Career Pathways

USA offers all high school students the Career Pathways Curriculum, helping them recognize their interests and strengths and identifying the career possibilities that rely on those skills and interests.

The Career Pathways Curriculum encompasses six broad groupings of careers that share similar characteristics and whose employment requirements call for many common interests, strengths and competencies. The desired outcomes of Career Preparation are student achievement and ultimate success in a career(s) of choice. Meeting the career-related needs of students calls for alignment with career opportunities in authentic work settings. Career Pathways provide a useful framework to aid both students and educators in making those meaningful connections to the working world. Six Career Pathways, while not specifically required as presented, have been identified to cover all career opportunities regardless of educational requirements:

Arts and Communications: careers related to the humanities and the performing, visual, literary, and media arts.

Business, Management, Marketing, and Technology: careers related to all aspects of business including accounting, business administration, finance, information processing and marketing.

Engineering/Manufacturing and Industrial Technology: careers related to technologies necessary to design, develop, install, or maintain physical systems.

Health Sciences: careers related to the promotion of health as well as the treatment of injuries, conditions, and disease.

Human Services: includes careers in child care, civil service, education, hospitality, and the social services.

Natural Resources and Agri-Science: careers related to natural resources, agriculture, and the environment. Personal aptitudes and interests are important factors as students begin to identify career opportunities. Career Pathways give flexible identity and structure to the student career choice process as well as to educational programs and services that contribute to the career preparation of students. Even though described as part of Career Development, the alignment provided through Career Pathways influences all Career Preparation components including those at the post high school level.

Career Pathways Standard and Benchmarks

Standard
The participating education agency board of education or designee will have adopted the six Career Pathways approved by the Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Growth to provide the structure for making meaningful connections between education and the world of work. Alternatives to the six Career Pathways must assure that the number of Career Pathways chosen:

1) represent the entire spectrum of careers available to students entering the workforce,
2) reflect the full range of work requirements (entry level to highly specialized), and
3) reflect the full range of educational requirements (high school graduation to advanced degree).

Benchmarks
The local board of education or designee has adopted the six Career Pathways or an equivalent alternative that meets the state standard.

Ensures that all school buildings within the district utilize the Career Pathways concept adopted by the district as evidenced by their curriculum plans/guides.

Ensures that all students will have opportunities to learn about careers within all pathways as evidenced by curriculum plans/guides.

Ensures that the Career Pathways are used as a framework for:

a) organizing career contextual teaching/learning experiences as evidenced in curriculum plans used by staff.
b) providing systematic career planning and preparation as evidenced by Career Pathway use in the district's counseling and guidance program, Education Development Plans, career awareness/exploration activities, and work- based learning.
c)  aligning high school courses into the chosen Career Pathways to reflect which courses are needed for preparing for careers as evidenced in documents such as student handbooks and course selection guides.

Source: Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Growth