The Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES) announced today that a team lead by the DC Education Research Collaborative will be awarded $3,040,567 as part of a highly competitive four-year grant. The Collaborative will join the Career & Technical Education Research Network, supported by IES, to examine the availability, quality, and impact of career development opportunities that support secondary school learners on education outcomes in states and districts across the nation. The Collaborative, in partnership with researchers at DC Policy Center, Georgetown University, and the Urban Institute, is excited to conduct critical research on the career development opportunities available to students in DC Public Schools (DCPS). The team will work closely with DCPS, the DC Office of the State Superintendent of Education, and the University of the District of Columbia to share data and expertise.
The Collaborative’s study will explore career development opportunities for DCPS middle and high school students, to inform decisions that support equitably and effectively preparing students for the workforce. In Phase 1, the researchers will explore the landscape of career development opportunities available to DCPS secondary students (which include career academies, formal coursework, internships, apprenticeships, career coaching, student organizations, and career exploration). The analysis will describe each program’s components, locations, participants, cost, management structure, goals, and outcomes, and explore whether opportunities are allocated equitably throughout the school district.
Based on the results from Phase 1 and community stakeholder guidance, the research team will select a single program to explore in detail in a Phase 2 impact study. The impact study will use qualitative and quantitative research methodologies to understand the implementation and impact of the program, Over the four year period, the research team will share its findings through reports, policy briefs, and articles available to the entire DC education community.
The team is led by Principal Investigator Dara Zeehandelaar Shaw, Research Director of the DC Education Research Collaborative/Urban Institute, and co-Principal Investigators Rebecca Johnson, Assistant Professor at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy, and Yesim Sayin, Executive Director of DC Policy Center.
“A deeper understanding of students’ access to career development opportunities, and their outcomes, will support decisions that make effective and equitable programs available to more students across the city,” said Shaw. “This is critical for students from historically marginalized communities as they prepare to enter DC metro region’s high-wage jobs market.”
Both phases of the study will center around the equity of access and opportunity. The project will inform educators, city leaders, and community stakeholders as they work together to create equitable opportunities that facilitate DCPS graduates’ transitions to successful and fulfilling careers.
