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SCANS Competencies
The Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) released a report in 1993 describing "What Work Requires of School." SCANS listed five basic competencies that comprise "workplace know how." Career Choices successfully addresses each of the SCANS skills and competencies.
Foundation Skills
Career Choices is fundamentally a competency-based curriculum offering relevant practice in reading, writing, and mathematics. The curriculum also gives concrete instruction in the areas of decision making, goal setting, and problem solving.
Interpersonal Skills
Career Choices works best in a cooperative learning environment. Students have an opportunity to practice interpersonal skills, such as working in teams, leading, negotiating, and teaching others. Specific activities and exercises help them perfect techniques that are valuable both in and out of the workplace. It also promotes self-esteem, self-management, accountability, and responsible citizenship.
Resource Management
Project-oriented activities throughout the Career Choices curriculum offer students the opportunity to practice resource management. As they complete their projects or case studies, students learn to identify, organize, plan, and allocate time, money, human resources, and technology.
Information Management
As they work through a life planning process, students gather, evaluate and organize data, producing a product or thesis based on that idea. A variety of information-gathering strategies are suggested throughout the course.
Systems Development
The Career Choices curriculum is filled with activities and exercises that help students understand how systems work and why they must master the processes that make individuals efficient and effective. Beginning with tasks that become increasingly more complex, they develop comprehensive plans for building a satisfying future.
Technology
The value and use of technology is promoted throughout the curriculum. The optional Internet enhancements available through www.careerchoices.com and www.lifestylemath.com (an online correction tool) offer students opportunities to gain vital computer skills while they learn about themselves. There are also ample opportunities to use electronic spreadsheets and graphs, desktop publishing and computer graphics, word processing programs and computerized information as students develop their projects.
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