Career Advising Policy for 7th and 8th Grade

The ________ school districts policy will be reviewed every two years in order to ensure
that the interventions being implemented are beneficial to the students. When the policy is
finalized by the career committee, it will be posted on the school districts website in order to
provide students, parents/guardians, teachers, and community members with the information.
The career advising plans for _______ school district are as follows:
1. Each teacher will implement one lesson per year that is integrated with the ODE
Standards that will connect coursework to career fields. School Counselors will also
conduct one classroom guidance lesson for each grade level per year addressing the
importance of education to future career options. Students will participate in a Career
Caf that aligns with the students career interests. This opportunity will invite members
of the community to come speak with students about their career. The Career Caf will
include both 7th and 8th grade students.

2. For students in grades 7 and 8, they will meet with a school counselor individually once
per year to receiving career advising and set their career goals. Based upon what the
students need, the activities and conversations with the counselor will be tailored for each
individual student. The model student success plan will be utilized to tailor the activities
for each grade level.

3. For students who are at-risk of dropping out, they will be required to meet with a school
counselor at least once a month to receiving more intensive career advising interventions.
During this time, success plans will be developed. They will also be invited to participate
in a psychoeducational group with other students who are at-risk. A mentorship program
with teachers will also be implemented where a student who is at-risk is assigned a
teacher to meet with weekly in order to help build that connection to school. Students
who are at-risk will be identified by teachers, counselors, parents/guardians,
administration, etc.

4. The district plans to utilize OhioMeansJobs K-12 with students to help discover and
develop their career pathways. School counselors will provide training for the staff about
this website and how to use it with students.

5. Students are given the opportunity to choose from multiple pathways to earn their high
school diploma. School counselors will meet with students yearly and discuss the
pathways and review their choice towards a diploma. In 7th and 8th grade, students will
begin to learn about the multiple pathways during classroom guidance lessons which will
expose them to the potential pathways so that they can make more informed decisions.

6. Because there is credit flexibility, students need to learn through a classroom guidance
lesson about how courses may provide both academic and career-technical credit. They
will receive information about both credit flex as well as integrated credit. To learn more
about career-technical education options, students will go on a field trip to the career-
 technical school and participate in two programs of their choosing to gain insight into
what the program is like.

7. Documentation about each career advising meeting with the counselor will be provided
for the student, their parent/guardian, as well as potential schools the student may attend.
This documentation will be completed by the school counselor. Documentation will also
be sent home after classroom guidance lessons as well. Because our school district
utilizes OhioMeansJobs K-12, the backpack will serve as a way to keep documentation
compiled together.

8. To assist students with successful postsecondary transitions, career advising will occur
yearly as well as mathematics and language arts interventions. After school, tutoring will
be provided twice a week for each subject by teachers in mathematics and language arts.
To begin preparing 7th and 8th grade students for the postsecondary transition, students
will have the opportunity to listen to one college representative each year. We will also be
taking a field trip to the local college.