Although the national high school graduation rate reached an all-time high in 2019–20, multiple signals warn that many graduates are struggling to find direction after high school, including low college completion rates, high college remediation rates, and rising employer critiques of the preparedness of incoming graduates in terms of academic, technical, and general employability skills. Career development opportunities—including career advising tools, work-based learning experiences, and career and technical education—are an appealing strategy to build high school students’ career awareness and experience and equip them with the knowledge, skills, and tools to select a possible career and understand how to get there. Despite the increasing popularity of these opportunities, there are large gaps in the research on both their accessibility and impact.
To help fill this gap, SRI is investigating the range of high school career development opportunities in Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). The study will examine how career development opportunities are implemented, who has access to and participates in them, what students’ experiences are, and how participation is associated with students’ progression in school. After an initial exploratory year documenting patterns and outcomes of student participation, SRI will conduct a rigorous impact study of a promising career development opportunity in the district. The findings from both studies will contribute to a more systematic understanding of how school districts are preparing high school students for college and career and will inform educators’ decisions about which opportunities to offer and how to ensure equitable access.
Study period: 4 years (9/1/2024–8/31/2028)
This project is supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305N240054 to SRI Education.
SRI is thrilled to be part of this collaborative CTE research network and for the opportunity to partner with LAUSD to provide new insights into the access to and efficacy of career technical education and other career development opportunities.
Miya Warner, PhDThis project is led by SRI Education in partnership with Los Angeles Unified School District and Policy Analysis for California Education. Dr. Miya Warner is principal investigator and Dr. Kyra Caspary is co-principal investigator. Through this project, the team will investigate patterns of access to and success in career development opportunities in LAUSD to provide actionable insights for the district’s CTE office as well as other school districts around the country seeking to better equip high school students to navigate the transition to postsecondary.
