The Need for Pathways

Many schools across the country are designing and adopting new high school pathways for students to experience as they prepare for their futures. A big reason for the necessity of new pathways is due to what a TNTP report calls “The Opportunity Myth.” The myth is that students and families are led to believe that school will prepare them for college and career, but that is unfortunately not true for many students. Many American high schools are still graduating students without a viable industry-recognized credential and who end up in non-credit bearing remedial courses in college. The pathway experience is part of the solution to this important and expanding issue of graduating students who are ready for the rigor of a college experience and their future working in careers that simply didn’t exist even ten years ago. 

What are Pathways?

Pathways are designed differently from state to state and district to district. Some schools are built around a singular approach, like STEM or the Arts, but the basic notion is the same for schools that provide pathways. Pathways are a sequence of learning experiences that are linked to opportunities after graduation. They often provide students with real work experience, college credit, and industry-recognized credentials. Although their design can vary, four essential features should be considered as school leaders build new and different pathway experiences for students.  

4 Essential Pathway Features 

In general, pathways should be intentional and coordinated. They should be aligned to student interest and supported by economic research regarding college majors and jobs of the future. The main goal of a pathway is to lead to college, career, and citizenship ready students. The way that schools accomplish this is by designing pathways that include a broad set of career-related courses, by ensuring that pathways are linked to student-interest and economic needs, by breaking down old methods of academic sequencing, and by providing students with courses that prepare them for the rigor of college.

Broad Set of Career-Related Courses:

Well-designed pathways include a sequence of career-related courses (usually 2-4 courses) that are taken successively as they build upon the concepts that students are learning in a particular field. New high school pathways aren’t limited to typical career and technical education (CTE) programs; they are much broader in scope versus vocational programs that have very clear and narrow outcomes.

• Example 1: A STEM pathway might provide students with more science and math courses than what many states require for graduation. This prepares students for college majors and careers that are related to the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math. California, for instance, only requires 2 math credits and 2 science credits while many STEM related colleges look for students who have transcripts with coursework in precalculus and/or calculus--very difficult to do with only 2 credits in math.  
• Example 2: A health sciences pathway might provide students with courses in healthcare terminology and anatomy and physiology. These classes look great on the transcript for students who want to study in a medical-related field. A strictly vocational program, on the other hand, might lead to every student becoming a nurse practitioner. These programs are necessary as well, but not every student attends or has access to a vocational and technical high school. Pathways can exist in any comprehensive system.  

Student Interests and Economic Need

‍Intentional pathways are related to college majors and/or career fields that draw upon student interest and the economic needs of the region. It is imperative that school leaders place a focus beyond graduation rates and simple state requirements. The future emphasis has to be on engaging students in school with real-world interests so that they’re prepared for life after high school. Schools with coordinated pathways use student-interest surveys and research regarding available jobs near and around the school system. A driving factor for every pathway is for students to experience work-based learning in and outside of the school setting. 

• Example 1: A pathway in “business and finance” may not be of interest to students. In fact, many business majors are finding jobs outside of the typical “management consultant” or “investment banker” track. This is why pathway design is so important. Instead of general business courses, which are often offered as electives in high school, imagine coursework in Next Gen Personal Finance and Entrepreneurship.  
• Example 2: Rhode Island amended its graduation requirements to include plans for work-based learning credits in all high schools. Work-based learning not only gives students experiences with industry partners but responds to the need for skilled labor and workforce development as an aspect of schooling in a state or region. 

‍Course Sequencing

‍When pathways are at their best, students don’t just have a focus area as their pathway, all of the subjects can be sequenced in the order that makes most sense for the student, their interests, and their pathway. A traditional set of courses for English, as an example, would no longer be used: English 9, English 10, English 11, and English 12 (only a few states don’t require 4 English credits for graduation). Instead, students might have a variety of course choices.

The point is that students can develop a “pathway” experience for each of their core subjects with a far more unique approach than a traditional schedule allows. As high schools continue to innovate with block and modified schedules, there is an abundance of opportunities to sequence courses so that all students can access courses that interest them and that relate to their chosen field of study. 

• Example 1: BMC Durfee High School, as an example, made students’ course selection flexible by allowing students to choose between taking Pre-AP® English 2 or English 10: AP Seminar their sophomore year. Note that they did force an AP course onto the transcript early in the high school experience. This is an example where breaking down traditional course sequencing provides students greater opportunity, especially since AP Seminar is a prerequisite for AP Research. In a traditional scenario, many students cannot access AP Research simply because they don’t have room in their schedules for AP Seminar due to outdated and less preparatory general English requirements.
• Example 2: In the example above, students have broader choices for their English sequence. Imagine, though, narrowing the science choices for students who are in a health science pathway. Instead of taking Earth and Space Science, their pathway can require a sequence of sciences that are necessary for college readiness in the health science majors and that will look more attractive on the transcript for those programs in particular.  For example, in the health sciences pathway, students may be required to take Biology I, Chemistry I, and either AP Biology or AP Chemistry to satisfy their science credits. This is in addition to the pathway courses that may include Anatomy and Physiology as other sciences in that pathway.

Rigorous Coursework

‍Upper-level pathway courses are often advanced standings courses–AP, IB, dual enrollment, or articulated courses. This means that they progress to more rigorous standards, and they may come with college credit or the equivalent. Although many colleges and universities may require certain scores for AP to count for credit, they often do exchange credits from other colleges and universities. This means that not only should counselors and school officials build pathways that give students earlier and greater access to AP courses, it means that any upper level pathway course should be shopped around to local institutes of higher education (IHEs) to look for dual enrollment and articulated opportunities. 

• Example 1: Schools that offer the Project Lead the Way Computer Science Pathway (PLTW), may find that a local college or university will grant students credit for the Cybersecurity course.
• Example 2: One thing that PLTW has done that other pre-existing and locally designed pathways can do is to ensure that upper-level third and fourth sequenced courses are aligned to either an AP course or college credit. The PLTW Computer Science A course is endorsed by the College Board as an AP course. This can be done by either requiring a final course in the pathway sequence to be an AP course or by articulating that course to one at a local two- or four-year IHE

Conclusion

High schools that truly want their students to be college, career, and citizenship ready will build intentional and coordinated pathways so that students have access to a sequence of courses that match their interest and challenge them academically. To do so, school leaders must challenge the status quo of scheduling and build coursework that aligns to industry standards where students can practice their skills in work-based learning environments beyond the school walls. The four features outlined above are meant to help schools get started on their journey toward a brighter future for all learners. 

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