Pilot program aims to improve readiness for college, careers

A pilot program aimed at improving college and career readiness is underway at seven middle schools in the Oklahoma City district.

Individualized Career and Academic Plans (ICAP) identify student interests and skills along with postsecondary and workforce goals and experiences and chart the progress needed to prepare them for a changing job market.

“In the past we’ve done a lot of academic planning, but we’ve left out the career piece in many cases,” said Susan Staples, college and career readiness director for Oklahoma City Public Schools.

“High school graduation under our old way of thinking was the end point. In this new vision, high school graduation becomes a checkpoint.”

Students may start the ICAP process in sixth grade and update it every subsequent grade. Students, families, school counselors, educators and school leaders can access two free online tools to help guide students.

A bill passed by the state Legislature requires all high school students to complete an ICAP, beginning with incoming high school freshmen in 2019.

“A lot of our students just come to school and do school,” said Scott Farley, principal at Roosevelt Middle School. “They don’t have a vision for what they want to be and why they’re in school.”

By the year 2025, threefourths of Oklahoma jobs will require postsecondary credentials.

Nearly 30 districts and 60 schools are participating in the pilot, which kicked off Thursday with a planning meeting in Oklahoma City at the Metro Technology Center, Springlake campus.

Oklahoma’s win of a $2 million, three-year statewide grant by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. will help implement individualized academic plans for kids, according to the state Education Department.

The idea behind the ICAP is that students will start developing a plan for their future at a younger age.

They will learn how unique interests, talents and aspirations play a role in decision-making. They will learn the difference between job, occupations and careers, and participate in career exploration activities centered on their passions, interests, dreams and visions of their futures.

Additionally, students will learn about postsecondary options, academic planning and employability skills.

“I think far too often we say you can work for Dell or Boeing,” Farley said. “Far too often our students don’t know what they do or how you become an employee.”

Oklahoma Works reports a substantial skills gap in the state workforce.

The state has more than 60,000 unfilled jobs, and about 18,000 of those openings are critical occupations, including nurses, engineers, teachers, computer programmers, chemists, accountants and truck drivers.

“We have a huge number of those jobs that are open and it will only get larger,” said Natalie Shirley, secretary of education and workforce development.

Projections show 77 percent of the state’s jobs in 2025 will require education beyond high school. But only two in 10 high school graduates earn a postsecondary certificate or degree, according to the Oklahoma State System for Higher Education.

Taft Middle School Principal Charmaine Johnson wants to provide students with hope for the future.

“They’re going to be able to experience careers and not just experience them but be hands on,” she said. “They’ll learn about themselves and their strengths, what they have the aptitude for.”