Career Clusters

Career Clusters help students investigate careers and design their courses of study to advance their career goals. For this reason,Virginia has adopted the nationally accepted structure of career clusters, career pathways and sample career specialties or occupations.

A Career Cluster is a grouping of occupations and broad industries based on commonalities. Sixteen career clusters provide an organizing tool for schools, small learning communities, academies and magnet schools.

Within each career cluster, there are multiple career pathways that represent a common set of skills and knowledge, both academic and technical, necessary to pursue a full range of career opportunities within that pathway – ranging from entry level to management, including technical and professional career specialties. Based on the skills sets taught, all CTE courses are aligned with one or more career clusters and career pathways.

OVERVIEW: Career Clusters / Pathways / Plans of Study / Academic & Career Plans (PPTX)
This PowerPoint presentation describes the integration of career clusters into the career exploration and preparation process in Virginia (updated Oct. 2011). NOTE: this is a large file that will take time to download.

States' Career Clusters Initiative (SCCI)

The States' Career Clusters Initiative website serves as a clearinghouse for Career Clusters research, products, services and technical assistance for implementation of the States' Career Clusters Framework for lifelong learning. The site includes a listing of all 16 career clusters and 79 career pathways.

Sample Plans of Study

School divisions are asked to develop sample plans of study based on the courses offered within their schools, the employment needs of the area, and the post-high school educational opportunities needed for these careers. Once these sample plans are developed, they can be customized to the needs of individual students so that all students have the opportunity to have an individualized plan of study.

Checklist for Developing Career Clusters Plans of Study (Word) – revised Jan. 20, 2012

Use sample plan templates in developing career pathways for these 16 career clusters:

Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources
Architecture and Construction
Arts, A/V Technology and Communications
Business Management and Administration
Education and Training
Finance
Government and Public Administration
Health Science
Hospitality and Tourism
Human Services
Information Technology
Law, Public Safety, Corrections and Security
Manufacturing
Marketing
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics
Transportation, Distribution and Logistics

Resources

r u ready? Life After High School – a career resource magazine distributed to all juniors at Virginia 's public schools. Parents: Help your Child Prepare a Passport to the Future is a career resource brochure to assist 8th grade parents as their children make the transition from middle school to high school.

R U "College and Career" Ready? A World of Opportunities (PDF)
Parents: Help Your Child Navigate the Waterways to their Future – 8th Grade Parent Resource
Ready or Not: Teacher's Resource for r u ready? and Career Education (PDF) – Teacher Curriculum Companion to the R U Ready? Magazine

Outside Resources

Career Planning Guide – a searchable online resource to help students determine the most effective CTE courses of study based on a student's career goals.
Know How Virginia – a public awareness campaign designed to inform students about rewarding career opportunities and to promote career exploration and preparation through middle and high school Career and Technical Education programs.
States' Career Clusters Initiative – Support for the Career Clusters movement is provided on the national level by the National Career Technical Education Foundation. Their website provides numerous resources on each of the 16 career clusters.
Trailblazers (formerly Career Prospects in Virginia) – is created by staff at the Demographics and Workforce Section of the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia. It is an online resource to help teachers, administrators and school divisions to meet the federal Perkins grant mandates in order to qualify for federal Perkins grants. In addition, this site provides useful new employment projections, data and research that is being published all the time (look under “administrators”).
Virginia Career VIEW – Virginia 's Career Information Delivery System, providing resources and activities for Virginia residents from Kindergarten through adulthood.
Virginia Education Wizard – a comprehensive career and college planning website that provides students with the ability to:
- Assess their career interests and work values
- Find specific occupations in demand, how much education is required, how much those jobs pay, and the top employers - within their local area and other regions of Virginia
- Find community college majors and programs that match their location and career interests
- Compare the cost of colleges and universities throughout Virginia
- Find and apply for financial aid
- Identify transfer pathways to the baccalaureate degree.
  - And, as part of Wizard 2.0, which is scheduled for release in early 2010, the Wizard will make it possible for students to:
    - Assess their skills and explore associated career clusters
    - Prepare for college admission and attendance
    - Explore public and private colleges and universities throughout Virginia based on various 'fit' factors and save results
    - Build résumés and prepare for interviews.
  - See Superintendent's Memos #183-09, July 2009 and #307-09, Oct. 2009

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