The Research Alliance for New York City Schools, in partnership with MDRC, has undertaken a study to understand the recent expansion of career-connected learning (CCL) in New York City’s public education system. Career-connected learning is an umbrella term gaining popularity among policymakers, educators, and employers across the United States (Bierly & Smith, 2019). It refers to a vision for schooling that bridges the divide between college and career preparation, emphasizing integrated educational experiences and systematic, cross-sector coordination that sets students up for “gainful employment and fulfilling lives” (Bierly & Smith, 2024).

This initial report examines two recent CCL initiatives in NYC, Future Ready NYC (FRNYC) and the Career Readiness and Modern Youth Apprenticeship (CRMYA) program. It outlines their design and goals, alongside those of longstanding Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs, and describes how the adoption and spread of these initiatives have changed the landscape of CCL offerings at schools citywide. CTE and FRNYC offer career-connected pathways for students, which combine career-themed instruction and experiences geared toward college and career opportunities in a specific industry. CRMYA features universal career readiness instruction (i.e., not tied to a particular industry) and paid apprenticeships. We have identified the following key takeaways from our analysis of these three CCL models:

• New York City Public Schools (NYCPS) added formal CCL offerings in nearly 100 schools between the 2021–2022 and 2024–2025 school years, while maintaining preexisting programming. So much growth in a three-year period is a considerable accomplishment given the challenges of implementing the program components (Bailey et al., 2000; Kistler & Dougherty, 2025; Zimmerman, 2025).
   
• The increase in CCL programs has been driven primarily by the expansion of FRNYC pathways in high-wage, high-demand sectors (i.e., Technology, Healthcare, Business, Human and Social Services, HVAC and Building Decarbonization, and Teaching). While similar in some ways to CTE pathways, FRNYC pathways are more structured: expectations for school staff and students are meticulously planned, and the milestones are more granular. FRNYC also emphasizes integration and alignment among its five core programmatic components—career-connected instruction, work-based learning, financial literacy, early college credits and credentials, and personalized advising—to a greater extent than does CTE.
   
• A smaller share of schools have been offering CRMYA programming than those offering FRNYC and/or CTE. As CRMYA schools have added Future Ready pathways, apprenticeships are increasingly available as capstone experiences for FRNYC students.
   
• On average, FRNYC pathways are aligned to occupations that require more postsecondary education or training than occupations that are the focus of CTE pathways. Prior research in New York City has shown that programs aligned to career pathways requiring a bachelor’s degree or higher are linked to positive impacts on Regents diploma receipt and immediate college enrollment (Kemple et al., 2023).

The rapid growth of formal CCL, particularly in schools without previous programming, presents an opportunity to learn about the supports and strategies that school-level staff find most helpful for establishing new programs. Our ongoing research aims to uncover lessons about what works for scaling CCL programs and to identify best practices that can inform NYCPS’s continued expansion of Future Ready, as well as the development of career-connected pathways in other large districts.

Forthcoming analyses will explore connections between student and school characteristics, participation and persistence in the five core CCL components embedded in the Future Ready model, and student outcomes. This work will shed light on the conditions under which CCL is associated with positive outcomes, and for whom. Our study will also provide important information for the field about whether and how new career-connected learning pathways can avoid inequities that have undermined past efforts to strengthen career opportunities for high school students.