Our decision to write this book stemmed from our desire to provide school counselors with a resource that could help them easily conceptualize the career and college readiness needs of P–12 students and design relevant and meaningful interventions. We wanted to develop a book that not only was practical but also pushed readers to be intentional in their work. Further, we believed it was important to respond to national initiatives that emphasize a focus on career and college readiness. The unique aspect of our book, compared to many other career counseling textbooks, is that we present a comprehensive, integrated, and practical approach to counseling, specifically targeting career and college readiness in P–12 schools.

In this book, our third edition, we continue to provide a review of developmental, ecosystemic, and career theories to inform relevant P–12 career and college readiness interventions. Given the variation that exists in the psychosocial, cognitive, and academic development of P–12 students, we review numerous developmental theories and assist readers in using them as a foundation to design sequential and developmentally appropriate career and college readiness curricula and interventions. We also help readers understand the ecosystemic influences (e.g., family, school, community, society) on career development and college readiness, and we discuss both why it is important to involve various stakeholders in career and college readiness initiatives and how to involve them. Finally, we provide readers with concrete examples of how to apply various career counseling theories when working with P–12 students.

We start this book with six foundational chapters in which we review (a) current data and issues related to college and career readiness, (b) information to assist with postsecondary planning and career and college advising, (c) professional preparation standards for individuals who will provide career and college readiness interventions, (d) cultural considerations in career and college readiness, (e) career and college readiness assessment, and (f) career and college readiness curriculum development. We then address career development and college readiness needs by grade level. Our focus in each grade level chapter is to identify common tasks that occur at that level and to help readers apply knowledge of ecosystems, developmental theories, and career theories, and identify ways that multiple stakeholders can become involved in career and college readiness interventions. We also provide concrete, practical examples, including case examples as well as Voices From the Field written by practicing school counselors to demonstrate some of the concepts and interventions we highlight in each chapter.

This third edition of P–12 Career and College Readiness Counseling has been revised and includes:

We greatly enjoyed writing this book, but it was challenging at times for us to decide in which chapter to include certain information. In that vein, we encourage readers not to limit themselves to implementing career and college readiness interventions exactly as we outline them. Many of the activities and ideas we share could be applicable across numerous grade levels if modified to accommodate developmental differences. Also, P–12 students can benefit from repetition, so it never hurts to target something more than once. Our hope is that both preservice and practicing school counselors find this book useful in helping identify career and college readiness needs and design developmentally appropriate interventions that are grounded in theory and research. We know that many other professionals engage in career and college readiness work across P–16 settings. Although we speak directly to school counselors throughout much of this book, we hope that others find the content and recommendations relevant to their work as well.

In addition to the textbook, we have provided an Instructor’s Manual and PowerPoints intended to support instructors in developing a graduate level course on P–12 career and college readiness. The manual includes a sample syllabus that reflects the content of the textbook. We designed this sample course with a number of useful tools for each chapter including discussion questions, project-based activities, quizzes and essay questions, and social media that may be useful for teaching this course. These materials may also be additive to an existing course as supplemental materials.