July 30, 2026
Learn how Illinois, Ohio, and Maryland are building flexible pathway models that preserve rigor, expand access, and help education systems keep pace with changing workforce needs.
High-quality career pathways are designed to make the journey from school to career more coherent and less dependent on chance. At their best, they are built backward from labor market demand and organized around clear course sequences, meaningful work-based learning, advising, postsecondary options, and credentials that employers value. That structure matters because it helps students see where they are headed and what steps will get them there.
But strong pathway design does not have to mean rigid pathway design. Traditional models can sometimes be too narrow—especially when access is limited to a subset of students—or too slow to respond when students’ interests shift. Without that flexibility, systems risk offering pathways that are too narrow for students, too slow for employers, and too disconnected from how careers actually evolve. Young people need pathways that provide structure without locking them in too early. They should be able to test interests, build momentum through credentials and work-based learning, and change direction without losing progress. Rapidly changing labor markets and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) only heighten the need for pathway systems that can adapt more quickly.
Flexible approaches to pathways aim to do just that. In practice, flexibility can mean multiple entry points, options beyond a single career and technical education (CTE) sequence, cross-sector course combinations, or work-based learning embedded in credit-bearing experiences. They keep the core elements of quality pathways while creating more room for adaptation at the regional and local levels.
States and regions are approaching this challenge in different ways: through enabling policy and frameworks, state and regional pathway models, and more flexible programs of study. Taken together, these examples suggest that flexible pathways are not one model but a set of design choices that help systems stay aligned with both labor market demand and learner development.
Illinois is strategically blending state-level frameworks with locally driven implementation. The state has set a clear vision for pathways with aligned expectations that still allow for local areas to adapt frameworks and resources to fit their needs best. In 2016, Illinois passed the Postsecondary & Workforce Readiness (PWR) Act, which includes a College and Career Pathway Endorsements system. This allows students to earn an endorsement on their high school diploma and transcript if they complete an individualized plan that includes career exploration, work-based learning, and career-focused instruction, including strategic dual credit courses. These endorsements carry real weight, with scholarship programs and two- and four-year colleges offering greater opportunities to students who have earned an endorsement. Since 2021, over 6,500 Illinois students have earned endorsements.
Another element of the PWR Act is the PaCE framework aimed at helping all students prepare for college and careers by setting expectations for student experiences from grades six to 12. This framework, which was originally a voluntary initiative but later transitioned to an opt-out model, explicitly states what students should be able to do and know across career exploration and development; postsecondary education exploration, preparation, and selection; and financial aid and literacy. Over three-fourth of implementing districts and schools have adapted the PaCE framework to fit their communities best, ensuring students are exposed to and prepared for opportunities in their area.
To guide local areas as they design specific career pathways, Illinois also created Model Programs of Study Guides that begin with regional labor market demand and work backward from high-wage, high-demand jobs to the educational experiences that prepare students for them. They lay out a clear sequence of foundational and dual credit coursework, career-connected learning, technical competencies, credentials, postsecondary options, and advising supports from middle school through career. State education agencies and an intermediary, EdSystems Center, also lead peer learning networks, develop implementation guides, and offer workshops to help ensure that districts across the state have guidance in meeting state expectations and adapting implementation to their contexts.
Ohio shows how flexibility can be advanced in two complementary ways: through regional pathway design tools and state programs that enable innovation for emerging occupations.
Montgomery County, Ohio, has taken a regional lens on pathway models to guide districts in their pathway design. Montgomery County Educational Service Center’s (MCESC) Business Advisory Council collaborated with cross-sector partners to shape a shared pathways vision for the region and mapped multiple routes into high-demand careers across six growth industries. These pathway models serve as practical design tools for districts as they choose courses, credentials, and career-connected learning opportunities that fit their local community while also helping students see multiple entry points and progression routes. In practice, that means districts can use the models to shape pathways around local industry needs without requiring every student to follow the same course-taking pattern. What makes this approach especially compelling is that the models are built to serve all students, expanding access beyond those formally enrolled in a CTE program. MCESC also provides technical assistance and professional development and deploys career navigators into districts to support designing and implementing pathways aligned with the models and making smart adaptations to meet local industry and student needs.
At the state level, Ohio’s Innovative Pathway Program gives schools a way to design pathways for emerging occupations that do not fit neatly within a single existing CTE pathway. It allows courses from multiple career fields to be combined around a clear job outcome while protecting, rather than replacing, Ohio’s currently approved pathways. This matters especially in fast-growing sectors where the needed skill set does not fit neatly inside one traditional pathway.
The program was created in response to rapid industry growth and changing workforce needs, including large-scale developments in sectors such as advanced manufacturing and battery production. State leaders recognized that traditional program design can lag behind labor market change, so they wanted a more sustainable and adaptable model that could respond to future workforce demand without needing to rebuild standards, courses, and assessments.
This model pairs flexibility with rigor and real employer commitment. Innovative Pathways must still meet core program of study requirements, including a four-course sequence and work-based learning, but they also require business and industry partners to offer direct hiring preference, preferential training, or a clearer path to postsecondary credential completion. With this approach, Ohio is not loosening pathways; it is creating a responsive structure that helps emerging industries access talent while giving students a faster, clearer route to opportunity.
Maryland’s Career-Connected Learning system offers a third approach: building flexibility directly into pathway sequences and programs of study. The system aims to provide access for all students to quality career learning pathways that prepare them for college and careers after high school. Maryland reimagined its career pathways model in 2025 to build flexibility and intentionality directly into pathway design. The state approved new CTE course standards in 2025, certifying 48 programs of study that lead to in-demand careers.
In each of these programs of study, a two-course sequence prepares students to advance in their chosen field later in high school through continued CTE coursework, youth apprenticeship, dual credit courses, and other options. Maryland’s Core-Flex Model—a flexible model that incorporates work-based learning into course sequencing —further promotes flexibility in career learning. Students still complete a program of study; however, instead of the traditional third or fourth CTE course, they can complete experiences such as an internship, apprenticeship, or capstone project. That means a student’s pathway can remain rigorous while making more room for applied learning in the final years of high school. These flex courses are also available to students who are on a non-CTE individualized learning path, allowing more students to gain valuable work-based experiences in high school.
Execution is just as important to Maryland as strategy. State-produced resources, including a support guide published in January 2026, provide implementation guidance and address common questions from across the state. This approach shows how it is possible to design a statewide system that balances rigor with flexibility to meet student learning needs and goals.
The examples from Illinois, Ohio, and Maryland show that flexibility can take different forms—from statewide policy frameworks to regional pathway models to more adaptable programs of study. What they share is a commitment to maintaining rigor while creating pathways that are more responsive to employer demand and more customizable for learners as their interests and goals evolve.
As schools and systems work to prepare all students for careers of the future, the challenge is not whether to build flexibility into pathways but how to make it possible by design. That means moving beyond isolated pathway reforms and building the conditions that support flexibility at scale: clear policy signals, broader access to courses and work-based learning, strong advising, responsive funding, and sustained employer and postsecondary partnership. The strongest examples show that when those conditions are in place, flexibility becomes not an exception to high-quality pathways but one of their defining features.
Learn how JFF’s Pathways to Prosperity network supports states and regions in building aligned, scalable pathways that connect education to quality careers.
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