Social-Emotional and Character Skills: Keeping it Simple

By Sam Piha and Ruth Obel-Jorgensen

There is a growing body of research that affirms that social-emotional skills and character development increase academic performance and are essential to success in work and career. Expanded learning programs are uniquely positioned to develop these skills. As a result there is a growing dialogue between expanded learning programs and the school day. 

By design, expanded learning programs are uniquely positioned to promote social-emotional and character development of young people. However, if afterschool and summer programs are to provide active and engaged learning opportunities and build skills through sequencing and mastery, they must be very intentional in their work. 

The problem with the acceptance of the importance of these skills is the large number of “lists” and frameworks that describe these skills. This often adds confusion and a sense of overwhelm. 

In California, a collaborative of intermediary organizations (ASAPconnect, California School-Age Consortium, Partnership for Children and Youth, and Temescal Associates/LIAS) came together to develop a simplified framework. With funding from the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, we convened a research advisory group. This group looked at the available literature and contributed to a concept paper to synthesize the research. The result was a concept paper entitled, Student Success Comes Full Circle: Leveraging Expanded Learning Opportunities. 

The paper identified the foundational social-emotional and character skills that high-quality expanded learning programs should foster. These skills include self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, interpersonal skills, self-efficacy and growth mindset. It represents a call to action to school district leaders and expanded learning professionals to forge and strengthen partnerships to build social-emotional and character skills of children and youth. 

As the Common Core standards focus the school day on promoting interpersonal and social skills, now is the time for expanded learning programs to intentionally build these skills and to increase their partnership with the school day. 

For a copy of this framework and concept paper, click here. For more information and resources, visit www.expandedlearning360-365.com. 

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Register Now: How Kids Learn V Conference

By Sam Piha

Sam Piha

Preparing youth for success in career and work is an important responsibility of the expanded learning movement. If we are to achieve economic equity, young people must have access to activities that prepare them. This means starting with activities for young children to build their "soft" skills and help make them aware of diverse career fields. It also means offering experiences for older youth that build their "soft" and "hard" skills and experiences in workplace settings. (See previous posts on Employability Skills and on the Work-Based Learning Continuum.)


This will be the focus of our upcoming How Kids Learn V Conference, in Berkeley on December 10, 2015 and Los Angeles on January 21, 2016. 

Hear from leading thinkers and researchers, and innovative afterschool practitioners. We will also feature a number of young people who will tell us how preparation experience in expanded learning programs affected their lives and how we can be more successful. 

Speakers will include: 

• Pedro Noguera, Distinguished Professor of Education, UCLA (LA Only)
• Jenny Nagaoka, Deputy Director, University of Chicago and lead author of the recently released Wallace Report entitled, Foundations for Young Adult Success (Berkeley Only)
• Alvaro Cortes, Executive Director, Beyond the Bell/LAUSD (LA Only)
• Alex Taghavian, Vice President, Linked Learning Alliance
• Michael Funk, Director, After School Division at the California Department of Education 
• Beth Kay, Linked Learning Manager, Foundation for California Community Colleges

In addition to the above speakers, we will host a bevy of workshops led by innovative practitioners who work with young people, K-12. Workshop topics include:

• Serving Elementary School Youth
• Serving Middle School Youth
• Serving High School Youth
• Partnering with Community Colleges
• Youth Entrepreneurship and Social Enterprise
• “Girl Power”: Serving the Needs of Girls and Young Women (Berkeley Only)
• “Cyber Patriots”: Preparing Youth for Success (LA Only)

For more information, go to www.howkidslearn.org.

To register:

• Berkeley, December 10, 2015: http://bit.ly/HKLVBerkeley
• Los Angeles, January 21, 2016: http://bit.ly/HKLVLosAngeles  

The Town Kitchen: Walking the Talk, Putting Great Food in a Box

By Sam Piha

Sam Piha

We are proud to use The Town Kitchen to cater our How Kids Learn V - Berkeley conference on December 10 and our HKL Speaker's Forum on December 11. The Town Kitchen is a social enterprise which is focused on training youth for work and career success. 

Their vision is to create community through local food; a community where low-income Oakland youth can shine; a community where they will introduce under-served youth to talented chefs & start-up entrepreneurs so they have the skills and network to pursue their future.

You can learn more about The Town Kitchen by visiting their website. Click on the photo below to view their video. 

The Town Kitchen was founded by Sabrina Mutukisna. Sabrina will also present The Town Kitchen story at the How Kids Learn V conference in Berkeley. Below, she responded to a number of our questions.

Sabrina Mutukisna,
Co-Founder and CEO
The Town Kitchen

Q: Can you say a little bit about the Town Kitchen? What is your mission and what is it that you offer for youth? 

A: The Town Kitchen is a community-driven food business that employs and empowers low-income youth. We deliver chef-crafted boxed lunch to Bay Area corporate clients. We also provide fair-wage jobs, entrepreneurial training, and access to college course credit for young people with barriers to employment. 

Q: In what way do you consider the Town Kitchen as a social enterprise? 

A: As a for-profit benefit corporation, we're both positioned for growth and committed to supporting young people. We measure our impact not only through our revenue but through the number of young people who have completed our training, who are actively employed, and are enrolled in post-secondary education.

Q: What do you think that youth value most about being involved in your organization? 

A: That's a great question. I think they value the community the most. They get to come to work and there are multiple people invested in their well-being. They get to be themselves and talk about what's going on in their lives. To be honest, I think we all need this at work but it's especially important for young people who are carrying so much on their shoulders.

I think our youth employees also value being an important part of the business. We're a small company, so they play a pivotal role in our growth. It's important we all produce a high-quality product and make customer service a priority.

Q: Do you believe that there is an equity problem in offering youth of color opportunities for workplace learning? If yes, do you think this is important? And why? 

A: Employing young people means they are less likely to be incarcerated and more likely to graduate from college. Currently, white youth are twice more likely to be employed than young people of color.  This is an issue in the immediate -- oftentimes youth of color need jobs to support their families. It's also a longterm issue. Access to workplace learning helps young people build transferable skills, expand professional networks and, most importantly, become confident in their abilities. 

Workplace learning is also a place where we expose youth to different careers across the educational spectrum. I think this is a huge issue when we think of systemic privilege. People do what they know. If youth of color never meet another person of color with an advanced degree, chances are, they aren't going to pursue it. 

Q: Do you encourage your youth to think of the food preparation industry as a career choice? Or do you encourage them to think in another way? 

A: Yes and no. We recognize that there are systemic inequities within the food system too. Oftentimes, folks of color are in the back of restaurants. As a minority-owned business, we hope to disrupt this hierarchy. We're inspired by our partners at Red Bay and Mamacitas Cafe who are championing change. And by the folks at People's Kitchen that actively work for food workers rights. Some of our young people are really passionate about becoming executive chefs and we certainly want to encourage them. Our job is to prepare them to be competitive and employable if and when they leave us.

The majority of our employees are still figuring out their futures. We don't want to rush them. We want to provide them with a great job while they're working towards their degree. While they're with us, they have conversations about race and privilege, explore entrepreneurship and receive formal and informal mentorship.  Having them employed while in school is a win for us too. The food industry is notorious for high turnover. Retaining employees who are equally passionate about our mission, allows us to build a great company.

Preparing Youth for Work and Career Success: A Research Perspective

By Sam Piha

Sam Piha

We hear from researchers and the business community that preparing youth for work and career success is an essential responsibility of communities, educators, and youth program leaders. Young people should be prepared by the time they leave high school. Expanded learning programs are perfectly situated to contribute to this preparation. This is the theme of our upcoming How Kids Learn conference. 

Regie Stites is Senior Researcher at SRI International who has been evaluating Linked Learning strategies in 9 California school districts. The Linked Learning Alliance is a statewide coalition of education, industry, and community organizations dedicated to improving California’s high schools and preparing students for success in college, career, and life.

Dr. Stites will be one of our featured speakers at the upcoming How Kids Learn V conferences in Berkeley and Los Angeles. He agreed to answer a few of our questions:

Q: Can you highlight some of the evidence we have for positive 

Dr. Regie Stites,
SRI International

outcomes from work-based learning? 

A: Our quantitative analyses have focused on the impacts of the overall Linked Learning experience on student outcomes. The most recent findings from the evaluation indicate that, on average, students in Linked Learning pathways completed more high school credits, were less likely to drop out, were more likely to graduate, had higher GPAs, and were more likely to be classified as ready for college when compared with similar students in traditional high school programs.

We see the most direct evidence of positive student outcomes related to work-based learning in our student survey and focus group data. Students who had participated in work-based learning reported that it gave them opportunities to gain teamwork experience, to practice hands-on skills working with tools, and to apply knowledge and skills gained in the classroom. In focus groups, Linked Learning pathway students frequently described the ways that work-based learning experiences helped them develop awareness of the norms and expectations for behavior in the workplace, helped them develop work-related interpersonal and communication skills, and gave them motivation and clarity in planning further education and choosing a career path. 

Q: Why is preparing youth for work and career success important for young people from low-income neighborhoods? Is there an issue of equity that we should seek to address? 

A: Equity in educational outcomes and in access to college and career are central goals of the Linked Learning work. One of the most fundamental premises of Linked Learning is that all students should be prepared for college and careers. The 9 school districts included in the California Linked Learning District Initiative were chosen for initiative, in part, because they serve predominantly low-income students and communities. In the current economy, a postsecondary credential is the key to employability. But simply getting more low-income students to graduate from high school and enroll in college is not enough. For example, we know that 70% of low-income students who start at a two-year college do not complete a credential within 5 years.

Q: What are some of the challenges and opportunities in this work?

A: The biggest challenge is breaking down the silos that separate educators from each other and from employers. To create seamless transitions from school to college and to employment we need seamless systems. To prepare young people for work and career success we need educators who understand work and employers who understand education. With the Career Pathway Trust Grants and related efforts, California is moving in the direction of developing regional partnerships that bridge gaps between K-12, postsecondary, workforce development, and employment systems. These efforts are just getting off the ground but the potential for fostering greater collaboration across sectors to improve and expand access to a range of high-quality work-based learning opportunities is encouraging.   

Q: Do you think that the out-of-school setting is a good place to prepare youth for success in work and career?

A: The simple answer is yes, the out-of-school setting is essential for preparing youth for work and career success. This is so because out-of-school programs can play a key role in supporting the types of integrated learning activities that connect school learning to real-world applications of knowledge and skills. For many young people, especially young people from low-income neighborhoods, one of the most important keys to educational engagement, persistence, and success is relevance. 

Simple common sense (and research) supports the notion that young people who can clearly see the relevance of what they are learning to their own lives and futures are more likely to persist and be successful in education and, as a result, are more likely to be ready for career success.

The best methods for connecting school learning to real-world applications of knowledge and skills are well known. These methods include project-based learning, experiential learning, service learning, and a range of work-based learning activities. Some of these integrated learning activities, such as project-based learning and some forms of work-based learning may not require an out-of-school setting, but they are stronger when they do.  

Q: Can you offer any advice on what out-of-school programs could do?

A: To give more low-income youth opportunities to participate in extended, high-quality integrated learning activities, out-of-school programs should look for opportunities to work together with classroom teachers and with employers and with community organizations to co-design and jointly deliver such learning activities. Youth will be more motivated and experience deeper learning when they can connect classroom learning with applied learning in an out-of-school setting.

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Regie Stites, Ph.D., will share his research on the impact of Linked Learning projects with schools and youth at the How Kids Learn V Conference. He has two decades of experience in the design and management of large-scale educational research and evaluation in the areas of literacy education, integrated academic and career-technical education, college and career readiness, and workforce development. Major projects include the Evaluation of the California Community College Linked Learning Initiative, the Evaluation of the Linked Learning Health Career Pathways Project in Oakland Unified School District (OUSD), and the Equipped for the Future National Work Readiness Credential Assessment Development and Validation. 

Welcome to Jeff Davis, New Executive Director of the California AfterSchool Network!

By Sam Piha

Sam Piha

We are very happy to congratulate Jeff Davis as the new Executive Director of the California AfterSchool Network (CAN). In our work with Jeff, he has shown himself to be a tireless collaborator who exhibits the openness, transparency, and integrity that the CAN Executive Director must exhibit. He has thorough knowledge of the field, is a strong advocate for the needs of practitioners, and is unafraid to leverage the knowledge of other field leaders. He brings a combination of both passion and attention to detail. 

The announcement by the Network says it best:

Jeff Davis,
Executive Director, CAN

“Jeff has worked with CAN since its inception in 2006, first as Program Coordinator, then as Program Director and most recently as Interim Executive Director. 

As a seasoned expanded learning stakeholder and the author of the State of the State of Expanded Learning in California, Jeff brings a great understanding for the expanded learning landscape including important initiatives and key partners. Jeff’s accomplishments in the field have been well received through his work with STEM and The Power of Discovery, CDE’s statewide Strategic Implementation Teams, the development of Quality Standards for Expanded Learning in California, as well as supporting a number of CAN’s field committees. Jeff’s most recent work has centered around supporting CAN’s transition of fiscal sponsors and procuring of funds to support CAN’s work.

We are fortunate to have such a well-respected, passionate and committed individual in Jeff Davis as CAN’s newest Executive Director. CAN’s Leadership Team is excited to welcome Jeff aboard as Executive Director and looking forward to continuing CAN’s impactful work in the Expanded Learning field.”

   Learn more and contact Jeff Davis.

Work-Based Learning Continuum: Can You Locate Your Program?

By Sam Piha

Sam Piha

We know that, as adults, it is our job to help prepare young people for success in adulthood. This is becoming obvious to educators and those who provide expanded learning programs for youth as we see an increase in opportunities to explore careers and gather work-based skills. 

The Linked Learning Alliance has created a continuum of work-based learning activities. This continuum offers educators and youth program leaders  shared language and activity definitions as a means to locate oneself on this developmental continuum. You can review a paper on this continuum authored by the Linked Learning Alliance here. (The Linked Learning Alliance is a statewide coalition of education, industry, and community organizations dedicated to improving California’s high schools and preparing students for success in college, career, and life.)

Above: Alex Taghavian
Below: Regie Stites

Alex Taghavian, Vice President of the Linked Learning Alliance, will speak at our upcoming How Kids Learn V conference. The focus of this conference is Preparing Youth for Work and Career Success. Alex will share the work-based learning continuum and researcher, Regie Stites from Center for Education Policy at SRI International, will focus on some of the challenges and opportunities for implementation of work-based learning systems based on his findings from the Linked Learning District Initiative evaluation. He will also highlight some of the evidence he has for positive outcomes from work-based learning.

Below we asked Hilary McLean, Executive Vice President of the Linked Learning Alliance, more about the Linked Learning work-based continuum. 

Q: Can you briefly say how and why this continuum was developed? 

Hilary McLean,
Executive Vice President
Linked Learning
Alliance

A: The Linked Learning Work-Based Learning continuum was developed by leaders in the Linked Learning field who have expertise in education and workforce development. It was designed to be a resource to help build understanding about the range of work-based learning opportunities that a student could and should experience as they move through their Linked Learning experience. With that greater understanding, we hoped that this resource would help schools and employer partners design coherent sequenced opportunities for students to interact with employers, apply what they are learning in the classroom in real-world contexts, and gain professional skills that are needed in college and in the workforce. 

Q: This continuum uses the term “work-based”. People often think about "work-based” learning activities that only happen within a work setting and with older youth and young adults. Can you comment on this perception?  

A: Work-based learning can actually start much earlier, by introducing children in primary grades or even preschool to careers and professionals in a range of occupations.  With Linked Learning, the career awareness phase of the continuum typically starts in the students’ freshman year of high school. Some districts that have embraced Linked Learning as a system-wide school improvement strategy start this phase in middle school. 


Q: Who is the intended audience for this continuum and how do you hope it will be used?  

A: We hope that the Linked Learning Work-Based Learning Continuum is used by Linked Learning educators, workforce development boards, intermediaries such as Chambers of Commerce or other organizations that are serving as a connection point between schools and the employer community, coordinators for mayors’ summer jobs initiatives, and anyone who is interested in economic development and improving the workforce pipeline.

Q: Do you believe that it is useful and relevant for youth programs that happen in the out-of-school hours? 

A: Yes we think that this is a huge area of opportunity that has not yet been fully tapped. 

Q: What benefits do you believe this continuum provides to program

Photo Credit: Techbridge Girls

designers and youth workers?  

A: The Linked Learning Work-Based Learning Continuum can provide guidance on how to sequence opportunities for youth so that they are prepared for each step in the process, and can succeed in both learning in and contributing to real-world professional workplaces. 

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LIAS Effectiveness Study

By Sam Piha

Sam Piha

The Learning in Afterschool & Summer (LIAS) project was launched in 2010. In the summer of 2015, the LIAS staff conducted a LIAS Effectiveness Study to gauge our impact on the field and how best to further the project goals. The objectives of this LIAS Effectiveness Study were to:

• Learn how effective the LIAS campaign was in reaching and impacting expanded learning stakeholders and program leaders;
• Learn how effective the individual LIAS strategies were;
• Improve the LIAS campaign going forward; and
• Share with the larger field any learnings that may be helpful to future efforts to improve expanded learning program quality.

We collected 91 surveys completed by Regional Leads, those who oversee or work directly with youth, or provide technical assistance. In terms of geography, most of the respondents are located in Regions 3, 4, 9, and 11. These four regions contain 57% of the total California ASES and 21st CCLC programs. (Source: California Afterschool Network). We also conducted follow up interviews with 20 afterschool leaders across the state. 

Below is a summary of findings from our study. To view the study Executive Summary, click here. To view the full report, click here. 

LIAS effectiveness: 

• The LIAS project has successfully raised awareness of the LIAS principles across the state.
• On average, 74% of respondents reported their contact with LIAS materials. Of those, 67% on average, rated their experience as a 4 or 5 on a 1-5 scale of effectiveness, with 1 being the lowest.
• On average, only 30% of respondents reported an involvement with LIAS support activities. Of those, on average, 79% rated their experience as a 4 or 5 on a 1-5 scale of effectiveness, with 1 being the lowest.
• Of those surveyed, over 84% reported that the LIAS materials and supports impacted their programs. They reported that the LIAS project either changed the way they talk about their programs (49%) or effected their program design (35%).

LIAS strengths: Respondents reported that the language of the LIAS learning principles are clear and understandable (nearly 84%) and the LIAS learning principles can easily be applied to program design and improvement (nearly 69%). 

LIAS weaknesses: A fair number of respondents (22%) thought that the LIAS project can do more outreach to educate practitioners about the LIAS learning principles. Nearly 46% of respondents replied, “No comment”. 

Challenges and barriers to program improvement: Respondents named staff turnover (92%), insufficient funding (86%), and insufficient time (80%) as the largest barrier or challenge. 

Takeaways
Objective 1: Learn how effective the LIAS campaign was in reaching and impacting expanded learning stakeholders and program leaders

• LIAS outreach – The LIAS project has been very successful in spreading the word on the LIAS principles. The newly designed website and LIAS blog have been well received.  

• LIAS impact – The LIAS project reportedly has impacted many by changing the way they talk with others about their program activities and/or changing actual day-to-day practice. Program leaders want more guidance on how to apply LIAS and character building strategies into practice. 

Objective 2: Learn how effective the individual LIAS strategies were

• LIAS materials – The LIAS postcard has been widely distributed across the state and well received by program leaders. However, some of the LIAS materials such as the webinar, are not reaching a large audience. 

• LIAS training opportunities – The LIAS orientations and introductory trainings are an effective educational outreach strategy. However, they do not go far enough in changing practice at the program level. The LIAS learning communities have been well received and judged as effective ways to impact program quality. However, they are not widely available due to issues of cost, commitment, and geography. 

Objective 3: Improve the LIAS campaign going forward

• Diversify audience – It would be useful if the LIAS project could reach out to diverse audiences that impact young people’s learning. These additional audiences include youth program providers outside of the “afterschool circle”, principals and educational administrators, instructors in higher education, museums, libraries, and Parks & Recreation departments. 

• Access to online tools – Because of issues of cost and distance, and because young workers grew up in the digital age, we have been advised to ensure that materials and tools include short videos of actual program practice, are accessible via the Internet, be multimedia, and viewable on smartphones and tablets. 

• Integrate new concepts - materials should include the new state Quality Standards. They should also integrate 21st century learning skills, social emotional learning, building character skills, non-cognitive skills, growth mindsets, and foundations for young adult success. There is also the demand that programs respond to the new state Quality Standards for Expanded Learning Programs and the Common Core State Standards. While it is true that some of these are overlapping, they still present an overwhelming set of “lists”. The LIAS project has been advised to create an approach that integrate these “lists” and the Quality Standards.

Objective 4: Learnings that may be helpful to future efforts to improve expanded learning program quality

• Cost as a barrier - Due to rising labor costs and stagnant grant awards, programs have cut the amount of resources for professional development and program tools. For all of us that work to improve program quality, we have been advised to consider the issue of cost – program materials and training - and even offer stipends to training participants in exchange for a commitment to attendance and program improvement efforts. 

• Other barriers to program improvement – Any effort to improve program quality requires educational outreach that is ongoing due to staff turnover. In addition to continuing these efforts, we have been encouraged to target program leaders, who have longer tenures than frontline staff.  

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We invite you to join us at the How Kids Learn V conference: Preparing Youth for Work and Career Success. To see more information and register, click here. 

Employability Skills Framework

By Sam Piha

Sam Piha

There are a growing number of tools to guide the design and improvement of youth programs. These come in the form of frameworks, program quality measurement tools, self-assessment or reflection surveys. Some are general in nature and some are very content-specific.

If program leaders try to use all of these tools, it can be a bit overwhelming and probably not useful. It is important that programs begin by taking a look inside and answering the question, “What are we about?” and “What needs do youth have and which do we think we should focus on through our program offerings?”. Then, program leaders can select the most appropriate framework, quality assessment tool, or self-reflection survey. 

By “framework”, we are referring to a conceptual structure intended to serve as a support or guide for the design and implementation of a youth program. There are frameworks for youth development, for young adult success, employability skills, character building, social emotional learning, and more. 

RTI International (RTI), one of the world’s leading independent, nonprofit research and development organization, developed an Employability Skills Framework for the U.S. Department of Education. This framework names the skills that employers are looking for and divides this into three categories, each with a subset of skills. They are: 

Effective Relationships

• Interpersonal Skills (understands teamwork and works with others, responds to customer needs, exercises leadership, negotiates to resolve conflicts, respects individual differences)
• Personal Qualities (demonstrates responsibility and self discipline, adapts and shows flexibility, works independently, demonstrates a willingness to learn, demonstrates integrity and professionalism, takes initiative, displays positive attitude and sense of self-worth, takes responsibility for professional growth)

Workplace Skills

• Technology Use (understands and uses technology)
• Systems Thinking (understands and uses systems, monitors and improves systems)
• Communication Skills (communicates verbally, listens actively, comprehends written material, conveys information in writing, observes carefully)
• Information Use (locates, organizes, uses, analyzes, and communicates information)
• Resource Management (Manages time, money, materials, and personnel)

Applied Knowledge

• Critical Thinking Skills (thinks critically, thinks creatively, makes sound decisions, solves problems, reasons, and plans and organizes)
• Applied Academic Skills (uses reading and writing skills, uses mathematical strategies and procedures, uses scientific principles and procedures)

Employability Skills Framework

This framework serves as a valuable tool for programs that wish to prepare young people for success in work and career. When examining this framework, one can appreciate how it overlaps with 21st century learning skills and character building/social emotional skills, and broader frameworks for youth development.

Laura Rasmussen Foster, Program Director of Adult Education Studies at RTI International, led the development of this framework. She will speak about it at our upcoming How Kids Learn V Conference in Berkeley. Below, she answers a few questions we had about the framework.  

Q: Can you briefly say how and why this framework was developed? 

A: It was developed by RTI International for the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education. 

The goal in creating the framework was to look across existing sets of employability skill standards and assessments and identify areas of overlap that would begin to unify this existing work in a common framework. We found right away that there are so many different terms used to describe employability skills and wanted to provide a common language (based on research) for both education and business to use. 

Our work was guided by a technical work group, which included representation from career technical education, adult education, and workforce training organizations. Stakeholder groups reviewed the framework and other key products as they were developed to ensure their applicability to the broad education and workforce fields. 

Q: Who was the intended audience and how do you hope this framework will be used? 

Laura Rasmussen Foster

A: The audience (educators, policy makers, and employers) is intentionally broad, as we recognize the importance of employability skills to all individuals and the need to integrate these skills into education and training programs across grade levels and content areas. Hopefully the framework can be used by these audiences in different ways to meet their specific needs. For example, teachers can review the framework skills, identify those that they already may be teaching and develop lessons for incorporating other skills. Employers can use it as a communication tool for explaining their skill needs to their education partners. Other tips for using the framework are described on audience-specific pages (see http://cte.ed.gov/employabilityskills/index.php/audience/educators, for the educators page, for example).  

Q: Do you believe that it is useful and relevant for youth programs that happen in the out-of-school hours?

A: Yes, definitely. Employability skills are an essential component of college and career readiness, no matter where that preparation takes place. It is not just the responsibility of one career and technical education program or a single teacher to teach all of the framework skills. Instead, they can and should be integrated across educational levels and programs and reinforced in various contexts. 

Q: This framework names several concepts we see in frameworks for character building, youth development, and social emotional learning. What are your thoughts on the overlap? 

A: I’m not surprised about the overlap, as the framework builds on existing sets of skills, standards, and assessments – it was not intended as a new, separate set of skills. Hopefully the overlap helps you understand how youth programs are already addressing these skills and identify any gaps for further work!