New Skills for Youth Phase One Snapshot: Pennsylvania

This snapshot profile describes Pennsylvania's work during Phase One of the New Skills for Youth initiative.

New Skills for Youth Phase One Snapshot: Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania’s work in New Skills for Youth (NSFY) Phase One was led by a cross-agency team that included state-level participation from education, workforce and economic development leaders. While the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) tracks approved programs provided through the commonwealth’s Career Technical Education (CTE) system, less was known about the myriad informal career pathways offered by schools and districts. Through the NSFY work, the state hoped to identify and better coordinate career pathways offered in Pennsylvania to ensure that all students have access to high-quality career pathways. Key components of this effort included increasing partner engagement, developing a strategic plan based on a statewide survey, and designing a communications strategy to advance current and future career readiness initiatives at the state level.

Phase One of JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s New Skills for Youth grant extended from May to October 2016. With bold visions for improving career readiness in K-12 education, each Phase One state spent the grant period performing a diagnostic assessment of their career preparation system and preparing for implementation of a new action plan. This snapshot describes Pennsylvania’s experience and progress in Phase One, including promising practices and innovations. Additional snapshots from other Phase One New Skills for Youth states are available here.