1. Understanding Georgia’s College & Career Clusters/Pathways
Stephanie Dockery
Bells Ferry Elementary School Counselor

2. WHY are we discussing colleges & careers at the elementary level?
AYP =
Adequate Yearly Progress
CCRPI =
College and Career Ready Performance Index
Old system, stopped 2011
AYP is one of the cornerstones of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of It is a measure of year-to-year student achievement on statewide assessments.
New system, began 2012
CCRPI is a comprehensive school improvement, accountability, and communication platform for all educational stakeholders that will promote college and career readiness for all Georgia public school students.

3. WHY are we discussing colleges & careers at the elementary level?
CCRPI for Elementary Schools:
Divided into 3 main categories
1. Content Mastery- (scores on GA Milestones testing)
2. Post Elementary School Readiness-
#9 “Percent of students in grades 1-5 completing the identified number of grade specific career awareness lessons aligned to Georgia’s 17 Career Clusters”.
3. Predictor for High School Graduation
Exceeding the Bar Indicators
#4 “Percent of 5th grade students with a complete career portfolio by the end of grade 5 (moves to face of CCRPI in )”

4. WHAT are the students learning about colleges & careers at the elementary level?
Habits, Mindsets and Behaviors that will set students up for future success (hard work, cooperation, organization).
As School Counselors we focus on:
Kindergarten: You have jobs to do both at school and at home.
1st Grade: For each job there are specific tools that help get the job done.
2nd, 3rd & 4th Grades: Skills & interests you have today that can help you plan for a successful career someday.
5th Grade: Education and experience can help determine your future career path.
Georgia’s 17 Career Clusters, General Knowledge
5th Grade Career Portfolio
Showing interest & research with a particular Career Cluster

5. We teach students there is a road map to follow, but they also get to create it.

6. Essential Questions
Who am I? By answering this question, students learn about themselves and become aware of the world of work.
During the earlier grades, students begin to think about the concept of work/vocation and the numerous work opportunities available in their future.
Where am I going? By answering this question, students will explore and investigate the world of work to discover which career, based on previous assessments and experiences, would best “fit” them as an individual.
How am I going to get there? By answering this question, students begin to develop a plan to manage previous information and continue to gather career-related information in an educational and career planning portfolio beginning in the middle grades.

7. Career Clusters
National Career Clusters are defined as a grouping of occupations according to common knowledge and skills. These clusters are further broken down into pathways representing a sequence of courses at the secondary level aligned with postsecondary programs.

8. Georgia’s 17 Career Clusters

9. 5th Grade Career Portfolio
Students pick a career and career cluster of their interest
Explore the training and education needed to get that job
Research the work environment of that job
Locate the salary, growth opportunities and job outlook of the chosen career
Each student does research, written explanation and a presentation with a product (brochure, PowerPoint, poster, etc.)

10. Middle & High School…
Students in the middle grades learn about and explore aligned pathways prior to completing the individual graduation plan (IGP) in grade 8. This plan guides the student in grades 9-12 and leads to a high school diploma.