What researchers studied

Observational analysis linking North Carolina K-12, postsecondary, and workforce records for students who took both ACT and WorkKeys assessments. 81,953 North Carolina graduates from the classes of 2018 and 2019 who took both ACT and WorkKeys and were followed through 2024; 87% had a recorded CTE concentration

What they found

  • ACT and WorkKeys performance was highly correlated: 88% of students meeting the study's college-ready ACT benchmark also earned a career-ready WorkKeys result.
  • ACT Math was more predictive of college completion, while WorkKeys Applied Math was the only test domain positively associated with early-career wages among students not enrolled in college.
  • High school GPA remained strongly associated with college and early-career outcomes after accounting for both sets of test scores.

What the study does not prove

  • The sample included North Carolina graduates who took both ACT and WorkKeys; 87% had a recorded CTE concentration, so the authors describe it as a CTE-concentrator sample for simplicity, but not every student had a completed concentration on record.
  • The findings may not generalize to all students, states, or assessment systems.
  • The regression estimates are associations, not causal effects.
  • Test scores, GPA, effort, opportunity, and pathway choice are correlated and imperfect measures of readiness.
  • Workforce outcomes were early-career measures observed only through 2024.

Evidence strength: Large linked administrative dataset with multiple readiness measures and later outcomes; observational design and a CTE-concentrator sample limit causal and broader conclusions.

Why this matters for families

Use scores as signals, then ask whether the student can apply the skill, sustain the work, and meet the demands of the next pathway.

Noor interpretation

How Noor translates the evidence into practice

Readiness is better understood as a pattern across applied skill, academic knowledge, sustained performance, and pathway fit than as one test label.

Noor Lyra can examine test domains, course performance, independent problem solving, and the learner's intended pathway to build a more precise preparation plan.

Read the original source

Noor links to the original or authoritative source so families can distinguish the evidence itself from our interpretation.

Open original source →

DOI: 10.26300/q9yp-x778

Research notes

career readinesscollege readinessACTWorkKeyshigh school GPA

Revision note: 2026-10-06: Corrected the sample description to reflect that all 81,953 students took ACT and WorkKeys and 87% had a recorded CTE concentration; the paper uses “CTE concentrators” as simplifying shorthand but notes that not every WorkKeys taker had a completed concentration on record.

No single study determines a student's plan. Noor uses research as one input alongside the learner's goals, observed performance, academic context, and response to instruction.