Readiness
- Create flexibility for students to pursue internships and apprenticeships while in school and align career and technical programs with jobs that are in high demand.
- Establish a workforce cabinet to execute a clear vision with better coordination.
- Launch a statewide campaign to support the work of technical and trade schools and opportunities that exist for the future workforce.
Roughly six in 10 jobs in Arkansas require advanced credentials beyond a high school diploma, but less than half of the state’s workers meet these requirements. Every Arkansas student deserves opportunities to graduate on a path toward prosperity.
Commitments
In order to ensure students in Arkansas have a strong and robust pathway to the workforce, ADE commits to:
- Build Career-Ready Pathways to a Diploma: Develop processes and requirements for career-ready pathways to ensure they lead to high-wage, high growth careers for all graduates.
- Align Student Success Plans with Career-Ready Pathways: Create a template for the ‘student success plans’ that aligns with career-ready pathways and provide guidance and support for districts on how to implement them.
- Conduct an annual audit of the state’s career pathways: Engage third-party experts to conduct an annual audit of the state’s career pathways, the first of which is due on July 10, 2023.