In Pennsylvania, middle school is not just a good time to start career planning. It is when the state expects every student to have an individualized career plan. By the end of grade 8, each student needs six pieces of career evidence from grades 6 through 8, and one of them must be that plan.
One Tool. Used for Years, Not Just One Afternoon.
- Grade 6: Discover. Students explore their interests and strengths and see careers they may never have heard of.
- Grade 7: Connect. Students link the careers they like to the skills, courses, and training that lead there, building evidence across the CEW strands as they go.
- Grade 8: Plan. Students pull it all together into their individualized career plan, ready for the grade 8 benchmark.
- Grades 9 through 11: Act. The plan carries into high school, where students show they are putting it into action for the grade 11 benchmark.
Why This Matters in Pennsylvania
- It counts for the school. The Career Standards Benchmark is part of every school’s Future Ready PA Index, and grade 8 is one of only three grades where it is measured.
- Evidence cannot be made up later. PDE guidance says students should not go back and complete assignments from an earlier grade band, so grades 6, 7, and 8 each matter on their own.
- High school choices start early. Students who know their interests by eighth grade can choose courses and CTE programs with purpose.
Built to Connect the Dots
Career exploration in Level All is not a one-time quiz. What a sixth grader discovers becomes evidence, then part of their career plan, then the foundation for their high school portfolio. Every step builds on the last.
