This summary describes the landscape of career development opportunities (CDOs) available to District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) secondary students, including their components, intended outcomes, and distribution across the city, as well as how CDOs are funded and managed. The results reported here are part of a four-year study being conducted by the DC Education Research Collaborative, with researchers from the Urban Institute, D.C. Policy Center, and Georgetown University and in partnership with DCPS.

Data were collected through a combination of public materials review; a questionnaire fielded to DCPS central services staff members, other government agencies providing CDOs, and core nonprofit program provider partners; interviews with key staff members; and data requested from DCPS.