CE & CDE Pilot Resource Hub

ISBE Grant Opportunity Resource Page: Career Exploration and Career Development Experience Pilot

The Illinois State Board of Education has provided a grant opportunity for schools across Illinois to pilot Career Exploration and Career Development Experiences in SY21-22. The purpose of this grant opportunity is to:
  • Identify and develop innovative resources Illinois needs to promote Career Exploration and Career Development Experiences
    • What are we lacking?
    • Does COVID recovery change our students’ needs?
    • How can we provide more equitable access?
  • Development of a statewide resource bank to be released in June 2022
    • Documentation of best practices, models and lessons learned from pilot schools will be used to develop a resource bank of innovative models, resources and templates that can be adapted and utilized statewide for implementing Career Exploration and Career Development Experiences
The resources provided on this site are a collection of statewide frameworks and resources, as well as resources provided by pilot schools. Bimonthly, pilot sites will be invited to Communities of Practice that will include presentations from pilot sites and provide time for cross-community collaboration.

Contact Information

Karen Lockhart

Principal Consultant
Illinois State Board of Education

Heather Penczak

Policy & Program Manager
Education Systems Center at NIU

How does the State of Illinois define Career Exploration and Career Development Experiences?

Career Exploration

Provides an individual with the ability to engage directly with employers, for the purpose of gaining knowledge of one or more industry sectors or occupations.
Source: Career Pathways Dictionary

Career Development Experience

A supervised work experience relating to an individual’s career area of interest that (i) occurs in a workplace or under authentic working conditions; (ii) is co-developed by an education provider and at least one employer in the relevant field; (iii) provides compensation OR educational credit to the participant (or both); (iv) reinforces foundational professional skills including, at a minimum, those outlined in the Essential Employability Skills framework; (v) includes a Professional Skills Assessment that assesses skill development and is utilized as a participant feedback tool; and (vi) takes place for a minimum of 60 total cumulative hours.

Source: Career Pathways Dictionary

Meeting Recordings and Presentations

On April 26, 2022, grant recipients participated in a Community Showcase, presenting on their pilot experiences including a general overview of their experience, lessons learned and challenges overcome, best practices, and resources. Download the presentation.

A gathering of communities across Illinois who are piloting Career Exploration and Career Development experiences as part of a grant opportunity from the Illinois State Board of Education. This session included an overview of resources and community presentations from Hoopeston Area School District and River Bend School District. Hosted by ISBE and EdSystems, this meeting was held on February 24, 2022.

Download the presentation.

A gathering of communities across Illinois who are piloting Career Exploration and Career Development experiences as part of a grant opportunity from the Illinois State Board of Education. This session included an overview of resources and community presentations from Elmwood Park Community Unit School District 401 and Lake County Tech Campus. Hosted by ISBE and EdSystems, this meeting was held on December 9, 2021. Download the presentation deck.

A gathering of communities across Illinois who are piloting a Career Exploration experience as part of a grant opportunity from the Illinois State Board of Education at the elementary/middle school level, to share pilot plans and make connections. Hosted by ISBE and EdSystems, this meeting was held on November 16, 2021.

Download the chat.


The Community of Practice held on October 26, 2021, included:

  • Overview of ISBE Grant Opportunity
  • Community Presentations from Paula Waterman, Career Advisor at Hoffman Estates High School; Lamont Holifield, Executive Director at the Career Preparation Network and Math/CTE Division Leader at Crete Monee High School; Terry Stroh, Director at Northern Kane County Regional Vocational System

Access the presentation deck

On Tuesday, August 24, 2021, schools across Illinois who are piloting a Career Exploration and/or Career Development Experience as a part of a grant opportunity from the Illinois State Board of Education convened. The session includes an introduction to the team at Education Systems Center at Northern Illinois University who will be supporting participating schools through professional development and technical assistance opportunities throughout the 2021-2022 school year, and covered the following:

  • Guidance, tools, and state frameworks on Career Exploration and Career Development Experiences
  • Resource banks of innovative community models and materials that are applicable across industry areas, as well as sector-specific models
  • Facilitated breakout rooms for participants to discuss their plans and questions to build connections and form a network of peers


Access the presentation deck

Resources

Statewide Frameworks

Report cover for "Career Pathways Dictionary: A Unified State Framework for COllege and Career Readiness and Success." Cover includes the Seal of the State of Illinois and the logo for Work Learn Grow: Pathways to the Jobs of Illinois' Future.

Career Pathways Dictionary

The Career Pathways Dictionary support career pathways in Illinois that are administered by a variety of private, state, and local entities. Several state education and workforce committees, including an extensive base of stakeholders, developed the Dictionary's agreed-upon definitions to ensure alignment across agencies, legal frameworks, and initiatives.
Download
Report cover for the "Recommended Technical and Essential Employability Competencies for College and Career Pathway Endorsements," released in April 2020. Cover includes the PWR Act logo and the Seal of the State of Illinois.

Recommended Technical and Essential Employability Competencies

The Recommended Technical and Essential Employability Competencies were developed through an iterative process involving public-private steering committees established pursuant to the Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness (PWR) Act in order to implement College and Career Pathway Endorsements.
Download
Report cover for "Career Development Experience Toolkit"

Career Development Experience Toolkit

The Career Development Experience (CDE) Toolkit adheres to the PWR Act framework for College and Career Pathway Endorsements and serves any organization seeking to provide rigorous work-based learning opportunities to youth, as defined by the Career Pathways Dictionary.
Access

Career Development Experience Toolkit Companion Piece

The Career Development Experience Toolkit Companion Piece explores career development experiences and provides resources to address the needs of stakeholders outside of a traditional high school setting including workforce development organizations, community-based organizations, and alternative high schools, in order to serve youth more inclusively.
Download

Career Exploration Resources

Example pilot plans submitted by communities
Explore Pilot Plans
Career Exploration Overview
Download Template
JFF Career and College Exploration Experiences: Planning for Success
Visit Site
Elm Middle School: Course Selection Presentation
Download PDF
Elm Middle School: College and Career Pathways Video
Elm Middle School: Course Selection Form (including Career Study courses)
Download PDF

Career Development Experience Resources

Example pilot plans submitted by communities
Explore Pilot Plans
Career Development Experience Overview
Download Template
Northern Kane County Regional Vocational System Resources

Additional Resources

Illinois Work-Based Learning Innovation Network Resource Hub

The Illinois Work-Based Learning Innovation Network (I-WIN) is designed to:

  • Highlight and explore innovative models for work-based learning with a current focus on virtual opportunities.
  • Engage in conversations on creating sustainable, high-quality models that provide broader and more equitable access to work-based learning, building social capital for Black and Latinx students.
  • Build connections among communities to offer best practices, learnings, and resources.
  • Identify needs for state policy changes or support systems.
Visit I-WIN Resource Hub
Subscribe to I-WIN Newsletter
Join the Pilot Listservs

Join one or both listservs with fellow ISBE pilot contacts, to share resources and best practices via email beyond our Communities of Practice. (This is an additional subscription to support cross-community collaboration; you do not need to subscribe to these to receive general communication and invites related to the ISBE pilot).