Delaware has long taken pride in its public- and private-sector leadership: it was the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution, and is known both as the “corporate capital of the world” and the birthplace of the modern poultry industry. Wilmington, its largest city, is considered “the chemical capital of the world.”
In terms of education, Career Pathways, a program launched in 2015, is demonstrating how the state government and nongovernmental bodies can collaborate to make Delaware a national leader on education reform and workforce development. Although the government will always play a major role in public education initiatives, Career Pathways shows how the business community, whose long-term success requires skilled employees, can engage in preparing young people to become productive participants in the workforce.
Pathways is still very much a work in progress. The first students to complete the high school program received their diplomas in 2019, so there is no data available on how many have entered the workforce or continued their studies in a two- or four-year degree program. And, with the program still evolving, much work remains to be done to develop a sustainable infrastructure.
However, even with those caveats, the Delaware initiative is a model for others to study and emulate. “We think of Delaware as the poster child for Pathways nationally,” says Robert B. Schwartz, co-author of a 2011 Harvard Graduate School of Education report that called on educators, employers and governments to create support systems so that “by the time they reach their early 20s, every young adult will be equipped with the education and experience he or she needs to lead a successful life as an adult.”
After working on that report, Schwartz teamed with the Boston-based Jobs for the Future to start forming networks of states and cities interested in developing “Pathways” systems. The Jobs for the Future network has grown to include Pathways programs in 15 states—nine of these are statewide, two are in large cities and the others are regional.
While details vary based on location, Pathways is a collaborative effort among the education, government and business sectors to offer a curriculum that spans middle and high school to help ensure students become productive employees in growth professions after graduation.
“Delaware is distinctive,” Schwartz says. “It put together a coalition that cut across agencies—public, private and nonprofit. only.” In most states, it’s a government activity And this shows how civil society can play a significant role in solving social challenges.
