“This is what we have been missing,” says Dr. Tracy Miller, describing the Career Pathway Maps she helped design for her district with Pathway2Careers (P2C). The maps turn complex labor market data into clear, step-by-step routes from middle school to high school, and from high school to meaningful local careers.
A Vision for Career-Connected Learning
As Coordinator of Postsecondary Pathways, Instruction, and Student Services for Kalamazoo (Michigan) Public Schools (KPS), Dr. Miller leads Career and Technical Education programs and community collaborations that help students transition from high school to college or local, high-value careers. Her work is also vital to the success of the Kalamazoo Promise, the first Promise Neighborhood in the country, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2025.
In those 20 years, the community has built a tremendous ecosystem for student success. Before working on the Career Pathway Maps with P2C, students and their advisors sought to turn their abundance of resources into a clear plan—one that begins with the end goal of local high-value careers and lays out step-by-step guidance from 6th grade onward.
This clarity is especially vital in Kalamazoo, a hub for manufacturing, health sciences, medical devices, design, and more. In a district where 62.9% of students are economically disadvantaged, a lack of awareness about available opportunities (and how to prepare for them) can have devastating long-term impacts on individuals, families, and the local economy.
More about Dr. Tracy Miller:
Dr. Miller oversees elementary, secondary, and postsecondary career education initiatives, including Career Launch Kalamazoo youth apprenticeships with The Kalamazoo Promise and Kalamazoo Valley Community College, the Teach Kalamazoo Grow Your Own collaborative, dual enrollment, professional development, curriculum and program development, college and career readiness, Early Middle College support, and Career and Technical Education programs. She also facilitates community collaborations that help students transition into training pathways and high-value local careers.
How Pathway2Careers Helps Fuel Kalamazoo’s Promise
Dr. Miller knew she wanted to work with P2C as soon as she learned of its focus on career-connected learning. She aimed to build accessible, data-driven resources that show students, families, educators, and community members each student’s path from classroom to viable career.
She also sought to expand opportunities for work-based learning, dual enrollment, Early Middle College, and CTE programs, while ensuring a strong foundation in core academics.
Some of the essential questions Dr. Miller wanted to answer included:
- Which local jobs provide high-value, sustainable careers, and what education or training do students need to reach them?
- Which core academics, skills, career-connected learning opportunities, and community programs best support students’ goals?
- How can students, parents, and counselors create clear, step-by-step pathways from school to work using frameworks like the National Career Clusters?
- Which community resources support Kalamazoo’s “Promise” of connecting students to meaningful careers and further education?
Pathway2Careers understood the vision Dr. Miller and KPS had and worked with them to create The Kalamazoo Promising Progressive Career Pathway Maps.
Each of the 14 maps aligns with the modernized National Career Clusters Framework® developed and released by Advance CTE in 2024, including relevant career-connected programs, courses, and apprenticeships from grades 6-12, all intentionally sequenced.
The maps highlight age-appropriate work-based learning opportunities, along with relevant Industry-Recognized Credentials, postsecondary majors, and apprenticeship pathways. A sampling of the top careers in each cluster by educational level helps students and parents understand both the opportunities and the economic impact (earning power) of their academic options. District coordinators and lead teachers helped align academic courses to each cluster using the National Career Clusters Framework®.
The maps provide course-by-course directions for students, counselors, and families to inform Educational Development Plans (EDPs) from 6th through 12th grades, including Career and Technical Education and Dual Enrollment course choices, as well as pathway-specific college credentials and degrees. The maps provide information and links to the community resources that include the Kalamazoo Promise and an overview of the National Career Clusters Framework®.
These maps now reside on the P2C Labor Market Navigator (LMN) for Kalamazoo, a first-of-its-kind digital tool that simplifies complex labor market data, provides insights on high-value careers, and projects regional job market trends. Students, educators, parents, employers, and community members can use the maps year by year to identify in-demand, growing local jobs that pay a living wage and support long-term career fulfillment.
Guiding Students and Counselors
When Dr. Miller shared the first draft of the Kalamazoo Career Pathway Maps with counselors—who guide students’ Education Development Plans—they responded with applause. Counselors were thrilled to finally have a reliable tool to present students with full career pathways. The maps will also help make course scheduling more directed and intentional, ensuring higher levels of preparation and readiness as students pursue their postsecondary and career goals.
“We are working to provide a system in which one school district, using labor market data, can inform students on not just what they can and become, but how to get there with Career Pathways,” Dr. Miller says. “We want students to be able to navigate their career journeys at low cost and in less time. Having both labor market information and Career Pathway Maps, students can see how their academics connect to our progressive pathways.”
Dr. Tracy Miller
What Kalamazoo is Promising Next
As the school year begins, Dr. Miller is introducing the P2C Labor Market Navigator and its Promising Progressive Career Pathway Maps to Kalamazoo administrators, educators, counselors, parents, and community partners, while training them to use these tools with students.
“As the first Promise district, our educators and leaders are committed to preparing all students for their future aspirations,” Dr. Miller explains. “It is our responsibility to ensure students are maximizing the Kalamazoo Promise and developing the skills, knowledge, and agency they need to navigate their career paths. Every leader in our district is centered around this vision, reflected in our mission to nurture the dreams of all students and empower them to contribute to a better world.”
Dr. Miller is now sharing the work of Pathway2Careers with colleagues across the state and in other Promise communities, as KPS leads the way in implementing the new Career Cluster Framework®. Her goal is to maximize the power of aligned career pathways to prepare the next generation’s workforce, strengthen families, and build a thriving community with a higher quality of life for all.
“The school district is the nucleus of a community for its future—future learners, parents, employees, employers, and community leaders,” Dr. Miller says. “We want students to understand the many opportunities in their own backyard and to bring their skills, ideas, and talent to strengthen our community and economy. By creating accessible learning and training opportunities, and responsive local businesses and employers, we can help every student fully realize the promise of their future.”