Learning for Careers  provides a comprehensive account of the Pathways to Prosperity Network, a national initiative focused on helping more young people successfully complete high school, attain a first postsecondary credential with value in the labor market, and get started on a career without foreclosing the opportunity for further education.  It takes as its starting point the influential 2011 Pathways to Prosperity report, which challenged the prevailing idea that the core mission of high schools was to prepare all students for college. In response, the Pathways Network was founded in 2012 to promote cooperative arrangements between educational and business institutions in order to fashion pathways for young people to acquire twenty-first-century skills and achieve professional success. This book traces the evolution of the Pathways Network over the past five years, focusing on the efforts of a diverse set of states and regions to build systems that span high school and the first two years of postsecondary education. States such as Delaware and Tennessee have been highly effective in establishing systems designed to equip students with credentials valued in the contemporary labor market. At the same time, the authors acknowledge the technical, political, and cultural challenges in redesigning career-focused education to produce satisfactory outcomes for young people throughout the country. Learning for Careers offers a way forward for the millions of young people and employers that face a rapidly evolving and ever more competitive globalized workplace. This book will be essential reading for all who have a stake in educational and economic opportunity in the United States. Learning for Careers provides a comprehensive account of the Pathways to Prosperity Network, a national initiative focused on helping more young people successfully complete high school, attain a first postsecondary credential with value in the labor market, and get started on a career without foreclosing the opportunity for further education. Outlining a strategy for securing the good jobs that are open, Learning for Careers offers a way forward for the millions of young people that face a rapidly evolving and ever more competitive globalized workplace. "Hoffman and Schwartz provide a thorough and thoughtful summary of how states are taking on the challenge of ensuring more students are career-ready-not just college-ready-and specifically prepared for high-growth and high-demand jobs." -- Candice McQueen, commissioner, Tennessee Department of Education "This experience-packed, on-point book will sharpen our oft fumbling effort to make real the 'career' part of 'college- and career-ready' and furnish many more young Americans with a rigorous, respectable, and lucrative alternative to the 'four-year degree for all' goal." -- Chester E. Finn, Jr., distinguished senior fellow and president emeritus, Thomas B. Fordham Institute "Pathways to Prosperity is giving thousands of Delaware young people the opportunity to learn valuable skills that will serve them well in the workplace. The best part is seeing how engaged these young people are as they think about their future." -- Jack Markell, governor of Delaware (2009-2017) " Learning for Careers is a must-read for educators, employers, and civic leaders who are partnering to prepare young people for twenty-first-century careers." --Judy and Jamie Dimon, The Dimon Family Foundation " Learning for Careers is essential reading for everyone interested in how to smartly combine rigorous academics with real-world application." -- Darrell Steinberg, mayor of Sacramento, former president of the California State Senate, and author of the California Career Pathways Trust Nancy Hoffman is a senior advisor at Jobs for the Future, and a cofounder of the Pathways to Prosperity Network. Robert B. Schwartz is a professor emeritus of practice in educational policy and administration at Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a cofounder of the Pathways to Prosperity Network. Learning for Careers provides a comprehensive account of the Pathways to Prosperity Network, a national initiative focused on helping more young people successfully complete high school, attain a first postsecondary credential with value in the labor market, and get started on a career without foreclosing the opportunity for further education. Outlining a strategy for securing the good jobs that are open, Learning for Careers offers a way forward for the millions of young people that face a rapidly evolving and ever more competitive globalized workplace.   "Hoffman and Schwartz provide a thorough and thoughtful summary of how states are taking on the challenge of ensuring more students are career-ready–not just college-ready–and specifically prepared for high-growth and high-demand jobs.”  — Candice McQueen, commissioner, Tennessee Department of Education   “This experience-pac