Dive Brief:

• High schools across the country are forging connections with local industry leaders to ensure their students graduate with the skills they need to succeed in local jobs and close skills gaps, helping employers get what they want.
• District Administration reports Fulton County Schools in Georgia worked with Atlanta’s booming film industry to develop pathways in carpentry, culinary, audio-video technology, digital media/animation and audio-flight operations so students would be ready to work with studios — and in Syracuse, NY, students learn to be mechanics at a local dealership rather than in a school classroom.
• General McLane School District in Pennsylvania tracks student performance using the My Strategic Compass software, so when employers say they can’t find prospective employees with certain skills and the district knows their graduates are prepared, district leaders can help think about recruitment.

Dive Insight:

While many educators are on a mission to get every student to college, there has been a renewed focus on preparing students for immediate careers. After four years working on intensive college prep with KIPP schools in New Orleans, Jonathan Johnson has left to open Rooted School, which will help students learn tech skills that will get them good-paying jobs right out of high school.

Community colleges consistently work with local industries to make sure their certificate and degree programs are preparing students for existing jobs. Even if similar partnerships between high schools and area businesses are not meant to create a direct employment pathway, they can expose students to new career ideas that may ultimately spark an interest that can be explored more fully in college. The key is early exposure so students know what classes they’ll need to progress in their chosen field.