Image of students on different future paths.
College & Workforce Readiness Series

The High School Handoff

Preparing students for what's next
Education Week's High School Handoff: Preparing Students for What's Next, illustration by Katie Thomas for Education Week

The skyrocketing expense of college, renewed interest in work and apprenticeships, and academic damage wrought by the pandemic has underscored a painful truism about high school: What happens in these years isn’t well aligned with what the United States needs from its high school graduates, nor the opportunities that will be available to them.

In this new series, Education Week takes a step back from the post “college-for-all” era to examine some of the most pressing questions facing high school secondary teachers and students: What needs to happen in these years to set students up for a fulfilling adulthood? How can educators support students who struggle in make-or-break courses? What’s the role of schools in helping students take steps towards fulfilling careers? And what role does higher education play in bolstering these efforts?

Our project aims to examine academics, work-based learning and apprenticeships, and the skill gaps employers say they want filled—all with the goal of finding new insights about how to increase opportunities for students.

Stories will be added to this page monthly. Check back frequently for new content.

Alina Kiselev,17, works on a wheatstone circuit bridge during a class on semiconductor manufacturing at Hamilton High School in Chandler, Ariz., on Nov. 5, 2025.
Alina Kiselev, 17, works on a Wheatstone bridge circuit during a class on semiconductor manufacturing at Hamilton High School in Chandler, Ariz., on Nov. 5, 2025. The school launched a two-year semiconductor program this academic year to help meet the demand for trained employees in sector.
Adriana Zehbrauskas for Education Week
College & Workforce Readiness In 'Silicon Desert,' a School Prepares Students to Join the Semiconductor Boom
An Arizona school district is drawing on higher ed and industry to build a CTE program in a growing high-tech field.
Elizabeth Heubeck, December 4, 2025
13 min read
Students in Bentonville public schools’ Ignite program work on projects during class on Nov. 5, 2025, in Bentonville, Ark. The program offer career-pathway training for juniors and seniors in the district.
Instructor Wendy Broughton, seated at left, works with students in the health sciences track of Bentonville public schools’ Ignite program on Nov. 5, 2025, in Bentonville, Ark. The program—which integrates lessons about AI into its curriculum—offers career-pathway training for high school juniors and seniors in the district.
Wesley Hitt for Education Week
Artificial Intelligence ‘What Are You Doing on AI?’: How This District Added It to Career Education
AI literacy instruction is embedded across all 10 of the district's high school career pathways.
Alyson Klein, November 17, 2025
11 min read
Students in Bentonville public schools’ Ignite program work on projects during class on Nov. 5, 2025, in Bentonville, Ark. The program offer career-pathway training for juniors and seniors in the district.
Students in the digital media pathway at Bentonville public schools’ Ignite program work on a group project during class on Nov. 5, 2025, in Bentonville, Ark. The program—which integrates lessons about AI into its curriculum—offers career-pathway training for juniors and seniors in the district.
Wesley Hitt for Education Week
College & Workforce Readiness Classroom View: How AI Is Influencing Teacher Approaches to Career and Technical Ed.
Teachers share examples of how the technology is playing a bigger role in their lessons.
Arianna Prothero, November 17, 2025
8 min read
Students in Bentonville public schools’ Ignite program work on projects during class on Nov. 5, 2025, in Bentonville, Ark. The program offer career-pathway training for juniors and seniors in the district.
Students in the technology strand of Bentonville public schools’ Ignite program work on a project during class on Nov. 5, 2025, in Bentonville, Ark. The program offers career-pathway training for juniors and seniors in the district, including an emphasis on learning AI skills.
Wesley Hitt for Education Week
Artificial Intelligence Q&A How AI Is Changing Career and Technical Education
A CTE expert recommends teachers and students fact check any information or advice AI generates.
Kevin Bushweller, November 17, 2025
4 min read
Students present their AI powered-projects designed to help boost agricultural gains in Calla Bartschi’s Introduction to AI class at Riverside High School in Greer, S.C., on Nov. 11, 2025.
Students do presentations about their AI-powered projects that are designed to help boost agricultural production during Calla Bartschi’s Introduction to AI class at Riverside High School in Greer, S.C., on Nov. 11, 2025. South Carolina is emphasizing the development of AI skills that are relevant for the careers students want to pursue in the future.
Thomas Hammond for Education Week
College & Workforce Readiness From Our Research Center Businesses Want Employees With AI Skills. Are K-12 CTE Programs Keeping Up?
Most schools are still in the early stages of thinking about the role of AI in CTE programs.
Lauraine Langreo, November 17, 2025
6 min read
PhD student and Physical Therapist Stephen Eaton, left, explains ultrasound imaging to RAMP students during a lab at the University of Maryland School of Medicine on Oct. 16, 2025, in Baltimore, Md. RAMP, which stands for Research and Mentoring Program, is a training program that targets high school juniors and seniors from Baltimore City to prepare them for careers in biomedical research.
Doctoral student and physical therapist Stephen Eaton, left, explains ultrasound imaging to students in the Research and Mentoring program during a lab at the University of Maryland School of Medicine on Oct. 16, 2025, in Baltimore. Men are heavily underrepresented in health fields, and more high schools are designing programs that, like RAMP, encourage boys to consider high-growth fields traditionally dominated by women.
KT Kanazawich for Education Week
College & Workforce Readiness Schools Are Working to Show Boys That the Helping Professions Aren't 'Girly'
Experts say boys don't get support to enter traditionally female careers.
Sarah D. Sparks, October 23, 2025
11 min read
Lazaro Lopez, associate superintendent for teaching and learning at High School District 214, visits the manufacturing lab at Wheeling High School, where he talks with students and their instructor, in Wheeling, Ill., on Dec. 3, 2024.
The manufacturing lab at Wheeling High School in Wheeling, Ill., is pictured on Dec. 3, 2024. The Trump administration plans to scale back Biden-era rules to collect more data on career technical education programs.
Jamie Kelter Davis for Education Week
College & Workforce Readiness Trump Admin. Wants to Scale Back Data Collection on Career Technical Programs
The Trump administration wants to roll back Biden-era efforts to collect more information on states' CTE programs.
Sarah D. Sparks, August 28, 2025
4 min read
Principal Pierre Orbe interacts with students during summer internship programs at DeWitt Clinton High School on July 14, 2025 in New York City.
Principal Pierre Orbe interacts with students during summer internship programs at DeWitt Clinton High School on July 14, 2025, in New York City. The school prioritizes career pathways, which have helped boost the graduation and attendance rates.
Mostafa Bassim for Education Week
College & Workforce Readiness How One School Turned Career Training Into a Turnaround Strategy
This high school was once slated for state takeover. Career pathways helped turn it around.
Elizabeth Heubeck, July 17, 2025
9 min read
Students make measurements to wood to add to a tiny home project during their shop class at Carrick High School in Pittsburgh, Pa., on Dec. 13, 2022.
Students make measurements to wood to add to a tiny home project during their shop class at Carrick High School in Pittsburgh, Pa., on Dec. 13, 2022. The Trump administration is shifting management of career and technical education programs to the U.S. Department of Labor now that the Supreme Court have given the go-ahead to proceed with downsizing of the U.S. Department of Education.
Nate Smallwood for Education Week
Federal Trump Admin. Starts Moving CTE to Labor Dept. After Supreme Court Order
The Education Department put arrangements to move some of its programs on hold while court battles over downsizing played out.
Brooke Schultz, July 15, 2025
4 min read
Leonellys Rodriguez, a graduate of University High School in Newark, N.J., and recipient of a conditional teaching job offer from the Newark Public School District, poses with Principal Genique Flournoy-Hamilton on June 24, 2025.
Leonellys Rodriguez, a graduate of University High School in Newark, N.J., and recipient of a conditional teaching job offer from the Newark Public School District, poses with Principal Genique Flournoy-Hamilton on June 24, 2025. The district's grow-your-own, dual-enrollment partnership will bring high-achieving students back to the district as teachers.
Courtesy of Newark Public School District
College & Workforce Readiness These High School Graduates Earned a Diploma—and a $74,000 Teaching Contract
This district's 'grow-your-own' program includes an extra incentive: a generous starting salary for graduates who come back to teach.
Elizabeth Heubeck, July 11, 2025
6 min read