Ready, Willing,
Suzanne M. Bouffard
and Mandy Savitz-Romer
It’s a mystery. Why do some students who seem to have strong college aspirations rarely complete homework or arrive prepared for class? Why do bright students fail to show up for internships and other programs meant to engage students like them? Why do some students who
excelled in a college access or enrichment program drop out
of college or never pursue the kinds of jobs they prepared
for? Students themselves offer clues to this mystery, and by
using the right lens,
thoughtful educators
can be good detectives
and find the solution.
Psychology, soci
ology, and neuroscience
provide the basis for
a lens that we call the
developmental approach
to college and career
readiness. A develop
mental approach
acknowledges that many
social, emotional, and
cognitive factors shape
college and career paths.
Where students are in
their development—for example, how they understand their
identities and how skilled they are at planning—shapes how
they behave and whether they succeed. Identity, motivation,
selfregulation, and relationships are central to the develop
mental processes that influence postsecondary success. But
these developmental processes—the clues to the mystery
behind students’ actions—sometimes go unnoticed.
Here we focus on two developmental processes: forming
identity and developing motivation. How do these processes
influence college and career readiness among middle and high
school students, and how can educators support students as
they develop? These strategies can provide a starting place
for educators that they can build on over time by attending
to other developmental processes, such as developing self
regulation and forming peer relationships.
Students who have
high levels of self-efficacy are more
likely to take the
steps necessary to
reach their goals.
© Stefanie felix
A Developmental Approach in Practice
A developmental approach to college and career is not a pre
scriptive set of activities, but rather a way of seeing students
and interacting with them. Because no two students develop
at the same rate, some students need different kinds of sup
ports than others, and educators must see students as indi
viduals and differentiate their efforts accordingly.
Even though each student develops differently, it is
common for students to navigate certain developmental
tasks and transitions at similar ages. For example, middle
and high school students tend to be very engaged in identity
development. Students at these ages are also influenced by
the motivation and selfregulatory processes that begin earlier
in life but are especially central to planning for college and
