What Works in Career Exploration: Project Evident recently released a series of briefs that examine the evidence base and on-the-ground realities for career exploration, which the publications define as a wide range of activities that expose students to careers, including advising, assessments, work-based learning and CTE. The literature review found strong evidence supporting career exploration in adolescence, highlighting its role in shaping young people’s career identities, self-confidence and sense of connection to others. When examining the academic and workforce outcomes of programs, researchers found the strongest evidence for intensive programs offered through CTE-focused high schools and career academies. 

A separate brief considers implementation and identifies priorities raised by practitioners and researchers during interviews. These include ensuring career exploration is integrated with academic content, providing teachers and practitioners with the training and resources needed to support their work, and developing and maintaining partnerships with employers and community groups.  

From these findings, the researchers developed a framework for high-quality career exploration. Components include supporting self-discovery, developing durable skills, building social capital and providing students with career navigation and planning assistance. The brief also outlines next steps policymakers, school districts and other stakeholders should consider when delivering and scaling high-quality career exploration.  

CTE Policy and Employment Outcomes: A report from the Center for American Progress found, through a literature review and interviews with state leaders, that while there is growing interest in scaling CTE programs nationwide, barriers around data, CTE teacher recruitment and access to programs remain. The researchers also found that current federal funding for CTE programs has not kept up with inflation and population growth.  

Drawing on their findings and case studies from states addressing these challenges, the researchers identified several recommendations for Perkins reauthorization, including: 

• Increasing federal funding and support for CTE programs 

• Improving data collection, systems and infrastructure 

• Establishing additional supports and resources for recruiting and retaining CTE teachers 

• Strengthening the connection between CTE and Registered Apprenticeship 

These recommendations align with ACTE’s priorities for Perkins reauthorization.  

A Practical Guide to Work-based Learning: A report from the Progressive Policy Institute draws on interviews with leaders from six work-based learning (WBL) programs across the nation to identify promising practices and challenges in the field. Findings from the interviews include the following: 

• There are often not enough WBL experiences for interested students, and employers identify insurance and safety regulations as a barrier due to the age of most high school students. Two programs described using school-based enterprises to provide placements for students and curtail insurance and transportation hurdles.  

• Leaders note that while many students wish to participate in WBL, they often need to meet graduation requirements first. Some programs are located in states that tie WBL to graduation and accountability requirements, and one leader from Philadelphia states that they use summer and after-school time for their programs. 

• While government sources provide some funds for these programs, leaders described being reliant on philanthropic funding to cover transportation, stipends, student wages and other costs. This is due to limited amounts of federal and state funding as well as restrictions on how those funds can be used.  

• Full-time personnel that manage partnerships is critical, but programs often struggle to fund and staff these positions. Leaders in Indiana, Texas and Colorado said that collaboration across districts and schools helped their programs significantly, as they were able to reach a large enough scale to afford full-time staff that manages their partnerships.  

From these findings, the researchers provide recommendations to policymakers, employers and other stakeholders to better support WBL. These include creating additional teaching pathways for industry experts and building a sequence of courses and experiences that prepare students for meaningful WBL programs.