Business and Career Exploration Program for Elementary School-Age Children Curriculum Manual

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Contents

PART 1 - Introduction.......................................................................................................1 Background - Need, Purpose, and Goals Philosophy of the Business and Career Exploration Program Components of BCEP - What Children Do in the Program BCEP Benefits to Participants and the School District of Philadelphia Management of BCEP Evaluation of BCEP Overview of the BCEP GuidePART 2 - Roles and Responsibilities of the Project Facilitator..............................................................23 Primary Responsibilities Planning and Implementing Weekly Meetings Building Relationships with Students Communicating with Parents Collaborating and Communicating with School Personnel Collaborating with Interfaith Orienting, Supporting, and Guiding Career Cheerleaders, Career Mentors and Role Models Maintaining Records and Participating in EvaluationPART 3 - Strategies for Creating Career Portfolios with Students............................................................59 The Purpose of Career Portfolios How Students Will Use Portfolios Organizing and Storing Career Portfolios Involving Students in the Portfolio Process Establishing a Portfolio Policy Opportunities for Involving Parents and Families in Career Development Portfolios Developing Portfolio Activities and Experiences Sample Questions and Activities Linked to Standard 13.1. Career Awareness and Preparation Sample Questions and Activities Linked to Standard 13.2. Career Acquisition (Getting a Job) Sample Questions and Activities Linked to Standard 13.3. Career retention and Advancement Sample Questions and Activities Linked to Standard 13.4. EntrepreneurshipPART 4 - Strategies for Working with Celebrity Career Cheerleaders..........................................................80 Celebrity Career Cheerleaders as Program Resources Incorporating Celebrity Career Cheerleaders in the BCEP Tips and Helpful Hints for Celebrity Career CheerleadersPART 5 - Reality Based Learning: Strategies for Working with Career Mentors and Role Models.................................88 Defining Reality-based Learning Planning Schedules for Meetings with Career Mentors and Role Models Building on Experiences with Career Mentors and Role Models What Is Mentoring? Resource Packet for Career Mentors and Role Models: Guidelines and Strategies for Successful MentoringPART 6 - Minding My Own Business: Working with Students to Create a Business................................................110 Purpose and Goals Collaborating with Key Stakeholders Strategies for Introducing Children to Personal Entrepreneurship Helping Students Identify and Create a Business Idea and Develop a Business Plan Supplementary Activities to Enhance Business Development ProjectsSupplementary Resource List.................................................................................................136 Sample Interactive Games and Activities Books and Publications Featuring Interactive Games and Activities General Program Planning Resources Resources Related to Business, Career Development, Jobs, Money, and Entrepreneurship for Kids Resources Related to Mentoring Resources for Promoting Character Development and Positive Interactions with Students Miscellaneous ResourcesAPPENDIX - Pennsylvania Department of Education: Academic Standards for Career Education and Work...........................169

Chapter One

Background - Need, Purpose, and Goals

More than ever, today's youth need guidance, support, and encouragement from caring adults - adults who are knowledgeable, skilled role models for success who conduct themselves with integrity, intelligence, kindness, empathy, and positive purpose as they go about their daily lives. This is especially true of children and youth who come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the school district serves over 100,000 elementary school students (kindergarten through eighth grades), the majority of whom come from families whose income falls at or below the federal poverty line and are from racial and ethnic minority groups (African-American, Latino and Asian). Children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds are least likely to have close contact with a family member or neighbor who has an education above high school level who can:

1. serve as a business or professional career role model; and

2. provide information, mentoring, and encouragement necessary to enable children to appreciate the importance of, and relationship between education, choosing a career path, entering the world of work, and earning a sufficient living.

In recent years, the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) has taken steps to provide students, especially those who are disadvantaged, with increased opportunities to succeed in school and in life. For example, SDP has implemented a variety of educational reforms that have helped students make significant improvement on statewide Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) exams. Yet, despite improvements, 68% of Philadelphia Schools have failed to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) under federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) guides, and 40% of the city's schools have been placed in "School Improvement" or "Corrective Action" status due to long standing failure to make AYP. On a system-wide basis, 67% of students in Philadelphia High Schools graduated in the 2006-2007 term. Fewer than half (45%) of those who graduated enrolled in any kind of postsecondary educational institution, and only 28% attended a four year degree-granting college or university.

At the dawn of the 21st century, Philadelphia is experiencing a dropout crisis of devastating proportions. To learn more about this crisis, Dr. Ruth C. Neild and Dr. Robert Balfranz of Johns Hopkins University conducted a comprehensive study during 2005-2006 to probe the depth and seriousness of this crisis. The study focused on three sets of questions:

1. How many students in grades 6 through 12 drop out of Philadelphia's public schools in a single year? What are the key characteristics of these students, including their age, grade, race/ethnicity, gender, type of school attended, and neighborhood of residence?

2. What percentage of 9th graders graduates within four years, five years, or six years of starting high school? What has been the trend in these cohort graduation rates over the past 5 years? What are the trends in cohort graduation rates for males and females and for students of different racial/ethnic backgrounds?

3. Which student characteristics, knowable or potentially knowable by school personnel and agency staff, can identify students as being at high risk of dropping out of high school?

Before sharing the study's findings, the authors stress the seriousness of the dropout crisis with this warning excerpted from the Executive Summary: "A young person in the United States who embarks on adulthood without a high school diploma faces a grim economic future: an annual income that is likely to be insufficient to support a family; a greater likelihood of long stretches of unemployment, and restricted opportunities for occupational advancement....