States Are Linking Durable Skills with Career Readiness

Pennsylvania's approach to developing its Career-Ready Skills was a collaborative, stakeholder-driven process aimed at aligning educational outcomes with the evolving demands of the workforce. The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) recognized the need to equip students with more than just academic knowledge, emphasizing the importance of durable skills—such as critical thinking, collaboration, and emotional intelligence—that are essential for success in both career and personal life.

Taking recommendations from its Internal Career Readiness Committee, the PDE embarked on a multi-year initiative to create a comprehensive framework known as the Career-Ready Skills Continuum. This initiative was grounded in extensive research and involved a diverse array of stakeholders, including:

• • Educators: Teachers and school administrators from various districts contributed insights on integrating skill development into existing curricula
  • Employers and industry leaders: Representatives from different industries provided perspectives on the skills necessary for the modern workforce
  • Community members and families: Engagement sessions gathered input from families and local organizations, ensuring the framework resonated with community values
  • Students: Student feedback was solicited to understand their experiences and aspirations, ensuring the framework addressed their needs

The collaborative process included public forums, surveys, and focus groups conducted across the state, facilitating a comprehensive understanding of the skills deemed essential for graduates. Together, they created a framework to support students through vertically aligned career-ready skill building from PreK to graduation.

To operationalize their Career Ready Skills Continuum, the PDE provides educators with a Career-Ready Skills Toolkit, including implementation guidance and developmentally appropriate strategies to embed these skills into daily instruction. Key components of the implementation strategy include:

• • Professional development: The state offers training programs to help educators effectively integrate career-ready skills into their teaching practices
  • Curriculum resources: A repository of lesson plans and activities aligned with the continuum supports teachers in delivering consistent skill development opportunities
  • Assessment tools: Formative assessment instruments have been created to monitor student progress in acquiring these essential skills
  • Community partnerships: Schools are encouraged to collaborate with local businesses and organizations to provide students with real-world applications of the skills learned

The PDE's commitment to this initiative reflects a holistic approach to education, aiming to produce graduates who are not only academically proficient but also equipped with the inter- and intrapersonal skills necessary to thrive in a dynamic and interconnected world.

The Portrait of the South Carolina Graduate also takes a career-readiness approach. It integrates personalized, competency-based learning as it prepares students for life after K-12, emphasizing:

• • Expressing ideas through oral, written, and digital communication
  • Building networks by fostering teamwork and leadership
  • Well-being through self-advocacy and positive life practices
  • Navigating conflict and developing interpersonal skills
  • Engaging as a citizen to promote civic responsibility​

South Carolina’s Profile of a Graduate was developed by the South Carolina Department of Education (SCDOE) in collaboration with educators, business leaders, policymakers, and nonprofit organizations. The state legislature played an active role, using the Profile to guide discussions on workforce readiness and economic development.

The creation process took approximately two years, during which SCDOE held stakeholder roundtables, surveyed educators, and consulted with industry leaders to ensure the competencies aligned with employer needs. The state also looked at national and international models to benchmark best practices.

For implementation, SCDOE released a Competency Toolkit, which includes performance rubrics, learning progressions, and cross-disciplinary strategies to embed the competencies into daily instruction, project-based learning, and career-technical education programs. South Carolina also developed a Personalized Learning Framework, allowing districts to design innovative instructional models that align with the Portrait while maintaining local flexibility.

Utah’s Portrait of a Graduate, called the Talent MAP, was developed over a three-year process spearheaded by the Utah State Board of Education (USBE). The initiative began with a Graduation Task Force formed in 2018, which reviewed existing graduation requirements, workforce trends, and research on whole-student education.

The stakeholder engagement process was extensive, involving public forums, employer roundtables, teacher surveys, student advisory councils, and higher education representatives. The state emphasized the importance of business sector collaboration, ensuring that the skills identified in the Talent MAP reflected economic trends and employment demands.

Utah’s implementation strategy included:

• • Developing grade-banded competencies that break down each Talent MAP skill into developmentally appropriate benchmarks
  • Providing model rubrics for teachers to track students’ progress in mastering competencies
  • Offering professional development and micro-credentialing to help educators integrate the framework into daily instruction

Updating Utah’s Personalized, Competency-Based Learning (PCBL) Framework to align with the Talent MAP, allowing schools to use performance-based assessments instead of seat-time requirements