The Use of Individualized Learning Plans to Help Students to be College and Career Ready

On February 15, 2013, the American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) partnered with the Institute for Educational Leadership’s Center for Workforce Development to present a Capitol Hill Forum on “The Use of Individualized Learning Plans to Help Students to be College and Career Ready”. The presentation included remarks on research findings, implementation, and policy recommendations on the use of individualized learning plans (ILPs) as a mechanism to boost college and career readiness for the nation’s youth.

Dr. Scott Solberg of the National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth (NCWD/Youth) shared research findings on how individualized learning plans can be used to help support college and career readiness. He explained that students with ILPs and associated career plans were more likely to be career ready, to manage stress better, to be more motivated, and to be more prepared to set goals for their futures. Dr. Solberg noted that a quality ILP includes two components: a document that takes into account a student’s course taking, postsecondary plans, career goals, and skill attainment; and a development process that incorporates the student’s understanding of these activities and provides students access to relevant opportunities.

Dr. Terry Holliday, Commissioner of Education in Kentucky, shared insights on the use of ILPs in schools and districts to support college and career readiness. Dr. Holliday explained Kentucky’s definitions of college ready and career ready and outlined the state’s goals, measures, and strategies for achieving college and career readiness. He credited the state’s expanded use of ILPs as one of the essential components in promoting and achieving higher rates of college and career readiness for all students in Kentucky.

Joan Wills, Senior Policy Fellow at the Center for Workforce Development, presented policy strategies that support the expansion of the use of ILPs to more states. She noted that college and career readiness is a tool that is bringing disparate aspects of education together and that states could take actions to support wider adoption of ILPs.

A link to presentation slides and presenter biographies is located on AYPF’s Web site. Additional information and resources, including the Individualized Learning Plans How-to Guide and Archived ILP Webinars, are available on the NCWD/Youth website. Information about Kentucky’s ILPs is available on the state’s Individual Learning Plan Web site.

Chad Duhon is a Senior Research Analyst with the National High School Center at the American Institutes for Research.

Note: This blog post was originally authored under the auspices of the National High School Center at the American Institutes for Research (AIR). The National High School Center’s blog, High School Matters, which ran until March 2013, provided an objective perspective on the latest research, issues, and events that affected high school improvement. The CCRS Center plans to continue relevant work originally developed under the National High School Center grant. National High School Center blog posts that pertain to CCRS Center issues are included on this website as a resource to our stakeholders.

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