An Examination of the Relationship Between 11th Grade Students' Career Readiness and Their Academic Success in Rural School Districts in South Carolina

Abstract

I examined the relationship between career readiness and academic success among a sample of approximately 500 11^th grade students from selected rural school districts in South Carolina. There is limited research regarding the relationship between career readiness and academic success. I used R2W assessments to measure career readiness and the American College Testing (ACT) scores in math, English, and reading to measure academic achievement and determine a relationship. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to assess the relationship between career readiness and the academic success of 11^th grade students. The research design for this study was a quantitative methodology with a correlational design to analyze the relationship between the dependent and independent variables.

For the review of the professional and academic literature, I examined existing literature pertaining to the research problem under study. To build a foundation of the research and reveal the gap in research, I searched literature for peer-reviewed dissertations and referred journal articles. I gathered literature by searching school library and academic databases such as ScienceDirect and AGE journals. I discussed the existing literature on career readiness and academic success as well as literature on the two conceptual frameworks that grounded the current study, which were Bandura's social cognitive theory and Bronfenbrenner's bioecological theory of human development.

I used students’ R2W assessment scores as well as ACT scores (math, English, and reading) in order to assess the relationship between career readiness and academic success. The R2W assessment is a system for assessing job-related talents. Employers utilize R2W assessments to assess employees’ and job seekers’ workplace skills. This assessment is also used in schools and universities to help students prepare for the workforce. The ACT is a standardized test used in the United States for college which assesses academic skills, including mathematics, English, reading, and scientific thinking. The ACT also includes a direct writing test, which is optional.

The adopted research design was a correlational study. Correlational research is a nonexperimental research method in which a researcher measures two variables and understands and assesses the statistical relationship between them with no influence from any extraneous variable. Data used in this study were subjected to several statistical procedures. The statistical procedures used in this study were descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation coefficient. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data from the study participants in the areas of career readiness and academic success as measured by the ACT assessment measure. Pearson correlation coefficient was used to examine the magnitude of the relationship between career readiness and the academic success of 11^th grade students. Based on the Pearson correlation coefficients statistical test, there was a significant relationship between career readiness in applied mathematics, location of information, and reading and academic success in mathematics, English, and reading performance scores of 11^th grade females and males.

The findings suggested that there was a significant relationship between R2W and academic success which aligns with other researchers. One limitation of the study was the utilization of convenience sampling. This sampling approach limits the generalizability of the findings. I recommend that high schools adopt educational R2W programs on mathematics, location, and reading schools to ensure that their students’ career awareness, career readiness, and ACT scores are increased.