Career Development Opportunities in Washington, DC Public Schools

Project

May 28, 2025

Attaining a stable, family-sustaining, fulfilling career requires individuals to have technical skills, professional competencies, education or certifications, social and emotional aptitudes, and knowledge of and access to pathways to enter jobs of their choice. In Washington, DC, middle and high school students have various career development opportunities (CDOs) to help them learn about potential careers and gain prerequisite knowledge and skills.

A CDO might generate or sustain student understanding and interest in a specific career or career field; provide instruction in academic, technical, and employability skills; build general or specific knowledge about careers and career development; or provide experiences required to enter and succeed in various careers. Examples of CDOs range from structured multicourse programs of study at school-based career academies, elective career and technical education coursework, internships, apprenticeships, and informal or less-structured programming, such as career counseling, job fairs, and career and technical student organizations.

The DC Education Research Collaborative, with researchers from the Urban Institute, Georgetown University, and the D.C. Policy Center, and in partnership with District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS), is conducting a multiyear study to examine CDOs for the more than 20,000 middle and high school students enrolled in DCPS.

About the Study

The project spans four years (2024–2028) and is divided into two phases:

Phase 1 (2024–2025): Conduct a landscape analysis of career development programs available to DCPS students. Phase 1 will generate a comprehensive inventory of CDOs and will detail program components, intended participants and outcomes, funding sources, management structures, and the ways students access each program. The study will compile available data on the numbers and characteristics of students who participate in each program, as well as any program outcomes, and will explore how opportunities and access to them are distributed throughout the city.
Phase 2 (2025–2028): Focus on a single CDO selected with input from educators and community stakeholders. This phase will involve a detailed impact study using mixed-methods research to analyze the program’s implementation, costs, and outcomes, including professional certifications, postsecondary education, employment, and wages.

The research reported here was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, US Department of Education, through Grant R305N240059 to the Urban Institute. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Urban Institute or the US Department of Education.

PROJECT TEAM

Dara Zeehandelaar Shaw, principal investigator, Urban Institute

Rebecca A. Johnson, co-principal investigator, Georgetown University

Yesim Sayin, co-principal investigator, D.C. Policy Center

Amanda Briggs, implementation study lead, Urban Institute

Chelsea Coffin, landscape analysis lead, D.C. Policy Center

Daniel Kuehn, cost study lead, Urban Institute

Hannah Mason, research analyst, D.C. Policy Center

Ariella Meltzer, project manager and research analyst, Urban Institute

Stephanie Petrov, research analyst, Urban Institute

PUBLICATIONS

First Look: Career Development Opportunities for Students in Washington, DC, Public Schools (May 2025)

Q&A: Homegrown Leadership—How a Career Academy Director Empowers Students through Career Education (June 2025)