The 2026 Reidy Interactive Learning Series (RILS)

Career Readiness: Defining and Measuring What Matters for the Future of Work

Rapid economic and technological change has intensified concerns about whether K–12 systems are preparing students for life after high school. Employer reports of skill gaps, declining confidence in traditional college pathways, and deep concerns about the influence of artificial intelligence (AI) have elevated career readiness as a central goal of public education.

Against this backdrop, state and local education agencies face fundamental questions about how to measure career readiness. These questions include:

• What constitutes rigorous and comparable college- and career-ready expectations? 
• What role should industry-recognized credentials play? 
• How should cross-cutting “durable” or employability skills be assessed, if at all? 
• How is AI likely to reshape both the definition and measurement of readiness?

The 2026 Reidy Interactive Learning Series (RILS) centers on a guiding question:

How should measures of career readiness evolve to support students’ preparation for meaningful work and life pathways?

RILS 2026 aims to help states, districts, charter organizations, and partners make informed, responsible decisions about monitoring career readiness in ways that support all learners while mitigating well-documented risks. These risks include unintended tracking, inequitable expectations, misalignment between measures and intended uses, and the misuse of weak indicators for high-stakes accountability.

True to RILS tradition, the conference will be highly interactive, offering opportunities for participants to share experiences and engage with peers alongside presentations and panels featuring district, state, and national experts.

Whether you are a state, district, or school leader—or support others in these roles—the conference will deepen your understanding of how career readiness has been defined and operationalized across contexts, illuminate tradeoffs among measurement approaches, and provide practical guidance for selecting and using indicators responsibly. Our broader goal is to move beyond surface-level metrics toward coherent, defensible approaches to measuring what truly matters for students’ futures. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

We can’t wait to see you in beautiful Portsmouth, N.H., on September 24-25!

Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026

Time	Session	Description
8:15 am	Breakfast & check in	Breakfast is provided.
9:00	Welcome & overview	Chris Domaleski, Laura Hamilton and Erika Landl welcome attendees, describe the background and purpose of RILS, introduce the topic and outline the conference goals.
9:20	Session 1: Career readiness definitions and measurement: Landscape	Panel discussion focused on highlighting approaches used by states and districts to measure career readiness, how they have changed over time and noteworthy gaps and their implications.   Panelists: Seth Gerson, National Governor’s Association Jackie Kraemer, NCEE Kate Kreamer, Advance CTE
10:30	Break
10:45	Session 2: Perspectives from the field:  What employability skills should schools measure, and for what purposes?	Center-moderated conversation between two policy experts with unique but complementary perspectives on the role of K-12 schools in measuring and reporting durable skills.  Panelists: Mike Petrilli, Thomas B. Fordham Institute Tim Taylor, America Succeeds
12:00 pm	Lunch	Lunch provided
1:00	Session 3: Connecting local and state career readiness measures to workforce needs	Interactive panel that includes audience perspectives Participants: Stephen Pruitt, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Lu Young, Center for Next Generation Leadership, University of Kentucky State and district leaders
2:00	Session 4: Table activity	Interactive table-level activity
2:30	Break
2:45	Session 5: How is AI changing the definition and measurement of career readiness competencies?	A moderated panel discussion and table discussions will serve to explore how AI is reshaping the definition and measurement of career readiness competencies and the broader challenges and opportunities these shifts present.  Participants: Maggie Reeves, Urban Institute Chad Buckendahl, ACS Ventures  Danielle Eisenberg, ETS
3:55	Session 6: Introduce critical issues	Center staff provide a brief overview of the different problems-of-practice sessions participants can join on Day 2. Participants are then asked to rank the different options in order of interest/preference.  Participants: Center staff
4:30	Adjourn
5:00 – 6:15	Cocktail hour

Friday, Sept. 25, 2026

Time	Session	Description
8:15 am	Breakfast & check-in	Breakfast provided
9:00	Session 7: Critical issues in career readiness assessment: Breakout sessions	Erika & Laura welcome participants and provide an overview of the day. This time will also allow for participants to break into their first set of assigned critical issue sessions.
10:20	Break
10:35	Session 8: Developing a validity argument for career readiness measures	This session will begin with a panel discussion focused on factors that influence the validity and utility of career readiness measures, emphasizing the importance of stakeholder involvement in the design and validation process. Subsequently Erika and Laura will introduce a resource that participants can use to sketch out a validity argument that supports the design of potential career readiness measures. Participants: Maggie Reeves, Urban Institute Stephen Pruitt, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
11:10	Session 9: Table work using resource and report out	Each table will share ideas about the validity evidence necessary to support the design and evaluation of a proposed career readiness measure.
11:50	Reflection & wrap-up	Chris Domaleski will reflect on some key take-aways and potential next steps.
12:00	Lunch