College, career, and civic readiness: Building school communities that prepare youth to thrive as 21st century citizens

ABSTRACT In the United States, advances in information technology and globalization present new social and political terrain for citizens to navigate. Preparing well-rounded young adults who are ready to meet the demands of citizenship in the 21st century—thinking critically, communicating, collaborating, and creating—is an imperative function of education. Findings from this multiple case study of “positive outlier” schools, or those with better-than-expected graduation outcomes among youth with historically disparate rates, utilize practices that incorporate Positive Youth Development (PYD) and Deeper Learning (DL) strategies. PYD and DL facilitate students’ development of skills, abilities, and dispositions that define 21st century citizenship. Though the schools in this study were selected for their better college and career preparation as measured by graduation outcomes, educators in positive outlier schools, in contrast to typically performing schools, emphasized student preparation for citizenship along with college and career preparation. The unique features of positive outlier schools include: commitment to pluralism, ethic of shared sacrifice and responsibility, community-directed critical thinking, and democratic school governance. For these schools, the college, career, and civic readiness replaced the exclusive college and career readiness paradigm.