A new framework aims to unite the field around a shared understanding of all of the experiences and relationships that young people deserve in order to be supported in their college and career development.
As we head into the 2025-26 school year, the college and career readiness field is shifting beneath our feet. It is a critical year for students across the country. On one hand, over the last 20 years educators, researchers, policymakers, and philanthropists
have worked tirelessly to ensure that all young people have support for realizing their college and career goals. There has been a remarkable commitment to advising -- the process by which adults in schools and community organizations support
students' postsecondary planning.
On the other hand, proposed cuts to education, shifting higher education policies, and a growing emphasis on career-focused pathways are likely to put pressure on educators to clarify, shift, and streamline advising practices.
To ensure young people continue to have the chance to realize their college and career goals, they need and deserve high quality postsecondary advising. But what exactly does that high quality advising look like, and how can districts
and schools - and the adults working within them - deliver it?
To meet this moment, it is critical that our field unify around a single, shared understanding of what comprises high quality postsecondary advising, and how it can be implemented in schools.
Over the past year, drawing on these resources and our previous work and experience - including CARA’s Organizing for Access and Dr. Mandy Savitz-Romer’s book Ready, Willing and Able - and with support from the Gates Foundation Pathways and Washington State Initiative teams - we have worked to develop such a framework. It aims to unite
the field around a shared understanding of all of the experiences and relationships that young people deserve in order to be supported in their college and career development.
Guiding Principles
With input from educators and field leaders across the country, we followed a few guiding principles in designing this framework, while staying committed to keeping the framework short and focused. Those principles are:
Staying student centered. Rather than a framework that guides the actions of adults, we sought to create something that centers young people and the experiences we believe they deserve.
Spanning grades 9-12. Research shows the importance of exposure and experience as soon as students arrive in high school; currently, too many students do not begin learning or thinking about this process until 12th grade.
Including college AND career. Reflecting the evolving understanding in the field of the ways pathways intertwine, we set out to provide a balanced set of experiences that set students up for college and career exploration.
Highlighting a developmental focus. This framework works to spotlight the importance of aligning the timing of experiences and tasks with what we know about adolescent development.
Attending to summer transitions. While “summer melt” is now broadly recognized, many students still lack support during this critical time. We intentionally included a “Summer and Beyond” section to illustrate the critical tasks that occur
once school doors close.
It is important to note that what each young person deserves is not the same as what our public schools are currently resourced to provide. This framework is intended to serve as a starting point for schools to build more robust postsecondary
advising supports, comprising not just advice, but a wide set of experiences that young people need in order to access good-fit postsecondary destinations.
To enact all that the framework includes, schools will need to collaborate with a range of other community-based organizations, as well as find ways to train and incorporate a wider set of school staff and leverage classroom spaces in new ways. It is
meant to be considered alongside the District Framework for Enabling Postsecondary Success, which articulates the conditions that are necessary
for adults to be able to engage in this work. Read more on that framework, released last year, here, and visit the accompanying website to read more about how districts and schools are incorporating its principles.
We imagine there are many ways that educators can use this framework, including to review their own practices to identify opportunities for improvement, to validate existing efforts, and to align practices across school and community partners.
No matter the context, we hope that this cohesive student-centered framework that brings together powerful contributions from across the field will ensure a continued commitment to young people’s postsecondary futures. Whether your district is just beginning
this work, or is far along in its adoption, we believe it can powerfully focus your energy and resources where they will have the greatest impact.
Ready to chat, need support, or want to learn more about supporting students’ postsecondary pathways? We’d love to hear from you using the contact form at the bottom of this page.
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