Featured Work: Extending the Runway: Improving the Quality of Middle School Career Exploration
Education Strategy Group (ESG), with generous support from American Student Assistance (ASA), has conducted a 50-state analysis of middle school career exploration practices and is now using those learnings to partner with five leading states to set a vision for this work nationwide.
The economy is evolving more rapidly than ever before, with new occupations taking shape at an unprecedented pace. Students need better and earlier career navigation to increase their likelihood of successfully transitioning into the high-value postsecondary options increasingly required for good jobs, and schools must be positioned to offer this support to ensure equitable access for all students.
Following their joint 2024 report, Extending the Runway, American Student Assistance® (ASA) and ESG partnered to create an Impact and Learning Network of top states featured in the research to meet a two-pronged goal:
- Continue to improve access to, and quality of, middle grades career exploration in leading states; and
- Articulate a clear vision for this work, including model policy language and a comprehensive resource repository, to support the work of all states nationwide.
The Network brings together local and state K-12, higher education, intermediary, and workforce leaders from five states—Arkansas, Arizona, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Washington—in partnership to create both state plans for continued improvement and a suite of public resources which will be shared with the public in late 2025.
Based on ESG’s original in-depth national scan of state-by-state practices and policies, as well as dozens of student and expert interviews, we know that 73 percent of states have identified middle school career exploration as an important component of a student’s education, but few states measure and support the quality of these practices by collecting data (20 percent), including in accountability plans (16 percent), or having a strong ecosystem of organizations supporting the work (8 percent). The Network aims to build on states who earned “Advanced” ratings across elements of the analysis by compiling resources to share as well as coming together to design model policy language and commitments to the work that any state—regardless of geography, context, or size—can adopt.
Want to learn more about this work?
- Read the original report and see how your state stacks up by finding each state’s profile on ASA’s website.
- Read about the launch of the Impact and Learning Network.
- Listen to what our student advisors had to say about their middle school career exploration experiences.
- Read why our CEO, Matt Gandal, thinks Middle School is the New Starting Line for Career Exploration.
- Reach out to us at impact@esg.org to share your experiences or learn how the ESG team can help your state, district, or school improve your career exploration opportunities for students.
