To prepare students for success in life, the twenty-first-century American high school needs to shift its focus from preparing for college "or" career to achieving college "and" career readiness for every student. In some areas of the country, progress is being made on this front. One of the most comprehensive efforts is the Linked Learning initiative in California (formerly known as "multiple pathways"), a reform model aimed at improving high schools by connecting strong academics, demanding technical education and real-world experience in a wide range of fields, such as engineering, arts and media, biomedicine and health. By setting up students for success in the full array of options after high school, Linked Learning seeks to bridge the college-career divide that has long characterized the American education system. California, with its rich history of reform, has been an incubator for the beginnings of the Linked Learning movement. And as a microcosm of the larger United States, the work there offers important lessons for stakeholders addressing the national high school crisis. This brief details the Linked Learning movement in California, developed in response to poor and inequitable student outcomes, as it continues to garner interest and develop a growing base of evidence. The discussion lays out the rationale for the Linked Learning approach and the ways in which it seeks to address the need for rigorous, engaging educational options toward the goal of college and career readiness for every student. (Contains 39 endnotes.)