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

 

 

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. 

 

Descriptive Statement:  All students will explore career opportunities and make informed choices based on aptitudes and interests.  Students will identify and pursue career goals, apply communications skills in work-relevant situations, demonstrate the ability to combine ideas or information in new ways, make connections between unrelated ideas, organize and present information, and allocate financial and other resources efficiently and effectively.  Students will identify and use various print and non-print resources in the home, school, and community to seek and plan for employment.  They will be able to use the job application process, including resumes, forms, and interviews.

 

Career and technical education, formerly called practical arts, is the application of life, academic, and occupational skills demonstrated by student-centered experiences in courses related to the sixteen States’ Career Clusters.  The intent at the elementary and middle school levels is to prepare all students for the option of further study in career and technical education at the high school level.  These courses typically include business education, family and consumer sciences, and other courses related to careers and life skills. Career and technical education programs establish necessary pathways for secondary vocational-technical education programs, entering the world of work, continuing education (such as college, post secondary vocational-technical education, specialized certification and/or registered apprenticeships), and lifelong learning.

 

Those students electing courses in career and technical education should demonstrate both teamwork and problem-solving skills through a structured learning experience.  This could consist of an experiential, supervised educational activity designed to provide students with exposure to the requirements and responsibilities of specific job titles or job groupings, and to assist them in gaining employment skills and making career and educational choices.  The experience may be either paid or unpaid, depending on the type of activities in which the student is involved.   Examples include, but are not limited to:  apprenticeships, community service, cooperative education, internships, job shadowing, school-based experiences, vocational student organizations, paid employment, and volunteer activities.  Structured learning experiences must meet all state and federal child labor laws and regulations.

 

 

Cumulative Progress Indicators

 

Building upon knowledge and skills gained in preceding grades, by the end of Grade 12, students will: 

 

A.     Career Awareness/Preparation

 1.         Re-evaluate personal interests, abilities, and skills through various measures including self assessments.

 2.         Evaluate academic and career skills needed in various career clusters.

 3.         Analyze factors that can impact an individual’s career.

 4.         Review and update their career plan and include the plan in a portfolio.

 5.         Research current advances in technology that apply to a selected occupational career cluster.

 

B.     Employability Skills

1.                  Assess personal qualities that are needed to obtain and retain a job related to career clusters.

2.                  Communicate and comprehend written and verbal thoughts, ideas, directions, and information relative to educational and occupational settings.

3.                  Select and utilize appropriate technology in the design and implementation of teacher-approved projects relevant to occupations and/or higher educational settings.

4.                  Evaluate the following academic and career skills as they relate to home, school, community, and employment:

·             Communication

·             Punctuality

·             Time management

·             Organization

·             Decision making

·             Goal setting

·             Resources allocation

·             Fair and equitable competition

·             Safety

·             Employment application skills

·             Teamwork

5.                  Demonstrate teamwork and leadership skills that include student participation in real world applications of career and technical education skills. 

 

All students electing further study in career and technical education will also:

 

1.            Participate in a structured learning experience that demonstrates interpersonal communication, teamwork, and leadership skills.

2.            Participate in simulated industry assessments, when and where appropriate.

3.            Prepare industry-specific technical reports/projects that incorporate graphic aids, when and where appropriate.

4.            Demonstrate occupational health and safety skills related to industry-specific activities.

 

 

STANDARD 9.2 (CONSUMER, FAMILY, AND LIFE SKILLS) ALL STUDENTS WILL DEMONSTRATE CRITICAL LIFE SKILLS IN ORDER TO BE FUNCTIONAL  MEMBERS OF SOCIETY.

 

Descriptive Statement:  All students need to develop consumer, family, and life skills necessary to be functioning members of society.  All students will develop original thoughts and ideas, think creatively, develop habits of inquiry, and take intellectual and performance risks.  They will recognize problems, devise a variety of ways to solve these problems, analyze the potential advantages and disadvantages of each alternative, and evaluate the effectiveness of the method ultimately selected.  Students will understand the components of financial education and make economic choices. Students will demonstrate self-awareness and the ability to respond constructively to criticism and potential conflict.  In addition, students will work collaboratively with a variety of groups and demonstrate the essential components of character development and ethics, including trustworthiness, responsibility, respect, fairness, caring, and citizenship.  Students apply principles of resource management and skills that promote personal and professional well-being.  Wellness, nutrition, child development, and human relationships are an important part of consumer, family, and life skills.  However, wellness, nutrition, and human relationship cumulative progress indicators are not listed here as it would duplicate those in Comprehensive Health and Physical Education Standards. 

 

 

Cumulative Progress Indicators

 

 

Building upon knowledge and skills gained in preceding grades, by the end of Grade 12, students will:

 

A.     Critical Thinking

 1.         Apply communications and data analysis to the problem-solving and decision making processes in a variety of life situations.

 2.         Describe and apply constructive responses to criticism.

 3.         Apply the use of symbols, pictures, graphs, objects, and other visual information to a selected project in academic and/or occupational settings.

 4.         Recognize bias, vested interest, stereotyping, and the manipulation and misuse of information while formulating solutions to problems that interfere with attaining goals.

 5.         Apply knowledge and skills needed to use various means of transportation within a community.

 

B.     Self-Management

 1.         Revise and update the personal growth plan to address multiple life roles.

 2.         Apply project planning and management skills in academic and/or occupational settings.

 3.         Compare and contrast methods for maximizing personal productivity.

 

C.      Interpersonal Communication

 1.         Model interpersonal and effective conflict resolution skills.

 2.         Communicate effectively in a variety of settings with a diverse group of people.

 

D.     Character Development and Ethics

 1.         Analyze how character influences work performance.

 2.         Identify and research privileges and duties of citizens in a democratic society.

 3.         Discuss consequences and sanctions when on-the-job rules and laws are not followed.

 4.         Compare and contrast a professional code of ethics or code of conduct from various work fields and discuss similarities and differences.

 5.         Apply a professional code of ethics to a workplace problem or issue.

 

E.      Consumer and Personal Finance

 1.         Analyze factors that influence gross and net income.

 2.         Design, implement, and critique a personal financial plan.

 3.         Discuss how to obtain and maintain credit.

 4.         Prepare and use skills for budget preparation, making predictions about income and expenditures, income tax preparation, and adjusting spending or expectations based on analysis.

 5.         Use comparative shopping techniques for the acquisition of goods and services.

 6.         Analyze the impact of advertising, peer pressure, and living arrangements on personal purchasing decisions.

 7.         Evaluate the actions a consumer might take in response to excess debt and personal financial status.

 8.         Analyze the interrelationships between the economic system and consumer actions in a chosen career cluster.

 

F.       Safety

 1.         Engage in an informed discussion about rules and laws designed to promote safety and health.

 2.         Describe and demonstrate basic first aid and safety procedures.

 3.         Analyze the occurrence of workplace hazards.

 4.         Practice the safe use of tools and equipment.

 5.         Implement safety procedures in the classroom and workplace, where appropriate.

 6.         Discuss motor vehicle safety, including but not limited to, New Jersey motor vehicle laws and regulations, methods of defensive driving, and the importance of personal responsibility on public roads/streets.

 

 

 

Link to Standard 9 Grade 5-8

 

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