This is the year students start planning life after high school for real. They map out a path toward college, training, or a career that fits their interests and the money it takes to get there. Along the way they practice the habits adults expect at work: showing up, communicating clearly, solving problems, and working with people who think differently. By spring, students can talk through a realistic plan for what comes after graduation and the steps to get there.
Students start the year by acting like the adults they want to become at school, at a job, and in town. They take responsibility for choices, follow through on commitments, and notice how their actions affect other people.
Students practice speaking, writing, and presenting in ways that fit the audience, from a class talk to a work email. They also learn to work on a team with people whose backgrounds and opinions are different from their own.
Students take on messy, open-ended problems and stick with them. They break a problem into smaller parts, research it with sources they can trust, and try more than one approach before settling on an answer.
Students come up with original ideas and improve on existing ones. They learn new software and devices as they show up, and use technology to get more done and share their work with a wider audience.
Students look at how daily decisions affect their health, their wallet, and the world around them. They practice budgeting, weighing trade-offs, and thinking about the environmental and social costs of what they buy and do.
Students put it all together and map out what comes next. They look honestly at college, training programs, the military, and jobs, then build a plan that matches their interests, strengths, and real options.
Students map out the education and next steps needed to reach a career that fits their interests and real-world opportunities after high school.
Students learn to pick the right digital tools for the job, use them to get work done faster, and adjust when new tools replace old ones. That adaptability is what employers actually look for.
Working in a team means listening to and respecting people with different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. Students learn to get real work done with a group even when everyone doesn't think the same way.
Taking personal responsibility means owning your actions at school, at work, and in the community. Students practice showing up, following through, and making choices they can stand behind.
Students use what they've learned in school, math, writing, technical skills, to solve actual problems on the job or in a work-based project. The goal is connecting classroom learning to real tasks employers care about.
Students learn to make daily choices, from what they eat to how they spend and save money, that protect their health and financial stability now and over time.
Students practice adjusting how they speak, write, and present online based on who they're talking to and why. A professional email to a boss reads differently than a text to a friend, and this standard covers knowing that difference.
Before acting on a plan, students think through how it might affect the environment, other people, and money. They weigh those tradeoffs and adjust their choices before moving forward.
Students come up with original ideas and find new ways to use familiar tools to solve problems at work or in a project.
Students find and cross-check information from multiple sources before drawing conclusions. They learn to tell the difference between sources worth trusting and ones that aren't.
When a task or goal feels stuck, students figure out what the real problem is, break it into smaller parts, and try different approaches until something works.
Acting with honesty, following through on commitments, and treating others fairly matters in every setting. Students practice these habits in class, at work, and in the community.
| Standard | Definition | Code |
|---|---|---|
| Plan an education and career path aligned to personal goals, interests High School | Students map out the education and next steps needed to reach a career that fits their interests and real-world opportunities after high school. | ME-CDOS.CRP10.9-12 |
| Use technology to enhance productivity, communication High School | Students learn to pick the right digital tools for the job, use them to get work done faster, and adjust when new tools replace old ones. That adaptability is what employers actually look for. | ME-CDOS.CRP11.9-12 |
| Work productively in teams while using cultural and global competence to… High School | Working in a team means listening to and respecting people with different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. Students learn to get real work done with a group even when everyone doesn't think the same way. | ME-CDOS.CRP12.9-12 |
| Act as a responsible and contributing citizen and employee, taking personal… High School | Taking personal responsibility means owning your actions at school, at work, and in the community. Students practice showing up, following through, and making choices they can stand behind. | ME-CDOS.CRP1.9-12 |
| Apply appropriate academic and technical skills learned through career and… High School | Students use what they've learned in school, math, writing, technical skills, to solve actual problems on the job or in a work-based project. The goal is connecting classroom learning to real tasks employers care about. | ME-CDOS.CRP2.9-12 |
| Attend to personal health and financial well-being and make decisions that… High School | Students learn to make daily choices, from what they eat to how they spend and save money, that protect their health and financial stability now and over time. | ME-CDOS.CRP3.9-12 |
| Communicate clearly, effectively High School | Students practice adjusting how they speak, write, and present online based on who they're talking to and why. A professional email to a boss reads differently than a text to a friend, and this standard covers knowing that difference. | ME-CDOS.CRP4.9-12 |
| Consider the environmental, social High School | Before acting on a plan, students think through how it might affect the environment, other people, and money. They weigh those tradeoffs and adjust their choices before moving forward. | ME-CDOS.CRP5.9-12 |
| Demonstrate creativity and innovation by generating new ideas and approaches… High School | Students come up with original ideas and find new ways to use familiar tools to solve problems at work or in a project. | ME-CDOS.CRP6.9-12 |
| Employ valid and reliable research strategies to gather, evaluate High School | Students find and cross-check information from multiple sources before drawing conclusions. They learn to tell the difference between sources worth trusting and ones that aren't. | ME-CDOS.CRP7.9-12 |
| Use critical thinking to make sense of problems and persevere in solving them… High School | When a task or goal feels stuck, students figure out what the real problem is, break it into smaller parts, and try different approaches until something works. | ME-CDOS.CRP8.9-12 |
| Model integrity, ethical leadership High School | Acting with honesty, following through on commitments, and treating others fairly matters in every setting. Students practice these habits in class, at work, and in the community. | ME-CDOS.CRP9.9-12 |
This is the work of figuring out what comes after high school and building the habits to get there. Students explore careers, practice skills like teamwork and clear communication, and start mapping a plan that fits their interests and the real options in front of them.
Talk about work. Ask what people do for a living when watching a show or driving past a job site, and share stories from your own jobs, good and bad. Even ten minutes of honest conversation about money, hours, and what a job feels like day to day gives students more to work with than a worksheet.
Students should have a plan for after graduation that they can explain in plain words, whether that points to a job, the military, a trade program, or college. They should also be able to write a clear email, work on a team without drama, and research a question without trusting the first thing they read.
Start with self-knowledge and basic workplace habits in the fall, move into research on careers and pathways through the winter, then shift to applied work in the spring like resumes, interviews, and a concrete next-step plan. Save the bigger projects for after students have done enough exploring to pick a direction.
Research skills and email writing. Students often grab the first search result and trust it, and they write to adults the way they text friends. Build in short, repeated practice with checking sources and rewriting messages for a real audience.
That is normal and not a problem to solve in one conversation. The goal this year is to narrow the field, not pick a forever career. Job shadows, informational interviews with someone in the family or community, and part-time work all give students real information to react to.
Yes. Decisions about wellness, money, and time are part of the work. Students look at what jobs actually pay, what rent and a car cost, and how those numbers shape the plans they are making. At home, showing a real paycheck or a monthly bill makes this concrete fast.
Anchor grades in artifacts students produce: a resume, a research summary, a written reflection after a job shadow, a mock interview. Use the same rubric across assignments so students see growth in communication, research, and follow-through rather than guessing what each task wants.
Students should be able to name a next step after graduation and the two or three things they still need to do to be ready, like a license, an application, or a savings goal. If they can explain the plan to a relative at dinner without prompting, the plan is real.