Summary
Career and workforce development is a well-known, nonpartisan strategy for preparing students for postsecondary success in schools. According to the Coalition for Career Development Center, career development is “a process that informs individuals about career opportunities, helps them identify their talent, become aware of how their talent transfers into a wide range of occupational opportunities and enables them to make effective decisions on the academic and postsecondary pathways that will enable them to pursue their career and life goals” (Coalition for Career Development Center, 2021). Adopting this definition, CASEL uses the term “career and workforce development” to capture the diversity of approaches and efforts employed by states to describe this process and the efforts that support it. CASEL, the Coalition for Career Development Center, and CIVIC created this developmental framework in collaboration with eight states (Delaware, Kansas, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah, Wisconsin) participating in the CASEL Collaborating States Initiative (CSI) SEL and Career and Workforce Development Community of Practice (CoP). This community of practice supports states advancing the integration of SEL with career and workforce development and fosters relationships in which lessons can be shared, common challenges can be discussed, and innovative ideas can be discovered. Specific strategies for the integration of SEL and career and workforce development efforts are being co-constructed through our partnership with states.
For more on SEL and Career and Workforce Development, check out our five-part webisode series for state and district leaders.
The purpose of this brief is to introduce a developmental framework for states working to systemically integrate evidence-based social and emotional learning (SEL) with career and workforce development efforts.
References
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Dermody, C., Dusenbury, L., Greenberg, M., Godek, D., Connor, P., Cross, R., Martinez-Black, T., Solberg, S., Kroyer-Kubicek, R., Atwell, M., Bridgeland, J. (2022). A Developmental Framework for the Integration of Social and Emotional Learning and Career and Workforce Development. CASEL.
