by Jill Barshay, The Hechinger Report
May 4, 2026

Career “pathways” have become a big idea in high school reform. The goal is to give all students a structured sequence of courses in a career field, along with early exposure to the workplace and opportunities to build practical, job-related skills. 

Many aspects of these programs are similar to the curriculums at traditional vocational schools. But this newer incarnation simultaneously aims to make the vocational high school more college oriented and the comprehensive high school more career oriented. 

Are the millions of dollars invested in these programs actually helping students get a head start on college and careers?

That question can’t be fully answered yet. But a new research report from Delaware — a national leader in the pathways movement — offers some early clues.

The state launched career pathways in 2014. Today, about 70 percent of high school students, or 30,000 teenagers, are enrolled, according to the nonprofit Rodel, which works with Delaware policymakers to reform education and improve the state’s workforce. 

Ideally, students take a sequence of three or more courses in fields like healthcare, construction or education. Many also earn early college credits or make significant progress toward industry certifications, and some participate in internships or apprenticeships. 

Researchers at RTI International, a nonprofit research organization, tracked more than 6,000 graduates who had completed at least two courses in a career field and surveyed them to see what they were doing in the years immediately after high school.

Three-quarters of the students surveyed were enrolled in college or another postsecondary training program after graduation, which is higher than the national average of 63 percent. But fewer than half were still studying or working in the field they had chosen in high school. 

For example, among students who completed a pathway in architecture and construction, fewer than 20 percent pursued construction-related majors. Many shifted instead to fields like science and engineering (40 percent), business (8 percent) or healthcare (6 percent).

Most popular high-school pathway fields in Delaware

That mismatch isn’t necessarily a failure. For some students, the wrong path was clarifying.

“When the students talked to us about it, they really considered it valuable to learn something they didn’t like,” said Sandra Staklis, lead author of the RTI report. “One student told us, ‘Oh, my mom and my aunt are nurses. And so I tried it out. And it turned out it wasn’t for me, but it was good to know that.’”

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Students also talked about gaining a broader set of skills that are useful in any field. “Students said they were learning those workplace skills like time management and working with other people on a project,” said Staklis. “A lot of academic work traditionally has been more individual, like reading a book or taking a test.” 

Still, the findings raise a fundamental question: Are pathways meant to steer students into specific career fields, or help them figure out what they don’t want to do?

Students also described how much they valued the mentoring they received from their instructors, many of whom didn’t spend their professional lives in schools but in industry. One student profiled in the report, Kwame, said his teachers in the healthcare field showed him how to break down dense medical material and so he could study to earn his paramedic certification. He’s now majoring in public health at a four-year college and hopes to become a surgeon. 

Two lessons stood out from the Delaware study.

• Workplace experience matters most but is hardest for schools to deliver. Students who participated in internships or apprenticeships were more likely to continue in their field, the report found. Another student named James, also profiled in the report, pursued an education pathway in high school and, during his senior year, he shadowed a teacher, which taught him a lot about managing classroom behavior. He’s now pursuing an associate degree in elementary education. 

But these opportunities are difficult for schools to provide, requiring coordination with employers as well as solutions for scheduling and transportation. 

Workplace learning was more common in vocational high schools, where students often complete core coursework earlier and can spend more time outside the building during their senior year. By contrast, one-time experiences — such as guest speakers or field trips — had less impact but were easier for schools to arrange.

• Students need better guidance especially when they want to change direction. Once students start a pathway, it can be difficult to switch. “If you’re a junior and you want to switch to a different pathway, you’d have to go back taking classes that are mostly freshmen and sophomores, and it just becomes logistically difficult to allow that,” said Staklis. 

Luke Rhine, vice president for postsecondary success at Rodel, which commissioned the analysis, said the findings were encouraging but point to a need for stronger advising, which he calls “navigational support.”

The report also points to more questions for future research. 

It’s unclear how much of the higher college-going rate can be attributed to pathways themselves. The study is not causal, Staklis said, and students who complete these sequences may already have been more likely to pursue further education. Other incentives to pursue higher education could also be playing a role, including Delaware’s generous scholarship programs, which cover tuition at Delaware Technical Community College and Delaware State University for many students. 

While a majority of students were working, most were in part-time jobs in retail, delivery or fast-food that fit in with their studies. Longer-term outcomes — including careers and earnings — remain unknown.

Young, employed — and unhappy

Some researchers question the structure of the pathways model in a rapidly changing economy. Kerry McKittrick, co-director of the Project on Workforce at Harvard University, issued a report last week, “Pivots Without Pathways: Career Navigation in a Fragmented Labor Market,” based on an analysis of community college students and young adults. McKittrick argues that it might not make sense to require young students to go through a sequence of technical training classes for jobs that may not exist in five years.

“Pathways are a powerful option, but this linear path to a career is really the exception,” said McKittrick.”In a world where jobs continue to change, we also need to equip students and workers with the skills they need. … I’m talking about adaptability and decision making and information literacy and networking.”

Those skills, argues McKittrick, aren’t learned in a classroom, but through trial and error.  What’s most important, according to McKittrick, is for young people to have the opportunity to explore professions beyond what adults in their family do and to develop networks. 

Notably, she agrees with one of the Delaware report’s central findings: Workplace experience may be the most valuable component of a pathways program. 

Contact staff writer Jill Barshay at 212-678-3595, jillbarshay.35 on Signal, or barshay@hechingerreport.org.

This story about high school pathways was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers education. Sign up for Proof Points and other Hechinger newsletters.

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The piping plover is still endangered on Delaware’s beaches, but it is holding steady in the First State.

The birds could always use extra protection, though. A group of volunteers went to the Officers Club at Cape Henlopen State Park on May 2 to learn how they will help keep the birds’ sensitive habitat free from human disturbance. Signs, chains and posts close off The Point, a sandy peninsula that spits out to the Delaware Bay. Piping plovers nest there and need that exact habitat to emerge from their endangered status.

The volunteers will station at those posts to let people know they can’t go through to The Point. If the visitors do, law enforcement might be contacted. Human disturbance, trash and development are some of the most pressing threats to nesting shorebirds on the Atlantic coast, including the piping plover.

The plovers nest on sandy beaches with limited vegetation.

There are more threats to the birds besides humans. Red foxes, dogs, cats and bigger birds like seagulls and crows can harm them. Ongoing sea-level rise doesn’t help either.

“Less beach means less space for them to go,” said Shawn Sullivan in a presentation to volunteers, beach-nesting bird biologist with the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s Fish and Wildlife Division.

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The piping plover is a small shorebird with a gray back and a distinct black “eyebrow” above its eyes and beak. The birds can be found from Canada through the Mid-Atlantic in the summer months, including here in Cape Henlopen State Park. They usually arrive around March, and fledging birds are usually migrating south in August and September. Plovers have a incubation period of about 25-28 days in their eggs.

Adults grow to about 7 inches, so the chicks are tiny.

“The payoff is the fuzzballs you get,” Sullivan said about the chicks.

Plover populations in Delaware are concentrated at The Point and at Fowler Beach near Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge. In 2025, there were nine pairs of plovers at Cape Henlopen, 21 pairs at Fowler Beach and 30 chicks, 27 of which fledged. That’s more pairs than in 2024, but 10 fewer fledging chicks than in 2024.

Protecting the piping plover

The regional goal for the piping plover population is to get 2,000 pairs of plovers and 1.5 chicks per pair for five straight years. Delaware has an advantage in plover protection that other states don’t, Sullivan said.

The ability to close the Point and Fowler Beach completely from March through the fall helps the birds, Sullivan said, and other states don’t have large beach habitats closed like that. The creation of Fowler Beach is a “saving grace,” Sullivan said, because the Cape Henlopen population is small, but steady.

The bayside of The Point is closed until October, and the ocean side is closed until September.

Nests are surrounded with fences and netting so only the plovers can get in or out, which Sullivan said works. It protects from foxes, coyotes, larger birds and more.

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Sullivan said Southern states, New York and New Jersey are struggling with piping plover population maintenance, and New England states like Massachusetts are faring much better.

Sullivan said the birds receive color-coded bands when they hatch so the population can be tracked. Eight adults and 63 chicks have been banded. If you see a piping plover with a colored band around its leg, let the state know at deshorebirds@delaware.gov so they can keep a track of the population.

How to help piping plovers

Volunteers will be stationed at the rope that is closing The Point off from the Cape Henlopen State Park bay and ocean beaches. Do not walk past that rope, and listen to the volunteers.

Most of the volunteers are older in age, which is representative of the area’s population. But some younger people showed up to the May 2 meeting to learn about how they can keep The Point pristine. Kathryn Lienhard, a 27-year-old from Lewes, said she is volunteering because she cares about shorebirds and their habitat and wants to support them. Seeing a few of the birds would be cool, too.

“We all share in the benefits of our natural resources. It’s up to all of us, including young people, to take care of them,” she said.

If interested, fill out the form that more than 100 people already signed at DNREC’s website. They are looking for volunteers who can stay out there in a beach chair during peak daytime hours, weekends and holidays.

Shane Brennan covers Wilmington and other Delaware issues. Reach out with ideas, tips or feedback at slbrennan@delawareonline.com.