Chapter 2. Overview of Career Readiness in Virginia
This chapter provides an overview of how the school system in Virginia (United States) is designed to ensure the career readiness of students and the context within which it operates. This chapter explains the importance of career readiness policy and how this review was undertaken. It then provides background information on Virginia, young people within the state and the pathways through education into employment that they take. It describes the objectives, stakeholders, and provision of the school career readiness system in Virginia.
Importance of career readiness policy
More than at any point in history, and all around the world, young people are leaving education more highly qualified and with more years of schooling to their name. Yet despite this positive trend, many still struggle in the transition to fulfilling employment. As students stay in education longer, they have more decisions to make about what, where and how hard they will study and train – decisions that can both open and close later economic opportunities. At the same time, there is reason to believe that decision-making is becoming more difficult. Demand for skills is rapidly changing in light of digitalisation, automation and responses to climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the marketisation of post-secondary education and training adds an additional challenge to young people seeking to navigate smooth transitions through post-secondary education and training provision into desirable employment (OECD et al., 2021[1]).
Within this complex and confusing landscape, governments turn to career guidance within education systems – services and activities intended to assist individuals to make educational, training and occupational choices and to manage their careers (OECD, 2004[2]) – to prepare students for their lives in work while still in education, helping them to optimise the accumulation of human capital and their capacities to deploy it. Recently, understanding of the role of career guidance in preparing students for working life has improved considerably – and the concept has broadened to career readiness (Box 2.1). Analysis of longitudinal data provides a means to establish links between the character of teenage career development and better employment outcomes in early adulthood (OECD, 2021[3]; Covacevich et al., 2021[4]; Covacevich et al., 2021[5]). Such developments, drawing on scientific data, identify specific aspects of career development that can help to shape our understanding of effective career readiness systems, policies, and provision. Moreover, international survey data now allow for comparisons of student preparation around the world. In this context, studies can be undertaken to explore the extent to which career readiness systems deliver effective, efficient, and equitable career development activities, providing all young people with knowledge, skills, resources, and competencies that shape their career readiness.
About OECD work on Career Readiness
Following the publication of the Career Guidance Handbook (OECD/The European Commission, 2004[6]), international interest in career guidance grew further in the wake of the Great Financial Crisis and the consequent spikes in youth unemployment. Interest was renewed again among policy makers and practitioners during the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to this growing interest in career readiness and guidance, the OECD launched its Career Readiness project for young people. Through 2020-22, the project laid the foundation for rebuilding this important dialogue on career guidance by distilling key indicators of teenage career readiness, collecting best practices, and identifying characteristics of effective career guidance (OECD, 2021[3]; Covacevich et al., 2021[4]; Covacevich et al., 2021[5]). The second phase of the project (2022-24) explores the role of digital technologies in enhancing guidance and the importance of career development in relation to student characteristics (Jeon et al., 2023 forthcoming[7]) and priority economic areas (‘green’ jobs), while providing countries with policy advice to enhance national or sub-national practice by showcasing best practice around the world and benchmarking them against each other.
Career readiness refers to three aspects of teenage career development that are linked to more successful transitions into adult employment. The OECD Career Readiness project identified these aspects based on a first-of-its-kind analysis of longitudinal data from ten countries, including the United States. Within this analysis, the OECD confirmed indicators of better employment outcomes in areas where data show in three or more countries that specific aspects of teenage career development (typically at age 15-16) can be linked to positive outcomes at age 25-30 (participation in education, employment, or training; earnings; job satisfaction) or more positive than would be expected of a comparable young person who did not so engage. Integration of new findings into the wider research literature further reinforced confidence in the indictors (Covacevich et al., 2021[4]). These three predictive aspects and example activities are:
Exploring potential futures in work: career conversations with teachers, family members and friends; engaging with people in work through career talks or job fairs; workplace visits or job shadowing; application and interview skills development activities; occupation-focused short programmes, known as career pathways in the United States.
Experiencing potential futures in work: activities involving first-hand experiences of workplaces such as part-time work and volunteering.
Thinking about potential future careers:
Career certainty: ability as a teenager to name an expected adult occupation.
Career ambition: expectation of working in a job classified as a high-skilled occupation.
Career alignment: aligning educational plans with typical requirements of occupational ambitions.
Instrumental motivation: recognising long-term extrinsic benefits of schooling to employment.
In addition, partial indicators were identified in relation to short work placements, the greater originality of career planning, and participation in school-based guidance activities, such as the use of career questionnaires designed to prompt student reflection (Covacevich et al., 2021[4]).
Career development activities (CDA) refer to activities and services that promote young people’s career exploration, experiencing, and thinking. These are intended to assist individuals to make well-informed educational, training, and occupational choices, to gain useful experiences and to manage their careers. Among these activities, school career guidance refers to school-mediated activities and services, which cover career guidance/education/information, career counselling and direct contact with the world of work:
Career guidance and education: personalised, impartial, and timely information and support to make informed career decisions and to learn about the world of work and develop career management skills.
Career information: career-related information such as education and training courses, occupations, learning and career opportunities, progression routes and choices, assessment, as well as information on where to find help and advice, and how to access it.
Career counselling: one-to-one or group basis advice on career thinking, exploration or decisions pro-actively or reactively, general or targeted. Counselling to help young people gather, understand, and interpret information and apply it to their own situation; understand themselves and their needs, confront barriers, resolve conflicts, and make progress.
Direct contact with the world of work: first-hand insights into, and experiences of, the labour market in order to raise, broaden and inform career aspirations.
Source: Cedefop, Siebel, J., Dorn, B. (2020). Coordinating guidance and validation, Publications Office. https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2801/801290;; (Covacevich et al., 2021[5]); (OECD, 2021[3]); (Mann, Denis and Percy, 2020[8]); (Covacevich et al., 2021[4]) (Musset and Kurekova, 2018[9]; OECD, 2004[2]) (OECD, 2004[2]) (Cedefop, European Commission, ETF, ICCDPP, ILO, OECD, UNESCO, 2020[10])
About this Career Readiness Review
With a focus on Virginia (United States), this review, looks closely at the career readiness of students within a specific educational jurisdiction. It focuses primarily on secondary education and examines the design of the Virginian career readiness system and delivery of activities that promote career exploration, experience and thinking (see definition in Box 2.1), provided by secondary schools and other relevant stakeholders.1
The purpose of this review is to enable the continual improvement of the provision of school career guidance in Virginia in order to better support the progression of young people through education and training ultimately into fulfilling employment. This review aims to: i) set out the key challenges that policy makers and practitioners in Virginia face in delivering effective, efficient, and equitable career guidance services; ii) benchmark Virginia against OECD countries and economic areas; and iii) provide examples of good practice and effective responses to these challenges. In doing so, it seeks to highlight Virginian practice of value to other jurisdictions.
This review is timely for Virginia. Over recent years, the state has placed increasing efforts into building strong pathways for young people while introducing innovative initiatives and replicating known successes. Career readiness is important for Virginia for a number of important reasons: (i) increasing out-migration among young people contributing to a falling youth population increasingly characterised by race/ethnic diversity; (ii) a higher ratio of youth unemployment to prime-age unemployment; and (iii) growing and changing skills needs from across the economic community. In response to these challenges, Virginia has reinforced its data and evidence base and is streamlining its education, career readiness and workforce development systems. Virginia is keen to encourage young people to have more “exposure, experience and expertise” outside of school, through a holistic approach of transforming and strengthening K-12, college, higher education and workforce development systems while incentivising employer communities to join this journey.
Young people, education and labour market in Virginia
Virginia at a glance
With a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of USD 655 billion (preliminary Q3 2022; 13th state) and a population of 8.68 million (2022), Virginia is an economy comparable in size to Sweden. Its economic output represents around 2.5% of total GDP in the United States and its population around 2.6% of the US population (2021) (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2023[11]; US Census, 2023[12]). Total employment is about 3.5 million (2020) (US Census, 2023[12]) with some 155 000 employer firms (2019) in operation (US Census, 2022[13]). A quarter of the population of Virginia (24%) resides in rural areas (2020), a proportion that has been steady over the past decade. While some Virginia regions have been experiencing net out-migration and others have seen modest in-migration, in general Virginia is under-performing in comparison to states such as North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, and Texas, where many more people are entering rather than leaving (Agee and Treacy, 2023[14]).
Young people in Virginia at a glance
About one fifth of Virginia’s population is aged 15-29 with young men outnumbering young women both in absolute and relative terms (2021), similar to the national average (Figure 2.1). According to the 2021 American Community Survey2, 12% of 15-19-year-olds were not enrolled in school in 2021 (US average: 13%) (US Census, 2023[15]). High school (HS) dropouts3 in Virginia have been decreasing since 2008 from about 11% to about 5% in 2022 (first-time 9th grader in the year 2018-19 who dropped out school for the period of 2018-22). Comparing status dropouts (the percentage of young people aged 16-24 who are not in High School and who lack a High School diploma or equivalent qualification) in 2015-19 across states (US average 5.5%), Virginia has the lowest rate (3.5%) after New Jersey (3.5%) (Figure 2.2). The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) projects the pipeline of Virginia’s HS graduates to peak in 2026 and then gradually decrease by 6% by 2036 (Massa, 2021[16]). Moreover, High School graduates are expected to become more diverse in terms of race and ethnicity (47% being White in 2021 to 41% in 2029-30) (Massa, 2021[16]).
Source: U.S. Census (2022[17]), Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Virginia: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2021, https ://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/tables/2020-2021/state/detail/sc-est2021-agesex-51.xlsx
Source: NCES (National Center for Education Statistics), Table 219.85b. Percentage of high school dropouts among persons 16 to 24 years-old (status dropout rate), by race/ethnicity and state: 2015-2019
The Virginia school system
School structure
The Board of Education establishes the state level standards for public education (Standards of Quality; Standards of Learning; Standards of Accreditation), which the Virginia Department of Education implements, and school districts should adhere to. Virginia’s public K-12 schools are operated by 131 school districts.
In addition to general public schools, students in Virginia can attend – either full or part-time – Governor’s schools (which are aimed at high-performing students), Magnet schools (public schools that focus on performing arts, science and technology or other particular area of study but also offer regular school subjects) or Technical Centers (which offer technical and vocational opportunities to students typically alongside general schooling) (Box 2.2).
Secondary school students undertake a combination of mandatory and elective courses. Elective courses cover career planning and specialised courses such as career and technical education (CTE), which reflect student interests and fields of vocational interest. While there is no formally separated vocational track as in some European countries such as Germany, Switzerland or the Netherlands, most secondary schools offer a wide range of courses and pathways from which students can choose a programme of related courses which can lead to college or university entrance, vocational training or direct entry into employment.
CTE programmes in Virginia’s public schools are available through Grades 6-12. In 2022, more than 670 000 students took one or more CTE course. Based on NCES and US Department for Education Perkins data, 24% of students in Virginia public schools participated in CTE in 2020-21, which was about the US average but lower than North Carolina (36%) and Georgia (30%). Among CTE participants, CTE concentrators (i.e., students who opt in for two or more consecutive CTE courses)4 were low in Virginia: 14% were CTE concentrators in Virginia, compared to 40% in the US, 43% in Tennessee, 25% in Maryland and 24% in Georgia (Figure 2.3).
Note: Total enrolment in public elementary and secondary schools was used as denominator for CTE participation.
Source: U.S. Department of Education (2023), The Perkins State Plans and Data Explorer, https://cte.ed.gov/dataexplorer/build_enrolment; U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD) (2022), "State Nonfiscal Survey of Public Elementary/Secondary Education," 2020-21; and Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) Data Center, Enrolment Data, 2020, retrieved July 7, 2022, from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest.
Virginia adopts an institution and community-driven approach to amplify labour market demands to young people and support their early engagement in focused studies linked to specific areas of employment.
Governor's Schools
Since their launch in 1973, Governor's Schools have offered high school students (typically grades 9-12) more specialised or advanced academic and visual/performing arts opportunities. These schools apply non-traditional teaching and learning techniques, such as hands-on-experiences, research, field studies, or artistic productions. Students are encouraged to see themselves as emerging scientists, writers, artists, and performers as they work with professional mentors and instructors. With the support of the Virginia Board of Education and the General Assembly, these schools include summer residential, summer regional, and academic-year programmes serving more than 7 500 students in Virginia. These schools are administered by the VDOE Office of Secondary Instructional Services, in co-operation with local school divisions, colleges, and universities. The VDOE, regional governing boards, local superintendents, site or program directors, school boards, and advisory committees establish policies for the Governor's Schools. The Virginia General Assembly, through the VDOE and participating school divisions, fund these programmes. Summer programmes often receive contributions from host colleges, universities, and communities as well as philanthropic foundations. While students tend to split their time between Governor’s school and continuing attendance of their home school, this is not always the case. Some Governor’s school offer full-time enrolment.
Academic-Year Governor's Schools: School directors and regional governing boards provide policy and administration of these schools. Focus areas range from the arts to government and international studies, and to mathematics, science, and technology. These schools provide a small number of high-performing students in specific subjects with more tailored and advanced learning opportunities. The schools provide in-service training for other local teachers within school divisions. They also share equipment, facilities, and expertise with other schools. Local employers, industries, and community, through programmes and partnerships, provide mentors to work with students to give them real world experience in careers and to assist them with research projects, or guest lecturers during classes; offer students an opportunity to make professional contacts in their areas of interest; and contribute equipment and supplies, facilities, and expert advice to help support the schools.
Summer Residential Governor's Schools: Program and site directors, along with the VDOE specialist work together to manage and maintain these programs. Students live on a college or university campus for up to four weeks each summer, involving in laboratory work, field studies, research, individual and group projects and performances, and seminars with noted scholars, visiting artists, scientists, physicians, and a variety of other professionals.
Summer Regional Governor's Schools: Twenty schools are available throughout the state in a variety of formats, topics, and grade levels. Most often, groups of school divisions design these programs to meet the needs of their local gifted elementary and middle school students in the arts, sciences, and humanities. These programmes are typically housed at a public school or on the campus of a college, community college, or university. The lengths of programs vary, with some lasting a week or less while others may last four or more weeks. Most students return to their homes at the end of each day's activities, with some school programmes being residential. Most localities assume responsibility for transporting students.
Innovation Lab Schools
A recent initiative within Virginia is the creation of Innovation Laboratory Schools. With a budget of approximately USD 150 million, such schools aim to provide young people with an innovative educational experience, including a close engagement with the world beyond the school walls to prepare them for academic and lifelong success. The initiative is based on partnerships between K-12, higher education, and employers to transform the one-size-fits-all system into multiple career pathways to serve students’ diverse needs and aspirations. Eligible higher education institutions can establish a Laboratory School to develop innovative PK-12 programmes, particularly in rural areas or for the most marginalised students in terms of academic performance or socio-economic status. It is anticipated that Laboratory Schools will focus on such industries as computer and data science, IT focused on cybersecurity and cloud computing, maritime industries, aerospace, teaching and healthcare, with CTE, work-based learning and industry-recognised credential earning opportunities as well as innovative instructional approaches such as direct instruction from industry professionals (VDOE, 2023[18]).
Pathways or partnerships linking high school, colleges, and universities
Virginia encourages flexibility in programmes with the aim of creating efficiencies in the development of the skills and credentials that are required for entry into the workforce; students can continue studying and working at any point in their life when needed. Many colleges and universities collaborate with local high schools within dual-enrolment programmes whereby HS students can potentially graduate high school with university credits that might lead up to an associate degree. There are also other types of K-12 programs run by post-secondary institutions. For example, George Mason University (GMU) offers an Early Identification Program (EIP), a free college preparatory program for middle and high school students who would be the first in their family to attend a college or university. GMU’s K-12 STEM Programs include residential camps with STEM seminars and professional development activities that prepare students for college, and summer internship programmes for students over the age of 16 (both high school and college students) who are aspire to pursue a scientific career.
Funding
As in other US states, public education funding support in Virginia is made up of local, state and federal sources. In 2020-21, 47% of funding was from local sources, 43% from the state, and 10% from federal (Figure 2.4). Although not directly comparable, the annual expenditure per secondary student in the United States is one of the highest among OECD and partner countries with available data (15 538 USD equivalent, rank 5/36 in 2019). According to (Goren and Kenneth, 2023[19]), in 2022 Virginia was ranked 40th in the country in-state funding per student while it is a top ten state in terms of median household income (Goren and Kenneth, 2023[19]).
In Virginia, the apportionment of state funds for public education is the responsibility of the General Assembly. General fund appropriations serve as the mainstay of state support for the commonwealth's public schools, augmented by retail sales and use tax revenues, state lottery proceeds, and other sources. Counties, cities, and towns comprising school divisions also support public education by providing the locality's share to maintain an educational programme meeting the commonwealth's Standards of Quality and local match requirements for incentive and lottery-funded programmes. While public education is primarily a state and local responsibility, the federal government provides assistance to state and local education agencies in support of specific federal initiatives and mandates (VDOE, 2023[20]). Compared to the US average and comparable states, Virginia has a higher share of public-school revenues coming from local sources, which are composed of local property taxes and other public revenue (Figure 2.4). This is hand in hand with the strong independence and autonomy of school districts in Virginia.
Source: (VDOE, 2023[20]); NCES (2022), Table 235.20.Revenues for public elementary and secondary schools, by source of funds and state or jurisdiction: School year 2019-20, https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/2022menu_tables.asp
Size of school districts, schools, and students: PK-12
In 2022-23, almost 1.3 million school students were enrolled in Virginia. There are 131 school districts with an average of 9 644 students each, ranging from 180 127 students in Fairfax County to 200 students in Highland County (median: 3 762 students in Fredericksburg City). There are 2 438 PK-12 schools in Virginia. The number of students in each PK-12 school ranges from 37 to 4 540 with an average 678 (median: 558), excluding schools that have fewer than 35 students. Compared to other states and the US average, average enrolment in Virginia’s public schools is high.
Size and diversity of school districts, schools and students: Grade 6-12
In 2022-23, half of all students are in Grades 6-12 (683 134 students). Across school districts, on average 5 254 students are in Grades 6-12 (median: 2 019 students), ranging from 100 172 students in Fairfax County to 103 students in Highland County. On average, each school district has between 707 and 837 students in each Grade between 6 and 12 (median 273-311 students). A total of 873 schools serve Grade 6-12; among those, 15 schools offer all Grades 6-12, and 334 schools offer all Grades 9-12 only or in addition to Grades 6-8. The average number of Grade 6-12 students in each school ranges from 178 to 325 in each Grade (median: 142-320). In the case of Alexandria City High School, there are 1 127 students in Grade 12 and 1 291 students in Grade 10.
School districts in Virginia vary significantly in many different aspects, including the size, resources, composition of student race and ethnicity, industry, and many others. State level data masks the diversity of school districts. For example, while on average 45% of Grade 6-12 are White, the share ranges from 3% to 99% (Figure 2.5).
Source: VDOE Fall Membership Reports
Career pathways of young people
Most high school graduates in Virginia transition to college or university within 16 months of graduation. 73% of graduates (school-leavers) in 2020 attended two-year colleges (22%), four-year colleges (46%), or other types of continuing education (5%). Although transitioning to higher education (HE) has been gradually decreasing, from 82% in 2015 and there is concern in this regard, it is still the main pathway. According to 2018 data, Hispanic, economically-disadvantaged students, and English learners have lower HE transition rates than their counterparts (Figure 2.6). The remainder of high school graduates are in work (15%) or military (3%).
The remaining 10% of high school graduates have no plans, i.e., they are not in education and training nor in employment. It is worrisome that this rate has increased over the past 5 years from 3% in 2015-16 to 10% in 2020 (Figure 2.6). To put this in the international context, the share of youth (among 18-24 year-olds) who have been unemployed for 3-12 months and who are not in formal education or training in the United States is one of the lowest among countries with available OECD data (1.9 %, rank 19/26, 2021). However, other indicators show areas for improvement. For example, the share of youth who have been unemployed for less than 3 months and who are not in formal education or training among 18-24 year-olds in the United States is one of the highest among countries with available data (3 %, rank 8/27, 2021). This trend continues for the older populations: for example, the inactivity rate of 25-34 years-old adults with below upper secondary education is high in the United States (40 %, rank 8/41, 2021). Among 25-64 year-olds, the US employment rate among with high school graduates5 is comparatively low (67 %, rank 36/42, 2021); the inactivity rate of high school dropouts6 (42 %, rank 8/42, 2021) and of high school graduates (28 %, rank 5/42, 2021) is one of the highest among countries with available data (OECD, 2021).
Source: VDOE Graduates and Completers data; http://schoolquality.virginia.gov/ (VDOE, 2023[21])
The high proportion of students transitioning to higher education (HE) is partly driven by the benefits and positive outcomes for earning a post-secondary degree or credential. According to SCHEV, graduates with post-secondary education have better economic and social outcomes (e.g., higher average earnings; more likely to have health insurance, pay taxes, vote and volunteer, and are less likely to receive unemployment benefits or need public assistance benefits) (VDOE, 2022[22]). However, it is also important to look at HE student debt and HE dropouts together. In 2020-21, 62% of graduates from 4-year bachelor’s programmes have student debt, although this is less common for graduates from public institutions (58%) and those from 2-year associate degree programmes (40-42%) (Figure 2.7).
While HE dropout rates in Virginia are slightly lower than the US average, HE dropouts in Virginia are still sizable and cause a system inefficiency (Hanson, 2022[23]). For example, a third of college students in Virginia do not graduate within 6 years (National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, 2022[24]).7 There is also an equity issue: HE graduation rates are consistently much lower for students from lower income families and students of colour. Graduation rates from VA public 4-year institutions within 6 years of 2014-15 cohorts are 20 percentage points (pp) lower for those from the bottom quartile by household income (60%), compared to those from the top quartile (80%); for private institutions, the difference is 50 pp (SCHEV). Graduation rates for the same cohorts are 10 pp lower for the students of colour (69%) compared to the majority of White students (79%); for private institutions, the difference is 8 pp (SCHEV). Virginia is currently putting efforts into identifying challenges and determining the roots of the issue, in order to improve the situation (see Theme 3 Chapter 6.).
Note: The maximum in federal loans available to undergraduate students is USD 57 500 and only federal loans generally qualify for Income-Based Repayment (IBR) sponsored by the U.S. Education Department.
Source: State Council for Higher Education EOM18: Exploration of Wages over time by Degree for degree wages, U.S. Census Personal Income tables. https://research.schev.edu/eom/opportunity01_report.asp
According to the 2021 American Community Survey,8 one in three 16-19-year-olds were employed in Virginia, slightly higher than the US average, while 63% of 20-24-year-olds are employed in Virginia, slightly lower than the US average. 51% of 16-19-year-olds worked at some point during the calendar year of 2021: 6% working full-time and 45% working on a part-time basis. This is slightly high compared to the US average (5 and 42%) and selected US states such as North Carolina (6 and 43%) and Maryland (4 and 41%) (Figure 2.8).
Source : https://data.census.gov/table?tid=ACSDT1Y2021.B23027
While Virginia’s youth unemployment rate (aged 15-24) is lower than that of the US average and selected US states, its ratio to the unemployment rate of older workers (i.e., comparative unemployment of young people to unemployment of workers aged 25-74 in the same jurisdiction) is relatively high (Figure 2.9). This means that in terms of unemployment rate, young people in Virginia are well-performing compared to young people in other US states, but under-performing compared to Virginia’s own working age population. This means that young people in Virginia are at a greater disadvantage in the competition for available employment compared to older workers than is the case in neighbouring states. In Virginia, young people experience unemployment rates twice the level of older workers. However, this is lower than the US and OECD average.
Source : https://data.census.gov/table?tid=ACSST1Y2021.S2301; https://data.oecd.org/chart/75bE. Note: in order to allow for comparisons to be made, the two tables draw on different data sources. The first table which allows a comparison of the ratio of youth to adult unemployment between US states draws on data from the 2020 US census. The second table, which allows international comparisons, draws on OECD data which is based national labour market statistics for 2021.
The top four industries that hire the most employees (ages 14-99) in Virginia in 2021 were Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (14%), Health Care and Social Assistance (14%), Retail Trade (13%) and Accommodation and Food Services (10%). This is similar to the national distribution, except for Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services. At the national level, Health Care and Social Assistance accounts for 16%, Retail Trade 12%, Accommodation and Food Services 10% and Manufacturing 10%). Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services accounts for 8%, 6 percentage points lower than in Virginia. This distribution does not appear to have been distorted by the COVID-19 pandemic as the trend has stabilised over the years in both Virginia and in the US (Figure 2.10).
Source: U.S.Census Bureau, Center for Economic Studies, LEHD (2023), QWI Explorer, https://qwiexplorer.ces.census.gov
Sectoral distribution of young workers in the United States is quite different from that of older workers and this trend has been consistent over time and across the country. The majority of 14-18-year-olds in Virginia in 2021 worked in accommodation and food services (44%), retail trade (27%), and arts, entertainment, and recreation (8%). The older the group is, more equally distributed the sectors are with a relatively higher share in professional, scientific and technical services, educational services, and health care and social assistance. These sectors absorb the majority of the workforce in Virginia (Figure 2.11). This trend remains similar when looking at the past five years. Moreover, the national distribution is not different from Virginia’s (Figure 2.12).
Source: VirginiaWorks (2023[25]), Virginia community profile https://virginiaworks.com/_docs/Local-Area-Profiles/5101000000.pdf based on U.S. Census Bureau, Local Employment Dynamics (LED) Program, 4th Quarter (October, November, December) 2021.
Source: U.S.Census Bureau, Center for Economic Studies, LEHD (2023), QWI Explorer, https://qwiexplorer.ces.census.gov
In this review, career readiness system refers to a system that supports young people’s career development activities as they explore, experience and think about potential futures in work in ways that are linked to more successful transitions into adult employment (see Box 2.1). Therefore, it includes both school-mediated activities and activities taking place outside of school. The career readiness system is often a collection of disparate sub-systems within education, training, employment, community and private sectors, each with its own history, rationale and driving forces, rather than a coherent and integrated set of arrangements (OECD, 2004[2]). This is also the case in Virginia: its career readiness system lies at the intersection of education and workforce development (Figure 2.13).
At the US federal level, career guidance and counselling (CGC) programmes refer to a comprehensive developmental programme designed to assist individuals in making and implementing informed educational and occupational choices. A CGC programme aims to develop competencies in self-knowledge, educational and occupational exploration, decision-making, goal setting and career planning (Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education, 2023[26]).9 At a national level, the US recognises the need to align the education system with labour market needs and to establish an education-to-workforce pipeline, throughout the general K-12 system, career and technical education (CTE) programmes, post-secondary institutions, technical training programs, and pre-apprenticeship and registered apprenticeship programmes (Cushing et al., 2019[27]) (see Box 1.4. for the US federal laws that govern the education-to-workforce pipeline).
1. Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V)
Perkins V (launched in 2018) funds states and other grantees to improve both secondary and postsecondary career and technical education (CTE) programmes and programmes of study that prepare students for the world of work. The Perkins V provisions that have direct relevance to college and career readiness include alignment and integration of CTE programmes of study, employability skills education and academic content standards; assessment of competencies and technical skills to determine work readiness; and strengthening reporting and accountability requirements. In 2020, Virginia received USD 43 million from the U.S. Department of Education appropriations for CTE (12th largest amount among states), which includes CTE State Grants; Adult Basic and Literacy Education State Grants; and English Literacy and Civics Education State Grants (NCES, 2021[28]).
2. Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA)
WIOA Title I (launched in 2014) funds the public workforce development (WFD) system, which responds to labour market needs by funding education, training, and support services for youth and adults looking for meaningful employment. WIOA Title II funds adult education and literacy activities for out-of-school youth and adults who lack a high school diploma or proficiency in English. WIOA Title I supports WFD in states by funding career services and job training programs. It aims to modernise the WFD system and streamline existing employment-related education systems. WIOA also authorises a ‘one-stop career centre service delivery system’. It requires partner programmes to provide services through several one-stops that focus on a wide range of agencies and activities.
3. Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
ESSA (launched in 2015) provides funding for K-12 public education and requires that all students be taught to standards that prepare them to succeed in college and careers. ESSA’s well-rounded education provision supports states’ college and career readiness (CCR) efforts by aligning district- and school level readiness initiatives with curricula, improved conditions for learning, and other educational experiences. States can leverage ESSA funding for a well-rounded education to drive CCR strategies.
Note: (Cushing et al., 2019[27]) also includes the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in the list, which is out of scope in this report.
Source: (Cushing et al., 2019[27])
In Virginia, according to Virginia’s Administrative Code, elementary, middle and high schools are expected to provide:
“a range of educational and academic experiences related to college and career readiness in and outside the classroom, including an emphasis on experiences that will motivate disadvantaged and minority students to prepare for a career or post-secondary education” (Commonwealth of Virginia, 2019[29]) (see Chapter 3. for the reality check).
The code requires schools to provide students with a range of activities linked to their ‘career exposure, exploration, and planning’ while providing opportunities for postsecondary credit (e.g., dual-enrolment opportunity to earn college credit while studying in high school). Such support includes provision of information concerning exploration of ‘career cluster’ areas (i.e., field of study) in elementary schools and course information and planning for college preparation programmes, opportunities and funding for educational and academic experiences, including work-based learning such as job shadowing, internships, co-operative education, and the multiple pathways to college and career readiness in middle and high schools (Commonwealth of Virginia, 2019[29]). More recently, considerable effort has been made to improve student access to labour market information (LMI), providing transparent, reliable, and uniform data not only on the regional labour market but also on pathways (i.e., more detailed field of study under each career cluster), outcomes of those pathways and the linkages between the two (see VOEE’s Education and Workforce Alignment Dashboard).
Career readiness, along with college and civic readiness, is well integrated in the K-12 system in Virginia. Career readiness is not only one of the priorities and goals for public education (Box 2.5), but also an integral part of school curriculum. Moreover, Virginia has made much progress in including college and career readiness measures in the state’s accountability system: for example, the college, career and civic readiness index is being included in high school quality indicators from 2022-23 (Box 2.5).10
The Virginia Board of Education, based on inputs from various stakeholders, developed three priorities for 2018-23 in a Comprehensive Plan, which provides the framework for the Board’s leadership, advocacy, and oversight: (i) providing high-quality, effective learning environments, (ii) promoting entries to the teaching profession, and (iii) ensuring successful implementation of the Profile of a Virginia Graduate and the accountability system for school quality.
Regarding the third priority, the Profile of a Virginia Graduate describes the knowledge, skills, and experiences that students must attain during their K-12 education to be successful in college and/or the work force and to be “life ready.” It articulates four broad areas:
It includes increased career exposure, exploration, and planning beginning in the elementary grades. In the high school grades, there is an emphasis on increased opportunities for internships, and work and service-based learning experiences to achieve workplace and citizenship skills. Career exploration refers to aligning knowledge, skills and personal interests with career opportunities.
High schools are expected to meet goals for increasing participation and achievement in career-relevant learning effective in 2021-2022. High schools are evaluated on a number of school quality indicators, including a College, Career, and Civic Readiness Index (CCCI). The CCCI is designed to measure the extent to which students successfully complete advanced coursework, Career and Technical Education coursework and credentialing, and work- and service-based learning. While there is no specific activity that a student must experience (such as an internship, job shadowing assignment or participation in a career fair) to graduate, school divisions are required to provide opportunities for students to learn about workplace expectations and career options aligned with their interests in their own communities and elsewhere (VDOE, 2018[30]).
Source: VDOE (2022[31]), Profile of a Virginia Graduate, https://www.doe.virginia.gov/parents-students/for-students/graduation/policy-initiatives/profile-of-a-virginia-graduate. VDOE (2017[32]), Virginia Board Of Education Comprehensive Plan: 2018-2023, https://www.doe.virginia.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/1154/637946384285670000.
VDOE (2018[30]), Virginia Standards of Accreditation https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED601935.pdf
Objectives of the career readiness system
Public policy goals of the career readiness system
Career readiness systems are generally designed to achieve three objectives as below, and this report looks at Virginia’s career readiness systems in light of these themes and provide policy recommendations:
Effectiveness: Career readiness systems prepare young people to smoothly transition to post-secondary education and training or to work that is suited to their skills, interests, and career aspirations. In this process, they also support young people in their personal fulfilment and psychological well-being – the public policy goals for career service organisations should encompass the promotion of mental health and well-being (Robertson, 2019[33]). Governments and relevant stakeholders set standards and frameworks to help students be career-ready and these standards and frameworks are implemented at different levels (see Theme 1 Chapter 4.).
Efficiency: Career readiness systems aim to increase the efficiency of the education and workforce development (WFD) system, by actively helping young people to match with the right study programme and work field that they ultimately find they are interested in, aspire to, or are suited for while minimising unnecessary navigation time and waste of resources. At the same time, career readiness systems can support career development activities (CDA) for young people and school curriculum to be better aligned with economic and labour market opportunities. In this light, career readiness systems can help to build necessary talent pipelines and to address skills shortages by better amplifying labour market signalling (see Theme 2 Chapter 5.).
Equity: Career readiness systems have other important roles to play, given that young people face different challenges in the education-to-work transition depending on their characteristics and on the character of social inequalities in terms of access to relevant opportunities (Alcorn, 2016[34]). Well-designed and implemented CDA can address inequalities in assisting young people’s transition by providing them with equal and/or targeted additional access to opportunities and empowering marginalised youth to build necessary human, social and cultural capital (see Box 2.6). In this light, career readiness systems can be a driver of social mobility and for equal opportunity and help diversify the workforce to be better representative of the wider population (Jeon et al., 2023 forthcoming[7]) (see Theme 3 Chapter 6.).
Considered from a workforce perspective, the relative attractiveness of potential employees to employers is characterised by a range of attributes which are commonly described as ‘capitals’ (Tomlinson, 2013[35]) and which can be enhanced through guidance systems (Jones, Mann and Morris, 2015[36]).
Human capital is understood as the collection of knowledge, skills (often codified as qualifications) and work-related experience that an individual possesses (Brown, 2020[37]; Keeley, 2007[38]). School systems help students to structure their accumulating knowledge, skills and qualifications in ways that relate to potential successful futures in work. In this way, students can be seen to accumulate qualifications and credentials of value to their career ambitions. School systems have the capacity to assess the career thinking of students and provide greater input should confusion or uncertainty be apparent, enabling more confident subject selection and understanding of post-secondary pathways. Schools also have scope to support students in accessing work-related experiences that will be of help in progression.
Social capital relates to the networks of people with which an individual comes into contact (Lin, 2012[39]; Halpern, 2004[40]). Social capital represents value to an individual in providing resources of use in their transitions into and within employment. Such value can take different forms, each of which have implications for guidance provision. Social capital can be an expression of cultural norms about what is ‘reasonable’ for different students to aspire to in gendered and social terms, serving to constrain career ambitions. It can also serve to enhance the development of human capital, notably by enabling access to work-related experiences of value which may lead to recommendations and offers of employment. As first conceptualised by Granovetter (Granovetter, 1973[41]), social capital can provides important access to new and trusted information that is often unavailable outside of immediate social circles which can be linked to more attractive employment outcomes (Franzen, 2006[42]).
If human capital refers to what an individual knows and social capital to who they know, cultural capital is a term used to refer to what they think about themselves and their possible future. It can be understood as the know-how needed to succeed within a profession and is often discussed in terms of understanding of the ‘rules of the game’ which underpin personal confidence and integration into particular fields of employment (Brown, 2020[43]; Archer, 2014[44]). In this way, it includes understanding of how systems of education and training work – and can be best exploited for personal advantage – so reinforcing a sense of personal agency.
Collectively, the three concepts provide a mechanism for assessing and addressing the differing capacities of young people to progress effectively through education and into employment (Stanley and Mann, 2014[45]). In practice however, guidance activities can be expected to have the potential to address needs in a multi-faceted fashion:
Through [school-mediated] employer engagement activities, a teenager may make the contacts needed to be offered a job (social capital … as access to employment) while simultaneously acquiring the expertise or ability to make them employable in that role (human capital … as skills development). Or, to give another example, a young adult may report maturing and becoming more assured about themself (cultural capital … as enhanced personal confidence) as a result of trusted information from employers (social capital … as authentic guidance). (Jones, Mann and Morris, 2015[36])
Source: Jeon et al., (2023 forthcoming[7]), Challenging social inequalities through career guidance. OECD Education and Skills Working Paper.
Career readiness is a policy priority and goal for public education and school career guidance in Virginia. One of three priorities set out by the Virginia Board of Education for 2018-23, for example, includes ensuring successful implementation of the Profile of a Virginia Graduate (Box 2.5). This priority defines the knowledge, skills and experiences that students must attain during their K-12 education to be successful in college/university and/or the workforce and to be “life ready.” This includes not only content knowledge (academic and technical) but also workplace skills, community engagement and career exploration (Box 2.5).
In this regard, it is also important to understand a broader economic development policy objective when it comes to school career guidance. For example, the Virginia Plan for Higher Education aims for 70% of all Virginians to have earned a degree or a postsecondary credential by 2030 (as of 2021, 57%). This is because 70% is roughly the percentage of all jobs that are expected to need a postsecondary degree or credential. To diversify pathways, ‘Growth and Opportunity (GO) Virginia’, a regional economic development initiative, encourages Talent Pathways Investments to create a larger pool of qualified workers to support economic growth. Talent Pathways are made up of “partnerships that make movement from learning to earning more efficient and affordable by aligning educational curricula with employer needs, embedding internships, apprenticeships, and other work-based learning opportunities in the curricula, and facilitating full-time employment in Virginia after graduation” in order to support state-wide and regional efforts to grow and retain talent across Virginia (GO Virginia, 2023[46]) (see Box 2.7).
Moreover, the increasing out-migration from Virginia that may cause a loss of talent to other states or countries puts the career guidance system at the centre of action to expand internships, apprenticeships, and other work-based learning opportunities with Virginia employers. More than 70% of Virginian businesses, according to the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, would prefer to hire students with relevant workplace experience. Yet, the Chamber also found that only about 10% of students hired by Virginia employers actually possess such experience (Agee and Treacy, 2023[14]). In this context, there is an urgency to agree that informing and shaping the career choices and building career readiness of young people must be a core strategy for retaining talent in the Commonwealth (Agee and Treacy, 2023[14]).
Virginia has an ambition to drastically change the way it approaches education, career readiness and workforce development (WFD), recognising that the traditional school system including CTE, does not fit for all students. While Virginia is strengthening career pathways (high school programme choices defined by field of study) and CTE programmes in schools, there are new initiatives to drive innovation and create different pathways for young people to better transition to work and/or higher education. This effort comes together with facilitating the access to regional labour market information and the direct contact and connection with employers. Virginia has a relatively strong higher education (HE) system that is accelerating its connection with employers and its alignment with labour market needs (OECD, 2020[47]). At the same time, Virginia’s HE system is strengthening ties with the secondary education system to better inform high school students about what they can gain from HE and requirements for entry. Moreover, Virginia has many partnerships where K-12 system and HE institutions collaborate to offer pathways that can better meet the academic and career needs of students (see Chapter 4).
The Virginia Initiative for Growth and Opportunity (GO Virginia) is a business-led economic development initiative. GO VA started from the recognition of Virginia’s slow, unbalanced and uneven recovery from the 2009 recession. It encourages Virginia’s diverse regions to collaborate on economic and workforce development activities. It fosters private sector growth and job creation through state incentives for regional collaboration by business, education, and government in each of the nine regions.
The GO Virginia Board is responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of the GO Virginia programme. The 24-member board consists of three ex-officio members of the Governor’s cabinet, seven legislators and 14 private sector representatives. The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (VDHCD) is the state agency responsible for administering the GO Virginia programme on behalf of the board.
As of June 2022, GO Virginia projects under contract have pledged to support the creation of 2 700 new work-based learning opportunities, including internships and apprenticeships; the training 13 000 students in high demand fields; and the awarding 3 600 workforce credentials. GO VA mainly focuses on trade sectors that pay wages at or above regional averages and that are high multipliers to create other jobs in the community. It encourages moreover the use of IT in the non-IT sectors to increase productivity.
Funded initiatives include GO TEC that serves Career Connection Labs (career pathway programmes) for middle school students in the advanced manufacturing sector and provides career development activities through high school and into post-secondary. It also funds an initiative promoting careers in Aquaculture to high school students and creating internship opportunities that help young people gain experience and awareness, and Internship Expo & Hiring Workshop.
Source: VDHCD (2022[48]), GO Virginia 2022 Annual Report, https://www.dhcd.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/Docx/gova/board-docx/gova-annual-report-2022-final.pdf. (GO Virginia, 2023[46])
Standards and frameworks of the career readiness system
Virginia’s Administrative Code defines relevant regulations and standards that set the foundation for the career readiness system (see in-depth analysis in Chapter 4.). For example:
Regulations Establishing Standards for Accrediting Public Schools in Virginia (8VAC20-131)
College and career readiness; career exposure, exploration, and planning; and opportunities for postsecondary credit (8VAC20-131-140)
Instructional program in middle schools (8VAC20-131-90) and secondary schools (8VAC20-131-100).
Regulations Governing Career and Technical Education (8VAC20-120)
School guidance and counselling services (8VAC20-620-10).
School counsellor preK-12 (8VAC20-23-670)
These regulations include important career readiness instruments used in Virginia, including academic and career plans (ACP), career investigation courses, career and technical education (CTE), work-based learning (WBL) as well as school guidance and counselling services. Career exposure, exploration, and planning in Virginia are expected to begin in the elementary grades and continue through middle schools. High schools emphasise work-based learning opportunities (Box 2.5).
Academic and career plans (ACP) and career investigation courses
In the US, many states have adopted policies that require all secondary school students to develop and maintain an individualised learning plan (ILP) in order to make schooling more personalised and improve student outcomes. In 2016, 38 states have begun to use ILPs, with 21 of those states mandating them for use with all students (US DoL, 2016[49]).
In Virginia, the Academic and Career Plan (ACP) is an ILP that has been mandated by the state since the 2013-14 school year. The ACP is a process for students to plan for the future by exploring college and career options in light of available learning opportunities. Schools in Virginia require students to have an ACP as a roadmap and students work with their teachers and school counsellor to discover their personal strengths and interests, create career goals, plan for courses that meet high school graduation requirements and prepare for life after high school (see Table 2.2). The actual implementation of the ACP varies significantly across school divisions and schools because there is no set curriculum or format (see Chapter 4).
Great Opportunities in Technology and Engineering Careers
Great Opportunities in Technology and Engineering Careers (GO TEC) is a talent pathway programme for students in Grades 5-12 that began in 2018. GO TEC will be available in 50 middle schools in Virginia by 2025 (Shelton, 2023[50]). Through GO TEC Career Connections Labs, middle school students explore all 17 available career clusters and experience hands-on activities. Through this career exploration curriculum, students begin to learn about job opportunities through these career paths. A nine-unit career exploration curriculum is designed to expose middle school students to all career clusters, emphasising GO TEC pathways. Provision includes hands-on activities and use of industry-comparable equipment (GO TEC, 2023[51]). Students can choose pathways in welding, robotics, engineering, and others like IT, advanced manufacturing and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).
The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR) manages and expands GO TEC with a state grant from GO Virginia (Shelton, 2023[50]). GO TEC will cover GO Virginia’s three Regions. This initiative includes middle school Career Connections Labs and curriculum development, starting from a pilot and scaling to eventually establish 17 middle school Career Connection Labs. The programme begins to engage with the student at the middle school level and continues through high school dual enrolment and post-secondary programs. The focus of the project is to further develop the sectors of IT, advanced manufacturing and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) by creating talent pipelines that begin in K-12. Middle schoolers are introduced early to the occupations and basic skill training in Career Connections Labs. They are then connected in high school to expanded CTE courses, industry certification programs and dual-enrolment training opportunities with higher education partners. Finally, they may progress to advanced level training at a hub educational provider. To achieve this, five targeted, in-demand career pathways have been identified. Programme goals and curriculum are led by GO TEC staff with the support and guidance of a 21-member GO TEC Advisory Board comprised of employers, K-12 and higher education. In Southern Virginia, a particular focus of IALR is the engagement of learners in STEM from a young age through to adulthood.
IALR provides a range of career exploration and exposure activities not only GO TEC but also class field trips, Career Choice Youth Expo (7-11th grades), STEM camps during off-school time and Loaner Lab programme through which educators can borrow robotics, vernier and biotechnology equipment to use in classroom STEM activities. IALR also provides high school programmes including:
Academy for engineering & technology which enables high school students to take dual-enrolment engineering courses to expedite their training for an in-demand career path.
Piedmont Governor's School for math, science and technology offers advanced, dual-enrolment classes to high school students wishing to prepare early for college and future career opportunities.
Next generation of work pairs student teams with area companies who pose a problem for the students to solve.
Internships help students prepare for their future with experiential learning in the real world through paid internship opportunities with IALR and others.
Source: (Shelton, 2023[50]) (GO TEC, 2023[51]); IALR (2023[52]), How we inspire K-12, https://www.ialr.org/inspiring-prek-12.
To support development of the ACP, middle school students complete a career investigations course selected from the CTE state-approved list, or a school division-provided alternative means of delivering the career investigations course content (Commonwealth of Virginia, 2019[29]). While this course or the alternative should address planning for academic courses, work-based learning opportunities, completion of industry certifications, possible independent projects, and postsecondary education, there is no set curriculum or format. Although no data are available, examples of how the Career Investigations curriculum can be delivered are provided in Delivering Career Investigations Guidance Document for School Personnel:
A stand-alone Career Investigations Course (9, 18 or 36 weeks)
Inclusion of Career Investigations course curriculum in content areas
Delivering Career Investigations course curriculum in homeroom classes
Partnering horizontally and/or vertically between course disciplines or grade levels
Infusion into classes with school counsellor support over multiple years
Career and technical education (CTE) and work-based learning (WBL)
In Virginia, career and technical education (CTE) allows students to explore multiple pathways to potential postsecondary employment through work-based learning (WBL) experiences, workforce training, college preparation, and earning industry-recognised credentials. Virginia defines CTE as programmes that are “designed to prepare young people for productive futures while meeting the commonwealth’s need for well-trained and industry-certified technical workers” (Harris, Jonas and Schmidt, 2022[53]).
In 2020, the Virginia General Assembly passed high school graduation requirements which included the completion of a ‘high-quality WBL experience’ or earning a CTE credential that has been approved by the Board of Education (VDOE, 2023[21]). The CTE credential could include the successful completion of an industry certification, a state licensure examination, a national occupational competency assessment, the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, or the Virginia workplace readiness skills assessment (VDOE, 2022[54]).
Virginia has approved CTE courses within 17 career clusters, representing 83 career pathways. Career clusters are designed to help create student plans of study. Each cluster contains multiple pathways to complete a credential. For example, the Health Science career cluster includes pathways for therapeutic services, biotechnology, and diagnostic services (Harris, Jonas and Schmidt, 2022[53]). The framework also functions as a guide in developing programmes of study (courses and curriculum as well as credentials and other outcomes). In 2022, the four most popular career clusters among secondary CTE concentrators in Virginia were Information Technology (11.2%), Human Services (10.5%), Marketing, Sales, & Service (10.5%), and Health Science (8.9%). The top four career clusters among postsecondary CTE concentrators were Health Science (22.5%), Business Management & Administration (16.8%), Information Technology (14.0%), and Transportation, Distribution & Logistics (12.1%) (U.S. Department of Education, 2022[55]).
There are 17 career clusters, representing 83 career pathways in Virginia. Among these clusters, information technology, human services, and marketing were the most popular clusters in 2020-21. In addition to the 16 national career clusters for which data is collected at a federal level, in Virginia a further career cluster is available in related to the energy sector.
Source: U.S. Department of Education (2023), The Perkins State Plans and Data Explorer, https://cte.ed.gov/dataexplorer/build_enrolment
School guidance and counselling services
The standards for school guidance and counselling programmes in Virginia public schools are defined by grade level (Table 2.3). In 2001, the Virginia Board of Education authorised the Department of Education to revise the 1984 State Standards for School Counselling Programs in Virginia Public Schools. The revision was adopted in 2004 by the Board of Education. In principle, these programmes should reinforce previously acquired knowledge and skills as defined by these standards throughout the course of a student’s subsequent educational experience. There are three domains of guidance and counselling (Virginia Department of Education, 2004[56]):
Academic counselling to assist students and their parents to acquire knowledge of the curricula choices available to students, to plan a programme of studies, to arrange and interpret academic testing, and to seek post-secondary academic opportunities;
Career counselling to help students to acquire information and plan action about work, jobs, apprenticeships, and post-secondary educational, and career opportunities;
Personal/social counselling to assist students to develop an understanding of self and others, how to resolve conflict and to define individual goals, reflecting their interests, abilities and aptitudes.
Stakeholders of career readiness system
The spectrum of stakeholders relevant to school career guidance is broad, encompassing not only Virginia state and local governments and agencies that are involved in education and workforce development, but also employers, schools and teachers, community organisations, educational and training institutions, parents, students and career guidance practitioners (Figure 2.15).
Note: VDOE-Department of Education, SCHEV-State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. VCCS-Virginia Community College System. HEI-higher education institutions. VEDP-Virginia Economic Development Partnerships. VOEE-Virginia Office of Education Economics. Department of Workforce Development and Advancement (DWFDA)
Source: Author’s elaboration
From the education side, there are three state agencies that work together and share responsibilities for career readiness under the direction of the State Secretary of Education, a member of the Virginia Governor’s Cabinet. The Governor appoints the Superintendent of Public Instruction, who serves as secretary of the state Board of Education and as the executive officer of the VA Department of Education (VDOE), the administrative agency for VA’s public schools (VDOE, 2022[57]). The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) is the VA’s coordinating body for higher education and makes higher education public policy recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly. VA Community College System (VCCS) has its own state Board for Community Colleges (BCC), whose members are appointed by the Governor.
VDOE informs school superintendents, CTE administrators and schools about state education policy and direction. It operates Perkins V for CTE and provides academic and career plan (ACP) information for K-12. It recently hired eight work-based learning (WBL) specialists/co-ordinators, one for each superintendent region, using resources from Perkins V to coordinate school level WBL co-ordinators or career development specialists who are already in place. VDOE offers guidelines, information and advice for students to make informed decisions about their careers (e.g. Postsecondary Opportunities for High School Students (VDOE, 2022[22]); Virginia Labor Market Career Cluster Analysis through CTE Trailblazers jointly with Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia.
SCHEV collects and provides data on pathways, and operates several programmes and initiatives that concern highs school students’ college and career readiness. For example, SCHEV collects data on the impact of college access programmes through the federal programme Gear-Up, and administrates Virginia Talent Opportunity Partnership (V-TOP) that grants funds for colleges and universities to administrate internships or new apprenticeships such as in IT sector (but no other work-based learning activities). SCHEV also offers financial counselling programmes to inform high school students about how much college tuition is and different ways to pay it.
VCCS runs career coaching programmes and hires career coaches who are placed in high schools (HS) as well as apprenticeships co-ordinators. Within HS, career coaches advise HS students on entry into the workforce, college and university or military. When students transition from HS to community colleges (CC), their relationship with career coaches is maintained.
These departments and agencies often collaborate. For example, VDOE sits in SCHEV’s V-TOP policy and employer advisory panel (which meets quarterly) together with other state agencies and employer representatives (part of employer membership organisations). A V-TOP manager from SCHEV sits in the advisory panel for VAVoyager run by VDOE to discuss how V-TOP can best serve HS students. V-TOP is building relationships with regional WBL co-ordinators hired by VDOE. However, collaboration is mostly based on personal or working relationships, without a systemic structure for collaboration.
There are also intermediary agencies that facilitate policy implementation and organisational collaboration. For example, the CTE Resource Center assists the VDOE in developing curriculum-related publications that address specific courses or programmes, encourage collaboration between career/technical and academic disciplines, foster collaboration between CTE at secondary and postsecondary levels, correlate with national standards and industry certification requirements, and enhance comprehensive school improvement efforts. The Center also offers information on career clusters, related pathways and occupations, courses and curriculum, related industry credentials and tests. Sometimes, state agencies collaborate through other intermediary agencies: for example, the VA Ed Strategy receives grants from VDOE to work with school level WBL coordinators and aligns K-12, employers and HEI. V-TOP engage with this intermediary agency and through that it connects with the school system.
From the perspective that workforce development (WFD) begins from the early stages of education, the Secretary of Labor, the Board of Workforce Development (BWD), and related agencies are also relevant stakeholders in the career readiness system. The BWD assists and advises the Governor, the General Assembly, and the Secretary of Labor in meeting workforce development needs through recommending policies and strategies to increase coordination and efficiencies of operation between all education and workforce programmes (VA code 2.2-2471).
One change that will affect the career readiness system in the near future is the expected consolidation of the state-wide workforce programmes. A new Department of Workforce Development and Advancement (DWFDA) is being created under the Secretary of Labor to consolidate existing WFD programmes, evaluation and data. The goal is to create a unified WFD system and ensure alignment of WFD programmes and labour market needs. The DWFDA will expand V-TOP (Innovative Internship Fund and Program) and measure its progress jointly with SCHEV, plus take over responsibilities for apprenticeships. The Department will direct the Secretary of Labor to conduct a comprehensive review of WFD programmes and make recommendations to address a wide range of subjects relating to improving the effectiveness and efficiency of such programmes (SB 1470/HB 2195). This effort is expected to lead to a substantial change in the K-12 system, by clarifying the role of K-12 system in WFD and emphasising the needs for career exposure and experience. It is expected that this new Department will consolidate WFD-related functions more efficiently and effectively across different agencies, budget lines and initiatives.
Linking education and WFD agencies, the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) and the Virginia Office of Education Economics (VOEE) provide partnerships, research and data to support these two sets of stakeholders and inform policy and practice. The VOEE, which was created in 2021 as an independent office, was put under VEDP to keep the independence, but with some oversight from the Secretary of Commerce.
Each region in Virginia is independent and has autonomy and authority over education and career readiness provision. Across the eight school regions, there are 131 school superintendents. Each county and city (approximately each school division) has one school superintendent, selected by its school board that sets policies and directions for schools. The size of school divisions varies from 200 students to over 180 000 students and so does their resources. Consequently, in sight of state level direction, provision of career readiness differs widely depending on localities and schools (see Theme 3 Chapter 6.).
Finally, employers and students as well as their parents, are beneficiaries or clients of the career readiness system and have important influence within the system. Ultimately, the system’s objective is to connect students and graduates with employers.
Virginia has several career development activities and tools that are offered through higher education (HE) institutions, which can also serve high school students.
Virginia Talent + Opportunity Partnership and VAVoyager
For example, Virginia is considering expanding the Virginia Talent + Opportunity Partnership (V-TOP)11, which mainly serves students in higher education, to high school students. The VA Chamber Foundation and the VA State Council of Higher Education (SCHEV) are partnering to form this initiative and they aim to create 100 000 new internships through V-TOP by 2033. V-TOP connects and supports employers, HE institutions and HE students to better prepare for internship and other work-based learning (WBL) opportunities. V-TOP offers free, online career readiness modules for students and Employer Readiness Toolkit (Employer Modules) to assist, coach and mentor employers in the development and delivery of quality WBL opportunities. Secondary educational providers can harness the network with employers and make use of established modules to strengthen provision of WBL opportunities.
In addition, the VAVoyager WBL network, developed by VDOE, is a free, virtual network platform to reach high school students as well as community college students (rolling out over 2022 & 2023) (VA CTE Resource Center, n.d.[58]). It helps students to connect with employers and to explore and access to High Quality Work-based Learning (HQWBL) opportunities. To join, participants are required to connect with a regional WBL specialist (one in each of the eight VA regions) and CTE administrator. It also provides employers with the resources they need to offer WBL opportunities (VAVoyager, n.d.[59]).
College access services: Career guidance to support the transition to higher education
Virginia has several tools and instruments to help students make informed decisions about postsecondary planning and prepare for requirements for jobs available in the regions. SCHEV is conducting a Strategic Plan – Pathways to Opportunity – to promote equitable, affordable, and transformative post-secondary education. To do so, SCHEV aims to increase the coverage of costs to educate in-state students and provides information about pathways that Virginians can have for an affordable education, which include the Workforce Credential Grant, G3, Public four-year federal and state grants, Private colleges Tuition Assistance Grant (TAG), Military State and federal grants, as well as apprenticeships that pay students to work and attend school (SCHEV, 2021[60]).
In line with the Strategic Plan Pathways to Opportunity, and to improve college-going rates for low income students or students from where college transition is low, SCHEV operates GEAR UP VIRGINIA (GUV) 2021-2028 (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) – a federal grant program awarded to Virginia (federal funding with state matches) – to increase student college enrolment and graduation rates. With 13 participating School Divisions, and 12 partners, GUV sets goals to increase knowledge of college and financial aid among students and their families, improve college readiness rates and academic performance, and increase college enrolment rates.
The GUV programme begins in middle school and remains available to young people until one year after high school graduation. It provides college campus visits, financial aid workshops, career counselling and academic tutoring services to students and families in select school divisions. The GEAR UP data analysis found that when economically-disadvantaged students receive college access services, they are more likely to enrol in a college within 16 months after high school graduation in 2020 (64%) than their comparable peers who did not have such services (49%) (Lowe and Allison, 2023[61]). The more services students participated in as part of the GEAR UP programme, the more likely they were to go to college (Lowe and Allison, 2023[61]). Based on this finding, the Joint Legislative Audit & Review Commission (JLARC)’s recommended that Virginia should support the state’s higher education access and affordability (Lowe and Allison, 2023[61]).
SCHEV also offers resources for students, families, and educators. For example, its websites provides a free toolkit of resources on how to apply for college, pay for college, and make decisions about college. SCHEV also manages Virginia Student Loan Help. Virginia Student Loan Help’s College Explorer helps to compare institutions across the state or country, providing information about a higher education institution’s profile, costs, student success, admissions, financial aid debt, and student body. Students can explore a variety of data about how much graduates earn 18 months following completion of a degree or certificate (Guide to the Post-Completion Wages of Graduates).
The SCHEV website features the 123Go! Student toolkit that provides information to assist students in preparing for, applying to and the financing of higher education. For such preparation, the toolkit directs the students to follow a checklist at the start of their High School enrolment, from Grade 9 to Grade 12, which includes meeting routinely with the school counsellor, reviewing the Academic and Career Plan (ACP); visiting career navigation platforms such as vawizard.org; talking to people about their jobs and career path; creating a personal activity résumé; applying for a job to save money for college and gain work skills; and taking leadership roles in extracurricular and volunteer activities. The toolkit also shows various resources that promote affordable access to higher education (SCHEV, 2023[62]).
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Notes
← 1. Despite being important, this report does not cover the provision at the early childhood, elementary and tertiary education and PES and young people with special needs.
← 2. The American Community Survey (ACS) is an ongoing survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. It gathers on a yearly basis information previously contained only in the long form of the decennial census. It is the largest household survey that the Census Bureau administers.
← 3. Dropout refers to both the event of leaving school before completing high school and the status of an individual who is not in school and who is not a high school completer. High school completers include both graduates of school programmes as well as those completing high school through equivalency programs such as the GED programme. A person who drops out of school may later return and graduate but is called a “dropout” at the time he or she leaves school. Measures to describe these behaviours include the event dropout rate (or the closely related school persistence rate), the status dropout rate, and the high school completion rate.
← 4. In Perkins V, the term 'CTE concentrator' means at the secondary school level, a student served by an eligible recipient who has completed at least 2 courses in a single career and technical education program or program of study, i.e., once a student completes 2 courses in a single CTE program of study, they are counted as a CTE concentrator. In Virginia, this refers to two 36-week courses as listed on each CTE curriculum framework located within the Career Clusters.
← 5. Upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education.
← 6. Those with below upper secondary education.
← 7. The National Student Clearinghouse collects data from more than 3 600 postsecondary institutions, which represent 97% of the US postsecondary enrolments in degree-granting institutions, as of 2021.
← 8. 1-year estimates.
← 9. According to the Office of Career Technical and Adult Education, the Key Components of Successful Career Guidance and Counseling Programs are the following:
“A planned sequence of activities and experiences to achieve specific competencies such as self-appraisal, decision making, goal setting, and career planning”
“Accountability (outcome oriented) and program improvement (based on results of process/outcome evaluations)”
“Effective management needed to support comprehensive career guidance programs”
“A team approach where certified counselors are central to the program”
“Strong professional development activities so counselors can regularly update their professional knowledge and skills”
“Different approaches to deliver the program such as outreach, assessment, counseling, curriculum, program and job placement, follow-up, consultation, referral” (Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education, 2023[26]).
← 10. The College, Career and Civic Readiness Index will be a school quality indicator for high schools effective with the 2022-2023 accreditation year ratings using the 2021-2022 cohort data. The index will measure the extent to which students successfully complete advanced coursework, Career and Technical Education coursework and credentialing, and work-based and service learning. Beginning with the class of 2022, all students must either earn a CTE credential or complete an Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or honors course to graduate.
← 11. V-TOP is a brand name of the Commonwealth Innovative Internship Fund and Program (IIFP), funded by the Virginia General Assembly, to expand paid and credit-bearing internships and other WBL opportunities for student, in collaboration with Virginia employers, and to facilitate the readiness of students, employers, and higher education (HE) institutions to participate in internship and WBL. It comprises grants to HE institutions/career practitioners and regional collaboratives, and a state-wide initiative to facilitate the readiness of students, employers and institutions of HE to participate in internship and other WBL opportunities. There are several work groups that develop different modules such as Employer Toolkit, Remote Work-Based Experiences, Student Readiness/Work-Ready Experiences (to be merged as Student Modules Work Group), Technology, Data and Measures of Success, Professional Development, and Transforming Federal Work-Study.