Kentucky was one of the 10 states selected to participate in New Skills for Youth (NSFY). NSFY, launched by JPMorgan Chase & Co. in 2016, is a $75 million, five-year initiative, aimed at strengthening and expanding high-quality career pathways for youth. As part of this initiative, the Council of Chief State School Officers, Advance CTE and Education Strategy Group worked with states to improve their career readiness systems.
This snapshot profiles the work Kentucky did to enhance its career readiness system across the entire NSFY initiative. Between 2016 and 2019, Kentucky:
- Fully aligned all career pathways with labor market priorities: Kentucky transformed and phased out virtually every career pathway that was not well aligned with labor market demand.
- Implemented the regional career academy model: Kentucky converted shared-time area technical centers and locally operated career and technical centers into regional career academies — full-time schools where students receive both academic and career instruction — to remove barriers to access for learners.
- Improved CTE teacher induction and support: In 2017, Kentucky upgraded its New Teacher Institute program to provide more consistent supports to increase educator retention rates, especially in low-income and rural areas lacking professional development infrastructure for teachers.
- Expanded access to dual credit opportunities aligned to learners’ career pathways: The commonwealth moved to reduce barriers to entry for dual credit opportunities and minimize “random acts of dual credit.”
To learn more about the history of the New Skills for Youth Kentucky initiative, visit any of the following resources:
To learn more about 10 New Skills for Youth states, visit the New Skills for Youth Impact Snapshots series page.
