Career Clusters and Academic andCareer  Plans  of  Study:  

Virginia’s  Best Prac<ces  

Virginia Department of Education

December 13, 2012

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Professional

20%

Professional

20%

The Changing U.S. Workforce

Source: Pathways to Prosperity, Harvard, February 20115

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What are  Career  Clusters?  

Career Clusters are groupings ofoccupaGons and industries that  areused  for:

• Organizing curriculum design, and

• Career counseling and guidance.

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career_technical/career_clusters/index.shtml

• Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources• Architecture & ConstrucGon• Arts, A/V Technology & CommunicaGons• Business Management  & AdministraGon• EducaGon & Training• Finance• Government  & Public AdministraGon• Health Science

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16 Career  Clustersh>p://www.doe.virginia.gov/instruc<on/

 

       

 

career_clusters/index.shtml

• Hospitality & Tourism• Human Services• InformaGon Technology• Law, Public Safety, CorrecGons & Security• Manufacturing• MarkeGng• Science, Technology, Engineering & MathemaGcs

(STEM)• TransportaGon, DistribuGon & LogisGcs

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16 Career  Clustersh>p://www.doe.virginia.gov/instruc<on/career_technical/

 

 

 

 

What Do Career  Clusters  Do?  

• Organize academic and technicalknowledge and skills into a coherent  sequence

• IdenGfy pathways from secondary topostsecondary educaGon

• Provide a framework for seamlesseducaGon

• Provide instrucGonal support  forrigorous academic teaching and learning

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What Do Career  Clusters  Do?(ConGnued)

• Provide alignment  of academic and technicalskills with workplace readiness skills

• Provide opportuniGes to involve parents,business and industry, and the schoolcommunity

• Provide the development  of effecGve plans ofstudy that  are based on career assessments

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Career  Clusters:  Mul9-­‐Faceted

• High Schools can be organized aroundcareer clusters to prepare students tomeet  the demands of postsecondaryeducaGon and the expectaGons ofemployers.

• School  Counselors can use careerclusters to help students explore opGonsfor the future.

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Career  Clusters:  Mul9-­‐Faceted

• Students can use career clusters toinvesGgate a wide range of careerchoices. Clusters make it  easier forstudents to understand the relevance oftheir required courses and help themselect  their elecGve courses more wisely.

• Parents, Educators, and Business andIndustry can use career clusters as afoundaGon for decision-­‐making.

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79 Career Pathways

• Within each career cluster, there are mulGplecareer pathways that  represent  a common set  ofskills and knowledge, both academic andtechnical, necessary to pursue a full range ofcareer opportuniGes within that  pathway –ranging from entry level to management,including technical and professional careerspecialGes.

• Based on the skills sets taught, all CTE courses arealigned with one or more career clusters andcareer pathways.

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Knowledge & Skills (K & S)

The foundational principle of career clusters/pathways is that a set of knowledge and skills areshared with other occupations in a pathway andother pathways in a cluster:

• Cluster Level – academic and technical skills and knowledge for all pathways within a cluster

• Pathway Level – academic and technical skills and knowledge within each pathway

• Career Specialties - full range of career opportunities within each pathway

The cluster level knowledge and skills are correlated with Workplace Readiness Skills for the Commonwealth. 16

Finance Plans of Study

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10 Cluster Knowledge and Skills

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Gra

de

Securities and Investm

ents P

athway K

& S

Specific Skill Preparation

May Continue

Adult E

ducation Entry and E

xit Points

Courtesy of Benson Consulting – July 2007 B

anking Services

Pathw

ay K &

S

Business Finance P

athway K

& S

Insurance P

athway K

& S

Accounting P

athway K

& S

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Career Cluster Programs/Plans of Study

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The Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 requires career cluster/pathway programs of study to expand connections between secondary andpostsecondary education through the development and implementation of “programs of study.”

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Career Cluster Programs/ Plans of Study (Continued)

According to the Act, programs of study must: • Incorporate secondary education and post-

secondary education elements;

• Include academic and career and technical content in a coordinated, non-duplicative progression of courses;

• Lead to an industry-recognized credential or certificate at the postsecondary level, or an associate or bachelor’s degree; and

• Include the opportunity for secondary education students to participate in dual or concurrent enrollment programs or other ways to acquire postsecondary education credits. 19

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SUMMARY

• Career cluster – organizer of knowledge and skills needed by a broad industry

• Career pathway – organizer of knowledge and skills statements shared by professions

• Plans of study – sequence of instruction that prepares individuals for careers

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Academic and Career Plan (ACP)

Beginning with the 2013-­‐2014 academic year, allschools shall begin development  of a personalAcademic and Career Plan for each seventh-­‐gradestudent  with compleGon by the fall of the student’seighth-­‐grade year.hIp://www.doe.virginia.gov/instrucGon/graduaGon/academic_career_plan.shtml

Source: Regula9ons  Establishing Standards  for Accredi9ng PublicSchools  in Virginia (SOA)8 VAC 20-­‐131-­‐140: College and career prepara9on programs  and opportuni9es  for postsecondary credit.

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Academic and Career Plan (ACP)

Shall include, but  not  be limited to:• The student’s program of study for highschool graduaGon that  is aligned with apostsecondary career pathway and/orcollege entrance;

• Postsecondary career pathway based onstudent’s academic and career interests;

• Shall be signed by the student, student’sparent  or guardian, and school official(s)designated by the principal; 25

 

  

Academic and Career Plan (ACP)(ConGnued)

• The school shall have met  its obligaGon forparental involvement  if it  makes good faitheffort  to noGfy the parent  or guardian of theresponsibility for the development  andapproval of the Plan;

• Shall be included in the student’s record; and• Shall be reviewed and updated before thestudent  enters the ninth and eleventh grades.

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Plans of Study (POS) and Academic andCareer Plans (ACP)

• POS and ACP interchangeable• Career Clusters and Sample Plans of

Study-­‐hIp://www.doe.virginia.gov/instrucGon/career_technical/career_clusters/ index.shtml

• Guidelines for Academic and CareerPlans-­‐hIp://www.doe.virginia.gov/boe/guidance/assessment_accreditaGon/ guidelines_academic_career_plans.pdf

• Technical Assistance Document-­‐2hIp://www.doe.virginia.gov/instrucGon/graduaGon/academic_career_plan.shtml

 

 

 

Academic and Career Plans of StudyChecklist

• Career Clusters Web page

hIp://www.doe.virginia.gov/instrucGon/ career_technical/career_clusters/index.shtml

• Plans of Study Checklist  is located on eachof the 16 Career Cluster pages

hIp://www.doe.virginia.gov/instrucGon/ career_technical/career_clusters/ agriculture_food_natural_resources/index.shtml

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Plans of Study Checklist

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Plans  of  Study  Checklist,  con<nued  

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Plans  of  Study  Checklist,  con<nued  

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www.vacareerview.org

www.vawizard.org

Virginia  CareerVIEW-­‐

Virginia  EducaGonWizard-­‐

Career Development  Resources

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R U Ready? Resources • Youth Appealing magazine • Promotes Career Preparation through

Pathways • PDF Version on the CTE Home Page • Online and in print • Targeted Audience:

Sophomores in High School • Plans for Life After High School • Opportunities in High School • Parent’s Guide • Teachers Guide 33

http://www.cteresource.org/links/career_resources.html

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Career Clusters in Virginia

• All CTE courses are aligned with one or more career clusters and career pathways within those clusters based on the skills sets taught in the class.

• VERSO is now organized by Career Clusters and Pathways (http://cteresource.org/verso/).

• Career cluster and pathway alignments are listed in: • the Administrative Planning Guide (

http://www.cteresource.org/apg/), • the Career Planning Guide (www.cteresource.org/cpg/), and • The Career and Technical Education Reporting System

(CTERS) User’s Manual ( http://www.doe.virginia.gov/data_collection/instruction/career_tech/ cters/users_manual.pdf).

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