Step-by-step guide to writing a career education plan

A career education plan is:

• a future-focused document providing a vision for careers education in your school, which links to the strategic direction of your school
  
• an overview of all careers-related activities in your school, tailored specifically to your school’s needs
• a living, working document that is easy for all staff to understand and is updated as you progress toward your goals.

Before you begin

You will find it easier to develop a career education plan if you set up:

• a careers lead team – this team will lead the process in the school
  
• accountabilities within the careers lead team
  
• support from senior management for the careers lead team
• a consultation process – who will you need to get feedback from along the way?

1. Do your groundwork

Before you start writing a career education plan (CEP), spend two to three months reviewing current programmes and gathering background information. You should:

• Meet as a careers lead team and establish responsibilities and time frames.
  
• Complete background reading on effective career education practice.
• Use the data information profile (DIP) to review what you are currently doing – this is your baseline data.
• Circulate questionnaires to teachers, students and parents to find our their views on current career education programmes at the school.
• Collate this information into a short, simple outline that shows where your school is currently at.

2. Develop a vision statement

Your vision statement can be as simple as a single paragraph, with bullet points outlining what you want students to take with them when they leave school. It should connect to, and be in line with, the school’s strategic approach and policy.

When writing your vision statement, consider the following questions:

• What are the schooling or year milestones for our students? What outcomes do we want for students at each of these points?
• What skills and competencies do we want students to develop at school, and take with them when they leave?
• How can we recognise successful career education outcomes for our students?
• What is our school-wide delivery approach? How do we want to integrate careers education into school activities?

In your vision statement, show how your career education plan will link with other important school planning documents. You can refer to:

• the school's charter
• the school's strategic plan
• school policies related to career education
• other school-wide initiatives (eg Te Kotahitanga, information literacy)
• curriculum statements.
  

3. Provide an overview of your career education programme

4. Outline how you will evaluate and report progress

Schools often find it difficult to evaluate their progress. Your data information profile can give you baseline data against which you can track your progress. However, you need to work out which measures are best for evaluating the outcomes you are most interested in.

There are two types of evaluation to consider:

Collecting evidence

Consider using summative data such as statistics and student data to measure your progress. Before you think of new methods of data gathering, think about what data you currently have access to:

• What data or scores do you already gather for the Ministry of Education and Tertiary Education Commission that could be used here?
• What results do you receive from NZQA and other bodies that you could include?
• If you need to start collecting data, what data would you like and what is the best method of collection?
• What evidence will show that you are achieving the outcomes in your vision statement?

Tip: Can your mathematics department help you with data-gathering methodology?

You also need to consider collecting formative data such as qualitative results, particularly about how things progress over time. Think about:

• staff feedback about the programme
• what themes or issues are cropping up in the feedback.

Financial reporting

You should also outline your financial reporting in this section.

• How will you designate and allocate funds for career education at your school?
• Is this sustainable?
  
• Who is responsible for each delivery?

5. State your development goals for the future

What does the school need to work on in the immediate future? Give four to five goals that your careers lead team have agreed require attention. To ensure goals are reached, outline an action plan for each goal that sets out:

• what resources are needed to reach the goal
• the timeline for achieving the goal
• who is responsible for achieving the goal.

"The career education plan provides a foundation for an ongoing programme. It clarifies the school's understanding of career education and how career education fits with various curriculum areas, subject selection and pastoral care. It includes links to the strategic plan and self-review cycle that provides a means of sustaining the developments."

Education Review Office, The CPaBL Initiative – Overview Evaluation, February 2009.