College and Career Readiness: A Literature Synthesis

Abstract

A continuing priority in education has focused on preparing students for postacademic success. The adoption of the Common Core State Standards Initiative prompted educational leaders to focus on preparing students to be “college and career ready.” Definitions, perceptions, and efforts to improve college and career readiness vary widely. This article will present an overview of each of these topics, define college and career readiness, discuss various perceptions of students’ college and career readiness, and describe K–12, college, community, and state efforts to improve college and career readiness overcomes for students. Finally, implications for future efforts are provided.

Keywords

ability achievement career curriculum higher education equity

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Abel

N. R.

Oliver

(2018). Innovative school counseling approaches to improving college and career readiness. Butler University. https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/coe_papers/141/

Achieve, Inc. (2015, July). Rising to the challenge: Views on high school graduates’ preparedness for college and careers. https://www.achieve.org/publications/rising-challenge-survey-ii-powerpoint

Achieve, Inc. (2017, March). What is college and career readiness? https://www.achieve.org/publications/what-college-and-career-readiness

Act Research (2018). The Condition of College and Career Readiness: National Report; ACT.

American College Testing Association. (2018). The condition of college and career readiness. https://www.act.org/research-policy/college-career-readiness-report-2018/

Allensworth

E. M.

Gwynne

J. A.

Moore

Torre

(2014). Looking forward to high school and college: Middle grade indicators of readiness in Chicago public schools. University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED55314

Andrews

Saint Hilaire

(2017). Libraries and college readiness: The Bronx community college library high school collaborative. CUNY Academic Works. https://academicworks.cuny.edu/bx_pubs/40

Bio

Korey-Smith

(2018). Results of reform in developmental education: The Hawaii story. Journal of Applied Research in the Community College, 25(2), 1–12. https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/montezuma/jarcc/2018/00000025/00000002/art00001

Bivens

Shierholz

(2014). Lagging demand, not unemployability, is why long-term unemployment remains so high [EPI Briefing Paper]. Economic Policy Institute.

10.

Bridgeland

Milano

Rosenblum

(2011). Across the great divide: Perspectives of CEOs and college presidents on America’s higher education and skills gap. Civic Enterprises/Corporate Voices for Working Families.

11.

Cappelli

P. H.

(2015). Skill gaps, skill shortages, and skill mismatches: Evidence and arguments for the United States. ILR Review, 68(2), 251–290. https://doi.org/10.1177/0019793914564961

12.

Carnevale

Smith

Strohl

(2010). Help wanted: Projections of jobs and education requirements through 2018. Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.

13.

Common Core State Standards Initiative. (2010). Common core state standards for English language arts & literacy in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects. CCSSO & National Governors Association.

14.

Conley

D. T.

(2007). Redefining college readiness. Educational Policy Improvement Center. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED539251.pdf

15.

Conley

D. T.

(2010). College and career ready: Helping all students succeed beyond high school. Jossey-Bass.

16.

Conley

D. T.

French

E. M.

(2014). Student ownership of learning as a key component of college readiness. American Behavioral Scientist, 58(8), 1018–1034. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764213515232

17.

Culbertson

Baird

M. D.

Meyers

Kaufman

J. H.

(2019). Raising the bar for graduation pathways to college and work: Early signals on how Louisiana’s education policy strategies are affecting college and career readiness. Rand Corporation. https://doi.org/10.7249/RR2303.4

18.

Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute. (2015). The skills gap in U.S. manufacturing 2015 and beyond. http://www.themanufacturinginstitute.org/~/media/E323C4D8F75A470E8C96D7A07F0A14FB/DI_2018_Deloitte_MFI_skills_gap_FoW_study.pdf

19.

Duckworth

A. L.

Tsukayama

May

. (2010). Establishing causality using longitudinal hierarchical linear modeling: An illustration predicting achievement from self-control. Social Psychological & Personality Science, 1(4), 311–317.

20.

Eathington

Swenson

(2015). Exploring the skills gap in Iowa. Iowa State University of Science and Technology, Iowa Community Indicators Program. https://www.icip.iastate.edu/reports/skills

21.

Egbert

(2016). Making, literacy, and college career readiness: When developing maker opportunities for teens, don’t forget that the skills learned will help youth to succeed in life after high school. Young Adult Library Services. https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-458680441/making-literacy-and-college-career-readiness-when

22.

Farrington

C. A.

Roderick

Allensworth

Nagaoka

Keyes

T. S.

Johnson

D. W.

Beechum

N. O.

(2012). Teaching adolescents to become learners. The role of metacognitive factors in shaping school performance: A critical literature review. University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research. https://www.greatschoolspartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Teaching-Adolescents-to-Become-Learners.pdf

23.

Heidemann

(2018). Supporting college and career readiness in a tribal library: Lessons learned from future ready with the library. Young Adult Library Services, 16(3). https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-574695134/supporting-college-and-career-readiness-in-a-tribal

24.

Hines

E. M.

Vega

D. D.

Mayes

Harris

P. C.

Mack

(2019). School counselors and school psychologists as collaborators of college and career readiness for students in urban school settings. Journal for Multicultural Education, 13(3), 190–202. https://doi.org/10.1108/JME-02-2019-0015

25.

Hooker

(2018). Forging regional connections: The role of a community college in high school transformation. The central Ohio partnership for college and career readiness expansion. Jobs for the Future. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED588452.pdf

26.

Kearns

Kleinert

Harrison

Sheppard-Jones

Hall

Jones

(2011). What does “college and career ready” mean for students with significant cognitive disabilities?. University of Kentucky. http://www.naacpartners.org/publications/CareerCollegeReadiness.pdf

27.

Lombardi

Seburn

Conley

(2011). Development and initial validation of a measure of academic behaviors associated with college and career readiness. Journal of Career Assessment, 19, 375–391. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072711409345

28.

Malin

J. R.

Hackmann

(2017). Urban high school principals’ promotion of college-and-career readiness. Journal of Education Administration, 55(6), 606–623. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-05-2016-0054

29.

Manyika

Lund

Auguste

Mendonca

Welsh

Ramaswamy

(2011). An economy that works: Job creation and America’s future. McKinsey Global Institute. https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/featured%20insights/Employment%20and%20Growth/An%20economy%20that%20works%20for%20US%20job%20creation/MGI_US_job_creation_full_report.ashx

30.

Mishkind

(2014). Overview: State definitions of college and career readiness. American Institutes for Research, College and Career Readiness and Success Center. https://ccrscenter.org/sites/default/files/CCRS%20Defintions%20Brief_REV_1.pdf

31.

Mokher

C. G.

Rosenbaum

J. E.

Gable

Ahearn

Jacobson

(2018). Ready for what? Confusion around college and career readiness. Phi Delta Kappan. https://kappanonline.org/confusion-college-career-readiness-mokher-rosenbaum-gable-ahearn-jacobson/

32.

Nagaoka

Farrington

Roderick

Allensworth

Keyes

Johnson

Beechum

(2013). Readiness for college: The role of noncognitive factors and context. Voices in Urban Education, 38, 45–52. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1046369

33.

National Association of Colleges and Employers. (2018). Are college graduates “career ready”? NACE Center for Career Development and Talent Acquisitions. https://www.naceweb.org/career-readiness/competencies/are-college-graduates-career-ready/

34.

Ohlson

(2019). Leadership education for college and career readiness: The CAMP osprey mentoring program. Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship, 11(1), Article 7. https://digitalcommons.northgeorgia.edu/jces/vol11/iss1/7

35.

OSWEGO. (2020). Course prerequisite and corequisite information. https://www.oswego.edu/registrar/course-prerequisite-and-corequisite-information

36.

Schademan

A. R.

Thompson

M. R.

(2016). Are college faculty and first-generation, low-income students ready for each other? Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 18(2), 194–216. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1521025115584748

37.

Schrynemakers

Lane

Beckford

Miseon

(2019). College readiness in post-remedial academia: Faculty observations from three urban community colleges. Community College Enterprise, 25(1), 10–31. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1240140

38.

Smith

A. A.

(2017). Texas requires credit-bearing remediation. Inside HigherEd. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/07/12/texas-legislature-requires-colleges-use-popular-reform-approach-remedial-education

39.

Stevens

Miretzky

(2012). Faculty’s perceptions of students’ characteristics: A for effort please. Current Issues in Education, 15(2), 1–15. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ978278

40.

Strada Education Network & Gallup. (2018). 2018 Strada-Gallup alumni survey. Mentoring college students to success report. https://tacc.org/sites/default/files/documents/2018-11/strada-gallupalumnisurvey_year4report.pdf

41.

Weaver

Osterman

(2017). Skill demands and mismatch in U.S. manufacturing. ILR Review, 70(2), 275–307. https://doi.org/10.1177/0019793916660067

42.

Welch

Abulhab

Therriault

S. B.

(2017, April). College and career readiness in Boston: Understanding and tracking competences and indicators. American Institutes for Research. https://www.air.org/resource/college-and-career-readiness-boston-understanding-and-tracking-competencies-and-indicators

43.

Youth Truth. (2017). Student survey: Learning from student voice. How prepared do students feel for college and career? http://youthtruthsurvey.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Learning-from-Student-Voice-College-and-Career-Readiness-2017.pdf