs is that they are coupled with academics strong enough to help a student into college. Even if the first pathway a student takes isn鈥檛 what she envisioned, she can find another to her liking.

Her journey continues

Despite her qualms about practicing law, Rikaiya was elected president of the Law Magnet and of Central High School鈥檚 junior class. The people in her magnet are like family and those in the other magnets are like neighbors 鈥� and Rikaiya is the type of young woman to knock on a neighbor鈥檚 door and give them cookies. She wants to keep that feeling of family, community, and belonging alive. 鈥淚 like to intermix with people and have them meet each other, too. I connect people whenever I can.鈥�

That is what others have done for her. When she changed her career goals, her teachers and counselor were there to help her. For college, Rikaiya is applying to Howard University, Florida A&M University, and Xavier University of Louisiana 鈥� all historically Black institutions with public relations programs. The teacher of her favorite class has already put her in touch with a Howard graduate working in the field.

It鈥檚 clear to Rikaiya that Central is committed to successful pathways for everybody, and that high school graduation isn鈥檛 the end of a journey, but just the beginning. She says learning now that law wasn鈥檛 what she thought it would be was the best thing. 鈥淚 definitely saved myself some money!鈥� she says, thinking of paying for a year or two of college and then changing her mind and major. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I like the career magnets; they help you really figure out what you like and what you want to do.鈥�

This story was originally published by 

In 2019, apprenticeships were at an all-time high across the country, according to John Ladd, administrator of the federal Office of Apprenticeship. North Carolina saw an impressive increase 鈥� jumping from 7,679 in 2018 to 11,204 in 2019.

However, like everything else this year, apprenticeships were not immune to the impacts of COVID-19, Ladd said.

Michael Holmes, corporate training manager at EGGER Wood Products, said the pandemic caused significant recruiting challenges for his apprenticeship program.

鈥淏efore, we were able to go into the classroom and do presentations on campus 鈥� It鈥檚 been a big challenge for us to be innovative 鈥� and communicate in a new fashion,鈥� he said.

Nationally, apprenticeship starts were down in 2020 about 20 to 25% from their historic high, Ladd said.

鈥淏ut, we still saw over 220,000 people start an apprenticeship program last year, which is still significantly above the 10-year average over the past decade,鈥� he said.

This trend holds true for North Carolina. In 2015, the state had roughly 3,800 apprentices and approximately 500 programs.

鈥淭oday, North Carolina has over 12,000 apprentices in over 700 programs 鈥� that鈥檚 over 200% growth in five years,鈥� Ladd said.

On April 27-28, over 600 business, community college, and K-12 stakeholders gathered virtually for the annual conference.

On day one of the virtual conference, a familiar name surfaced 鈥� Kevin Robinson, owner and CTO of RTriad Enterprises.

Robinson attended the to learn more about starting an apprenticeship program in cybersecurity and DevOps (a combination of software development and IT operations).

This year, Robinson was a panelist at the conference. He discussed his company鈥檚 new apprenticeship program 鈥� one of the few cybersecurity focused registered apprenticeship programs in the country.

After the conference, EdNC caught up with Robinson to talk about his first year and what it was like launching an apprenticeship program during a pandemic.

鈥淚t was a bold step towards demonstrating our industry offers an alternative during such times as this 鈥� where remote work becomes important,鈥� Robinson said.

He decided the first occupation his company would focus on was cybersecurity. It鈥檚 an industry with 0% unemployment and about half a million jobs open in the U.S., he said.

鈥淲e鈥檇 like to make a dent in that 鈥� particularly with Black people and women. We wanted to focus on those two demographics to drive some diversity in that occupation,鈥� said Robinson.

When most employers were laying people off, RTriad fully funded funded six apprenticeship positions.

鈥淲e just opened the gate and said 鈥楬ey, we are running an apprenticeship program and here鈥檚 where you sign up,’鈥� he said.

Robinson and his team are all about redefining what it means to be an expert. and a deep knowledge of critical infrastructure and cybersecurity controls. 鈥淏ut . . . the stuff they are talking about, it鈥檚 only been out for a year. So, we鈥檝e 鈥� he explained.

You don鈥檛 need 10 years of experience, but you need to be able to learn quickly and apply what you learn, Robinson said.

And that鈥檚 one reason RTriad started an apprenticeship program 鈥� to be help shift that mindset.

The other reason was to help people realize their own dreams.

鈥淲hat鈥檚 important to me is that people are getting to do the work that they think is meaningful,鈥� Robinson said. 鈥淕etting the opportunity to change their career and experience the kind of benefits I鈥檝e had for a multi-decade career in IT.鈥�

What鈥檚 next for RTriad Enterprises? Getting people credentialed. Robinson鈥檚 company fully supports the

鈥淲e really focus in on certifications,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 been a key point that resonates with the folks trying to get into the industry.鈥�

Why apprenticeship?

For over 10 years, our country and state have experienced continuous economic growth. That quickly came to an end with the virus, said Michael Walden, extension economist at North Carolina State University.

A year ago, the country lost 20 million jobs in one month, Walden said. North Carolina lost 600,000.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 unheard of,鈥� Walden said. 鈥淣othing like that even happened during the Great Depression of the 1930s.鈥�

Since then, both the country and North Carolina have seen improvements. But not across all sectors.

As of March 2021, North Carolina has 97% of the jobs they had pre-pandemic. Some sectors have made a full recovery.

But employers still say they can鈥檛 find employees. Walden points to two main reasons: former employees found other jobs and unemployment compensation is higher than some salaries.

The bounce back to pre-pandemic unemployment rates isn鈥檛 going to be quick, Walden said.

鈥淥ne of the reasons why we are not going to see a rapid return to pre-pandemic unemployment rates is because this pandemic is going to have a major impact on the job market in several ways,鈥� he said.

Why is this important for apprenticeship programs?

鈥淭his means that there鈥檚 going to be a new need to retrain people in jobs,鈥� Walden said. 鈥淲hat you are doing is going to be absolutely crucial. I can鈥檛 think of anything perhaps more crucial than being on top of this with retraining.鈥�

Roger Collins, apprenticeship manager and technical training specialist for Siemens Energy, Inc, agreed.

In his address to attendees, Ladd pointed out how apprenticeship is a . The administration is proposing a $100 million increase in funding for registered apprenticeships. This is the largest increase that鈥檚 been proposed 鈥� bringing the total to $285 million.

Congress is also moving the needle on apprenticeship. Ladd explained that it鈥檚 possible we could see the National Apprenticeship Act reauthorized. The act, which was first passed by Congress in 1937, has not been reauthorized in 80 years. If passed, the bill would

Several apprenticeship partners have already begun to focus their efforts on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Cynthia Bailey, senior HR consultant with Atrium Health, said their apprenticeship program has increased the diversity of their workforce.

鈥淥ur mission is to improve health, elevate hope, and advance healing for all,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e serve all kinds of individuals, and so I would also want our healthcare providers to reflect that as well. The apprenticeship program has allowed us to give individuals an opportunity to advance in roles where they may not have had otherwise.鈥�

Holmes said his team makes a point to specifically address young women in STEM. They also introduce occupations and apprenticeships to more diverse and younger audiences.

鈥淲e start early. We go to every single high school and middle school,鈥� said Holmes. 鈥淲e recently did an event for Latino families where all of our material is translated into Spanish.鈥�

Additionally, his team speaks to mentorship programs, hoping to create awareness for students who may not have access to some of the apprenticeship programs available to them.

Like Holmes, Robinson and his team are creating awareness.

鈥淚鈥檝e used a lot of my personal network 鈥� so that people can understand that they can do it, too. It鈥檚 really important that folks see other people that look like them,鈥� he said.

As apprenticeships continue to grow across the country and state, the focus on equity, diversity, and inclusion will need to grow as well, Ladd said.

This article originally appeared .