Career Readiness Collaboration and Removal of Barriers
This microcredential represents a counselor's ability to increase collaboration with local industry, school, and district partners while removing systemic barriers and advocating for diverse students' career and educational development and employment opportunities, thus helping students gain the knowledge and skills necessary to meet labor market demands in a global economy.
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Utah Effective Professional School Counselor Standards > Standard 1: Collaboration, Leadership, and Advocacy
1.2 - Collaborates to promote academic success for all students to become college and career ready. -
Utah Effective Professional School Counselor Standards > Standard 2: Collaborative Classroom Instruction and Instructional Skills
2.1 - Plans curriculum based on the Systemic Assessment results, Student Outcomes Standards, and School Improvement plan. -
Utah Effective Professional School Counselor Standards > Standard 2: Collaborative Classroom Instruction and Instructional Skills
2.2 - Manages the classroom effectively when implementing school counseling curriculum. -
Utah Effective Professional School Counselor Standards > Standard 2: Collaborative Classroom Instruction and Instructional Skills
2.3 - Uses appropriate selection of communication, and teaching techniques, including formative and summative assessment in order to engage all students. -
Utah Effective Professional School Counselor Standards > Standard 3: Plan for College and Career Readiness Process
3.1 - Facilitates a process of career exploration that may include planning, monitoring and managing individual education and career plans. -
Utah Effective Professional School Counselor Standards > Standard 3: Plan for College and Career Readiness Process
3.2 - Assists in development of each student’s academic achievement and career planning/exploration by providing Career and Technical Education (CTE) Pathways resources and training to assist students in postsecondary and workforce options. -
Utah Effective Professional School Counselor Standards > Standard 3: Plan for College and Career Readiness Process
3.3 - Assists students and parents in understanding and utilizing assessment data and supports student to create a plan to meet goals, course planning, and student needs, as outlined in district or state guidelines.
To earn this 0.5 credit microcredential, you will submit two types of evidence as described below and two written or video reflections to demonstrate your skills with career readiness collaboration and removal of barriers. Click Earn This Microcredential to learn more!
Local industry, school, and district partners include Career and Technical Education (CTE), work-based learning, community business partners, etc.
Career literacy is the basic knowledge and skills that students need to navigate the future work environment. The process of planning for college and career readiness and developing career literacy can be accomplished by gathering information on student interests, identifying strengths, and helping students overcome barriers.
Career Readiness:Career readiness involves three major skill areas: core academic skills and the ability to apply those skills to concrete situations in order to function in the workplace and in routine daily activities; employability skills (such as critical thinking and responsibility) that are essential in any career area; and technical, job-specific skills related to a specific career pathway. These skills have been emphasized across numerous pieces of research and allow students to enter true career pathways that offer family-sustaining wages and opportunities for advancement.
Stackable Credential:According to the US Department of Labor, a “stackable credential” is part of a sequence of credentials that can be accumulated over time to build up an individual’s qualifications and help them to move along a career pathway or up a career ladder to different and potentially higher-paying jobs. There are many ways to stack a credential:
• Vertical stacking: This is the general way stacking is thought of, with one credential combined with another to progress toward a higher credential.
• Horizontal stacking: In this type of stacking, a student earns a variety of credentials in related fields that, when taken collectively, prepare them for a specific type of job.
• Value-added stacking: This pertains to adding an area of expertise to an existing degree in order to be better prepared for a specific type of job.
Certificates:Certificates are awarded upon the successful completion of a brief course of study, usually one year or less but at times longer, primarily in public or private two-year institutions of higher education, university extension programs or non-degree granting postsecondary institutions like area career and technical education schools. Upon completion of a course of study, a certificate does not require any further action to retain.
Certifications:Certifications indicate mastery of or competency in specific knowledge, skills, or processes that can be measured against a set of accepted standards. These are not tied to a specific educational program but are typically awarded through assessment and validation of skills in cooperation with a business, trade association, or other industry group. After attaining a certification, individuals often must meet ongoing requirements to maintain the currency of the certification.
License:License is legal permission, typically granted by a government agency, to allow an individual to perform certain regulated tasks or occupations. A license can be obtained by meeting certain requirements set forth by the licenser, usually by completing a course of education and/or assessments. Upon receipt of a license, ongoing requirements may be necessary to maintain the license.
Work-Based Learning:Work-based learning or WBL is career awareness and exploration, work experience, structured training, and/or mentoring at the work site. There are work-based learning activities appropriate for every grade level to support students in developing career awareness, exploring career options, developing appropriate workplace skills, and relating academic skills to real-world applications.
Apprenticeships:Apprenticeships offer students the combination of paid, on-the-job training and related classroom training in a specified career. Apprenticeship programs are registered with the United States Department of Labor and are designed to culminate in certified journeyman-level skills attainment and nationally recognized credentials.
Career Fair:Career Fair activities bring the workplace to the school. Employers representing various industry or career areas are invited to come to the schools where they set up booths or display various equipment or other career-related items for students to see. Students have the opportunity to visit different demonstrations, hear presentations and talk to industry representatives about various aspects of the represented occupation or industry.
Job Shadow:Job Shadow is a work site experience during which a student spends time, typically three to six hours, one-on-one with an employee observing daily activities and asking questions about the job and industry. Job shadowing is a career awareness and exploration activity that allows students to gather information on a wide variety of career possibilities. Such exploration activities help students make good career decisions and assist them in focusing their studies once a career interest is identified.
Student Internship:Student internship is an experience where students work for an employer for a specified period of time to learn about a particular industry or occupation. Internship programs extend formal classroom learning into the community.
Elementary Background Scenario:
Elementary School Counselor Ms. Thompson collaborates with community businesses and the high school’s CTE department to schedule a tour of industries in the community as well as tours of the High School CTE course classrooms that offer the training needed for those industries. This year, the students toured a hospital to learn about the multiple jobs and the various levels of education needed. At the high school, they toured the CNA, anatomy, and pharmacy technician classrooms. Students wrote a paragraph about their experience.
Secondary Background Scenario:
High School Counselor Mr. Adams collaborates with the school’s CTE Director, Work-Based Learning Coordinator, and CTE teachers to plan a CTE Expo for incoming ninth-grade students to see the options available for them. The School Counseling Team meets with the administration and CTE Director to discuss the application process for CTE classes and how the school budget can cover fees for students taking Concurrent Enrollment courses.
Category: Preparation and Planning
Submit an Action Plan as described below as evidence of your preparation and planning with career readiness collaboration and removal of barriers.
Using data from the Systemic Assessment, SOAR report, or other school data, compare the school demographics to student populations participating in courses and school programs to evaluate whether any gaps exist between the school demographics and participation rates. Write a summary of your findings and create an Action Plan to address any gaps found. Submit your summary and action plan.
Category: Implementation
Submit the one-page summary as described below as evidence of your implementation of career readiness collaboration and removal of barriers.
Using your data analysis and Action Plan to address the disparities in student participation, meet with school stakeholder groups (such as your Advisory Committee, School Community Council, PTA, etc.) for feedback on the Action Plan. Write and submit a one-page summary of the stakeholder feedback, include information on which stakeholder group was consulted.
Review Criteria
Criterion 1: Preparation and Planning
Evidence includes an understanding of any gaps that exist between the school demographics and participation rates and demonstrates a collaboration with local industry partners, school partners, and district partners (e.g., CTE, work-based learning, etc.) to help students gain the knowledge and skills necessary to meet labor market demands.
Criterion 2: Implementation
Evidence includes information from collaboration with stakeholders and demonstrates an understanding of the systemic barriers students face as well as advocacy for diverse students' career and educational development and employment opportunities in a global economy.
Describe how you will continue to collaborate with specific local industry partners, school, and district partners (e.g., CTE, work-based learning, etc.) to support students’ knowledge and skill development as it relates to careers.
Describe how you plan to continue to remove systemic barriers in your school for diverse students’ career and educational development and employment opportunities.
Review Criteria
Reflection 1 discusses concrete strategies to continue collaboration with partners.
Reflection 2 discusses strategies to remove systemic barriers for student success.
https://www.schoolcounselor.org/Standards-Positions/Position-Statements/ASCA-Position-Statements/The-School-Counselor-and-Career-Development
ASCA position statements describe the organization’s position on specific topics in education and define the role of the school counselor relative to those topics.
Utah Effective School Counselor Standards Connected with Career Development and Implementation
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1n5oNKUxkguDcOTJJ9acF1dHPPlRbHG1c/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=109470781895288394264&rtpof=true&sd=true
These are the Utah Effective School Counselor Standards connected with this microcredential.
Nicole Anderson
Jade Christiansen
Nachae Clark
Jamie Greenburg
Paige Murdock
Erin Nelson
Lindsey Robinson
Ashlee Sheppard
Stephanie Tueller
Jill Tullis
250 East 500 South
Salt Lake City, UT 84111-3204
Phone: 801.538.7807