Project: DCMS Career Pathways

Step Description Expected Student Results
1 Step 1: Explore My Interests and Natural Abilities

Mentor Task: The mentor will share the interests and natural abilities they had in middle school or junior high and how those changed over time. The mentor will also ask probing questions of the student to help the student learn more about his or her interests and natural abilities. The mentor typically plays the role of facilitator rather than topic guru.

The mentor reviews the first portfolio entry, provides feedback, and waits for the student to incorporate that feedback into the next draft.


Student Task: Students describe their intellectual and personal interests and the resources they are using to pursue them. Mentors share their journey, focusing on the elements in subsequent steps.

Using a survey instrument from the Kansas Career Pipeline program, the student will assess his or her interests and natural abilities and share the results with the mentor. 		THE FIRST PORTFOLIO ENTRY will be an entry where the student describes his or her interests, natural abilities, and academic progress.
2 Kansas Career and Education Options

Students and mentors explore what is happening in Kansas related to the student's interests. The Kansas Department of Labor Web site is an excellent place to start. Spending a few weeks learning how to explore those sites effectively would be a great benefit for students. Leveraging the support and hindsight of the mentor is key.

Mentor Task: The mentor will explore and share Kansas employment and post-secondary Web sites and resources with the student. The mentor will review and comment on the second portfolio entry.

Student Task: The student will research the field of interest using suggested keywords, questions, and websites from the mentor and their own research sources and techniques. This step will use the Internet to find professional organizations dealing with the chosen area of interest.
 THE SECOND PORTFOLIO ENTRY will include the following:
* Three broad fields (healthcare, energy, education, etc) that are connected to the student's interests and natural abilities.
* The name(s) of two to three professional organizations for this area of interest and why these particular organizations were chosen.
* The basic facts of several current events pertaining to the interest area and any contact information found in the search.
* Reflection on why it's important NOT to pick a career title early in this process of career exploration.
* Student will upload this page for the mentor to review.
3 Step 3: Explore Two Career Areas

Mentor Task: Help the student explore a few career areas that fall under the broad fields found in the last step. The focus here is to help the student explore careers without feeling stuck (If I don't become a pediatric oncologist I can always work at Starbucks). Have fun.

Student Task: The student will identify two career areas to explore with the help of the mentor. They will begin with opportunities in Kansas. The student will determine whether these career areas are part of fields that are growing or shrinking. 		THE THIRD PORTFOLIO ENTRY will include information about two career areas that are represented in Kansas.

* The student will note several aspects of these fields, mirroring the information found at www.bls.gov/k12.
• The student will include post-secondary requirements of each field.
4 Step 4: Explore Post-Secondary Requirements and Programs

Mentor Task: Help the student determine the post-secondary requirements of the chosen careers and the programs offered in Kansas.

Student Task: With the mentor's help, determine the post-secondary requirements of the chosen careers. Explore the requirements to apply to these programs. 		THE FOURTH PORTFOLIO ENTRY will include the following:

* Career Area
* Post-Secondary requirements
* Kansas post-secondary programs
5 Step 5: My Middle School and High School Plan

After the student understands the post-secondary requirements and the requirements for admission and successful completion of that program, the student and mentor can determine what the student must accomplish between middle school and high school graduation.

Mentor Task: The mentor will help the student begin to be more proactive in his or her education planning. Rather than simply another class assignment, this is life. This is the real deal. The mentor can share his or her journey since they were in middle or high school.

Student Task: The student will describe what he or she must nail between now and high school graduation to enroll successfully in a post-secondary program. This is all based on the student's interests and natural abilities.


THE FIFTH SET OF PORTFOLIO ENTRIES will be an official plan regarding academic requirements, experience, and required professional network necessary to compete in a particular field.
6 Step 6: The portfolio entries should result in a plan of action that is reviewed by the mentor, Kansas industry professional, and post-secondary staff. This authentic audience will substantially raise the bar regarding the quality of student work.

Student Task: The student will share a draft of the plan with the audience mentioned above. After receiving feedback the plan should go through two iterative cycles that include student draft, feedback, changes, and new student draft.

The student will articulate as part of the documentation, the gap between where the plan stands now and where it should be.

The SIXTH PORTFOLIO ENTRY will be typed career/education plan developed by the student and the help of the mentor.
• The plan will outline in detail the steps that are needed for the student to be successful in his/her area of interest. It will include courses to take, jobs to have, contacts to make and any other information that the mentor and student decide is important for the particular area of interest.
• All messages between student and mentor in this step should be included with the entry