Purpose & Goals

• The purpose of this resource guide is to provide a sequential program with activities and materials for each grade level that will provide students with the understanding and skills needed to prepare or be prepared for the job market of the 21st century.
• The main goal of this resource guide is to help students to initiate and develop an educational and career plan to meet their post-secondary objectives and interests.

The outline of lesson plans and the materials included in this resource guide are intended to assist guidance counselors and teachers in carrying out and further developing a guidance program that offers career and college planning activities in a developmental sequence. This resource guide includes materials which have been researched and compiled from guidance and career resources in use in Arizona and other school systems, as well as current reference materials available from college and educational sources on line or in print.  Detailed information can be found at http://www.aztechprep.org/CTE_Programs/Career_Explore/career_explore.html

The curriculum design of this resource guide uses the Workplace Skills competencies as the framework for building sequential activities and materials at each grade level.

The Arizona Workplace Standards are:

1. EVALUATE INDIVIDUAL STRENGTHS, VALUES AND PERSONALITY
   TRAITS
2. EXPLORE A VARIETY OF OCCUPATIONAL AREAS
3. DEMONSTRATE AN UNDERSTANDING OF ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
   AND PERFORMANCE REQUIRED FOR MEETING CAREER GOALS
4. DEMONSTRATE CAREER PLANNING SKILLS
5. DEMONSTRATE DECISION MAKING AND CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS
   REQUIRED FOR CAREER SUCCESS
6. DEVELOP COMMUNICATION SKILLS FOR PUBLIC AND WORKPLACE
   ENVIRONMENTS
7. DEVELOP LEADERSHIP AND TEAMWORK SKILLS REQUIRED FOR
   THE WORKPLACE
8. ANALYZE AND DEVELOP LEGAL AND ETHICAL BEHAVIORS
9. DEMONSTRATE TECHNOLOGICAL LITERACY REQUIRED IN THE
   WORKPLACE
10. ANALYZE HOW SOCIAL, ORGANIZATIONAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL
    SYSTEMS OPERATE
11. EVALUATE FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO A SAFE AND HEALTHY
    WORK ENVIRONMENT
12. DEMONSTRATE AN UNDERSTANDING OF DIVERSITY

In the first two years of high school, students will explore personal and career interests through hands-on activities that utilize computer programs and print materials that will be the basis of a career portfolio that they can expand and refine each year. In the ninth grade students explore careers through commercial software programs, job cluster, fantasy job searches and supporting videos. In the tenth grade students focus their interest and learning/working styles through commercial assessment instruments.

In the last two years of high school, students should focus more specifically on career and educational options that will lead them to create a clear plan for achieving their post-secondary goals. The direction of activities in the eleventh and twelfth grade is toward gaining a realistic understanding of the educational and career options available to them and taking the important steps required for them to achieve their goals. During these years, the focus is more personalized and focused on individual planning. Students will be able to use print materials, computer software, and the Internet to access and link with a broad range of career and educational information. They will use this information to refine their portfolio and to complete an individual plan beyond high school.

By the end of the senior year, each student will have had the experience of building a personal portfolio that will include:

• A post secondary education and/or employment plan.
• A research project which thoroughly explores a particular career. This would include the educational requirements, work expectations, conditions, salary prospect and market needs.
• Opportunities to explore and understand the ten Workplace Standards through their research, job shadowing, mentoring and internship experiences, job training and paid work experience, as well as through dual enrollment, tech prep and other educational programs.
• A resume package including cover letter, thank you letter and three letters of recommendation.

Use of Resource Guide

School counselors and teachers are encouraged to make use of this material in the ways that it best suits their guidance work. In order to provide all students with a career guidance program, it is suggested that counselors work in conjunction with classroom teachers, as well as with career and job placement specialists already in place in order to provide workshops and presentations.

This resource guide includes a sequence of activities that can be used in a variety of ways. The ninth and tenth grade workshop activities may be more easily coordinated and arranged in partnership with classroom teachers. For example, school counselors may work with Language Arts or ESL teachers in their classes to do a series of workshop sessions.

In using this resource guide, it is understood that there may be time constraints within the school day to provide all of the group work that is suggested. Flexibility and creativity in the selection and use of activities is a given. Because the amount of time available to work with groups of students varies, as does the organization of guidance counselors' caseloads, the workshops and materials may be adapted to meet these constraints.

By using and implementing this resource guide, we hope the results will be:

• Students will demonstrate a higher level of competency in self-assessment, career planning and post secondary decisions.
• All students will be served and reached for more effective college/career counseling.
• Student's enthusiasm for course work will increase.
• Attendance rates will increase.
• Drop out rates will decrease.
• Technological; knowledge & skills in relation to college/career choices will increase.
• Students will have a personalized graduation plan.
• Every student will have a resume package.
• Portfolios will become an effective link between academic and vocational training
• Students enrollment in post-secondary institutions will increase.
• Employability of graduates will increase.
• Students will find this program helpful in their transition to college, career and work.
• More parent contact will be initiated; counseling activities increased.
• Awareness of the importance of standardized testing will be increased.
• Knowledge of services for students with disabilities in relation to college, career & work will be increased.