At the broadest level, college and career readiness characterizes students who have the necessary levels of proficiency to enter college or career training programs without remedial assistance (Conley, 2012). However, those levels and types of proficiency vary depending on the goals and next steps chosen by the students. That is to say, CCR for entering a four-year college may be slightly different from CCR for starting a certificate program or entering a technical training program. Yet, some areas of overlap have been postulated. Conley (2012) generated four keys to CCR, including key learning skills, key content knowledge, key cognitive strategies, and key transition skills. Conley's definition is seen throughout the CCR literature as an early example that has continued influence on the scholarly conversation. NOSCA, the College Board National Office for School Counselor Advocacy (2010), put forward a list of eight components of college and career readiness tied to the work done by school counselors as key contributors to CCR. NOSCA's list included promoting college aspirations, academic planning, extracurricular engagement, college/career exploration, college/career assessments, college financing, college/career admissions, and the transition from high school to the next setting. Alternatively, the American School Counselor Association, or ASCA (2014), described college and career readiness as mind-sets and behaviors that could be organized by domain (academic, career, social/emotional) and broken down into actionable standards (e.g., demonstrate ability to work independently, create relationships with adults that support success). The ASCA (2014) definition expands beyond academic learning and career skills to incorporate personal/social skills and non-cognitive variables, such as self-beliefs, social skills, self-management skills, and learning strategies. Conley (2012) also mentions the importance of attitudes like resilience, motivation, and self-regulation, but notes that his four keys are based on attributes that can be taught or influenced within the schools. Thus, the accountability movement has influenced what is seen as possible or feasible to measure in terms of students' CCR outcomes, and perhaps curtailed our discussion of what CCR ideally could mean to students, families, and school counselors.
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