As a result of changes in the global economy, educators, education researchers, and national and state policymakers have emphasized that students must graduate from high school “ready for college and career.” But opinions differ about what college and (especially) career readiness actually means and how best to assess it. ACT has been refining and deepening its groundbreaking research into these questions. “Unpacking ‘Career Readiness‘” outlines a model of academic readiness for the workplace that includes work, career, and job readiness. Prior ACT research has often been cited—incorrectly—as proving that readiness for college and readiness for work are identical.
ACT has refined its research into the requirements for success in postsecondary education and the workplace, and this brief summarizes some of the main conclusions arising from this research. The report calls for a broad model of college and career readiness–a “life skills” framework–that supports a truly holistic picture of college and career readiness. It also focuses attention toward a future direction for assessment that takes these new conclusions into account.
Read the report and learn more about the exciting research ACT is doing to understand more about college and career readiness: http://www.act.org/research/policymakers/reports/unpackingreadiness.html
