ThE visiOn
AchieveTexas
Spans All Grades.
The AchieveTexas vision includes all grades. The idea is to provide students
with a wide variety of career-related activities, resources, and opportunities
during elementary and middle school, so that by high school they are better
prepared to make an informed decision about what cluster best fits their
personal interests, talents, and career goals.
T
he intent isn’t to force children to make For example, an exploration of the Law, the clusters, how clusters relate to all the
specific career choices, but instead Public Safety, Corrections & Security school subjects, and what professions might
provide them with information about cluster might include a field trip to the interest them in the future.
the array of career options. Through the local firehouse to meet the people who
career clusters and programs of study, work there and see the fire trucks and Middle school
students will begin to see the relevance equipment. Elementary school educators Career Exploration: Building on Career
of a strong academic foundation to their could talk about their personal experiences Awareness activities in elementary school,
personal career goals. in Education & Training and how they students are given opportunities in middle
Here’s what AchieveTexas can bring to decided to become teachers. Parents school to research careers of personal
each level of education: might get involved by sharing information interest.
about their careers during a career fair or For example, a computer class could
Elementary school classroom presentation. include time to investigate specific careers
Career Awareness: Schools incorporate Through career awareness, children in the Information Technology cluster.
age-appropriate activities to help students won’t be encouraged to pursue a particular Educators could also partner with local
begin to think about what they might want career cluster. Instead, they will begin business and community leaders to
to do when they grow up. to develop a basic understanding of all provide job shadowing experiences and site
tours for students. A “Take Your Child to
Work Day” might give students firsthand
knowledge of their parents’ careers.
F U N D I N G
Students could then share their experiences
with their classmates through oral, written,
and multimedia presentations.
A
chievetexas supports the goals of the Carl d. perkins Career
As with the Career Awareness approach,
and technical education Act of 2006. the legislation includes
the goal is to continue many of the activities
an increased focus on the academic achievement of career and
schools are already conducting, but to
technical education students, strengthens connections between
include them as a critical component of
secondary and postsecondary education, and improves state and
the middle school curriculum. The school
local accountability. schools receiving perkins money are required
district could provide age-appropriate
to implement at least three programs of study in at least three
career assessments with a comprehensive
different clusters. the goal is for school districts to fully implement
college/career software system. These
Achievetexas by 2012.
experiences will better prepare students
to develop their Texas Achievement Plans
(TAPs, or comprehensive education plans)
during the eighth grade (see page 4).
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