Clear Vision

The Problem

All the "Cooks in the Kitchen"

Many state agencies, associations, chambers, schools, and community organizations are working to help prepare PA’s students for the future workforce. The work tends to be accomplished through pinpointed efforts targeting specific populations, in specific regions, for specific industry demands. Efforts are often driven by an inconsistent and uneven mix of funding associated with those factors. There are many common and duplicated strategies in the work of career awareness and connecting students and educators with businesses. The question of how Pennsylvania measures success is as varied as the programs and initiatives that are developed. 

Career Mentoring - or Work-Based Learning (WBL) needs Recognition, Expansion, and Support

Every student, regardless of zip code, color, faith, or family income, deserves an opportunity to help discover the comprehensive array of career offerings, locally to globally. This means locating, vetting, promoting and developing equitable student and educator opportunities so all populations can align their interests with talent demands. Online research is not enough. 

Work based learning (WBL) or "career mentoring" assures that both career-relevant information and a true work understanding is achieved for every student. Career exploration is a common culminating educational experience in many industrialized nations. 

Every student needs a WBL opportunity to meet and/or have meaningful career conversations and develop connections with industry representatives. CTE students enrolled in “Programs of Study” (POS) have a capstone project of cooperative education (co-op) a robust, regulated, and monitored WBL experience, but outside of CTE, co-op and other WBL experiences are voluntary. Wherever co-op is offerred in PA, a state-certified co-op instructor is required. As an optional and voluntary cost, schools and districts must weigh this option at budget time. 

PA needs to review, expand, and support its definition and the accessibility of Work-Based Learning. Apart from co-op, all other WBL experiences at high school level are not required to be regulated or monitored, and data capture is reliant on inconsistent and program/partner specific metrics.

Funding Inequity

In Pennsylvania's high-density population areas, there is access to significant funding and supports from state, industry, and foundation resources. Adequate time and talent can be dedicated solely to program development and support, as well as operations, and grantwriting / development demands.

In less population dense regions, including South Central PA which has a similar population to the Allegheny and Philadelphia regions, but spread throughout a significantly larger area, these supports are inadequate. Small regional intermediaries, like the Partnership for Career Development (PCD) and the York County Alliance for Learning (YCAL), must rely on inconsistent and unsheltered funding sources. These organizations each serve over 20 school districts, but are limited in capacity, and without staff solely dedicated to grantwriting and development. These vital Career Awarenss and Preparation organizations have precariously sustained operations over the past 25 years on shoestring budgets comprised of small school service fees, event sponsorships, and a mix of program specific grant funding. Support for strong and longstanding organizations and efforts like these must be a key priority for the CAP Commission as they inventory existing work in PA.

National Recognition for the Need for Reform

The National Governor’s Association’s (NGA, 2021) research reviewed states’: 1. WBL policies, 2. Funding, 3. Infrastructure, 4. Quality, and 5. Accountability and issued Pennsylvania a top rating in only one of those categories; Quality - based on the framework of the Future-Ready Index and the existence of a WBL toolkit. NGA reported that state systems change should include three elements: 1. Vision. And Communication 2. Data and Measurement 3. Resources and Policy. What is Pennsylvania’s vision? What is the goalpost? How is Pennsylvania supporting the existing work, and meeting underserved areas? To meet funding, industry, and educational goals, we see agencies, associations, economic development organizations, communities, businesses, and more setting goals, and using a variety of metrics that are relevant for their needs, but an independent, neutral, intermediary effort is needed to help bind and craft comprehensive and equitable state-wide policies, efforts, and solutions.

Pennsylvania is Doing Good Work - but there's so much more to do!

Examples of the wide array of independent state/agency efforts include: the Department of Human Services offers “EARN,” “Work Ready,” “Keystone Education Yields Success (KEYS),” “SNAP KEYS,” “Education Leading to Employment and Career Training (ELECT),” “SNAP 50/50,” and more. PA Department of Labor & Industry has a wealth of information, programs, and initiatives including apprenticeship, internship opportunities, and trainings. PennDOT offers summer student internships. PA Department of Agriculture: online connections to clubs, exploration resources, the Partnership for Career Development (PCD) partners with DCNR for a student career exploration day at the Rachel Carson Building in Harrisburg. PA Department of Education (PDE) is developing their own talent pipeline solutions alongside comprehensive school solutions from their Career-Ready Prep region “Best Practices” meetings to online resource lists and other suggestions and recommendations. PDE’s Department of Career & Technical Education (CTE) is doing remarkable work, but CTCs are voicing program overcapacity conditions i.e., a recent Fox News story featured Dauphin County Technical School reporting over 700 applications for ~500 openings. Pennsylvania’s CTCs are currently serving only about 11% (2020/2021 data) of high school level students in the 84 CTCs that serve 500 PA school districts.

Montgomery County’s Workforce Development Board has two key initiatives to bridge the gap. Careers of Tomorrow brings students, parents, and educators together to highlight growing and in demand occupations through an annual expo and a publication available to all schools. Similarly available to all schools, MontcoWorks partnered with Pathful (previously Nepris) to  provide virtual industry chats  without having to spend much planning time or leaving the classroom, while providing an effective way for companies to extend education outreach and create equity of access.

We are in a Global Marketplace for Talent

If we examine global work in Career Awareness and Preparation, New Zealand, which provided the basis for PDE’s Career Education Work Standards from the work of NZ psychologist Donald Super, standardized work experience in year 10 (approximately age 15), like the UK and Australia. This is a globally evidence-and research-based practice that could plcae PA as a global leader and model in this work, if adopted.

What is the Collective Voice and Vision and How are We Getting There?

There is an extensive list of virtuous work in the Commonwealth that is wide-ranging and fluctuating, from state-level efforts to local community supports. These efforts are all valuable and necessary, there is no question of that. The leaders who have developed, promoted, and executed these are to be commended. The difficulty is that there are so many variations and industry “needs prioritized” work, and PA has not defined and communicated a state vision – the goalpost for beyond high school graduation.