STANDARD 9: Career Education and Life Skills

Standard 9: Career Education and Consumer, Family, and Life Skills

Mission: Through Career and Technological Education, students identify and pursue career goals, apply communication and critical thinking skills, develop employability skills, and plan for further education and employment.

Standard 9.1 Career and Technical Education All students will develop career awareness and planning, employability skills and foundational knowledge necessary for success in the workplace.
Big Idea: Students explore career opportunities and assess individual aptitudes and interests to make informed decisions regarding career and educational choices.
9.1 A. Career Awareness and Planning
Essential Questions	Enduring Understandings
- How do I decide what I want to be and how do I prepare for my career? - Why do I need a career plan? How do I communicate this information to post-secondary institutions and employers?	- Each job, career and profession has a set of preparation requirements, career exploration experiences and different opportunities for personal and professional growth and satisfaction. - An effective career plan is flexible, includes a variety of life experiences, skills and education, and can save time, energy and money.
Cumulative Progress Indicators	Comments and Examples
By the end of Grade 8:
1. Demonstrate the ability to distinguish between job, occupation, and career.
2. Outline the steps in the career planning process.
3. Apply research skills to career exploration.
4. Analyze personal interests, abilities, and skills through various measures including self assessments.
5. Explore careers using hands-on real life experiences within the sixteen States’ Career Clusters.
6. Develop an individual career plan and include in a portfolio.
7. Plan and conduct a cooperative project that addresses one of the problems faced by the school and/or community.
9.1 B. Employability Skills
Essential Questions	Enduring Understandings
- How can we best prepare for the workforce when we will likely change jobs multiple times and perhaps even careers?	- In the 21st century, people will most likely have multiple careers and jobs. - Personal actions today and tomorrow may have an effect on future employment.
Cumulative Progress Indicators	Comments and Examples
By the end of Grade 8:
1. Research local and state employment opportunities.
2. Develop an employment package that includes a job application, letter of interest, and resume.
3. Demonstrate job-seeking skills
4. Describe and demonstrate appropriate work habits and interpersonal skills needed to obtain and retain employment.
5. Compare and contrast possible choices based on identified/perceived strengths, goals, and interests.
6. Identify and develop skills that are transferable from one occupation to another.

Standard 9.2 Consumer, Family, and Life Skills All students will develop career awareness and planning, employability skills and foundational knowledge necessary for success in the workplace.
Big Idea: All students will demonstrate critical life skills in order to be functional members of society.
9.2 A. Critical Thinking
Essential Questions	Enduring Understandings
How do I decide or make choices?	Choices we make as individuals affect self, family, community and the world.
Cumulative Progress Indicators	Comments and Examples
By the end of Grade 8:
1. Demonstrate the ability to communicate, analyze data, apply technology, and problem solve.
2. Describe how personal beliefs and attitudes affect decision-making.
3. Identify and assess problems that interfere with attaining goals.
4. Recognize bias, vested interest, stereotyping, and the manipulation and misuse of information.
5. Practice goal setting and decision-making in areas relative to life skills.
9.2 B. Self-Management
Essential Questions	Enduring Understandings
Why do I need to be accountable?	Personal attitudes, behaviors, knowledge and skills promote self awareness, personal responsibility and self-direction.
Cumulative Progress Indicators	Comments and Examples
By the end of Grade 8:
1. Develop and implement a personal growth plan that includes short- and long-term goals to enhance development.
2. Demonstrate responsibility for personal actions and contributions to group activities.
3. Explain the need for, and advantages of, lifelong learning.
9.2 C. Interpersonal Communications
Essential Questions	Enduring Understandings
How do I best communicate?	Effective communication skills are necessary to convey meaning and understanding to others.
Cumulative Progress Indicators	Comments and Examples
By the end of Grade 8:
1. Demonstrate respect and flexibility in interpersonal and group situations.
2. Organize thoughts to reflect logical thinking and speaking.
3. Work cooperatively with others to solve a problem.
4. Demonstrate appropriate social skills within group activities.
5. Practice the skills necessary to avoid physical and verbal confrontation in individual and group settings.
6. Participate as a member of a team and contribute to group effort.
9.2 D. Character Development and Ethics
Essential Questions	Enduring Understandings
How do family, school, community and workplace influence an individual’s character and ethics?	One’s character and ethics are constantly being challenged and are ever-changing and evolving.
Cumulative Progress Indicators	Comments and Examples
By the end of Grade 8:
1. Explain and demonstrate how character and behavior affects and influences the actions of others in the home, school, and community.
2. Describe and demonstrate appropriate character traits, social skills, and positive attitudes needed for the home, school, community, and workplace.
3. List problems and their causes, effects, and solutions that are faced in the home, school, and/or community.
4. Describe how personal ethics influence decision making
9.2 E. Consumer and Personal Finance
Essential Questions	Enduring Understandings
When should I start planning financially, and how is it best to do so?	Financial choices have costs, benefits and consequences.
Cumulative Progress Indicators	Comments and Examples
By the end of Grade 8:
1. Identify and demonstrate personal finance skills in checkbook maintenance and investing.
2. Construct a simple personal savings/spending plan.
3. Understand that people make financial choices that have costs, benefits, and consequences.
4. Explain the difference in cost between cash and credit purchases.
5. Compare prices of similar items from different sellers.
9.2 F. Safety
Essential Questions	Enduring Understandings
How is safety a personal and societal responsibility?	Lack of awareness about laws and rules may lead to unsafe situations and chaos.
Cumulative Progress Indicators	Comments and Examples
By the end of Grade 8:
1. Demonstrate appropriate safety procedures for hands-on experiences.
2. Demonstrate the use of recommended safety and protective devices.
3. Describe appropriate response procedures for emergency situations.

Link to Standard 9 Grade K-4

Link to Standard 9 High School

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