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Illinois’ College and Career Pathway Endorsement system is a cornerstone strategy of the Postsecondary & Workforce Readiness Act to increase the number of Illinois high school graduates prepared for postsecondary education and future careers. To earn an endorsement on a high school transcript, a student must complete an individualized learning plan, engage in a career-focused instructional sequence (including early college credit), participate in work-based learning, and demonstrate readiness for college-level reading and math. Students earning an endorsement will develop technical and essential employability competencies, earn in-demand credentials, and be prepared to launch rewarding careers. College and Career Pathway Endorsements has been incorporated into Illinois’ Every Student Succeeds Act State Plan, the Perkins V State Plan, and the Model Partnership Agreement for dual credit under the Dual Credit Quality Act.
The resources below serve as an orientation for educators to the College and Career Pathway Endorsement framework and its implementation. Click the tab below to follow the track that fits your job title best.
Enacted with bipartisan support in 2016, the Postsecondary & Workforce Readiness (PWR) Act applies a student-centered and competency-based approach to support Illinois students in preparing for postsecondary education and future careers. The PWR Act implements four aligned strategies that require coordinated efforts among school districts, postsecondary education institutions, employers, and other public and private organizations. Access this video to learn more about Illinois’ college and career readiness policies including:
How can these frameworks inform current initiatives in your organization?
Where do you see opportunities in your community for collaboration among secondary and postsecondary partners related to these frameworks and concepts?
The Recommended Technical and Employability Competencies serve as quality indicators of an individual’s readiness to enter an industry or to pursue further education. Competency statements apply to current industry needs, contain both employability skills and technical skills, and leave opportunity for specialized training and career advancement.
Where do you see opportunities to embed these competencies?
How can you engage in these competencies with your team and/or external partners to design experiences, including instruction and work-based learning?
Enacted in 2016, the Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness (PWR) Act established a voluntary system for school districts to award College and Career Pathway Endorsements (CCPEs) to high school graduates. Endorsements signify that a student is ready to pursue postsecondary education or enter a career related to the CCPE industry area. Endorsements incentivize career exploration and development and are available in eight sector areas, including a multidisciplinary option. Students earn CCPEs by completing an individualized learning plan, a career focused instructional sequence, and professional learning (which includes career exploration activities, 60 hours of career development experiences, and two team-based challenges).
What makes CCPE different than traditional “high school” or regular CTE programming or general “College Prep” programming
What might be the hardest components of the CCPE to implement and why? Whose role at the school is it to implement various components and how can they overlap?
The Illinois State Board of Education invites interested districts to complete the voluntary process for school districts to award CCPE to high school graduates. To offer the endorsements, districts must submit an application and a report of projected student participation. Visit the ISBE website to learn more.
How would a district verify that a student met the College and Career Pathway Endorsement requirements?
What benefits could earning an endorsement have for a student?
Name some ways your school builds currency for endorsements.
The Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) sponsored the development of Illinois Model Programs of Study Guides in crucial industry areas as part of the Illinois State Plan for Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (also known as the Perkins V Plan).
The primary purposes and goals for the Guides are to:
How do the statewide Model Programs of Study Guides echo what is done locally?
How does the strategic selection of career-focused and general education courses in a pathway impact the rest of a student or school schedule?
Given eligibility requirements, how might a pathway be set up for students at different academic levels?
The Illinois Career Pathways Dictionary establishes a work-based learning continuum that includes experiences from career awareness to apprenticeships. Experiences move along a continuum of increasing intensity of employer engagement to reflect how students are embedded more deeply in authentic work conditions and connected to industry mentors. All high school graduates who earn the CCPE are required to complete a series of activities along the work-based learning continuum that includes career exploration, team-based challenges, and career development experiences.
What experiences currently exist that meet the definitions outlined in the continuum?
How might you adjust experiences that currently exist to meet the work-based learning continuum definitions if they don’t already?
Where do you see a good fit along the continuum for potential partners or ways to engage more deeply with current partners?
Work-based learning opportunities springboard the social capital of underrepresented students by providing access to industry peers and mentors who can provide guidance, assistance, and connections to better inform their college and career pathway. These experiences also provide young people with the necessary essential employability and technical skills that help build relationships with industry professionals and reinforce their career-focused coursework.
What insights or questions did this presentation bring up for you?
How have you used work-based learning as a strategy to advance equity in your community?
What opportunities are emerging to use work-based learning as a strategy to advance equity in your community?
As defined in the Illinois Career Pathways Dictionary, career exploration is an activity such as a job shadow, attendance at a career exposition, or employer site visit providing an individual with the ability to engage directly with employers to gain knowledge of one or more industry sectors or occupations. Access these resources to learn about models, best practices, and resources for implementing career exploration experiences.
What are some initial thoughts you have about designing a new experience or enhancing a current one?
How will the implementation of this experience address a current gap and/or equity challenge that you have?
What insights do you have or can gather from students, partners, and school staff to ensure you are offering a valuable experience?
As defined in the Illinois Career Pathways Dictionary, team-based challenges are a group problem-based learning project relating to an individual’s career area of interest that involves a problem relating to employers within that area, including mentoring from adults with expertise in that area, and requires the individual to present the outcomes of the project. Access these resources to learn about models, best practices, and resources for implementing team-based challenges.
What are some initial thoughts you have about designing a new experience or enhancing a current one?
How will the implementation of this experience address a current gap and/or equity challenge that you have?
What insights do you have or can gather from students, partners, and school staff to ensure you are offering a valuable experience?
As defined in the Illinois Career Pathways Dictionary, career development experiences are a supervised work experience relating to an individual’s career area of interest that:
Access these resources to learn about models, best practices, and resources for implementing career development experiences.
What are some initial thoughts you have about designing a new experience or enhancing a current one?
How will the implementation of this experience address a current gap and/or equity challenge that you have?
What insights do you have or can gather from students, partners, and school staff to ensure you are offering a valuable experience?
More resources are available through the Illinois Work-Based Learning Innovation Network. Explore the resource library and join K-12 school districts, postsecondary institutions, employers, and community-based organizations across Illinois as we share learnings about innovative, scalable, and high-quality work-based learning models.
The Recommended Technical and Employability Competencies serve as quality indicators of an individual’s readiness to enter an industry or to pursue further education. Competency statements apply to current industry needs, contain both employability skills and technical skills, and leave opportunity for specialized training and career advancement.
Where do you see opportunities to embed these competencies?
How can you engage in these competencies with your team and/or external partners to design experiences, including instruction and work-based learning?
The Illinois Career Pathways Dictionary establishes a work-based learning continuum that includes experiences from career awareness to apprenticeships. Experiences move along a continuum of increasing intensity of employer engagement to reflect how students are embedded more deeply in authentic work conditions and connected to industry mentors. All high school graduates who earn the CCPE are required to complete a series of activities along the work-based learning continuum that includes career exploration, team-based challenges, and career development experiences.
What experiences currently exist that meet the definitions outlined in the continuum?
How might you adjust experiences that currently exist to meet the work-based learning continuum definitions if they don’t already?
Where do you see a good fit along the continuum for potential partners or ways to engage more deeply with current partners?
Work-based learning opportunities springboard the social capital of underrepresented students by providing access to industry peers and mentors who can provide guidance, assistance, and connections to better inform their college and career pathway. These experiences also provide young people with the necessary essential employability and technical skills that help build relationships with industry professionals and reinforce their career-focused coursework.
What insights or questions did this presentation bring up for you?
How have you used work-based learning as a strategy to advance equity in your community?
What opportunities are emerging to use work-based learning as a strategy to advance equity in your community?
As defined in the Illinois Career Pathways Dictionary, career exploration is an activity such as a job shadow, attendance at a career exposition, or employer site visit providing an individual with the ability to engage directly with employers to gain knowledge of one or more industry sectors or occupations. Access these resources to learn about models, best practices, and resources for implementing career exploration experiences.
What are some initial thoughts you have about designing a new experience or enhancing a current one?
How will the implementation of this experience address a current gap and/or equity challenge that you have?
What insights do you have or can gather from students, partners, and school staff to ensure you are offering a valuable experience?
As defined in the Illinois Career Pathways Dictionary, team-based challenges are a group problem-based learning project relating to an individual’s career area of interest that involves a problem relating to employers within that area, including mentoring from adults with expertise in that area, and requires the individual to present the outcomes of the project. Access these resources to learn about models, best practices, and resources for implementing team-based challenges.
What are some initial thoughts you have about designing a new experience or enhancing a current one?
How will the implementation of this experience address a current gap and/or equity challenge that you have?
What insights do you have or can gather from students, partners, and school staff to ensure you are offering a valuable experience?
As defined in the Illinois Career Pathways Dictionary, career development experiences are a supervised work experience relating to an individual’s career area of interest that:
Access these resources to learn about models, best practices, and resources for implementing career development experiences.
What are some initial thoughts you have about designing a new experience or enhancing a current one?
How will the implementation of this experience address a current gap and/or equity challenge that you have?
What insights do you have or can gather from students, partners, and school staff to ensure you are offering a valuable experience?
More resources are available through the Illinois Work-Based Learning Innovation Network. Explore the resource library and join K-12 school districts, postsecondary institutions, employers, and community-based organizations across Illinois as we share learnings about innovative, scalable, and high-quality work-based learning models.
The Recommended Technical and Employability Competencies serve as quality indicators of an individual’s readiness to enter an industry or to pursue further education. Competency statements apply to current industry needs, contain both employability skills and technical skills, and leave opportunity for specialized training and career advancement.
Where do you see opportunities to embed these competencies?
How can you engage in these competencies with your team and/or external partners to design experiences, including instruction and work-based learning?
The Illinois Career Pathways Dictionary establishes a work-based learning continuum that includes experiences from career awareness to apprenticeships. Experiences move along a continuum of increasing intensity of employer engagement to reflect how students are embedded more deeply in authentic work conditions and connected to industry mentors. All high school graduates who earn the CCPE are required to complete a series of activities along the work-based learning continuum that includes career exploration, team-based challenges, and career development experiences.
What experiences currently exist that meet the definitions outlined in the continuum?
How might you adjust experiences that currently exist to meet the work-based learning continuum definitions if they don’t already?
Where do you see a good fit along the continuum for potential partners or ways to engage more deeply with current partners?
Work-based learning opportunities springboard the social capital of underrepresented students by providing access to industry peers and mentors who can provide guidance, assistance, and connections to better inform their college and career pathway. These experiences also provide young people with the necessary essential employability and technical skills that help build relationships with industry professionals and reinforce their career-focused coursework.
What insights or questions did this presentation bring up for you?
How have you used work-based learning as a strategy to advance equity in your community?
What opportunities are emerging to use work-based learning as a strategy to advance equity in your community?
As defined in the Illinois Career Pathways Dictionary, career exploration is an activity such as a job shadow, attendance at a career exposition, or employer site visit providing an individual with the ability to engage directly with employers to gain knowledge of one or more industry sectors or occupations. Access these resources to learn about models, best practices, and resources for implementing career exploration experiences.
What are some initial thoughts you have about designing a new experience or enhancing a current one?
How will the implementation of this experience address a current gap and/or equity challenge that you have?
What insights do you have or can gather from students, partners, and school staff to ensure you are offering a valuable experience?
As defined in the Illinois Career Pathways Dictionary, career development experiences are a supervised work experience relating to an individual’s career area of interest that:
Access these resources to learn about models, best practices, and resources for implementing career development experiences.
What are some initial thoughts you have about designing a new experience or enhancing a current one?
How will the implementation of this experience address a current gap and/or equity challenge that you have?
What insights do you have or can gather from students, partners, and school staff to ensure you are offering a valuable experience?
More resources are available through the Illinois Work-Based Learning Innovation Network. Explore the resource library and join K-12 school districts, postsecondary institutions, employers, and community-based organizations across Illinois as we share learnings about innovative, scalable, and high-quality work-based learning models.
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