America faces an urgent challenge: high school academic achievement is declining. Student disengagement, chronic absenteeism, and lack of motivation are early warning signs and contributors— and they’re climbing too. Too many young people can’t see how their education connects to their future, so they disengage, and their academic outcomes suffer. This lack of clarity extends beyond students to parents, caregivers, and families, and reflects a broader uncertainty among educators, policymakers, and state leaders about the purpose and promise of education.
At the same time, the field has wrestled with a false choice: either prioritize traditional academic rigor or prepare students for careers. This is a dangerous myth. The students who succeed are those who master interdisciplinary core skills along with contemporary skills required for modern work.
Career-Connected Learning (CCL) doesn’t trade off with academics—it strengthens them.
This report, from the National Cross-Partisan Education Policy Network Career-Connected Learning Working Group, invites education leaders, employers, policymakers, and communities to join the effort to make career-connected learning accessible to all students as the bridge that makes academics meaningful, strengthens K-12 connections to economic development, and equips the next generation with the skills to thrive.
About the National Cross-Partisan Education Policy Network
The National Cross-Partisan Education Policy Network brought together leaders across the political spectrum to identify common ground on education policy and practice. Recognizing that meaningful progress requires collaboration beyond partisan divides, the network established working groups focused on critical education challenges where cross-sector, cross-ideological solutions are possible.
The Career-Connected Learning Working Group included a diverse coalition of policymakers, experts, and leaders from education advocacy organizations, school systems, workforce development, think tanks, and philanthropy. Despite diverse perspectives on many education issues, members found strong alignment around the urgent need for a cross-partisan definition of career-connected learning and expanding access to high-quality career-connected learning opportunities for all students.
The network was convened by the Aspen Institute Education & Society Program, which works to improve education outcomes by informing, influencing, inspiring, and catalyzing education leaders across policy and practice, with an emphasis on achieving excellence for all students. Its vision is that the United States education system affords every student the opportunities and experiences they need to lead, contribute, and thrive in a rapidly changing world.
