Maryland's Career Development Framework was developed to teach individuals, Pre-K through adult, how to make appropriate choices regarding their education and career paths. The framework is driven by standards from the National Career Development Guidelines and includes six of the career development standards: Self Awareness, Career Awareness, Career Exploration, Career Preparation, Job Seeking and Advancement, and Career Satisfaction and Transition. Decision-making is a cross-cutting skill that is embedded into each standard in the framework's design.

The framework is aligned with the format of the Maryland Voluntary State Curriculum (VSC) and the Skills For Success (Learning, Thinking, Communication, Technology, and Interpersonal skills). It provides a developmental process for schools to give students an understanding of their individual traits, career aspirations, motives, and learning styles and imparts life-long skill sets that are transferable as children mature into adults.

In elementary school, children begin to learn more about themselves and build confidence. In middle school, students continue that personal reflection, begin to explore the world around them, and make connections between the academic subjects learned in school and the relationship school work has to the work world. Students begin charting their academic/career plan and choose a high school program of study that matches their future aspirations. Students continue to use their decision-making skills to manage their academic and career plans, concentrate on developing their academic and technical skills, and begin to explore postsecondary and career-based options. In Maryland, at the high school level, students have many options to choose from in planning coursework to complete graduation requirements including the Maryland Career Technology Education (CTE) Programs of Study.

The career development process is a lifelong continuum of learning that requires the use of decision-making skills as children and adults transition from one learning or career aspect of their lives to the next. Starting this process early is one of the keys for equipping students to prepare for their future education and careers. Maryland is proud to use a standards-based approach to implement the career development process. Through instructional strategies in grades Pre-K through 6 and through Career Guidance and Advisory programs at the school-building level for students in grades 7-12, students are better prepared to make informed decisions about their high school academic and technical course of study and future career choices.

Companion resources have been created using the framework's standards to assist with implementation of Career Guidance and Advisory Programs for Grades 7-12. This allows for the attainment of a systemic approach for school guidance and advisement that stresses both academic and career planning. Resources have also been developed for adult learners. The Maryland Adult Career Development Toolkits provide lessons that can be used to teach the career development process in group or individual settings for adults and includes interactive web-based resources.

For more information, please contact Susan Oskin, Career Technology Education Specialist, at (410)767-0635 or at soskin@msde.state.md.us.