Related Career Development Resources and Links

The following resources have been particularly useful in informing the Illinois Career Development Task Force's efforts.

Related Illinois Task Force Reports

In 2003, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) Bureau of Workforce Development began the Critical Skills Shortages Initiative. The goal was to “align regional workforce programs to provide a reliable supply of qualified job seekers for critical skill shortage occupations that pay a good wage and provide benefits.”

Three task force reports emerged from this initiative which outlined root causes and solutions for the critical skills shortage. These task force reports are particularly important, as their calls for “comprehensive career development” played an essential role in the establishment of this Illinois Career Development Task Force.

The three original task force reports are as follows:

• Healthcare Task Force Report
  
• Manufacturing Task Force Report
• Transportation and Logistics Task Force Report
  
  

National Standards

American School Counselor Association's (ASCA) National Model
The ASCA National Model helps counselors and school counseling teams to design, coordinate, implement, manage and evaluate their programs. A series of specific career development competencies for K-12 students are included within the model. Resources containing the model are available to purchase at www.schoolcounselor.org.

National Career Development Guidelines
The National Career Development Guidelines, developed and presented by ACRN in 2004, are a framework for building and evaluating comprehensive career development programs for youth and adults in a variety of settings.

The state of Illinois adopted the K-12 portion of a previous version of the National Career Development Guidelines, which was created in 1996. They are entitled the Illinois Career Development K-12 Competencies and Indicators.

Learning Standards

Crafting Effective Career Development Learning Standards
View a paper developed to help career development professionals develop meaningful and effective career development learning standards. The framework is designed to assist users in integrating the structure of NCLB academic standards with the substance of career clusters.

Career Pathways

• Career Pathways as a Systemic Framework
  This paper is designed to encourage a dialogue about what career pathways mean for the organization of community colleges as they seek to fulfill their workforce development mission.
  
• Strengthening Transitions by Encouraging Career Pathways: A look at state policies and practices
  This report presents a sample of state-level policies and legislation that support the implementation of career pathways and other strategies that facilitate education and employment transitions.
  

Additional Resources

America's Career Resource Network (ACRN)
ACRN consists of state and federal organizations that provide information, resources and training on career and education exploration. The ACRN website provides informative resources and tools specifically designed for students, adults, teachers, counselors and administrators.

• NEW! In May 2007, ACRN released a new Web cast, providing practical resources, tips, and insight on the topic of Career Development in the Postsecondary World. You can view this Web cast at: http://www.acrnetwork.org/webcasts.htm

 

Career Clusters
This website shares information on Career Clusters, which are groupings of occupations and broad industries based on commonalities. The sixteen career clusters provide an organizing tool for schools, small learning communities, academies and magnet schools.

 

One Vision One Voice
This report, sponsored by the Illinois Business Roundtable, presents a long-term education improvement agenda that aims to leverage business involvement to provide focused and coordinated efforts to improve the quality of teaching and learning in Illinois. It is one of many resources used to create a foundation for the Task Forces’ problem and purpose statements.

 

WorkKeys
Several Task Force members have mentioned WorkKeys as a potential resource for Illinois’ career development efforts. Here are a few websites that explanation of the pieces of Work Keys assessments that are part of the PSAE in Illinois.

• Student Assessment – Reading
  
• Student Assessment – Math

Currently Illinois uses only the Foundational Skills assessments of WorkKeys. WorkKeys Foundational Skills assessments measure cognitive abilities such as applied mathematics, reading for information, and locating information. WorkKeys also offers new Personal Skills assessments, which are designed to predict job behavior and measure the full potential of individuals. For more information, please see the WorkKeys assessment website.