College and Career Readiness

By Lisa Harney, Education Specialist · MA Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education In 2016 two significant reports concerning preparation for post-secondary success were released. The first was the Massachusetts Definition of College and Career Readiness and Civic Preparation that was approved jointly by the Board of Higher Education and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. The Overview of the document begins by stating “Massachusetts students who are college and career ready and prepared for civic life will demonstrate the knowledge, skills and abilities that are necessary to successfully complete entry-level, credit-bearing college courses, participate in certificate or workplace training programs, enter economically viable career pathways, and engage as active and responsible citizens in our democracy.” The cornerstone of this definition is the identification of three domains for development to ensure postsecondary success for our students – Personal, Social; Workplace Readiness, and Academic and Postsecondary Planning. The second report that was released was: Helping Youth Become the Drivers of Their Own College and Career Readiness Success: Nature, Promise and Implementation Recommendations for Supporting District to Adopt Individual Learning Plans. This report, commissioned by the MA Legislature, found that nationally ILPs are being used as a key strategy for increasing engagement in career pathways, selecting rigorous high school courses, and engaging in post-secondary planning. Further, ILPs provide a promising strategy for increasing the number of students who possess the college and career readiness skills needed to enter and successfully complete a two or four-year postsecondary credential/technical program or college degree. One of the recommendations of that report was that the term ILP be changed so not to confuse people with the IEP – the Individual Education Plan – for students with disabilities. Hence, we now identify this individual planning process as My Career and Academic Plan (MyCAP). Since that time MASCA and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) have worked together to create a College and Career Readiness Framework for the implementation of MyCAP to ensure students graduate college and career ready with an intentional, authentic plan driven by the individual student’s interests, strengths and aspirations. In order to do this, each student must have access to opportunities for personal and social skill building, a rigorous course of study including advanced coursework such as AP and dual enrollment/early college courses, and career development education beginning with career awareness and carried through to experiential job opportunities such as internships, apprenticeships and/or capstone projects. The MyCAP process should not be just “another initiative;” rather it would be best embedded in the school culture. Initially it will take a school leadership team (administrator, counselor, gen ed teacher, special education or El teacher, nurse, etc.) to create a four-year scope and sequence to implement MyCAP. By working together the team will identify key learning objectives for each domain for each grade along with the MyCAP artifacts that will document the attainment of those objectives. Once the objectives are defined, the team identifies the places where activities and lessons may need to happen or where they may be happening already -– some in the classroom, some online, some through a counseling curriculum and some independent projects that students may do on their own. While counselors may take a lead in this work, MyCAP is enhanced and becomes part of the fabric of the school when embraced by all staff. Classrooms are not just for content delivery – they are the place where learning is supported by personal, social and emotional development. The design of the learning space, working on team projects, learning to accept feedback, are just a few examples of how teachers impact their students personal, social and emotional development. In the same way, every staff person in a school is a living example of a career development process – how is that shared with students? No one person in the school has a single responsibility in one domain. While each domain is different hey also blend and every student needs development in each domain to achieve success.

MyCAP is driven by the individual students self-identified interests, strengths, hopes, and aspirations. When a student sees a future, feels the possibility, and can plan for success, that student is more likely to engage, understand the connection between learning now and future success, and may seek more challenging opportunities for learning and growth. In this pandemic time and the coming years of recovery and re-engagement it is incumbent on us as educators to provide opportunities to give students voice and choice in their learning, in their planning and in their future success. MyCAP is a process to achieve that!

For more information on College and Career Readiness, MyCAP, and the Professional Development Training Series contact Lisa Harney, DESE Lisa.M.Harney@mass.gov