6-8 grade ACP Outcomes

Know

• Understand the relationship of personal abilities, goals, skills, interests, and motivation to academic achievement
• Identify a personal and/or academic goal
• Create a plan for goal attainment
• Evaluate and make meaningful adjustments to goal/plan
• Share with others:  personal, strengths, skills, aptitudes
• Begin to develop effective collaboration and cooperation skills by engaging in extracurricular activities 
• Learn the importance of self-determination and self-discipline and how to apply it to learning
• Begin to develop his or her ability to work independently toward achieving an academic or personal goal
• Understand the importance of balancing academic, personal, and community activities in order to achieve a holistic sense of wellness
• Learn how to develop a personal/professional network of adults mentors
• Begin to develop and practice self-advocacy skills and be able to assert themselves through the use of appropriate oral and written communication
• Interest inventories
• Students take assessments that identify their preferred learning styles
• Learn about the elements of decision making
• Learn about the culture and climate of one’s community
• Learn about personal biases and beliefs regarding one’s future

Plan

• Apply study skills necessary for academic achievement
• Understand the importance of planning
• Understand that behaviors such as punctuality, courtesy, proper dress and language, and hard work are essential to academic success
• Demonstrate employability skills such as individual initiative, teamwork, problem solving, time management, organization, and communication
• Use research skills to locate, evaluate, and interpret career and educational information
• Demonstrate awareness of educational, vocational, and technical training opportunities
• Use critical thinking skills and test-taking strategies
• Understand the choices, options, and requirements of the middle school environment
• Understand the importance of high school course and/or program selection in relation to future  options
• Understand high school graduation requirements
• Understand individual assessment results in relation to educational progress
• Demonstrate the ability to complete coursework in a timely manner using some type of organizational system
• Begin to develop an understanding of how their own academic behaviors and mindsets influence career and college choices
• Demonstrate reasoning skills such as critical thinking, using logic, and forming arguments
• Apply personal responsibility and accountability skills to promote a reduction in their tardiness and absentee rates
• Students will complete 8th grade with the financial awareness and preparation essential to meeting the needs for their postsecondary options.
• Review of transcripts/academic record
• Prepare for high school:  understand academic options, co curricular options, selecting the right courses, and develop a four year plan
• Learn about intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation
• Explore the right post secondary fit:  types of schools and factors to consider
• Learn about the varied costs of post secondary education

Explore

• Build awareness of career planning and acquire information about careers and educational and training pathways leading to them
• Students use research and information resources to obtain career information
• Students associate adults and their work lives with subject matters learned in school
• Students describe traditional and nontraditional career choices and how they relate to career choice
• Students understand the effect of career choices on quality of life
• Identify one career pathway that they are interested in 
• Identify how the average salary of a particular career choice may influence their future lifestyle
• Develop a post secondary goal
• Begin to identify how values and academic aspirations support future life needs, wants, and goals
• Explore the differences between types of colleges
• Identify advanced placement opportunities, extra-curricular clubs, organizations, and college preparatory programs available to them.
• Activities or assignments introduce career planning and use internet research
• Classroom or program activities incorporate examples of careers in related fields
• Guest speakers, Career fairs, expos, campus visits and Field trips

Go

• Modify academic goals as necessary
• Modify personal goals as necessary
• Modify career goals as necessary
• Update regularly
• Individual or group conferencing
• Transition to high school