Parent+Resources

=Parent Career Exploration and Planning Resources= Helping our children decide what they want to be when they grow up is one of the more important things we do as parents. In this section, we share some resources that will help you help your son or daughter explore career options and make some decisions about what they want to do after high school. Even middle schoolers need to be thinking about the future. The courses they take in 7th and 8th grade will, in turn, influence what they are able to take in high school and, therefore, how prepared they are for college.

**PA Career, Education and Work (CEW) Standards**
Pennsylvania academic standards include requirements for what students should be able to do related to understanding and exploring careers. The Career Education and Work Standards address four areas of knowledge: Your child's school should be implementing these standards throughout the curriculum, helping young people to develop the skills that will allow them to be successful in the future.
 * Career Awareness and Preparation
 * Career Acquisition (Getting a Job)
 * Career Retention and Advancement
 * Entrepreneurship
 * Explore 8th Grade CEW Standards**--[[file:grade8-cew-getting-started.doc]]


 * Explore 11th grade CEW standards**--[[file:grade11-cew-getting-started-2.doc]]

[|Parent Resources for Supporting the CEW Standards and Exploring Careers]

[|PA CareerZone]--students can take assessments and explore career choices. Also check out the [|Budget Your Life] section where students can answer some lifestyle questions to see what kind of job and salary they will need to support that lifestyle.


 * 15 Things Youth Should Know About Pennsylvania and the Economy**

The Work-Based Learning Guide Find resources here on the different kinds of experiences with work young people should be having in order to begin exploring career options and making decisions about their educational plans after high school. This tool was developed for Delaware County, but is applicable to all students.

General Parent Career Resources

 * [|America's Career Resource Network Parent Resources]---brochures in both English and Spanish.
 * [|Parent's Guide to Career Exploration]--includes a timetable for various career exploration activities
 * [|Career Assessments and Inventories]--links to a wide variety of assessment tools that students can use to identify interests and link to careers.
 * [|Create a Customized Career Profile]--select the industry, area of the country, etc. to get customized information on demand, wages, preparation for STEM-related careers.
 * [|Informational Interviewing Prep and Questions]--download this document to have students conduct informational interviews on careers that interest them.
 * [|Informational Interviewing Tutorial]--teaches students how to conduct an informational interview.
 * [|Job Shadowing Tutorial]--spending some time on an employer's worksite is another great way to learn more about career options. This job shadowing tutorial can help get thing started.
 * [|The Employability Check-up]--want to see how employability changes based on location, education, etc. try the employability check-up.

Resources for Students with Special Needs

 * [|Preparing for Post-Secondary Transitions]--a great selection of resources from Disability.gov.
 * [|Resources for Parents of Children with Special Needs]
 * [|Graduation Requirements and Diploma Options for Students with Disabilities: What Families and Advocates Need to Know-]- //This InfoBrief explores the importance of making informed decisions about diploma options, understanding the consequences of graduating with different types of diplomas as well as the need for youth, families, and Individual Education Program (IEP) teams to consider these issues early.//
 * [|Guideposts for Success]--from the Office of Disability Employment Policy, this guide lists five guideposts for student success, with links to resources and supports for these guideposts.