Scaling What Works

Series Overview

By 2031, 85% of jobs that provide a family sustaining wage in the U.S. will require education and training beyond high school. ¹ Yet today, just 44% of Americans hold a postsecondary credential. ² This disconnect will have real consequences for learners, communities, and states. For individual learners, entering the workforce with only a high school diploma can mean a nearly $5,000 difference ³ in median annual earnings compared to those with a high-quality credential and a $20,000 difference ⁴ in median annual earnings, compared to those with an associate degree. For states, when credential attainment doesn’t meet labor market need, it can decrease the state’s tax base and weaken its economies. ⁵

States have a unique opportunity to close this gap between credential attainment and labor market expectations by expanding career-connected learning opportunities that start in high school. Evidence-based high school models — such as career academies, career and technical education (CTE) programs of study, CTE dual or concurrent enrollment, early college high schools (ECHS), pathways in technology early college high schools (P-TECHs), and youth apprenticeships — give students an early start on pursuing their postsecondary and career goals. These models blend secondary and postsecondary academic and technical learning with authentic work-based experiences, improving outcomes in academic achievement, college enrollment, persistence, employment, and earnings (for more details, see “Career-Connected Learning Models” in the lefthand menu).

Download and read Scaling What Works: Policies to Support Individual High School Career-Connected Learning Models and Scaling What Works: Lessons on Creating a Career-Connected Learning Ecosystem From Four Leading States.

Despite the benefits of these programs, states are in different places in their career-connected learning journeys. Bellwether has created two briefs to help states advance their efforts based on local context and need.

For state policymakers interested in scaling specific, evidence-based career-connected learning models in high school, it is important to understand the policies that enable one or more models to gain traction and thrive. Our first brief, “Scaling What Works: Policies to Support Individual High School Career-Connected Learning Models,” summarizes research on the foundational policies that undergird the success of specific models.

While these foundational policies are crucial to the development of specific career-connected learning models, gaps remain that prevent multiple models from scaling in states. For state policymakers interested in building an ecosystem of evidence-based career-connected high school models, our second brief, “Scaling What Works: Lessons on Creating a Career-Connected Learning Ecosystem From Four Leading States,” summarizes lessons learned from four states that have made progress in this direction.

Career-Connected Learning Models

Evidence-based career-connected learning models give students an early start on pursuing their postsecondary and career goals. Scaling multiple evidence-based models allows more students to access programs that connect learning to meaningful careers. This is especially true for students who are furthest from opportunity, including students of color, ⁶ students from low-income households, ⁷ and students who live in rural communities, ⁸ who often face the biggest barriers to accessing career pathway programs. Limited opportunities for participation at the secondary level translate to detrimental consequences for these student groups as they move into adulthood, where they are more likely to be unemployed, underemployed, or working low-wage jobs. ⁹

Download and read Scaling What Works: Policies to Support Individual High School Career-Connected Learning Models and Scaling What Works: Lessons on Creating a Career-Connected Learning Ecosystem From Four Leading States.