School to Work, Career and College
Options
Lesson #3 Grades 9 - 10
Common Core Standards – Becoming Work Ready
LESSON TARGET(S)
► Definition of “work ready”
► Basic understanding of Common Core Standards
► Connection between the Common Core Standards, becoming work ready and apprenticeships,
internships, certification programs, military programs and college admittance programs
MEASURE(S) OF SUCCESS
Students will be able to:
► Students will be able to explain how they will be work ready and apply the Common Core academic
skills in multiple approaches to career and technical education.
MATERIALS NEEDED
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OPSI Common Core State Standards http://www.k12.wa.us/corestandards/
OSPI video http://www.k12.wa.us/corestandards/
Computer access with identify exploratory websites (see list)
School/District Information on Common Core and/or academic expectations
FACILITATOR NOTES
Helping students to see connections is challenging and facilitators may want to break this workshop into
smaller sections in order to allow for adequate processing time and questions. As presented, the workshop
has an opening and alternative options for presenting the information. One alternative is to give students
time to explore through online resources. A second alternative is to create an information fair where
students talk with people knowledgeable about apprenticeship, military, and college/university entrance
requirements.
A Quote from Common Core Standards and Career and Technical Education
The goal of ensuring that all students graduate from high school ready for college, careers and life
has taken hold in every state across the nation. Yet all too often, the focus on “college readiness” and
“career readiness” remains in two distinct silos, even though there is little question that reading,
writing, communications and mathematical reasoning are all core skills for success in postsecondary
education, in the workplace and for citizenship and that all educators should help students develop,
deepen and refine these core skills. As such, these literacy and mathematics skills are not, and should
not be, the sole domain of the English language arts (ELA) and mathematics departments but rather
should be infused throughout education.
Effective career and technical education (CTE) programs have an inherent advantage because they
are modeled closely after real careers that students may one day enter. They can readily demonstrate
the answer to questions such as “How am I ever going to use this?” and “Why should I learn this?”
Reading, written communications, listening, speaking and mathematical reasoning (with problem
solving) are embedded in careers — especially in the middle- and high-skills careers that lead to
family-supporting wages and benefits. And given that the majority of those middle- and high skills
jobs require some education and training beyond high school, the link between the academic
preparation and the technical preparation for careers becomes even stronger.
Background information for facilitators that may be helpful
► Background for teachers: Common Core Standards and Career and Technical Education
http://www.achieve.org/files/CCSS-CTE-BridgingtheDivide.pdf
► Achieve, Career Technical Education & the Common Core State Standards Resources
http://www.achieve.org/files/CCSS-CTE%20Resources_Apr2013.pdf
CORE ACTIVITY
Introduction
Share with students that this workshop focuses on the following continuum:
K-12 Academic and
Leadership Success
Postsecondary Success
Workplace Success
Ask students to think about activities or life situations that have entrance requirements and are then judged
for excellence. Record student responses and be prepared to use the list as a closing evaluation for the
workshop.
Activity
1. Share with students the definition of a “work readiness”: A “work ready” individual possesses
the foundational skills needed to be minimally qualified for a specific occupation as
determined though a job analysis or occupational profile. (ACT Work Readiness Standards
and Benchmarks). Further share with students that the work readiness skills fall into two categories
– foundational knowledge skills such as reading for information, applied mathematics, locating
information, problem solving, and critical thinking and - personal skills such as personal
characteristics and behavioral skills that allow them to have positive work interactions such as
adaptability, integrity, cooperation, and workplace discipline.
2. Take a few minutes and reorder the list students created under knowledge skills or personal skills.
Discuss the differences between the types of skills and how students might acquire each.
3. Introduce the video as a discussion of knowledge-based skills called the Common Core Standards.
Relate the video to the present level of use of Common Core Standards in classroom, school or
district documents or application.
4. Conclude the opening making sure that students are aware that “ the levels of readiness in reading
and mathematics needed to succeed in college-level courses without remediation are comparable
to those needed to learn mob-specific skills in workforce training programs… high school students
need comparable levels of reading and mathematics, regardless of their post-high school plans.”
5. Divide the class into exploration groups, each with the task of finding out the entrance
requirements for:
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Apprenticeships/internships
Military
Technical Colleges
Community Colleges
Four-year universities
Exploration groups need to be prepared to share the initial entrance requirements and any testing
required to place students in specific levels of classes or programs. (Alternately: this component
could be effectively completed by inviting guest speakers individually or in a carousel
setting to share the requirements with students.)
Helpful websites to direct students toward:
Apprenticeship Programs and Standards: Listed by County
http://www.lni.wa.gov/TradesLicensing/Apprenticeship/Programs/Standards/ByCounty/default.asp
Today’s Military: Entrance Requirements
http://www.todaysmilitary.com/before-serving-in-the-military/military-entrance-requirements
Military.Com ASVB – what does the ASVB Mean
http://www.military.com/join-armed-forces/asvab
Minimum Qualification Standards for Washington Four-Year Colleges
http://www.wsac.wa.gov/sites/default/files/RevisedMCASOverviewParents-April2011_1.pdf
Community Colleges and Technical Colleges: Admissions/Application
Sample – Bellingham Technical College http://www.btc.ctc.edu/General/Forms/AdmissionsApplication.pdf
Four-year University Programs
Sample: University of Washington: http://admit.washington.edu/Admissons
6. Allow groups to share out what they have learned. Return to the list that students generated in the
introduction. Expand the list with additional information about activities or life situations that have
entrance requirements.
7. Discuss how students can become work ready and apply the Common Core academic skills in
multiple career and technical education opportunities.
Closing
Give students time to create a personalized list of Common Core academic requirements they believe they
will need to complete at a high level to be able to be admitted to possible postsecondary programs. Also
have them make a list of present personal skills that are strengths and personal skills they would like to
strengthen. (See student worksheet) Provide students with copies of Student Academic Handbooks or
district materials that describe the academic requirements for graduation and Common Core expectations.
Student Worksheet: Becoming Work Ready
What Common Core Requirements do I need to focus on in the next three-four years to be ready for
postsecondary programs that will prepare me for my career interests? (Be specific based on school
district academic requirements.)
What personal skills/behaviors are strengths that will fit the definition of being “work ready?”
What personal skills/behaviors might I need to strengthen if I am really going to be successful
within an occupational area and a profitable career?