Running Head: CAREER INTERVENTION PROGRAM DESIGN

Career Intervention Program Design

Ms. Crystal L. Robinson

Career Intervention Program Design

Career Intervention Program Design

Selection and description of target population

Middle school students are the target population for my career intervention program.
Students of the middle school level are on the verge of starting on a successful path to a
future career. Middle school is described as a moment of self-discovery where students will
explore personal interests, attitudes, and skills through several electives including career and
technical education courses. The career development process is exclusive to everyone and
changes throughout one's life. The middle school population is introduced to an educational
background that merges academics with real-world relevance (The National Career
Development Association, 2014).
Awareness, exploration, preparation, application, and culminating are all needed to
facilitate the middle school student in successful life-long career management. Student
knowledge promotes productive members of society. A career intervention program for
middle school navigates students through investigating and creating a high school, college,
and career performance plan. Targeting middle schools for career intervention affords the
opportunity for increase student focus for high school Niles and Harris-Bowlsbey (2013).
Description of the needs for the target population
How can anyone expect dreams if they do not know what to imagine? At the middle
school level, students need career and education information that is credible, stable to learn
more about themselves, interests, abilities, and opportunities. Career exploration for middle
school applies skills from academic subjects and interpersonal communication to make
informed decisions. Career intervention opportunities boost the attitudes of young people

Career Intervention Program Design

about their personal career possibilities, motivating them to stay the course (Americas
Promise Alliance, 2014).
The National Career Development Association (2014) establishes professional
development goals for middle school students. Niles and Harris-Bowlsbey (2013) mentions
the goals are enhancing self-understanding, learning how to engage effectively in educational
and occupational exploration and career planning. Career exploration curriculum for middle
school allows students to explore personal interests and aptitudes as they relate to education
and career planning. Personal interests and abilities are then analyzed along with college and
career opportunities. Skills are evaluated for personal success that impacts career choice on
personal lifestyle. Students attain a better understanding of financial management and
develop skills for personal success. Overall, middle school students identify and explore
technical skills essential to careers in multiple occupations (Texas Education Agency, 2010).
Objectives of the career intervention program
I concur with Niles and Harris-Bowlsbey (2013) that the middle school population need
age-appropriate developmental tasks. The purpose of any career intervention program is
career exploration through developmental tasks. This era in life, students encounter
challenging issues. Decisions can make or break a persons chance for even a decent life.
Robert Havighurst (1972) proposes developmental tasks that people of ages 12 through 18
have to achieve.
The objective developmental tasks of the career intervention program are:

Initiate numerous positive relationships with classmates;

Reach emotional independence from guardians;

Career Intervention Program Design

Schedule career missions;

Prepare for having a spouse and family;
Form civil skills;
Execute a moral and values system to maneuver behavior;
Establish reasonable goals and plan to stay on track.

Counselors of the career intervention program will always be available for supportive
assistance. Adolescence is a delicate period of moving towards maturity and independence. If not
guided carefully, middle school students will develop a distorted view of self. Should that
happen, students will have emotions of fear, anxiety, conflict and insecurity. The career
intervention program will challenge students to become their professional representative Niles
and Harris-Bowlsbey (2013).
Resources needed for the career intervention program
Resource requirements for the career intervention program are up to date student
computer labs with printers, paper, and headphones. Speedy internet will allow access to online
education and career exploration system. Electronic student portfolio accounts are house online.
The account will never suspend. Computer teachers, campus counselors, and career mentors are
the supportive team. Student compliance, determination, rules, policies, and procedures are
imperative for facilitation in the appropriate classroom environment.
Students will use computers with the internet to complete online assessments pertaining
to self-discovery and career exploration. Students will use other tools in the online education
and career exploration system to explore areas of personal interest. Students will use the
information from all assessments to examine educational qualifications for a variety of chosen
career paths. It will be beneficial for every computer to have computer monitoring software so

Career Intervention Program Design

teachers and counselors can provide direct links to website while blocking out unwanted
participation in sites.
Middle school students can print out their assessment results and share with their
guardians and mentors. Printouts are tangible products to chart progression. Materials from the
online assessments tool are reflections pieces too. It is powerful for anyone to see their growth.
Most likely, this will encourage students to remain on their path.
Selection and description of assessments
The online education and career exploration system have assessments tools designed to
help students in determining their career area interest, work values, and work skills. All
assessments are self-administered. The career intervention program assists users to investigate
occupational possibilities and assess whether or not they want to consider particular occupations
as possible career choices. The assessments students will complete and analyze interest
inventory, work values sorter, primary skills survey, workplace skills checklist, and transferable
skills list (Bridges Transitions Inc., 2014).
The interest inventory is a 60 question formal assessment from O*NET. The evaluation
helps middle school students acquire self-knowledge, identify work-related interests, know their
vocational personality type, and develop career awareness of matching occupations. The work
values sorter is an informal assessment connected with O*NET too. What is essential to a
persons job satisfaction are work values. Students have to assign a level of importance for each
work value statement. The results from the sorter are linked to careers that reinforce such
matching values. Students can match careers that reflect work values. The six categories for the
work sorter are the importance of achievement, independence, recognition, relationships,

Career Intervention Program Design

support, and working conditions within a career. The primary skills survey assesses skills in
academic areas. The assessment is formal connected with O*NET. The academic areas are
comprehension, listening, writing, speaking, math, science, critical thinking, learning, and
monitoring. The student identifies tasks they feel can be performed successfully (Bridges
Transitions Inc., 2014).
The transferable skills list relates to work content activities in relations to data, people,
and things. It is an informal assessment. The list is used to develop career plans. The result is a
list to focus on skills that students wish to gain that can used across careers. Student review,
assess and identify the skills they want. After making selections the online systems analyzes the
choices and generate a list. From the list, students can get a list of careers matched to selected
skills. The list of careers students can explore employment and career options (Bridges
Transitions Inc., 2014).
Rationale for selection of assessments
Students have no idea of what they talents and skills are. Each assessment is a step closer
to knowing. The assessments students will complete and analyze are interest inventory, work
values sorter, primary skills survey, workplace skills checklist, and transferable skills list. The
rationale for selecting these assessments is to provide teachers and counselors information to
help students determine their career area interests, work values and competencies (Bridges
Transitions Inc., 2014). The student benefit is career exploration that is accessible. Each
assessment is a step closer to matching students to their professional destiny. The assessments are
not test. They are inventories. Results are stored in the system for analyzing data and creating
reports.

Career Intervention Program Design

Preferred outcomes of the career intervention program

The results of a career intervention program are career awareness and exploration,
practical decision making, setting realistic goals, high school graduation planning, postsecondary
planning, and financial lifestyle management. Career awareness and exploration mean students
explore interests and evaluate skills for personal success. Effective decision making involves
using a problem-solving model and critical thinking skills to make knowledgeable decisions.
Middle school students must be mindful of time management and set realistic goals. Data from
assessments will be analyzed to determine the high school graduation plan. Students must be
aware of academic requirements for transition to high school. Students explore opportunities for
earning college credit while in high school. Also, the availability of payment options for college.
From there, students can move forward to postsecondary planning. Things students will consider
are what college they will attend, majors, extracurricular activities, resident or non-resident
student, part time or full time status, and college credit hours to name a few (Texas Education
Agency, 2009).
Method of communicating or interpreting results
The online education and career exploration system will generate data reports. The data
reports can be viewed by the student user, teachers, and counselors. Results are communicated
through the system. Students will have all of their information automatically uploaded into their
electronic portfolio. Teachers will perform one on one meeting with students to check for full
understanding. The teacher will be the contact to ensure that all data matches the students
intentions of their career path. Once teachers have confirmed the plans of every student, students
will meet with their counselor to map out their high school graduation and postsecondary plan.

Career Intervention Program Design

The counselor is the best to perform this step. Teachers have limited information, unlike
counselors. When all plans are mapped out, the counselor will provide the students a
confirmation page of their program. Students must have their parents sign the confirmation page
for acknowledgment.
Methods of evaluation
The career intervention program will perform a formative evaluation in May annually
through the usage of an online survey for improvement. Formative evaluations will also be
conducted twice in a semester through walkthrough observations. Parents, students, teachers, and
counselors will all participate in an online survey. The online survey will measure attitudes,
knowledge, and behaviors of the program. Teachers and counselors will be evaluated on skills
for the program. Within the online survey, it will consist of program ranking, questionnaires, and
plan checklist. On a greater scale, the success of the program will be reflecting in higher
graduation rates, reduced dropouts, and increased college attendance (Niles and Harris-Bowlsbey
(2013).
Potential ethical issues and strengths of the career intervention program design
Teachers and counselors could face ethical issues dealing with students college and
career options. Todays public schools stress college attendance. The actuality is that some
students will not be able to go because of unfortunate circumstances. Teachers and counselors
must assist students in selecting the appropriate postsecondary education. Another issue is
college recommendations and scholarships. They can be very ethical and complicated issues. A
lot is available to gain or lose. School counselors must be familiar with the Family Educational

Career Intervention Program Design

Rights and Privacy Act (1947). It is always advised by the American Counseling Association
(2005) to practice ethics.
The greatest strength is that career exploration is a continual process. Middle school
students will gain information about themselves and about careers. The career intervention
program provides a good idea of where a student is heading. Academic areas and personality are
mixed to determine career options. Students engage in self-assessment and career research.
Experiences in the program will enhance every middle school skills. All students will be able to
build upon their strengths.
Reflection
There are plenty of career exploration tasks to work on regardless of where you are in the
process, and there are many resources available for assistance. Education plays a significant part
of the career exploration process. The courses taken, choice of major, work experience, clubs
join, and associates influence lifetime career decisions.
The future is full of possibilities, and what an individual brings to their career is a unique
mixture of personal characteristics, educational background, and experience. Over time, career
decisions change as interests, values, and experiences change. We all have to keep an open mind
to new ideas and opportunities.

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References

American Counseling Association (ACA). (2005). Code of Ethics. Alexandria, VA: Author.
Americas Promise Alliance. (2014). Why career exploration matters | America's promise.
Retrieved from http://www.americaspromise.org/why-career-exploration-matters
Bridges Transitions Inc. (2014). Assessments. Retrieved from
https://access.bridges.com/usa/en_US/choices/pro/content/usingcp/promanual/pdf/assess
ments.pdf
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, 20 U. S. C. 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99.
Havighurst, R. J. (1972). Developmental tasks and education (3rd ed.). New York, NY: D.
McKay Co.
National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium. (2014).
Home | NASDCTEc/NCTEF. Retrieved from http://www.careerclusters.org/
The National Career Development Association. (2014). National career development guidelines
(NCDG) framework. Retrieved from
http://www.ncda.org/aws/NCDA/asset_manager/get_file/3419
Niles, S. G., & Harris-Bowlsbey, J. A. (2013). Career development interventions in the 21st
Century (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall.
O*NET Online. (2014). O*NET Online. Retrieved from http://www.onetonline.org/

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Texas Education Agency. (2009). Career development middle school. Scope and sequence.
Retrieved from http://cte.sfasu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/careerdevelopmentmiddleschool.pdf
Texas Education Agency. (2010, August 30). 19 TAC chapter 127, subchapter A. Retrieved from
http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/rules/tac/chapter127/ch127a.html