Building career assets for lifelong success 

D.C. has many opportunities for high school age youth to connect to college and career. Despite this, little has been publicly reported about these opportunities across all providers, and there is limited information available surrounding outcomes of these programs.

This report provides a high-level landscape to help better understand what career asset building opportunities are available to high school-age youth as a starting point to understanding quality, equity, and gaps in offerings. This version of the report has been adapted for web. You may also access the original PDF version or a PDF summary of the results.

Acknowledgements 

The authors are grateful to The Richard E. and Nancy P. Marriott Foundation for their support of this report and to Education Forward DC for their ongoing support of the D.C. Policy Center’s Education Policy Initiative. In addition, the authors deeply appreciate the staff at government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and schools who took the time to complete the questionnaire that informed the findings. The authors would also like to thank Dr. Erin Bibo, Jennie Niles, and Taylor White who provided valuable feedback on earlier drafts. Untold Research facilitated student listening sessions around their experiences with building career assets. Additionally, the team would like to thank high school leaders from District of Columbia Public Schools (DPCS) and public charter schools for participating in interviews focused on attendance and college and career opportunities at their respective schools. Finally, the team benefited from meetings with two local stakeholder groups who shared input on the recommendations and main findings. 

Other reports in this series 

Measuring early career outcomes in D.C. 

D.C. high school alumni reflections on their early career outcomes 

The case for creating a local talent pipeline in the District of Columbia 

Transition to college or career for the District’s high school students

Executive summary 

Data on early career outcomes for D.C.’s high school alumni reveal significant disparities in earnings and employment when compared to similarly aged youth who move to D.C later in life (an estimated gap of $37,000). Findings from a previous survey show that D.C.’s alumni experienced an income boost if they had acquired career assets, or the tools, skills, experiences, and competencies that helped them effectively navigate post-high school life, including college and career.  

A lot of career asset building opportunities exist for D.C.’s high school-aged youth, but little has been publicly reported about the opportunities offered across the many providers. This Building career assets for lifelong success report provides a high-level landscape to better understand what career asset building opportunities are available to high school-aged youth as a starting point to understanding quality, equity, and gaps in offerings. Ultimately, a better understanding of these opportunities can help better prepare D.C.’s alumni for their early careers. 

This executive summary includes key findings, common challenges, and recommendations. The full report follows.

NEED: Many of D.C.’s public high school alumni are not ready for college or career, demonstrating the need for stronger connections to college and work-based learning. 

• 20 percent of 12^th graders met or exceeded the SAT College and Career Ready Benchmark in school year 2022-23. 

• 53 percent of high school graduates in school year 2021-22 enrolled in postsecondary education within 6 months of graduation. 

• On the statewide learning assessment, 34 percent of high school students met or exceeded expectations in English Language Arts (ELA), and 12 percent did so in math. 

PROVIDERS: D.C. government agencies are the main providers of career asset building opportunities, accounting for 90 percent of participation. 

• Across the 49 different career asset building opportunities identified through questionnaire responses, D.C. government agencies (especially DOES and OSSE) are the main providers, accounting for 90 percent of participation.  

• Nonprofits and Local Education Agencies (LEAs), or schools, tend to offer opportunities on a smaller scale than D.C. government agencies.¹ 

• Most work-based learning opportunities are offered through programs that require an in-person component.  

PARTICIPATION: Most of the career asset building opportunities are intensive in nature.  Capacity in intensive summer opportunities can only serve 67 percent of high school students, and capacity during the school year can only serve 41 percent.  

• Out of all D.C. high school-aged youth participating in school year 2022-23, 58 percent of the participation was reported in intensive career asset building opportunities that occurred more than twice a week. 

• Assuming each high school student should have access to intensive opportunities that provide more regular engagement, there is a gap of 59 percent needed to serve all high school students for long and intensive opportunities that typically take place during the school year and a gap of 33 percent needed to serve all high school students for short and intensive opportunities (mostly during the summer). 

• Older students tend to participate in these opportunities, which means less time for career asset building as the experiences are closer to high school graduation. 

PROGRAM FOCUS: There are relatively few career asset building opportunities that focus on career launch, access to college during high school, or college matriculation. 

• Career asset building opportunities tend to have a blended focus on work-based learning and college connections instead of focusing on one or the other. 

• Out of the 35 opportunities that include work-based learning, activities during these opportunities are more likely to allow young people to explore careers or prepare for careers instead of to launch them.  

• Out of the 40 opportunities that include connections to college, the activities are more likely to include multiple ways to explore college, and less likely to provide direct access to college content during high school or to support matriculation. 

ACCESS: Important barriers exist to student participation in career asset building opportunities, including lack of awareness, time in schedule, and a successful academic record.  

• Providers report the most common barriers to participation include lack of awareness of existing college and work-based learning opportunities and lack of time in young people’s schedules, including during the school day. 

• In addition to having enough time in a schedule, the most common eligibility requirements are being on track to graduate, which can limit participation for students who are behind academically.  

• To ease these barriers, some of the career asset building opportunities allow young people to earn either high school or college credit. Additionally, most work-based learning opportunities provide some kind compensation. 

• Recruitment mainly occurs through word of mouth and school promotions, which can make it difficult to learn about activities outside one’s existing network. 

GOALS FOR PROVIDERS: Across all career asset building opportunities, the most common goal is to prepare a postsecondary plan, which is an important intermediate step toward a successful early career. 

• In addition to a postsecondary plan, other common goals include professional development and exposure to new industries. 

• Some providers offer some level of support after participation, including mentorship or career coaching, professional development sessions, financial support for tuition, and resources for undocumented students.  

MEASURING SUCCESS: There is opportunity for improvement in tracking outcomes of career asset building opportunities, as participant surveys are currently the most common way to measure success.  

• At the close of participation, some providers measure success through participant surveys, or outcomes such as college credits earned, course grades, employment in a good job, or attainment of industry-recognized credentials or certifications.  

• Over the long term, some providers use surveys to measure longitudinal outcomes, but only a few connect to existing databases (such as the National Student Clearinghouse for matriculation in college), and there is interest in better methods to measure long-term success. 

Common challenges and recommendations 

Common challenges: 

• Some eligibility requirements and lack of awareness of existing programs means that these opportunities are probably not reaching the students most in need of supports.  

• Little is known about the outcomes for these opportunities.  

Recommendations: 

Create a system of career asset building opportunities 

• Establish alignment on available career asset building opportunities with common definitions and outcomes, to help participants understand what is offered and how these different opportunities can help them build career assets. 

• Create a robust system for adults to support young people with navigating these opportunities, such as a resource bank owned by D.C. government as the main providers, with information on access and programming and ensure that there are college and career counselors at schools and across agencies who can help young people and their families to learn about available options.  

• In addition to the framework of work-based learning (see Appendix D) developed by CityWorks DC and strategic partners, it would be beneficial to map available postsecondary degree opportunities to a continuum of activities and identify gaps in how providers connect young people to college. 

Track outcomes to inform program design 

• Improve the measurement of long-term outcomes by building databases such as the Education Through Employment Data System, rather than solely relying on surveys, which can be burdensome and have limitations due to self-reporting. 

• Enhance tracking of participation and student-level attendance in different opportunities to better identify who is most likely to participate and which approaches are most successful. 

Increase access to students who have barriers to participation 

• Leverage opportunities to assist students who aren’t performing well academically or who are disengaged, as academic success is often an eligibility requirement.  

• To address the barrier of scheduling constraints, ensure the new high school graduation requirements do not limit access to career asset building opportunities that are shown to improve early career outcomes. 

Conduct additional research to answer key questions, such as: 

• What skills are young people gaining? 

• Which approaches, including dosage, frequency, length, location, and others are most effective in terms of outcomes, including around quality and equity? 

• To what extent do these opportunities keep young people at risk of dropping out connected to school? 

• What is working for employers to successfully engage young people in the workplace? 

Introduction 

Data on early career outcomes for D.C.’s high school alumni reveal significant disparities in earnings and employment when compared to similarly aged youth who move to D.C later in life. According to the American Community Survey (ACS), young adults aged 18 to 34 who were born and still reside in D.C. earn an average of $34,134 annually. This is $36,710 less than the average earnings for similarly aged young adults who were not born in D.C. but moved to the city later in their lives. Moreover, the unemployment rate for these young D.C. natives is 23 percent, 20 percentage points higher than similarly aged non-native residents.²  These gaps are in part due to 24 percent of young adults born and living in D.C. having a bachelor’s degree (53 percentage points lower than their peers), in a city where 47 percent of jobs require a bachelor’s degree.³ 

These disparities make it crucial to understand what can move the needle on improving early career outcomes for D.C.’s high school alumni and how they can be ready to better connect to college and career after high school. While academic achievement is an important predictor of job market success, another important factor is acquiring career assets, or the tools, skills, experiences, and competencies to help effectively navigate post-high school life, including college and careers.  

A 2021 survey conducted by CityWorks DC and Bain & Company of over a thousand alumni of District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) and public charter schools in D.C. provides some evidence that attaining career assets during high school can improve early career outcomes, regardless of a student’s educational attainment level. In this survey, students were considered to have acquired career assets if they had participated in multiple skill-building opportunities, including volunteer positions, work experience, apprenticeships, internships, exposure to career options, career counseling, mentorship, and postsecondary planning.⁴

Analysis of the survey responses showed that having career assets was correlated with certain program components and higher post-tax yearly incomes, making career assets essential to attain before high school graduation. Among participants with a bachelor’s degree, average post-tax income of young people with career assets was 16 percent higher Analysis of the survey responses showed that having career assets was correlated with certain program components and higher post-tax yearly incomes, making career assets essential to attain before high school graduation. Among participants with a bachelor’s degree, average post-tax income of young people with career assets was 16 percent higher than those without career assets. The career asset premium was even higher, at 64 percent, among other post-secondary degree holders (including associate’s and certifications).⁵

Even with this potential to improve early career outcomes, little has been publicly reported about how D.C.’s high school-aged youth can build career assets before graduation, although a lot of career asset building opportunities do exist. This report looks at opportunities across four types of providers: D.C. government agencies, nonprofits, Local Education Agencies (LEAs) serving high school students, and LEAs serving adult and alternative learners with a majority under age 25.  

D.C. government agencies, including the Office of the State Superintendent (OSSE) and the Department of Employment Services (DOES), tend to offer larger scale opportunities (like the Mayor Marion Barry Summer Youth Employment Program) that are available to high school-aged youth citywide. LEAs serving high school students often have their own in-house opportunities (such as college visits or postsecondary planning) and connect students to systems programs (like OSSE’s Dual Enrollment or Career and Technical Education, CTE) or nonprofits (including Urban Alliance and others). D.C. also has adult and alternative schools, which are nontraditional settings where students can earn a high school degree, gain English language skills, or enroll in workforce programs—and a small number of these enroll a majority of learners under the age of 25. Finally, nonprofits like Genesys Works or On Ramps to Careers offer additional initiatives, typically on a smaller scale. Examples of opportunities by provider type are presented in the figure below. Having many providers makes it challenging to take stock of which opportunities are available and to understand how these opportunities work together to help D.C.’s high school-aged youth build career assets. 

Examples of providers of career asset building opportunities in D.C., by type 

Understanding the landscape of college and work-based learning opportunities for D.C.’s high school students is an essential step to identify persistent challenges, successful strategies, and areas where D.C. can better support program implementation. This report is the first step in describing the ecosystem for building career assets in D.C. to better identify key aspects of programming that are most effective and impactful for students’ futures. The report highlights  program characteristics including how long and intensely young people participate and program settings. Recognizing the potential for career assets to improve outcomes, this knowledge will help prepare students for successful careers in the long run. It will also contribute to closing the economic opportunity gap between D.C.’s public high school alumni and young adults new to D.C. 

This report provides a high-level landscape to help better understand what career asset building opportunities are available to high school-aged youth as a starting point to understanding quality, equity, and gaps in offerings. The analysis begins with an overview of high school students and postsecondary outcomes. It continues with a baseline look at how students connect to college and work-based learning, including program descriptions, program access, and methods that program providers use for measuring and ensuring success. The landscape is based on self-reported responses to a provider survey, or their view of their offerings. It does not look at the quality of these opportunities or which approaches are most effective, which could be a topic for further study as new data become available. The report concludes with an analysis of strengths and gaps in the existing opportunities to build career assets, key research questions, and next steps.

Part 1: High school students in D.C. 

In school year 2023-24, there were 20,071 high school students in D.C.⁶ attending one of 39 DCPS or public charter schools. This public high school population, which is an estimated 81 percent of D.C.’s high school students, is the focus of this report (an estimated 19 percent of D.C.’s high school students attend private schools).⁷

High school enrollment, demographics, and school overview 

Most of D.C.’s high school students identify as students of color: 66 percent of D.C. public high school students identify as Black, 22 percent identify as Latino, 8 percent identify as white, and 4 percent identify as two or more races or other races in school year 2023-24.⁸

Wards 7 and 8 are home to higher shares of high school students than other wards: 20 percent of high school students live in Ward 7 and 21 percent live in Ward 8—and the majority of these students leave their ward for school—meaning that opportunities should be accessible from these wards or at the schools that students attend.⁹ In addition, looking at the cohort who graduated in school year 2022-23, 51 percent were economically disadvantaged, 12 percent were English Learners, and 18 percent were students with disabilities, which can lead to additional barriers for participating in opportunities to build career assets (data are not available for these special populations for students in all high school grades (just graduates).¹⁰

For context, most of D.C.’s public high school students choose to attend a school aside from their in-boundary school. In school year 2023-24, 38 percent of high school students attended a public charter school, 21 percent attended a DCPS application high school, 20 percent attended a DCPS school as an out-of-boundary student, and 20 percent attended their DCPS in-boundary school.^{11 12} This may mean that some students are selected their high school based on a particular program offering, like engineering or journalism. It also suggests that commutes can take up a large part of a student’s day and potentially displace other activities: The average distance to school for high school students in school year 2023-24 was 3.2 miles (for context, a 2018 study estimated that the median 9^th grader in D.C. had a 27 minute commute on public transit).^{13 14}

NEED: Postsecondary outcomes for high school students show challenges and the need for building career assets. 

Measures of college and career readiness indicate that the transition after high school to postsecondary could be a challenge for D.C.’s high school students. On the SAT, 20 percent of 12^th graders met or exceeded the College Ready Benchmark in school year 2022-23,¹⁵ which is below the national average of 40 percent.¹⁶ Black and economically disadvantaged students have lower SAT benchmark scores at 11 percent and 5 percent, respectively.¹⁷  As a preview of early career outcomes, within six months after graduation, 53 percent of graduates enroll in postsecondary education.¹⁸ This is lower than the national average in 2022, when 60 percent of high school graduates enrolled in college by the fall.¹⁹

In recent years, high school graduation rates have improved, but learning outcomes for high school students have remained close to or below pre-pandemic levels. In school year 2022-23, 76 percent of high school students graduated in four years, an 8-percentage point increase from 68 percent in the pre-pandemic school year 2018-19.²⁰ However, in school year 2023-24, 34 percent of high school students met or exceeded expectations on the English Language Arts (ELA) CAPE statewide assessment and 11.6 percent did so in math. Outcomes in both subjects represent small improvements of less than a percentage point over the previous year.

Part 2: Opportunities for building career assets in D.C. 

The D.C. Policy Center fielded a questionnaire in May, June, and July of 2024 to learn more about career asset building opportunities, or the programs, courses, or experiences that help youth build career assets. These opportunities included connections to college, which are programs, courses, and experiences that help students improve their postsecondary outcomes, and connections to work-based learning, which support young people more immediately with their careers. The questionnaire targeted government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and Local Education Agencies (LEAs) serving high school-aged students (the team reached out to adult and alternative schools in addition to high schools, but the responses for LEAs mostly represent high schools). The responses to the D.C. Policy Center questionnaire paint a landscape of programs that offer college and work-based learning opportunities, including the type of programs, access to programs, and how providers measure and ensure success.  

The questionnaire for government agencies and nonprofit organizations included 29 core questions about career asset building opportunities, including their program descriptions, access, participation, and how success is measured. LEAs were sent a separate questionnaire that first asked about their participation in citywide opportunities offered by the D.C. government or nonprofits and then asked the same set of 29 core questions about

their own programs (see Appendix A for the full set of questions). The D.C. Policy Center received responses from almost all government and nonprofit providers that serve the largest numbers of participants, based on a review of publicly available information. In addition, the LEAs that responded collectively serve 91 percent of high school students (see Appendix B for the list of providers targeted to receive the questionnaire).  

To supplement analysis of the questionnaire responses, the D.C. Policy Center conducted listening sessions with students as well as interviews with school leaders, teachers, and employers (see Appendix C for more information on listening sessions and interviews). Quotes and main themes from these conversations appear throughout the report. 

The main findings are presented below by category, including identifying the main providers, a sense of scale, the focus of programs, barriers to access, common goals, and how providers measure success. This overview is important as a starting point to show how these opportunities are connected, and where the gaps may lie. The report does not include measures of quality, precise distributions of opportunities, or which opportunities are most effective in the long run. It will be important to build on these findings with more detail and available data in future research.

“We should be preparing kids for the future, whether it’s college, career, or other paths. Schools must equip students with the skills they need to succeed.

D.C. Teacher

Most findings are qualitative in nature and described on a scale based on the frequency of each response option. The scales below refer to the number of respondents per question and are not weighted by participation numbers. Responses are self-reported and do not measure implementation. Some findings about capacity are weighted by participation numbers to give a sense of scale. These are reported as numbers or percentages. 

PROVIDERS: High school-aged youth have multiple access points to build career assets. 

Young people can access career asset building opportunities through various channels, with government agencies being the largest providers. Out of the 49 programs that offer career asset building opportunities, government agencies provide 18 of them, but account for 90 percent of participants.²¹ This means that opportunities provided by government agencies tend to be larger scale, each serving an average of 1,797 students each year, than LEA or nonprofit opportunities. 

Location

Most career asset building opportunities are either hybrid or entirely in-person. A few are completely virtual. Travel to a third location during the school day could be a hindrance for some students: The average high school student traveled 3.2 miles to school in school year 2023-24, and students in Wards 7 and 8 traveled farther, at 3.9 miles and 4.4 miles, respectively.²² Providers mentioned in interviews that barriers such as location and generational poverty have proven tough to overcome—this limits participation of additional students and makes it harder for current students to thrive. Responses in the questionnaire to location by ward were not specific enough to adjust for the size of programs. Although providers reported that career asset building opportunities are available throughout the city, further research is necessary to determine where young people are accessing them.

“Our career clusters require some specialized classrooms, but we need to make it accessible at locations where all students can come.”

Nonprofit provider

PARTICIPATION: Most of the career asset building opportunities are intensive in nature, and gaps exist if every high school student should participate in one during the summer and school year. 

Responses to the questionnaire indicated that D.C. high school-aged youth were engaged at least 35,483 times in career asset building opportunities during school year 2022-23, including the summer of 2022, across 40 opportunities (9 did not provide participation information). For reference, 19,271 students were enrolled in D.C.’s public high school grades in the same school year, but no information is available on how participation is distributed across young people. And if every student participated in one activity, it may be that every student needs to participate in multiple activities to truly build career assets. No data are available for previous years, but in listening sessions, high school students felt there was an increase in internships, scholarships, and college or career programs this past year.

Duration and frequency

Career asset building opportunities most commonly take place two or more times a week, indicating that many of these opportunities involve substantial engagement. About a third of the career asset building opportunities are offered through multi-year programs, a format more common at LEAs or nonprofits than in government programs. Around a third are considered to be light touch, or one-off events up to once per month.

Respondents indicated that the frequency of the programs they offer varied based on grant requirements, seasonal programming, the school calendar, or a specified number of hours rather than a set number of sessions. A few others mentioned that the frequency of engagement in these opportunities can depend on the participant, for example, on their pace moving through a program. Among the 41 opportunities for which providers reported total number of program hours, the range spanned from 1 hour to 4,000 hours, with a median of 100 hours. LEAs and nonprofits tend to offer programs with more hours on average compared to government opportunities.

There is no recommended dosage yet for building career asset opportunities, but one way to assess need is to assume that each high school student should have access to at least one intensive opportunity that occurs more than twice a week and provides more regular engagement. Light touch opportunities are also important but may be more useful to evaluate the need by each program, such as SAT School Day. These intensive opportunities are available in both long durations (6 months or more) that tend to take place at least in part during the school year, and short durations (less than 6 months), which tend to take place during the summer (about half are 1 to 3 months in duration, and about half are between 3 to 6 months).  

For long and intensive opportunities, there is a gap of 59 percent needed to serve all high school students and a gap of 20 percent if the opportunities only targeted economically disadvantaged students. For short and intensive opportunities, there is a gap of 33 percent needed to reach all high school students and a surplus of 32 percent if the opportunities only targeted economically disadvantaged students.

Timing 

Approximately 36 percent of young people participated in programs offered only during the summer, 43 percent participated in programs offered only during the school year, and 23 percent participated in programs offered throughout the entire year. The largest program that offers opportunities to build career assets is the publicly funded Mayor Marion S. Barry Summer Youth Employment Program (MBSYEP), which offers D.C.’s high school students (and some older youth) various employment opportunities for a period of six weeks.²³

Age 

As high school-aged youth get older, they are more likely to participate in career asset building opportunities. This could be because older youth are more likely to have the necessary experiences, have more time available in their school schedule, or be nearing college application deadlines. Almost all providers reported serving 17-year-olds, and some serve 14-year-olds. 

PROGRAM FOCUS: There are relatively fewer career asset building opportunities that focus on career launch or access to college during high school. 

Students can build career assets in various ways, and questionnaire responses indicated that most opportunities connect young people to college, through programs, courses, and experiences that help students improve their postsecondary outcomes, and to work-based learning, which supports young people more immediately with their careers. Providers are more likely to focus on both, especially nonprofits. LEAs are likely to have opportunities that only focus on college, and government agencies are more likely to focus on college or blend both.

During interviews, providers spoke of how their programs integrate college and career preparation. High –school-aged youth typically come into their programs inexperienced and showing students how postsecondary opportunities work in tandem with different careers allows them to gain foundational skills needed to pursue the pathway of their choosing.

“We don’t see college and career as separate. They are very much interconnected, and we promote that through our curriculum.”

Nonprofit provider

Work-based learning: Exploration, preparation, launch activities 

In the questionnaire, respondents provided details about work-based learning activities, which were categorized into three stages of Exploration, Preparation, and Launch. The questionnaire connected activities in each category to those described in the High-Quality Work-Based Learning Rubric, a companion to the Framework (see Appendix D for more information).²⁴ These categories align with DC Work-Based Learning Framework developed by CityWorks DC and strategic partners:²⁵ 

1. Career exploration involves brief opportunities for young people to learn about various professions, fields, companies, and postsecondary interests. 

2. Career preparation includes short-term work experiences to build knowledge and employability skills in a specific profession at a specific company; and  

3. Career launch entails deep work experience and training combined with classroom learning to fully prepare youth for entry-level full-time positions.  

Out of the 35 work-based learning opportunities, exploration and preparation activities are more prevalent than preparation or launch activities. Every opportunity includes at least one exploration activity, most commonly guest speakers, postsecondary plan development, field trips, and surveys of skills, competencies, or postsecondary interests.

Preparation activities are included in almost all opportunities, with internships being the most common, followed by some providers offering CTE or other coursework and pre-apprenticeships. 

Launch activities are part of most opportunities, but less common than exploration and preparation activities, with some or a few offering each activity. Providers tend to focus on just one activity within preparation and launch stages, whereas most opportunities combine at least five different exploration activities. 

“D.C. hires are an important metric that we track. On the other hand, we’re not looking to just meet numbers—we’re looking for quality.”

D.C. employer

“We had a student who learned about civil engineering through our program and received a college scholarship in civil engineering and an internship with a construction partner.”

Nonprofit provider

College: Exploration, access, enrollment activities

In addition to work-based learning opportunities, the questionnaire asked about connections to college to get a full picture of the ways that young people can build career assets toward a successful early career. Providers shared information about college activities along a continuum categorized into three stages: Exploration, Access, and Matriculation. Although no specific college framework was available, the D.C. Policy Center mapped parallel activities reviewed by external stakeholders before the questionnaire was distributed. The categories include: 

• College exploration activities help young people learn more about college options and what attending college would mean for them.  

• College access involves exposing young people to college-level courses while still in high school.  

• College matriculation focuses on directly supporting students in enrolling in a higher education institution. 

Among the 40 opportunities that connect young people to college (including both college and work-based learning, and one “other” area that included a General Education Diploma, or GED, for example), almost all opportunities having at least one activity in the college exploration stage. Most opportunities offer exploration activities of postsecondary plan development with college options and college visits (including some overnight stays).

Most opportunities offer some form of college access to high school-aged youth, with dual enrollment being the most common. Unlike exploration and matriculation, where multiple activities are often available, most programs offer just one college access activity. Some measures show improvements in outcomes for access: In school year 2022-23 for example, 44.5 percent of students who took at least one AP or IB course passed at least one test, which is a 6-percentage point increase from school year 2018-19.²⁶

Most opportunities also offer college matriculation activities. In addition, some support FAFSA preparation, college applications, or summer bridge programs. Providers mentioned other methods of connecting students to college, including consultations, coaching, and webinars.

ACCESS: Important barriers exist to student participation in career asset building opportunities, including lack of awareness, time in schedule, and a successful academic record.

Providers report the most common barriers to participation include lack of awareness of existing college and work-based learning opportunities and lack of time in young people’s schedules, including during the school day. In listening sessions, students agreed that awareness of these opportunities can be inconsistent across schools. Some students felt their schools were not providing enough guidance for college and career readiness, while others credit their schools and counselors for strong support. Others felt that the overwhelming workload, especially around college applications and senior projects, reflects a need for better time management support and guidance from the school—related to having enough time in the schedule.  

For work-based learning opportunities, travel difficulties and lack of employer interest were more frequently cited barriers. Travel difficulties, especially when most work-based learning opportunities require at least a partial in-person component and occur at least twice a week, can be a significant barrier—and lack of employer interest can limit the supply of common work-based learning activities such as internships or pre-apprenticeships. In addition to the categories in the chart below, respondents noted other challenges such as lack of interest from young people, difficulty attracting high-value employers, language barriers, and learning disabilities.

Reported participation barriers for career asset building opportunities in D.C., according to providers

“Transportation is a problem. Daycare is a problem for those with young children, and some managers are supportive, but some aren’t.”

D.C. employer

Eligibility requirements 

Most opportunities have some kind of eligibility requirements, with the most common being having enough time in a schedule to participate and being on track to graduate. Time in the schedule can be a limitation for students, especially for opportunities that occur during the school day or require travel. D.C. is revising its high school graduation requirements and developing a DC-wide Graduate Profile as envisioned by OSSE’s 2023-25 Strategic Plan. Currently, students must complete 100 hours of community service and earn 24 Carnegie Units in specific subjects to graduate.²⁷ OSSE is now seeking public feedback on D.C.’s existing high school graduation requirements to gather input on essential content, important skills, and changes or additions to existing requirements.^{28 29}

Requiring participants to be on track to graduate means that youth with better academic outcomes are more likely to be able to participate. Importantly, a few opportunities require that participants are authorized to work in the United States, which can restrict access for young people who are unauthorized to work (unauthorized immigrants comprised an estimated 3.6 percent of D.C.’s population as of 2022).³⁰

To ease these barriers, some of the career asset building opportunities allow young people to earn either high school or college credit, which can help free up time in schedules.

And for work-based learning opportunities, most provide a stipend or wage, or a combination of the two, depending on the youth’s work authorization status.

Recruitment 

To recruit participants, almost all opportunities rely on word of mouth and school-based promotion. This may make it difficult for young people to learn about opportunities outside their networks. Emails and flyers are also commonly used for promotion. DCPS Career Ready is one resource that supports broader recruitment with career preparation materials for students. The Career Ready website contains search tools for career opportunities that can be filtered by pay, industry, pathway, and more; guidance on work-based learning opportunities; resources for educators; and the different pathways students can complete for their postsecondary education.³¹

GOALS FOR PROVIDERS: Across all career asset building opportunities, the most common goal is to prepare a postsecondary plan, which is an important intermediate step toward a successful early career. 

All opportunities reported having goals at the close of participation, with most aiming to have participants develop a postsecondary plan (this was the most common, and it is inclusive of college and work-based learning), continue their professional development, and be exposed to new industries. There is notable variation in goals depending on whether an opportunity connects to college, work-based learning, or both. Goals such as building foundational job skills, acquiring technical skills, gaining exposure to new industries, and securing employment were only reported by work-based learning opportunities.

In two student listening sessions at the end of school year 2023-24 hosted by the D.C. Policy Center to find out more about work-based learning and other topics, students spoke about their motivations and how they define success. Many students mentioned that they are driven by their family’s sacrifices and desire to achieve what their parents could not, especially in terms of education. For example, students want to be the first in their families to graduate from high school and college. Students described strong future aspirations, focusing on attending college, securing better job opportunities, and overcoming barriers. Some students view education as a means to avoid negative life outcomes, such as jail or unemployment.

“Being financially stable, and you don’t have to worry about paying your bills. This would help my mental health.”

D.C. student

Ensuring success 

Most opportunities provide some kind of support after participation, with mentorship or career coaches being the most common type, followed by professional development sessions, financial support for tuition, and resources for undocumented students. In interviews, providers mentioned they view success as youth immediately entering college or work after leaving these programs and as having the freedom to choose an option that works for them. Providers also spoke to the idea that plans around college retention and support programs also contribute to future success. 

MEASURING SUCCESS: There is opportunity for improvement in tracking outcomes of career asset building opportunities, as participant surveys are currently the most common way to measure success. 

Program success is primarily measured by participant satisfaction surveys, followed by some using college credits earned, course grades, employment in a good job, and attainment of industry-recognized credentials. Opportunities that include a work-based learning component are more likely to measure success through employer surveys or by assessing job quality, whereas college-focused opportunities are more likely to use academic metrics such as earned credits or course grade to measure success.

“The thing you want to see with young people after school, especially in D.C., is some movement whether it’s college or it’s work.”

Nonprofit provider

Tracking longitudinal outcomes

Some opportunities use surveys to measure longitudinal outcomes, and some do not measure these outcomes at all. A few providers use databases such as the National Student Clearinghouse, statewide longitudinal data systems, and administrative employment and wage data reported for unemployment insurance purposes.

Many providers want to strengthen their measurement of longitudinal outcomes. In addition, a large share are interested in using databases such as the National Student Clearinghouse, statewide longitudinal data systems or unemployment insurance wage data.

In D.C. Policy Center listening sessions, students overwhelmingly associated success with financial stability, being debt-free from college, and having the ability to pay bills without stress, as they believe this would also support their mental health. Many students see owning a house, buying a car, and achieving financial independence as key indicators of success. Renting or owning their own space is a recurring theme, as was being able to support their immediate families, especially their mothers and siblings. Personal happiness is also seen as an important part of success, with students mentioning taking vacations, having flexible work hours, and enjoying hobbies like travel. Achieving a good work-life balance came through as a priority, too. Many students viewed this success as tied to continuing their education, with many envisioning themselves in college, pursuing graduate programs, or working in their desired fields such as medicine, psychology, technology, writing, or screenwriting.

Conclusion and recommendations 

Building career assets is an important part of a successful early career, especially as it has been shown to potentially increase earnings for D.C.’s high school alumni in a city where there are stark differences income between longtime residents and newcomers when they are young adults. To meet this need, there are many providers of career asset opportunities in D.C., including government agencies, nonprofits, and schools. This report brings together a high-level landscape of these opportunities, establishing a foundation for further research and collaboration. 

Key findings 

• Most indicators show low levels of college and career readiness for D.C.’s high school students, demonstrating the need for stronger connections to college and work-based learning. 

• D.C. government agencies are the main providers of career asset building opportunities, accounting for 90 percent of participation across 49 opportunities. 

• Most of the career asset building opportunities are intensive in nature (more than twice a week). 

• There is a need for more capacity if every high school student should participate in one throughout the year, including during the summer (gap of 33 percent) and school year (gap of 59 percent). 

• There are relatively fewer career asset building opportunities that focus on career launch, access to college during high school, or matriculation in college. 

• Important barriers exist to student participation in career asset building opportunities, including lack of awareness, time in schedule, and a successful academic record.  

• Across all career asset building opportunities, the most common goal is to prepare a postsecondary plan, which is an important intermediate step toward a successful early career. 

• There is opportunity for improvement in tracking outcomes of career asset building opportunities, as participant surveys are currently the most common way to measure success, and providers are interested in other methods.  

Common challenges 

First, some eligibility requirements and awareness of existing programs mean these opportunities are probably not currently reaching the students most in need of supports. After time in the schedule, maintaining a minimum GPA and being on track to graduate are the most common eligibility requirements. This can make it more difficult for a young person who is not currently successful academically or has disengaged from high school to participate. Providers mentioned that lack of awareness was a top barrier to participation, and as the most common recruitment methods are word of mouth and school promotions, this can make it more difficult to learn about activities outside one’s existing network. 

Second, there is little known about the outcomes for these opportunities. What data are available from the Census show that young adults who move to D.C. after birth have higher incomes than young adults who grew up here. One of the reasons for this income gap could be low levels of college and career readiness, as shown by low levels of SAT scores and postsecondary enrollment for high school students. Finding out more about the extent to which career asset building opportunities are effective to close this gap is crucial. Surveys are the most common way to track outcomes, but these can be burdensome for both participants and providers and can rely on self-reporting of outcomes. 

Recommendations 

Based on these findings and discussions with stakeholders, the District should consider the following recommendations: to strengthen career asset building opportunities for high-school aged youth: 

Create a system of career asset building opportunities 

• Establish alignment on available career asset building opportunities with common definitions and outcomes, to help participants understand what is offered and how these different opportunities can help them build career assets. 

• Create a robust system for adults to support young people with navigating these opportunities, such as a resource bank owned by D.C. government as the main providers, with information on access and programming and ensure that there are college and career counselors at schools and across agencies who can help young people and their families to learn about available options. As a next step toward bringing organizations in this space together, the team is sharing a list of available opportunities with important characteristics in Appendix E. 

• In addition to the framework of work-based learning (see Appendix D) developed by CityWorks DC and strategic partners, it would be beneficial to map available postsecondary degree opportunities to a continuum of activities and identify gaps in how providers connect young people to college. 

Track outcomes to inform program design 

• Improve the measurement of long-term outcomes by building databases such as the Education Through Employment Data System, rather than solely relying on surveys, which can be burdensome and have limitations due to self-reporting. 

• Enhance tracking of participation and student-level attendance in different opportunities to better identify who is most likely to participate and which approaches are most successful. 

Increase access to students who have barriers to participation 

• Leverage opportunities to assist students who aren’t performing well academically or are disengaged as being academically successful is often an eligibility requirement.  

• To address the barrier of scheduling constraints, ensure that the new high school graduation requirements do not limit access to career asset building opportunities that are proven to improve early career outcomes. 

Conduct additional research to answer key questions, such as: 

• What skills are young people gaining? 

• Which approaches, including dosage, frequency, length, location, and others are most effective in terms of outcomes, including around quality and equity? 

• To what extent do these opportunities keep young people at risk of dropping out connected to school? 

• What is working for employers to successfully engage young people in the workplace? 

Appendix A: Building Career Assets questionnaire

To gather information on existing ways that high school-aged youth connect to opportunities to ensure success in college and career, the D.C. Policy Center reached out to providers, schools, and education agencies to inform a 2024 report on Building Career Assets. This follows up on the D.C. Policy Center’s report, Measuring early career outcomes in D.C., and analysis to identify the ways that youth in D.C. acquire career assets, or the set of tools, skills, experiences, and competencies that an individual has acquired. Career assets can help successfully navigate the workforce and increase early career earnings. 
 
This questionnaire requested information around program design, enrollment, participation, and measuring success for opportunities available to high school-aged youth in D.C. (around age 14 to 18), although the opportunities can also be available to younger or older ages or in other geographies. Respondents were asked the following questions: 

1. Name of the opportunity described in these responses. 

2. What is the age of the youth served by this opportunity? 

3. Does this opportunity connect young people to career, college, or something else? Please select all that apply. 

4. How does this opportunity allow young people to explore careers? 

5. How does this opportunity allow young people to prepare for careers? 

6. How does this opportunity allow young people to launch careers? 

7. Are participants paid for their time in this opportunity? 

8. Does your opportunity focus on any industry in particular? 

9. How does this opportunity allow young people to explore college options? 

10. How does this opportunity allow young people to access college? 

11. How does this opportunity enable young people to enroll in college? 

12. What are the eligibility requirements for your opportunity? 

13. During the 2022-23 school year (including summer of 2022), was this opportunity offered? 

14. What was the capacity, or total number of spots available, in school year 2022-23 (include the summer of 2022)? 

15. During the 2022-23 school year, how many participants were enrolled in this opportunity (including summer of 2022)? 

16. What types of recruitment strategies do you use to allow students to learn more about your opportunity? 

17. What barriers exist to implement your opportunity with young people aged 14 to 18? 

18. What is the duration of your opportunity? 

19. How often does a participant take part in your opportunity? 

20. How many estimated hours do participants spend in total in the opportunity across all components? 

21. When does your opportunity take place? 

22. What is the format of your opportunity? 

23. If hybrid or in-person, in which wards is the opportunity located? 

24. Does your opportunity offer academic credit to students? 

25. Do participants continue to receive any support after high school? 

26. What is the goal for participants to achieve through your opportunity? 

27. How do you measure success for participants at the close of the opportunity? 

28. Does your opportunity measure any longitudinal outcomes after completion of the opportunity? If yes, how does your opportunity gather this information? 

29. How would your opportunity like to measure any longitudinal outcomes after completion of the opportunity?  

Appendix B: List of providers targeted for the questionnaire 

The D.C. Policy Center developed this list of D.C. providers of career asset building opportunities for high school-aged youth based on a public review of information. High schools, nonprofits, government agencies, and adult and alternative schools are included on the list.

Appendix C: Listening sessions and stakeholder interviews 

The D.C. Policy Center used interviews and listening sessions with key stakeholders to showcase lived experiences related to this report. The D.C. Policy Center conducted interviews on the topic of postsecondary and career programming with three DCPS and public charter high school leaders. Schools were chosen based on improved chronic absenteeism and serving higher than the city’s average of at-risk students. In addition, the D.C. Policy Center heard from 20 students during two listening sessions, with 50 percent of participants living in Wards 7 and 8. To complement the student feedback, three teachers across both DCPS and public charter schools participated in structured interviews regarding college and career readiness for students. The team also interviewed three employers in the D.C. sector and two non-profit providers of college and work-based learning opportunities.

Appendix D: Work-based learning: Exploration, preparation, launch activities

CityWorks DC, in collaboration with strategic partners, has developed a work-based learning framework for D.C. For more information and an accompanying call to action for employers, visit https://www.cityworksdc.org/toolkit.

Appendix E: Resource bank brainstorm 

The team suggests including the following information if a resource bank moves forward: 

• Opportunity name 

• Provider name 

• Contact information 

• Types of work-based learning or college connection activities (internship, dual enrollment, for example) 

• Timing (school year or summer) 

• Timing during the school day, after school, on the weekend, or during school breaks 

• Duration and frequency 

• Eligibility requirements 

• Goals of program 

• Participation expectations/requirements 

• Location, e.g. work site, school site, non-profit site 

• Primary learning mode, e.g. the percentage of time learning at work or learning in a classroom 

• Compensation for participants 

• Requirement for participants to travel 

1. A list of these opportunities can be found in the Appendix section of this report. 
2. Ruggles, S., Flood, S., Sobek, M., Backman, D., Chen, A., Cooper, G., Richards, S., Rodgers, R., and Schouweiler, M. IPUMS USA: Version 15.0 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, 2018-2022. Minneapolis, MN: IPUMS, 2024. https://doi.org/10.18128/D010.V15.0
3. Department of Employment Services (DOES). “Labor Market Awareness Dashboard.” DOES. Retrieved from https://does.dc.gov/page/labor-statistics
4. Calma, E. 2021. D.C. high school alumni reflections on their early career outcomes. D.C. Policy Center. Retrieved from https://www.dcpolicycenter.org/publications/early-career-brief/
5. Calma, E. 2021. D.C. high school alumni reflections on their early career outcomes. D.C. Policy Center. Retrieved from https://www.dcpolicycenter.org/publications/early-career-brief/ 
6. Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE). 2024. “Enrollment Audit Data.” OSSE. Retrieved from https://osse.dc.gov/enrollment 
7. Ruggles, S., Flood, S., Sobek, M., Backman, D., Chen, A., Cooper, G., Richards, S., Rodgers, R., and Schouweiler, M. IPUMS USA: Version 15.0 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, 2018-2022. Minneapolis, MN: IPUMS, 2024. https://doi.org/10.18128/D010.V15.0
8. Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education (DME). 2024. “Public School Enrollment by Race and Ethnicity.” EdScape. Retrieved from https://edscape.dc.gov/node/1385236 
9. Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education (DME). 2024. “Where Public School Students Live.” EdScape. Retrieved from https://edscape.dc.gov/page/pop-and-students-where-public-school-students-live 
10. Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE). 2024. “Four-Year High School Graduation Rate.” OSSE. Retrieved from https://osse.dc.gov/page/data-and-reports-0 
11. Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education (DME). 2024. “Trends in enrollment sector.” EdScape. Retrieved from https://edscape.dc.gov/page/trends-enrollment-sector 
12. In addition, 0.8 percent of high school students attended a DCPS alternative or citywide school
13. Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education (DME). 2024. “Trends in Distance to School by Grade Band.” EdScape. Retrieved from https://edscape.dc.gov/page/enrollment-patterns-trends-distance-school-grade-band 
14. Urban Institute Student Transportation Working Group. 2018. The Road to School: How Far Students Travel to School in the Choice-Rich Cities of Denver, Detroit, New Orleans, New York City, and Washington, D.C. Urban Institute. Retrieved from: https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/97151/the_road_to_school_7.pdf 
15. Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE). 2024. DC School Report Card Technical Guide. OSSE. Retrieved from https://osse.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/osse/page_content/attachments/2024%20Report%20Card%20Technical%20Guide%20%28Final%29%20-%20August%20Updates.pdf 
16. College Board. 2023. SAT Suite of Assessment Annual Report. College Board. Retrieved from https://reports.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/2023-total-group-sat-suite-of-assessments-annual-report%20ADA.pdf 
17. Dodds, N. 2024. “Rising Graduation Rates and Falling SAT Scores for D.C.’s Students.” D.C. Policy Center. Retrieved from https://www.dcpolicycenter.org/publications/dc-graduation-rates-and-sat-scores/ 
18. Coffin, C. and Mason, H. 2024. State of D.C. Schools, 2022-23: Challenges to pandemic recovery in a new normal. D.C. Policy Center. Retrieved from https://www.dcpolicycenter.org/publications/state-of-dc-schools-2022-23/ 
19. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). 2024. “61.4 percent of recent high school graduates enrolled in college in October 2023.” BLS. Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2024/61-4-percent-of-recent-high-school-graduates-enrolled-in-college-in-october-2023.htm#:~:text=Of%20the%203.1%20million%20people,in%20October%20of%20that%20year
20. Coffin, C & Mason, H. 2024. State of D.C. Schools, 2022-23: Challenges to pandemic recovery in a new normal. D.C. Policy Center. Retrieved from https://www.dcpolicycenter.org/publications/state-of-dc-schools-2022-23/ 
21. 8 opportunities did not provide participation information.
22. Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education (DME). 2024. “Trends in Distance to School by Grade Band.” EdScape. Retrieved from https://edscape.dc.gov/page/enrollment-patterns-trends-distance-school-grade-band
23. In the 2021-22 school year, for example, an estimated 8,354 youth participated in MBSYEP. For more information, see Calma, E. and Sayin, Y. 2023. “How many out-of-school time seat D.C. has, and where they are located.” D.C. Policy Center. Retrieved from https://www.dcpolicycenter.org/publications/ost-capacity-2023/ 
24. CityWorks DC. 2023. “High-Quality Work-Based Learning Rubric.”CityWorks DC. Retrieved from: https://www.cityworksdc.org/toolkit 
25. CityWorks DC. 2023. “DC’s Work-Based Learning Framework.”CityWorks DC. Retrieved from: https://www.cityworksdc.org/toolkit 
26. Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE). 2023. “College and Career Readiness.” OSSE. Retrieved from https://schoolreportcard.dc.gov/state/report/explore/103 
27. Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE). 2024. “DC-Wide Graduate Profile.” OSSE. Retrieved from https://osse.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/osse/page_content/attachments/OSSE-DCWideGradProfile_comprehensive.V4.pdf
28. Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE). 2024. “DC-Wide Graduate Profile.” OSSE. Retrieved from https://osse.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/osse/page_content/attachments/OSSE-DCWideGradProfile_comprehensive.V4.pdf
29. Please visit OSSE’s Reimagining High School’s Graduation Requirement’s website for ways to engage
30. Passel, J.S. and Krogstad, J.M. 2024. “What we know about unauthorized immigrants living in the U.S.” Pew Research Center. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/07/22/what-we-know-about-unauthorized-immigrants-living-in-the-us/ 
31. District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS). “Career Ready.” DCPS. Retrieved from https://dcpscareerready.org/