Thinking Beyond Job Titles: A More Robust and Purposeful Approach to Middle School Career Exploration
By Jen Perry
At this fall's meeting of the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) Career Readiness Collaborative, Michael Pflug, Program Coordinator for Teaching & Learning Services at Texas Region 10 Education Service Center, shared a simple reframing that's stuck with me ever since:
Instead of asking students, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” he asks, “What problems do you want to solve?”
It’s a small shift in language, but it opens up entirely different conversations. Students aren't locked into job titles they've heard of or careers their parents understand. Instead, they're connecting their interests and strengths to real-world challenges—and from there, discovering pathways they might never have considered.
This reframing captures what I kept hearing throughout the conference: we know middle school career exploration matters, we know the kinds of tools needed to support it, but implementing those tools in ways that actually transform student outcomes remains elusive. The gap isn't in what to do, it's in building the integrated systems that make career exploration meaningful rather than just another box to check.
Why Middle School Is the Critical Window
Research shows students start narrowing career options between ages 9 and 13—long before most receive formal guidance—and confirms that this is when students rule out entire fields based on assumptions like “that’s not for people like me.”
ACTE's research identifies middle school as when "career guidance activities directed at junior high school students had the largest effect on career decision-making and understanding of careers." Yet the conference revealed a troubling gap: according to ASA and Education Strategy Group's 50-state analysis, only 20% of states collect data on middle school career exploration quality, just 16% include it in accountability plans, and a mere 8% have a strong ecosystem of organizations supporting the work.
Missing this window has real costs. One student shared how years on a health sciences track—following parental footsteps—ended with a late pivot to engineering. The change saved time and money, but only because exploration happened early enough to redirect.
The Implementation Gap
There’s a persistent gap between what state policy intends and how it’s enacted in schools—especially in middle school career exploration, where requirements are often minimal or inconsistent. Students and teachers frequently experience these policies differently than intended. Too often, career exploration feels like box-checking rather than impactful learning.
Yet, across conversations at CCSSO, one point was clear: middle school is the right place to double down on active exposure and authentic experiences. Why? Because this is the window when students begin ruling out entire career fields, often based on assumptions rather than actual interests or abilities.
Several systemic challenges surfaced:
- Fragmented Implementation: Schools may know what tools they need, but without integrated systems, those tools remain isolated activities rather than part of a coherent student journey.
- Student Voice and Visibility: Students often don’t recognize career readiness activities embedded in their curriculum. Without explicit connections and reflection, these experiences fail to shape decision-making.
- Parent Influence: ASA research confirmed parents are the number one influence on career decisions—far surpassing teachers and counselors. But parents often guide based on yesterday’s workforce. States like Pennsylvania and Vermont are addressing this through individualized career plans and Personalized Learning Plans, creating natural engagement points for families.
- Community Partnerships: As Michael Pflug reminded us, today’s sixth graders are tomorrow’s local workforce. Schools that build intentional connections with regional employers—through mentorships, project-based learning, and authentic exposure—help students see real pathways and keep educators responsive to evolving labor market needs.
- Durable Skills Gap: Research shows employers consistently value problem-solving, communication, adaptability, and teamwork—skills that endure across decades of technological change. Yet most career exploration stops at interest inventories without explicitly embedding these competencies into learning experiences.
- Data Blind Spots: Most states track high school indicators like concentrator completion and credential attainment, but few measure the quality or impact of middle school career exploration. States such as Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Texas are signaling a shift by incorporating career readiness into accountability systems, but for many, this remains an unmeasured priority.
The takeaway? Tools alone aren’t enough. What’s needed is a comprehensive ecosystem—one that makes exploration explicit, portable across grades, and connected to both academic learning and real-world opportunities.
Moving Forward: From Tools to Ecosystems
Career exploration isn’t a single activity; it’s a system. Schools need comprehensive career exploration systems that help students see the connections between their interests, potential pathways, and their academic learning. Here’s what that system needs:
- Start Early and Integrate Broadly: Build intentional, cross-content career exploration, including explicit focus for grades 6–12.
- Make Connections Explicit: Help students see how classroom learning links to real-world possibilities.
- Engage Parents and Communities: Provide families with up-to-date career information and create authentic employer partnerships.
- Track Progress Over Time: Use portable documentation like Personalized Learning Plans so students can set goals and reflect across grades.
- Empower Students with Data: Pair academic measures (Lexile, Quantile) with strong support systems to foster growth mindsets—not limit aspirations.
- Focus on Durable Skills: Embed problem-solving, communication, and adaptability throughout exploration—not as standalone “soft skills” units but as the connective tissue between learning and application.
The Invitation
Michael Pflug’s question wasn’t just a clever reframe. It was a challenge to all of us: Are we preparing students for job titles—or for lives of purpose and possibility? The answer depends on whether we build the ecosystems that make exploration meaningful, measurable, and transformative.
Jen Perry is Senior Manager of Learning Design at Edmentum where she focuses on pedagogical best practice for K-12 curriculum. With over 30 years’ experience spanning teaching, administration, and program management in diverse educational and community settings, she is currently focusing on integrating durable/employment skills and executive function into K–12 curriculum, aligning learning design with evolving workforce and policy needs.
As author of “Building Workforce-Ready Students: A Developmental Approach to Durable Skills for College and Career,” Jen’s work emphasizes integrating durable skills alongside technical competencies to support long-term student success. She has contributed to published research on alternatives to detention, developmental assets for youth, and chronic absenteeism. Jen has presented nationally and internationally for translating brain science and research into actionable strategies that advance student engagement, workforce readiness, and policy alignment.
To learn more about building powerful career exploration systems that start in middle school, explore these Edmentum solutions and resources:
Career-Connected Learning Toolkit
A free resource kit that includes practical guides, templates, on-demand webinars, and more to help schools create career exploration and technical education pathways for all students.
Edmentum’s career exploration platform for grades 6-12 that helps students connect their interests to real-world pathways through interactive career “test drives,” micro-credentials, and work-based learning tools, giving educators insights to guide planning and track student readiness.
Our personalized learning solution helps students build foundational skills essential to future success. Using Lexile and Quantile measures to tailor instruction in reading, language, and math, it empowers middle schoolers to close skill gaps and connect their learning to future opportunities.