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The goal of Ohio’s Career Development Program is to give students the opportunity to learn more about their educational and career options whilst they expand on life long skills such as decision making, goal setting and developing work habits and attitudes. This program is designed to service all 612 K -12 public school districts through the implementation of career exploration activities and classroom integration activities.
Individual
Academic & Career Plan
The Individual Academic and
Career Plan (IACP),
an upgrade of the ICP, is
a planning tool that reflects school performance and career-related
experiences. The IACP places
greater emphasis on
academic improvement and enrichment strategies that include checkpoints to
ensure students are on target with educational and career goals, and helps
them identify the career pathway and course work they need to achieve both
high school graduation and postsecondary plans.
Individual Academic and Career Plan
Career
Pathway Planner
Choose a
pathway from one of Ohio's sixteen career fields
Educational Planner
Create a list
of courses and grades earned.
Assessment Record
Record
standardized tests and interest and skills assessment results
Academic
Improvement and Enrichment Planner
Develop a
plan that identifies academic improvement or enrichment activities.
Extracurricular Activity Log
Record
involvement with sports, clubs, church activities, community service,
etc.
Special Programs and Work-based Learning Log
Identify school and work-based experiences related to career goals.
Writing Worksheet
Work on a career narrative or writing sample
Overview
The academic and career planning process provides a real life context
for learning by helping learners prepare for higher education and future
employment opportunities.
Students
initiate their IACPs in the eighth grade and continue to update them,
with periodic educator guidance, throughout their years in high school. After high school IACP helps graduates get apprenticeship jobs through their placement program.
Educator
guidance is critical in IACP development. Traditionally, English
Language Arts teachers have taken the lead, but other academic teachers
incorporate IACP development into their lessons as well. In some
instances, family and consumer science teachers, technology teachers,
and career specialists conduct regularly-scheduled career awareness
classes where the IACP is initiated and developed.
Academics and career
planning are naturally connected because of the vocabulary acquisition,
reading, writing and research activities required for IACP development.
The Career
Development Unit of the Office of Career-Technical and Adult Education
has recently published a guide showing these connections in the context
of the Ohio English Language Arts academic content standards.
Parent
awareness of the academic and career planning process is essential.
Student survey data show that parental influence is by far the
number-one factor in a young person’s career choice. Involving parents
in IACP development can help young people develop a postsecondary plan
that makes sense, and is in keeping with family expectations and
resources.
Guidelines for
implementation of the IACP
- Form an career planning team
consisting of teachers,
counselors, library/media specialist, technology coordinator and
building principal.
- Meet to review the IACP
and discuss the process.
- Decide who will work directly with
students at each grade level.
- Determine the schedule and location
for educator-guided IACP initiation/update sessions. Once quarterly
is highly recommended.
- Begin IACP initiation/update sessions as
close as possible to the beginning of the school year.
- Keep students aware of the need to
update their IACPs on their own with periodic PA announcements,
strategically placed posters, and fliers.
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