bsaxberg's blog

A vision of the future

bsaxberg — Thu, 21 May 2009 21:25:12 -0400

I thought you all might be interested in an article that Gerald Huff, a technologist at Intuit, and I just published in Education Next. It's a vision of education for 10-year-olds out in 2025, drawing on things that are available (or close) now.

Gerald Huff is director of the Technology Innovation Group at Intuit, the folks who make the terrific TurboTax software that many of us depend on for tax season. He prepared a vision of the future for a conference that he and I attended last summer, and at the conclusion of the conference he asked if I'd be interested in helping to flesh out his vision for how technology might apply to education in a distant (but not too distant) future.

Would I!

So this is the result. It's a combination of things that (almost) exist now - immersive, 3-d environments, deep datasets of experience with kids going through different learning paths towards mastery, and tools to let various professionals and parents get involved and assist kids by building on what's worked before.

We're not that far from this at K12. We get huge amounts of feedback from all of you on our lessons, and, as we build out and analyze the increasing amounts of data on student learning we're getting (e.g., those ScanTron tests many of you are in the process of taking), we'll start to have data to tease apart the experiences and outcomes of different learners through different paths of learning. As we include more adaptive learning experinces (from our new math program, piloting this fall), we'll begin to see which students benefit from which kinds of learning paths, the start of what this article mentions as datasets from millions of learners.

Is this kind of 3-d, immersive experience, combined with opportunities for other kinds of experience, in-class and outside, a pipe dream? I think not - but it will, indeed, take a lot of will and energy on ALL our parts to realize.

I very much appreciate the intense efforts all of you are putting in to your family's education - and I know that you all will see the fruits in the harvest of your children's success from their labors, in the years to come!

All the best for your continued success,

Bror

"All teachers are teachers for something, or some reason"

bsaxberg — Thu, 7 May 2009 15:03:38 -0400

"Thank you so much for giving me my daughters confidence back and giving her a bright future that she would not have had otherwise."

"She takes his love of life and helps him to put it on paper"

"[Representing us at a formal meeting,] SHE KNEW MY SON."

- K12 Parents

"I've never questioned myself or my thoughts as I have during my K12 year. It encouraged me to get the facts, not the assumptions. All thanks to my awesome teacher."

- K12 Student

This is Teacher Appreciation Week around the country, and for those of you working in a K12 learning environment with teacher support, you know how valuable those teachers can be in this flexible, innovative, challenging learning odyssey you've embarked on.

I could wax eloquent about the amazing contributions our talented teaching staff provides us:

Help for new families to get started with confidence
Aid when things don't quite go right along the way
Information about what's coming, and what to do next
Help organizing schoolwork (sometimes life!) to allow the academic ambitions of a K12 family to get the right amount of time
New ideas for practice, reinforcement, and enrichment when that's what's needed to hit ones' goals
Counsel for flexibility when "life happens"
Feedback and creativity for new ideas with the learning environment to help students learn
Another channel for students to reach out to, for help with academics - and often a lot more
Etc.

But why should you hear from me, when our families say it much better than I could. And for good reason: They experience the best that our teachers can give on a daily basis, and they work closely with them to make this learning environment the best fit possible for their lives, and their dreams for their kids.

Say "Hooray" for those dedicated souls who are helping K12 students make the most of their futures!

------------------------

Excerpts from notes about K12 teachers from family members:

"My son and I have never had this much one-on-one attention from a teacher while in brick/mortar schools. Back in January 09, NNN heard my pleas in the way I stated my son's learning style in that he suffered from ADHD. She listened to my stories of how my son has struggled through school. She immediately began exploring ways to help him. She started these 15-minute sessions with Aaron twice a week. She provided clear instructions on what she needed from us and she did her homework as well to get a very important meeting established. She even expressed her experience around this- which made me feel so much better. During that very important meeting- she spoke to the 504 Administrators as if she were [my son’s] own parent. SHE KNEW MY SON. . .In all the 4 years of schooling- we have yet to find a teacher to show special interest in Aaron and actually go that extra mile to help him. . . . (And this is only our first year....)"

- K12 Parent

"My daughter MMM is 7 and in the first grade. She attended public school last year for kindergarten. She would come home telling us how stupid she was and how she could not read. No matter what we did this perception of herself did not change. We had a couple more bad experiences with her at school that year so we decided to take her out of the brick and mortar school and try ZZZZ. MMM’s teacher for the year was going to be NNN. . . . She listened carefully and made the suggestion to take things slow. Due to what happened in MMM's other school, anytime we would bring out a book, she would break down into tears and tell us she was too stupid to read. We had to start completely from the basics for MMM in reading and rebuild her self-confidence. . . . She started to get her self-confidence back. Instead of saying “I can't do this” she was saying "Hey look what I can do." We still have a long way to go to get her reading proficiency up, but now we can see the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and MMM now knows she can. Who can ask for more than seeing their children overcome such big obstacles and succeed? . . . All I can say is I am so grateful for the wonderful and caring teachers that are a part of ZZZZ. Thank you so much for giving me my daughters confidence back and giving her a bright future that she would not have had otherwise."

- K12 Parent

"I don't have a story as much as I have a thanks. I remember when I got a call from her I was thinking she was crazy! I've never had a teacher call me and actually ask me questions about how I was feeling, or if I like to read and what books. So this story is more of one giant thanks! I've never actually felt like doing school. I've never questioned myself or my thoughts as I have during my K12 year. It encouraged me to get the facts, not the assumptions. All thanks to my awesome teacher."

- K12 Student

"NNNN goes over and beyond what she is required. She has helped me advance my writing in ways that without her I could never have done. She even took another student and me out to the Barnes and Noble Cafe and we sat there and she helped us with our writing pieces. For every single Comp work I have completed she did a full review, and we spent about an hour talking about my work. Any questions I have she answers right away. She is the best teacher I have ever had!"

- K12 Student

"We are a first year family and in the beginning we were overwhelmed and very discouraged. At one very low moment I was at the point of giving up and putting my child back in a brick and mortar school. I contacted NNN and told her of my concerns and expressed my thoughts on returning to main stream. She was immediately understanding and she offered me the encouragement I needed at the time. Now we are a committed ZZZZ family with no thoughts of returning to a brick and mortar school. I will forever be thankful to NNN for her help and encouragement because without her guidance I would have missed the most rewarding experience of seeing my son learn and retain more than he ever has."

- K12 Parent

"NNN has given me so much advice and wonderful ideas both this year and last year. I would have never completed my math and seen things the way I do in school without her. She has been like a friend to me the whole way through- always there for me when I need her- and always there for anything. No matter what. She is funny, exciting, and shares such a passion for learning and helping people do just that, that she is unlike any other I know. All teachers are teachers for something, or some reason, but NNN is special. She has a gift for it. A gift that will make her go a long way and help many. I will always remember what she has done for me, and I will always maintain contact with her. My name is MMM and I am in 8th grade. I have been in ZZZ since 6th grade- and I have excelled greatly. I have NNN to thank for that."

- K12 Student

"She is a jewel and deserves the biggest raise- the best praise- and a BIG high 5! We are so blessed to have her as our teacher. This wonderful woman emails us, calls us, and responds to our needs within minutes. She comes to our home weekly to work on composition lessons with my son. While she's here, I usually leave her with him in the kitchen as I walk around and do chores. But some days I just like to eavesdrop on her conversations with my son. NNN is a great listener. My son can go on and on about the things he's involved with and she listens to him and encourages him to talk about these things and then she somehow gets him to write down his ideas on paper and arrange them in such a way as to make a composition. This is not an easy task, as my child dislikes reading and writing more than most children. She takes his love of life and helps him to put it on paper. We are so appreciative of her willingness to go the extra mile with us. NNN - you are the best. Thank you- thank you!"

- K12 Parent

"Well- I don't really have a story to tell. Cuz we (my teacher and I) just work through the problems and make sure I get them right. I just wanted to say that my teacher is awesome, and that eventually I get the lesson that is to be learned. Jeez- I sound all grown up and stuffy- I have to stop doing that! Alright- so- my teacher is awesome! Yeah- that's pretty much it."

- K12 Student

Technology liberates learning

bsaxberg — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 13:25:01 -0400

A recent book, Liberating Learning, by Terry Moe and John Chubb provides a great synthesis of how technology is likely to transform learning. More than this, they describe how technology can also break the logjams that prevent changes in learning from taking root more widely than they have.

The book's description of how technology has already begun to work for students and families is pretty familiar to our families at K12 – they’re living a very similar story to what’s described here, and several of our virtual academies are referred to by name.

The book also talks about challenges, more generally, facing positive change to our education institutions. This part of the book’s argument is likely the most contentious – you may or may not agree with many of the points about why change has been slow in coming to education (hint: It’s almost all political, in their view! Say it ain’t so! ;-) ) However it is hard to argue with data from a variety of sources showing we haven’t made a great deal of progress in the upper grade levels in spite of spending considerable sums, in comparison with other countries who are taking education very seriously indeed while spending less. Not a very pretty picture in the global competition for innovation.

Most intriguingly, the book discusses how technology itself may be able to help break the logjam that has slowed changes to education for decades. As they point out:

“[Technology] is an exogenous social force that originates from outside the education system, is transforming nearly every aspect of American social life, and will keep transforming it in the decades ahead.”

In particular, technology allows:

Geography to be transcended, making more efficient use of teaching resources. Skilled resources can be called in to diagnose or teach from afar, and fresh, new, versions of curriculum and activities can be piped in quickly. Expertise can build up in one location, and the benefits can be disseminated widely.
Education to be customized for the many, not just the few who can afford tutoring. Different types of learning experiences, even environments, can be prescribed and delivered efficiently.
Massive data streams about learning to be developed and used to identify increasingly fine subgroups based on learning history as well as demographics. Instruction and curriculum can then be improved for those subgroups, specifically – no more blunderbuss approach.
More alternatives to be developed and tested quickly, which in turn enables competition as well as analysis to sort out which alternatives really add value to families and to students.

As the authors point out, all of these effects work together as well as individually to create more and more pressure, information, and opportunities for change. As successes start to occur, more successes will follow down the same paths, quicker and quicker over time.

Where is this likely to take us, in the authors’ view? Schools will:

Likely be hybrids of traditional approaches and technology-rich approaches. Students have already begun to move between “regular” classes and cyber classes within their high schools – why not a full virtual academy model completely housed within a building? Students could wind up moving in and out of different learning environments, within and outside a brick and mortar facility, based on their family circumstances, and the best demonstrated routes to their learning.
Customize instruction to match students’ abilities, learning histories, and expected plans for later, becoming more effective as massive data streams drive changes to how students are educated.
Become more interesting places for teachers’ careers. Not all teaching roles in such schools require one teacher to face hour after hour of classes of 25-35 students, unless they want this. Teachers can move between different learning models during the day, changing their focus and participating in research based on the kind of instruction or subjects they most enjoy.
Provide more choices and be more competitive with each other in being compelling, effective places for students to learn – and for families to trust with their students’ education.

You may not agree with the authors’ view of the mechanisms that are holding improvements back in educational systems. However, the picture they paint of how technology can change education models and also provide some “push” needed to get there fits very well with how we at K12 think about technology and education. Whether it is cool new learning objects, or major data flow for us to see how we’re doing, or even our use of Elluminate and other technologies to communicate and hear from our families (hey, this blog counts!), we think things will only get better from here.

Crucial data for learning

bsaxberg — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 12:39:45 -0400

Back in the fall, I wrote about the start of our new nationwide, assessment program using ScanTron’s Performance Series assessments for students within our virtual schools. The hardest part is now behind most families – taking that test the first time.

Now comes the really important (but thankfully much shorter) part: Taking the test the second time, this spring.

If you think about it, the key for all of us is to see our students grow academically year by year: How has all that hard work during the year paid off? Summertime has complicated impacts on student learning – depending on how you use your summer, your student might gain or lose progress unrelated to the academic year’s work. But comparing progress from fall (the usual starting time for an academic year) to spring lets everyone see how the academic year has gone – student by student, and across all students.

All families, over time, benefit if we can keep increasing the rate of learning for children with similar characteristics, or who start from the same learning level: Different types of kids will learn better from different experiences, and we want to keep improving the learning for every kid, of every type. We benefit as well if we can decrease the effort required, or increase the engagement in the learning process, or all of the above.

Getting this data will help families: Learning coaches can see progress, not just informally from within your homes, but also against national populations. This reassures that this approach really does work to give your child a competitive education, year in, year out. It also can bring out any learning issues that still need to be worked on, if the growth is not what a family expects.
The data will help teachers: On an individual level, it helps confirm what’s going on, child by child, and let’s teachers adjust their thinking if needed, and better advise learning coaches and students. Kids who are growing very strongly and/or are functioning at a high level may need more challenges, perhaps more pace: Learning happens best when minds are challenged (not too challenged). For kids who are not growing as expected: Are there plans in place to help? Is everyone doing enough? Are there ways for the learning coach to readjust workloads, extracurriculars, other things?
The data will help schools: As schools look at their own data for significant differences among groups of children or sets of teachers, they can hunt down what’s been most helpful across their whole student population. Similarly, policies vary among schools, sometimes for state regulatory reasons, sometimes for historical reasons. As schools compare their growth performances for similar students, they can look to see what practices seem to be associated with the best growth – and those can be tested or adopted for following years.
The data will help our curriculum developers: We’ve taken a very good cut at building our programs, using good cognitive science and rich experience with what’s worked elsewhere. Nonetheless, with thousands of hours of learning specified, there’s going to be room for improvement. A single family has a hard time distinguishing how much the learning materials are contributing to their own children’s performance, but by looking across many children (especially similar children) we can begin to tell which pieces seem to be working well (lots of similar children doing well with them) vs. which pieces are still in need of work. Plus, as we make changes, we need information to see if overall growth in learning is being improved by what we do.

The good news is that getting this important academic year growth data should be easier for most families than the first data assessment in the fall. That’s because these ScanTron Performance Series tests are adaptive: If they know something about your child already, they can use that to make the testing process more efficient. The first time a student takes the test (essentially every publicly funded virtual school student at K12 in the fall of 2008), the system may have to give quite a lot of questions to narrow down exactly where the student is performing. However, the next time the system tests a student (almost all those students now), it has a valid starting point – it’s much more likely to begin the new testing “close” to where the student is than the first time around, and so is likely to take many fewer questions to narrow in on a good estimate of the student’s level.

We know it’s an extra burden, on top of state testing and the rich learning activities you all are doing already. However, this fall-to-spring data will give us a uniquely powerful view of “how we are doing,” and we think this is a crucial contribution to building learning performance up, student by student, school by school, and across the nation.

We thank you, as always, for the huge contribution of time you make to helping your students grow each year, and we’ll be sure to share with you what we learn!

PS: Don't forget a key point about these adaptive tests: As I mentioned in the previous blog,

"[Y]ou really, really, cannot help your child (unless OK'd by the school)! . . .[Y]ou need to make sure your child (and you!) understand there will be plenty of questions that are “too hard” for him or her – that’s just how the test is, with lots of items from a wide range being used to help narrow down where your child is. But it really needs to be testing your child as he or she exactly is now. . ."

Differentiation works - in Australia!

bsaxberg — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 19:09:54 -0400

No, this is not an in-depth cognitive science review of an instructional technique used in a foreign country. Rather, the result of a completely non-clinical trial, during my family’s spring vacation trip to Australia: Differentiated activities worked great!

My eldest son is leaving for college in the fall, so this was our last chance to force the whole family through massive jet-lag. As many of you know, we’ve been on a bit of a campaign these last few years to drag my kids around the globe, so that we have memories together to argue about for decades to come.

We spent the entire time in the area around Sydney. A beautiful zone, with the iconic gorgeous Sydney Opera House out in the harbor

Sydney Opera House

and beautiful ferries plying their trade all around the harbor.

Ferry in Sydney Harbor

Our kids, like many of yours, are getting older, so they’re starting to have quite divergent interests. Our daughter, for example, is enamored of theater

Inside Sydney Opera House

and views visits to museums as torture. Our youngest son, on the other hand, loves science museums, especially (as in the case of the PowerHouse museum in Sydney while we were there) ones with Star Wars exhibits.

PowerHouse Museum exhibit

We, the adults, on the third hand, got pretty excited about the occasional fine meal

Desserts

but suspect the kids were somewhat indifferent to that level of food. And we, the adults, loved a bit of a walk around

Hunter Valley countryside

but I think the kids preferred more of a shop around.

Queen Victoria Building

So we took turns: Our youngest got to his museums while the others went to parks or hung with books; our daughter dragged us (OK, we went pretty willingly) to modern dance, theater, ballet, and shopping, and our eldest kept us grounded with the need to get schoolwork done - with media. (We brought FAR more computing devices than people to Australia. Such a world we live in!)

On our final day, we found a street circus festival that surely, surely was struck up in our honor:

Rope act

Fountain in Darling Harbor

So try it – differentiate your next travels, and let everyone vacate in their own way!

Interpretive dance of the Sydney Opera House

How my nails came to be painted yellow

bsaxberg — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:54:24 -0400

I returned to DC this morning from Dubai and Saudi Arabia, and found myself immediately on another flight to Florida at 8 a.m. I was tired after 13 hours of travel and 8 time zones' change - I was thinking of sleep on the run to Tampa.

At the counter awaiting my flight, I met a young mom with an energetic slightly cranky four-year-old daughter named Genesis. They had been flying from the West Coast since 1 p.m. the previous day, with missed flights, tossed bottles at security, and more to make their lives hard.

Mom was tired, but still listening and answering the question-every-second patter of her bubbly daughter, splayed out on the carpet. Genesis panicked that the flight would leave her, then was upset she had to be on a plane - she wanted to be home, but she also wanted to visit the family. She wanted a car to come to the terminal to pick her up - but also wanted to be on the plane. You know how it can be.

Mom apologized to me for the noise they were making - but it really played out pretty much in conversational tones, not in continuous howling - and it seemed clear that this kind of flying was not familiar to either of them. I wished them well and boarded the plane.

Who should wind up as my seat-mates, as all the passengers boarded, but Genesis and Mom!

Dad, it turned out, was in the military and could not go to the family get-together they were going to, so Mom decided to brave the long journey with Genesis on her own - a first time event.

Did I mention that Mom was tired? Are you surprised to hear that Genesis, by contrast, was up and motoring: "Mommy, Mommy, look at this!" Finally, a coloring book brought peace, and Mom fell asleep. But peace seemed destined to be short - "Mommy, Mommy!"

Flashback: In the middle of the night, on a flight from Los Angeles to Norway, I'm fighting to stay awake with four-year-old Siri, our daughter, enough to read, for the n-th time, a book about a freight train.

I noticed Genesis's bright pink fingernails. I asked her if she thought my plain nails needed colors and patterns, too. She said yes, and set to work. Clearly familiar with the drill, she directed where I needed to place my fingers to let her proceed. As she worked, as in nail salons the world over (I gather), we chatted:

What should be on my nails
How I should stop saying "Good idea" so many times in a row - I protested hers were good ideas, but she was right
Why we were traveling
What colors I wanted - I thought blue, but went with her more expert opinion: yellow
What funny sounds the animals on my nails would make - we agreed the chicken and the baby cow were especially funny

Mom slept fitfully throughout (after all, nail salons are noisy places!), waking periodically to apologize dreamily before fading away again.

As we landed, all woken up (and quite spiffy with new nails by Genesis!), Mom told me how some people were surprised she spent so much time with her daughter: "Why not day care?" But Mom couldn't see trusting Genesis to anyone else.

Where do you think I came out?

Every family is different and has to make its own choices. Genesis was a handful, of course - what four-year-old isn't after a day and night of flying? But such willingness to engage, to chat, to play, to concentrate, to imagine - seems to me Mom was on the right track.

I gave Mom my card, and gave her the barest hint of what we do. I hope she calls.

Someday, someday: "Genesis, I knew you when. . ."

In the Middle East

bsaxberg — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 08:16:26 -0400

Apologies for being a bit slow with this last blog – I’m quite far away on behalf of K12. VERY far from home – in the Middle East, visiting Dubai and Saudi Arabia. Amazing places!

We have a small international operation that’s started up based in Dubai to provide virtual education services through the K12 International Academy along with various “drop in/drop off” services as families need them. It’s all somewhat of an experiment, trying new things in a completely different educational milieu – a challenge for Stu Finnigan, Sara Sayed, Debra Enos, Shadia Igram, and the other K12 folks on-site all working hard to make this a success.

The setting is remarkable (at least for this Northern European lad): While being extraordinary modern:

New architecture

. . . it’s really an intriguing mix of old and very new. The joke is that the national bird of Dubai is the crane – the industrial kind:

Buildings, the Dubai Creek, and boat

(The actual national bird of the United Arab Emirates, where Dubai is located, is the falcon, in case you were wondering.)

Not even a century ago, life in this part of the world was far simpler – based around fishing and trading with little hint of the amazing growth to come. The area has centuries old traditions around fishing and diving:

Old longboat

Very old house

Not necessarily uncomfortable, mind you:

Interior of an old hut

But now old and new are co-existing, trying to make space for each other.

Two gentlemen of Dubai, at the Dubai Heritage Village

The cultural roots are clearly different:

Smoking pipes outside a store

Ceramics

But the unfamiliar (to me) is no less beautiful.

Verandah at my hotel

More to come!

Developing K12 Courses part 2: Yet more new teaching multimedia (and another 1 MB of media goodness!)

bsaxberg — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 12:54:43 -0500

Yep, from the forges of our Product Development team comes another winning weapon in the war on misconceptions. This one a Wild West ride around problem solving. See what you think!

Go ahead and click on the forward arrow in the lower right corner to start 'er up!

Good fun, eh?

This actually is the result of terrific visual design work, careful instructional design work, key cognitive science work, and more, all blended together.

Certain kinds of word problems are hard for kids to understand deeply enough to turn into mathematics.
One technique that's been shown to work well with these kinds of problems is to make some kind of sketch that represents what you know and don't know.
We're also having kids add their own answers in the middle of the Flash. That's been proven to be a useful way to get learning to happen with media - these are called "worked examples."
We also embedded this in an engaging context - but not SO distracting that kids are not able to focus on the math. (You might notice, for example, that the crazy person used for the voice moderated the false Western accent for the more mathematical parts of the role. Quite consciously done, I hear tell.)

So, a big "Wahooooo!" to the K12 development team! It's what they do incredibly well - combine all these critical things for learning together in one place, and make K12 lessons so distinctive - and effective!

How to start finding a career

bsaxberg — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 18:32:06 -0500

Last week, a student responded to the blog I recently wrote celebrating our school counselors. She asked how to get started thinking about careers. I thought her question was great, so I asked Laurel Maestas, who heads up K12’s School Counseling Programs, what she thinks. Here’s her extensive reply – pull up a mug and enjoy!

The student wrote:

Dear Bror,

You mentioned in your blog that one person or family doesn't know how many jobs can be in just one category. I want to be able to go to college and get a degree for something that I love to do, (Culinary or Graphic Arts) but where would I start??

I have no idea where I could look at chances to start getting some work experience behind me. Or just seeing what variety of jobs I could get.

I would appreciate any comments or suggestions.

Thanks for the awesome blog!

-Sarah N.

[Thanks for the kind words, Ms. N.!]

Here's how Laurel responds. Many of her comments refer to the career counseling system, Naviance, in use within many of our learning environments, but there's a wide array of resources she's included toward the end that are on the web for all to use.

----------------------

That’s wonderful, Sarah!

You’ve already got some great ideas to start with (culinary or graphics arts careers) but it also sounds like you are open minded and ready for some truly in-depth exploration. Let me suggest a flow of activities to help you explore possible careers – see the Career Exploration Road Map, below.

Think of this as an inquiry process, an investigation: As you question, explore, and discover, you are progressively learning more about yourself and the careers that now exist that interest you. After each step you’ll want to stop and reflect, ask yourself what you think about the information and what it means to you. Do you want to learn more? How about sharing what you are learning with the people in your life – your family, friends, and educators? Any of them might have new ideas, contacts, perspectives, or experience to share as well.

After you’ve done some reflection at one step, go on to the next step to learn more. At any point you can decide, “You know what? This just isn’t for me,” and change course and explore a different career. Keep an open mind and fully explore each career that interests you so that you can make the most informed decision possible as you plan your future.

As you go through life you will have many “jobs” that make up your career, some formal, some informal, some paid, some unpaid. Think about your transferable skills – skills that you can use in many jobs throughout your career. Examples of these include time management, collaboration, good communication skills (spoken or written), good analytic skills, the ability to persuade or motivate, etc.

It is also unlikely (though fun when it happens!) that a single “job” will make full use of all your talents, skills, and abilities all at once. Constructing a changing mix of work, life, and volunteer opportunities helps you “have it all.”

Career Exploration Road Map

Self assessment
Exploration (Broad)
Research (Depth)
Informational Interview
Get experience
Obtain needed education and training

1. Self assessment

In the Family Connection tool within Naviance, complete the Career Interest Profile and/or the Do What You Are personality inventory. (For those without Naviance tools, check out the references at the end – see especially the Arizona State University Virtual Counseling Center.)

The value in these assessments is that they help you clarify your preferences. People are often happiest in careers that are a good match for their personality. So, if you are creative and super-outgoing, you are likely to thrive in a workplace that values those traits, and potentially be frustrated in a career that doesn’t take advantage of them.

Still, career interests are very individual – “your mileage can vary!” Assessments provide guidance, but in no way should you think they define or limit you – they provide some ideas for things to explore that might be great fits.

[An example of this: Years ago, my older brother was “supposed” to become an agricultural worker as his “best-fit” career. He didn’t go that way (I always wonder how that might have turned out) but he seems to be enjoying his life as a physicist and counselor to start-up medical informatics companies and more! – Bror]

2. Exploration

At this point, in Naviance you can go directly to careers you have already been thinking about and/or use the range of careers that pop up as a result of your assessment. (For those not connected to Naviance, check out Career Voyages (see section 5, below), and the kid-friendly Occupational Outlook Handbook (see section 3)) As you explore different careers, keep an open mind. It’s like window-shopping or going to a buffet – there is a lot to try on or sample from. You’ll want to pay attention to the differences in job descriptions, education, and wages to make a comparison between different careers. Also, be sure to look at “related occupations” and “college majors” to enhance your exploration. As you explore each career, note the following:

Job description – This is a very brief overview of the position. If this job also has a video, watch that as well. (Career Voyages has videos, too.)
Knowledge & skills – Are these skills and abilities you have a start on already? What areas would you need to gain additional training in? How do these connect with your current life?
Tasks & activities – Does anything surprise you? Are these appealing? Is there anything you absolutely dislike? Try to visualize what your day would be like. What do you think?
Wages – Look at the state and national averages. Observe the range of salaries, including the low and high ends as well as the middle 50 percent. This will give you a pretty good sense of the typical wages for specific jobs.
Save the interesting careers!

3. Research

You can stop at the overview, but if a career has really piqued your interest, you’ll want to dive deeper. This step and the next could be done in a different order – the choice is yours.

For the next level of research in a career you’ll want to learn what the future holds, including expected job growth. You can discover where people in these careers are employed – for example cooks might work in restaurants, at amusement parks, or even on cruise ships. Finally, you’ll want to learn much more about the range of training and education requirements.

It’s time to go to THE BOOK for careers:

The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) http://www.bls.gov/oco/

There is a student friendly version here: http://www.bls.gov/k12/index.htm but unfortunately it has a limited number of careers so far.

Take a look at:

Nature of the work – A much more in-depth description
Training, other qualifications, and advancement – The range of education and training needed for different jobs within this career field
Employment – Tells you how many people work in this field
Job outlook – Is there expected growth?
Earnings – Breaks down wages by specific jobs, so, for example, restaurant chef versus hospital cafeteria cook
Related occupations – A great resource to explore similar careers
Sources of additional information – This is a GOLD MINE! For example, you can find a range of professional organizations – many of these allow students to join, provide more information on the career, offer scholarships, apprenticeships, and more. Powerful ways to get you started on your next step.

4. Informational Interview

Informational interviewing is surely one of the best kept secrets in the career exploration process. This is your first step in learning about the realities of the job – and beginning to build your professional network. People generally love to talk about themselves and their careers and most are happy to talk with a polite, interested teen. Plus, you never know where an opportunity might come from – remembering your interest, your phone might ring.

How do you find someone to interview beyond family and friends? Remember, one of my favorite areas on the OOH was Sources of additional information. Here you can connect with a field’s professional organization – contact them to describe your interest and help you identify a person to interview, perhaps asking a family member or school counselor to help you to do this.

Once you have found someone to interview, you’ll want to prepare yourself ahead of time, be polite and professional, and don’t forget to let the person know how things go for you over time. Thinking carefully about the conversation ahead of time will help you keep your communication very professional and respectful. You never know – this person may become a future mentor, boss, or colleague.

Prepare

Prepare your questions in advance – What do you really want to know about this career? What can you learn from a person that you cannot simply find out from a book?
Make sure your questions are polite. For example, instead of asking, “How much money do you make,” try, “What is the pay range for a position like yours?” Your interview guide doesn’t have to restrict your conversation, but it will remind you of important things you want to learn. (See below for more examples, under "Informational Interview Questions." You might consider sharing some of the questions ahead of time – but not too many!)
Do your research – You‘ve learned about this career field, but you may also want to learn about the specific organization this person works for as well.
Practice, practice, practice! Ask a friend, family member, or teacher to help you by role playing a few times. This will give you a little more confidence in using your interview guide before the real interview.

Be polite and professional

No IM lingo here, LOL!
Address the person formally, Mr. Mrs., Dr., etc.
Make sure to use “Please” and “Thank you” before, during and after the interview.
It’s ok to share a little about yourself, but keep it professional. Let them know why you are interested in the career field and something about related hobbies and interests, but remember that this is a professional conversation – you are trying to walk away with real information about a career that’s useful to you.

Keep in touch

From time to time update this person on your progress in school, career-related activities, and continued interest in the field. It’s fascinating to watch young people find their way into interesting worlds.

For more on “How to Conduct an Informational Interview”:

http://www.careeronestop.org/ResumesInterviews/Interviews/InformationalInterviews.aspx

http://jobsearch.about.com/od/infointerviews/Informational_Interviews.htm

5. Get Experience

Given all that you have learned so far, if you’re still interested, nothing is better than seeing for yourself what this career is like. So, how do you get experience?

Job shadowing – Follow someone around to see what a day in the life of a (whatever) is like. The person you did an informational interview with might be open to this, or might be able to suggest someone, if you’re ready for this.
Volunteering – If you can’t find a paid working experience, then you may want to try volunteering. Many hospitals will let students as young as 14 work as “candy stripers” (from the pattern on typical uniforms for volunteers) which is valuable experience to gain in the health care world.
Internship/apprenticeship – These may be paid or unpaid. You gain on-the-job training and may even acquire some type of certification.

The U.S. Departments of Labor and Education has a website called Career Voyages, which is great for additional exploration, including apprenticeship listings: http://www.careervoyages.gov

Part-time work – If you want to find out about being a chef, try a position at a restaurant as a cook’s assistant or waitress and make sure to express your interest in learning more.

Be aware of the federal and state labor laws that protect you and define when and where you can work. Check out Youth Rules at http://youthrules.dol.gov/index.htm.
Try searching your local help wanted ads, the contacts you’ve made, or online searches such as CareerBuilder (http://www.careerbuilder.com/) or Monster (http://www.monster.com/).
Prepare a resume and application. For a resource on Teen Resume Writing, try http://www.quintcareers.com/teen_resume-writing_worksheet.html.
Practice your interviewing skills.

How do you find any of these experiences? In addition to the resources above, don’t forget those professional organizations for the field.

Always remember that in each situation, you are gaining valuable experiences and contacts in this field. Be polite and professional with everyone you meet! Treat any of these experiences like a real job.

6. Education and Training

Identify – You may have identified the education and training needed for this field in your previous exploration. It's always worth checking again as your interest grows.
Search – In Naviance, there are several ways to find college and training programs that offer your major or concentration.

One way is by looking on that specific career page. It provides a list of majors and gives you a link to all the colleges in the United States (and even abroad) that offers this major.
Another way is to start a “college search” to narrow down a list of colleges and training programs based on the majors offered as well as other requirements that may be important to you such as geography, clubs, or athletics. For example, Location: West, Majors: Culinary (and related). A list of several dozen institutions will pop up. You can click on any college, or to evaluate more, use the drop-down menus on the right to sort by tuition, admissions rates, and more.

On to the college or program selection process! Save colleges and programs to your list in Naviance – you’ll easily be able to reference them in the future. (If you don't have access to Naviance, check out the College Navigator – see links below.)

Compare different programs. You can find overviews in Naviance, explore the institution’s websites, and look at college guide books.
Narrow your list down and perhaps see if you can make a visit. It’s great to talk with faculty and current or former students as well. Sometimes you even can ask to sit in on a class.
You can also take virtual tours of some colleges through Naviance or try http://www.youniversitytv.com/beta/index.php.

It’s not easy to narrow down and make a decision about where you want to go next. Just remember:

There are many, many places to go – so many careers exist now that didn’t exist even 10 or 20 years ago!
You have many more options for high-quality preparation for your future. Just think about the high-quality education you’re getting from K12 – that didn’t exist 10 years ago, either!
The most important thing is to find a direction, and begin heading there. Thinking about how your current courses help for a specific future can give you “juice” to work your best right now.
You can always change direction if something even more intriguing shows itself to you – more and more new opportunities come up for folks with strong skills and interests!
[Think about all our virtual teachers, virtual counselors, virtual school staff of all kinds – no such jobs 10 years ago! – Bror]

Good luck with your direction setting!

Laurel Maestas, MAE, CSC

Director, School Counseling Programs

K12 Inc.

Other Resources:

Student Jobs http://www.studentjobs.gov/
College.gov http://www.college.gov/wps/portal
Career One Stop: http://www.careeronestop.org/
O*Net http://www.onetcenter.org/
America’s Career Resource Network http://www.acrnetwork.org/Default.aspx
Occupational Outlook Quarterly http://www.bls.gov/opub/ooq/ooqhome.htm
Debunk Career Myths: http://www.bls.gov/opub/ooq/2005/fall/art01.pdf
Kids Health Article about Life Beyond High School : http://kidshealth.org/teen/school_jobs/school/after_hs.html
The Arizona State University Virtual Counseling Center http://vcc.asu.edu/career.shtml
College.gov learn more about college http://www.college.gov/wps/portal
College Navigator search for colleges and training programs http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/

Informational Interview Questions:

Position

What is your job title and position?
How did you become interested in this career? (Why did you choose this?)
What is your educational background and training?
Can you tell me about your position? (Describe your job, your daily activities.)
What are the major job responsibilities?
What are the greatest challenges and rewards in your position?
What is your schedule like?
How would you describe the atmosphere or culture of your work place?

Career Field

What is the job growth for this career field?
Where is the job growth? Within the United States and internationally?
What are opportunities for advancement? To what position?
What settings do people work in in this field?
What are some related occupations?

Preparing for the Career: Training and Education

High School:

What courses do you recommend in high school?
Are any clubs or extra-curricular activities especially helpful?
How can a high school student gain experience in this field?

College:

What majors and courses do you recommend in college?
Are any co-curricular activities recommended?
Is an advanced degree needed? If so, in what discipline?

General

What personal characteristics are most important for this career?
What skills are most important to acquire?
What kind of student work or internship experience would employers look for in a job applicant?
What professional organizations should I join and when?

What is the most important piece of advice you would give to someone going in to this career field?

February 2-6 is National School Counseling Week!

bsaxberg — Mon, 2 Feb 2009 12:46:55 -0500

One of K12’s key goals is to allow kids and their families to follow their paths to the future they want and imagine. Our terrific corps of counselors and advisers within many of our learning environments help families find their way, so celebrate them with us this week!

Having teenagers in the house myself these days, it’s complicated to sort out directions. Every kid seems to be totally different, with different affects, skills, and interests–and these sometimes change with lightening speed. We all need help:

Discovering what paths are out there

There’s a wide range of careers that tie to interests and developing skills – way more than any one person or family has the expertise to know about. An interest in animals, for example, could go in many directions: Taking care of them at an animal shelter, veterinary immunobiology, and many other points of the compass.

Your guidance counselor and advisers have tools that allow your students, over time, to explore what they might be interested in, and see what kind of work people do with those interests.

Figuring out how to pursue one or more paths

What do you need to do to make your way down an interesting path? How long will it take? What interesting ports of call along the way can you find yourself in, from internships to job opportunities to training courses and more – all before you’ve left K12?

Your counselors, advisers, and your schools are all working to keep expanding the experiences that can take your family in the direction you want to go, child by child.

Setting the course down a path – maybe changing at the right time.

You have to start a journey somewhere – and that start has to be followed by the next step, and the next. Working out the specific steps to take, one after another, is another way counselors and advisers help. Not to mention that where a 13 year-old student wants to go, compared with the later 15 year-old, and the later 17 year-old, needs some wiggle room. The kids are different, even the careers can be different, a few years on.

What remains the same, though, is that the key for success, for continuing to do the hard work needed to become expert, is to be led (or driven) by growing interest in where you can go from here – even if it changes.

Guiding along the path(s) as years go by

Completing the right courses (you’re never “scheduled out” of that key course in a virtual education!), volunteering in the right places (taking advantage of the tremendous time flexibility virtual education gives), finding the right internship (again that time flexibility) – all can be helped by what your counselors can do, and advise, and the tools and contacts they develop.

More than this, on any journey there are unexpected bumps in the road – often the rough pavement has nothing to do with where you’re headed, but still needs to be navigated with skill. Your counselors and advisers can help your family figure out how to steer when things look rocky. Whether it’s your first tricky patch, or one of many, your counselors and advisers have tools, ideas, and experience to help put your kids back on course.

Launching from one environment to another, while staying the course!

Perhaps the wildest part of the family journey comes at the end of one environment, and the beginning of the next. Just how do you set up for this amazing ski-jump into whatever comes next?

That, too, is something your counselors and advisers can help with: The paperwork, the expectations, the timelines, and exactly how to execute this important launch into the future. They have tools, experience, and connections to guide your family, and your student, to a great landing.

This amazing environment, coupled with the hard work of your student and your family, can lead to the most remarkable (sometimes unexpected!) futures. Your counselors and advisers take on a wide array of tasks as they try to help you and your family navigate your children’s future. Give them a call, work with them when things are tough, and celebrate with them when things go the way you’d hoped.

As always, we are grateful you’ve included us here at K12 in your family’s journey!