ED467241 2002-00-00 Career Passports,

Portfolios, and Certificates. ERIC Digest.

ERIC Development Team

www.eric.ed.gov

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Career Passports, Portfolios, and Certificates. ERIC Digest............... 1

CAREER PASSPORTS AND CAREER PORTFOLIOS..................2

CAREER CERTIFICATES.................................................... 3

REFERENCES.................................................................. 5

ERIC Identifier: ED467241

Publication Date: 2002-00-00

Author: Wonacott, Michael E.

Source: ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult Career and Vocational Education Columbus OH.

Career Passports, Portfolios, and Certificates.

ERIC Digest.

THIS DIGEST WAS CREATED BY ERIC, THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES

INFORMATION CENTER. FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ERIC, CONTACT

ACCESS ERIC 1-800-LET-ERIC

One of the pressing needs of employers today is for workers with new and different sets

of knowledge and skills, including positive attitudes, good work habits, the ability to

learn a diverse set of tasks, and problem-solving, communication, scientific, and

interpersonal skills (Connecticut Department of Labor 2001). Educators, especially

those in career and technical education (CTE), are addressing those new and different

sets of knowledge and skills alongside other, more traditional knowledge and skills. In

addition, however, educators must communicate those new and different sets of

ED467241 2002-00-00 Career Passports, Portfolios, and Certificates. ERIC Digest. Page 1 of 8
knowledge and skills to employers.

Unfortunately, the traditional high school diploma and transcript do not communicate

that information well to employers (BRIDGING THE GAP 1993). Neither provides the

information employers want on thinking, problem solving, teamwork, and group skills;

transcript information may be inconsistent or difficult to interpret; a diploma often reflects

minimum standards; and schools sometimes do not respond to requests for transcripts

in a timely manner. This Digest reviews other ways secondary educators are using to

communicate students' new and different sets of knowledge and skills to

employers--passports, portfolios, and certificates.

A career passport may be characterized as "a formal product or document in which

students present the many marketable skills they have developed through their life

experiences (Charner and Bhaerman 1986, p. 1). A career portfolio is a similar product

with a different focus; it is a working tool that organizes information and documents for

career planning and self-assessment (Pond et al. 1998). A career certificate is a

document issued by an educational agency formally attesting that a student possesses

specific skills.

CAREER PASSPORTS AND CAREER

PORTFOLIOS

Portfolios have long been used in some professions to showcase professional work and

skill. In education, portfolios have also been used for assessment, including

self-assessment (Lankes 1995; Pond et al. 1998). Both career portfolios and career

passports reflect this dual focus--students assess themselves in the process of

developing a product, and the resulting product showcases and documents their

experiences and skills. A distinction is sometimes drawn between a portfolio as

developmental and a passport as summative (BRIDGING THE GAP 1993). With

portfolios, more emphasis is put on the developmental process of self-assessment,

planning, and goal-setting; with passports, more emphasis is put on the final product

that sums up the results of the process and communicates them to others.

In practice, however, both passports and portfolios represent a combination of

developmental process and summative product. The value of the passport or portfolio is

also twofold: students come to an awareness of their own skills and experience, and

employers have richer, more detailed information for hiring decisions than is provided in

transcripts and diplomas. As early as the mid-1980s, Charner and Bhaerman (1986)

advocated a Career Passport as a way for secondary students to identify and document

their work and nonwork experiences and to translate those experiences into statements

of skills specifically related to work. The process was necessary for students to

understand what they had to offer to employers; the resulting Career Passport provided

employers with critical information to supplement the information in school transcripts or

even resumes.

www.eric.ed.gov ERIC Custom Transformations Team

Page 2 of 8 ED467241 2002-00-00 Career Passports, Portfolios, and Certificates. ERIC Digest.
The Ohio Individual Career Plan (ICP) and Career Passport. The Ohio Career Passport

is the capstone of students' career decision-making process, begun before the ninth

grade (Gahris n.d.) The planning and decision making involved in the ICP process lead

to each student's Career Passport, an individual credential housing an array of formal

documents that students use in the next step after high school. Components include a

letter of verification from the school; a student-developed resume; a student narrative

identifying career goals and underlying rationale; a transcript (including attendance);

diplomas, certificates, licenses, or other credentials; and a list of any specific vocational

program competencies. The state recommends housing those components in a

consistent, easily recognizable folder. Students develop ICPs through career interest

and aptitude assessment, exploration experiences, preferably through job shadowing,

and annual review and revision in high school. The ICP and Career Passport can be

developed in any statewide curriculum area but most often this occurs in English or

social studies, with assistance from the computer instructor and guidance counselor.

Classroom support materials include elementary, middle, and high school Career

Development Blueprints and sample activity packets (CLASSROOM SUPPORT

MATERIALS n.d.). All Ohio schools are required to provide students the opportunity to

complete the ICP and Career Passport in a structured classroom setting and local

school boards may make the Career Passport a graduation requirement for their district,

although parents may choose not to have their child involved.

The South Dakota Career and Life Planning Portfolio. The Career and Life Planning

Portfolio is a collection of work that documents a student's skills, abilities, and ambitions

(Division of Workforce and Career Preparation 1999; "DWCP Wins National Award"

2000). Usually organized in a standard jacket with color-coded folders, documentation

can include both examples of work and information on career and education planning,

skills employers want, projects/work samples, and assessment results. The Portfolio,

which is not required, can be used for a variety of educational purposes, but its ultimate

use is to house the projects and work samples that demonstrate to a prospective

employer that the student has the skills and talents the employer needs. Based on a

model developed by the Sioux Falls School District and tested at 25 state high schools,

the Portfolio is accompanied by curriculum materials, activities, and resources for

teachers.

CAREER CERTIFICATES

The Wisconsin Employability Skills Certificate. The Employability Skills Certificate

Program is designed for students who do not participate in the Cooperative Education

Skills Certificate Program and the Youth Apprenticeship Program (Lifework Education

Team 2000). The Employability Skills Certificate, issued by the Wisconsin Department

of Public Instruction, recognizes students' mastery of the employability skills identified

by the U.S. Department of Labor's Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary

Skills (SCANS). To participate in the voluntary program, local districts must provide

three required components:

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ED467241 2002-00-00 Career Passports, Portfolios, and Certificates. ERIC Digest. Page 3 of 8
* Instruction and assessment of SCANS skills--Instruction can be provided in any

curriculum area, and demonstration and assessment can occur either in the school or in

the community.

* School-supervised work-based learning experience--Considerable flexibility is allowed

for local districts in providing work-based learning experiences, which can include

existing cooperative education, work experience, internships, or service learning

programs. A minimum of 180 total work hours is required; occupation-related instruction

is not required.

* Career planning--Working with parents and school personnel, each student develops a

written Individual Career Plan (ICP) to make appropriate career, educational, and

occupational choices. The ICP identifies tentative career goals and concrete, specific

steps after high school to realize those goals; schools manage the ICP process and

provide objective data both for original development and periodic reevaluation.

The Connecticut Career Certificate (CCC). Part of the continuing School-to-Career

(STC) system, the CCC verifies that a student has mastered a set of employability,

academic, and technical skills identified in a partnership between the state Departments

of Labor, Education, and Higher Education and the Connecticut Business and Industry

Association (Connecticut Department of Labor 2001; Stickney and Alamprese 2001).

The CCC is awarded by state-approved local districts to students who achieve all

required competencies in one of eight career clusters. Academic standards (reading,

writing, communication skills, math, science, and computer knowledge) are based on

state-determined levels of performance on one of four assessments: Connecticut

Mastery Test, administered to all 8th-grade students; the Connecticut Academic

Performance Test, administered to all 10th-grade students; the voluntary Scholastic

Assessment Test; or the voluntary Comprehensive Adult Students Assessment System,

Level C or D. Employability standards (attitudes and attributes, customer service,

teamwork, and adaptability), which are integrated curriculum frameworks for all eight

career clusters, are correlated with SCANS skills. Both academic and employability

standards are common across all eight career clusters, whereas technical skills and

standards vary by cluster. The number of CCCs awarded has increased from 101

statewide in 1997-98 to 569 in 2000-01. More substantial percentages of high school

students participated in STC career development activities--for example, 72 percent in

career counseling and 50 percent each in career interest surveys and portfolio

development.

www.eric.ed.gov ERIC Custom Transformations Team

Page 4 of 8 ED467241 2002-00-00 Career Passports, Portfolios, and Certificates. ERIC Digest.
The Oregon Certificates of Mastery. By the school year 2004-05, all Oregon high

schools will be required to offer the Certificate of Advanced Mastery (CAM). Designed to

prepare students for success in their next steps after high school, the CAM documents

each student's academic and career-related knowledge and skills (Oregon Department

of Education 2001). In the 2001 CAM model, academic skills include state performance

standards in English (reading, speaking, and writing) math, science, and social science;

these are four of the seven standards required for the state's Certificate of Initial

Mastery (CIM), which also include art, second language, and physical education. CAM

candidates can meet the four required CIM performance standards either through CIM

knowledge and skill tests or through CIM work samples. The six career-related learning

standards--"fundamental skills essential for success in employment, college, family and

community life" (p. 12)--include personal management, problem solving,

communication, teamwork, employment foundations, and career development. To earn

a CAM, each student must develop, review, and update an education plan for next

steps after high school; develop an education profile to document progress and

achievement; meet performance standards for applying academic and career-related

knowledge and skills in new and complex situations; demonstrate career-related

knowledge and skills; participate in planned career-related learning experiences; and

satisfy the four CIM standards. Students can select specific areas of their education

profile to document and communicate specific knowledge and skills to specific

audiences, such as employers, and supplement that with a record of personal

accomplishments, experiences, and skills.

Other examples could be added to those presented here. Oklahoma's 2001 Career

Activity File: Career Portfolios K-12 (2001), Arizona's Career Pathways: An

Implementation and Resource Guide (1997), and Michigan's proposed Content

Standards and Working Draft Benchmarks for Career and Employability Skills (Using

Employability Skills 1998) all address the same need for students to communicate

knowledge and skills not captured well by traditional diplomas and transcripts. Whether

an empty structure to fill or a carefully defined credential to earn, career passports,

portfolios, and certificates provide a new means for students to document the whole

range of knowledge and skills--employability, academic, or technical--they have to offer

to employers.

Effective practices in developing and using career portfolios and passports involve

defining the roles of different actors, addressing issues of portfolio or passport design,

and facilitating students' developmental process (Wonacott 2001). Issues related to

career passports, portfolios, and certificates that have not yet been addressed include

student outcomes and success (e.g., employment, starting salary), program

coordination and cooperation across states, and the possible development of a national

model.

REFERENCES

ERIC Resource Center www.eric.ed.gov

ED467241 2002-00-00 Career Passports, Portfolios, and Certificates. ERIC Digest. Page 5 of 8
BRIDGING THE GAP: IMPLEMENTING SCHOOL-TO-WORK TRANSITIONS IN

AUSTIN, TEXAS. Austin: Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of

Texas, 1993. (ED 358 369)

CAREER ACTIVITY FILE: CAREER PORTFOLIOS K-12. Stillwater: Guidance Division,

Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education, 2001.

http://www.okcareertech.org/guidance

CAREER PATHWAYS: AN IMPLEMENTATION AND RESOURCE GUIDE. Phoenix:

Division of Vocational Technical Education, Arizona Department of Education, 1997.

(ED 417 318)

Charner, I., and Bhaerman, R. CAREER PASSPORT: LEADER'S GUIDE. Columbus:

National Center for Research in Vocational Education, The Ohio State University, 1986.

(ED 326 760)

CLASSROOM SUPPORT MATERIALS. Columbus: Career Development, Ohio

Department of Education, n.d.

http://www.ohiocareerdev.org/cgi-win/careerdevweb.exe/viewp/3-0

Connecticut Department of Labor. CONNECTICUT LEARNS: SCHOOL-TO-CAREER

SYSTEM. Hartford: CDL, 2001. http://www.ctdol.state.ct.us/schtocar/school.htm

Division of Workforce and Career Preparation. CAREER AND LIFE PLANNING

PORTFOLIO RESOURCE BOOK: ACTIVITIES TO ACCOMPANY THE SOUTH

DAKOTA CAREER AND LIFE PLANNING PORTFOLIO, 1999-2000. Pierre: DWCP,

South Dakota Department of Education, 1999. (ED 439 230)

"DWCP Wins National Award." ADMINISTRATIVE MEMORANDUM: DEPARTMENT

OF EDUCATION AND CULTURAL AFFAIRS (April 2000): online, n.p.

http://www.state.sd.us/deca/news/2000/april2000.htm

Gahris, C. OHIO'S INDIVIDUAL CAREER PLAN (ICP) AND CAREER PASSPORT:

TOOLS TO HELP STUDENTS WITH CAREER DECISIONS. Columbus: Ohio

Department of Education, n.d.

http://www.ohiocareerdev.org/CGI-win/careerdevweb.exe/viewp/1-3

Lankes, A. M. D. ELECTRONIC PORTFOLIOS: A NEW IDEA IN ASSESSMENT. ERIC

DIGEST. Syracuse, NY: ERIC Clearinghouse on Information and Technology, 1995.

(ED 390 377)

Lifework Education Team. GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTING WISCONSIN'S

EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS CERTIFICATE PROGRAM. Madison: LET, Wisconsin

Department of Public Instruction, 2000.

Oregon Department of Education. CERTIFICATE OF ADVANCED MASTERY GUIDE

www.eric.ed.gov ERIC Custom Transformations Team

Page 6 of 8 ED467241 2002-00-00 Career Passports, Portfolios, and Certificates. ERIC Digest.
FOR SCHOOLS. Salem: ODE, 2001. http://www.dpi.state.wi.us/dpi/dlsis/let/index.html

Pond, B. N.; Burdick, S. E.; and Yamamoto, J. K. "Portfolios: Transitioning to the

Future." BUSINESS EDUCATION FORUM 52, no. 4 (April 1998): 50-54.

Stickney, E. M., and Alamprese, J. A. PROVIDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL

STUDENTS: FINDINGS FROM THE PROCESS EVALUATION OF CONNECTICUT'S

SCHOOL-TO-CAREER SYSTEM. Bethesda, MD: Abt Associates, 2001.

http://www.state.ct.us/sde/deps/ctlearns/resources/CtSTCeval.pdf

USING EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS. Lansing: Michigan Department of Education, 1998.

http://cdp.mde.state.mi.us/MCF/ContentStandards/Career Employability/10.HTML

Wonacott, M. E. CAREER PORTFOLIOS. PRACTICE APPLICATION BRIEF NO. 13.

Columbus: ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education, The Ohio

State University, 2001). (ED 451 345) http://ericacve.org/pab.asp

-----

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imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Digests may be freely reproduced and are

available at http://ericacve.org/digests.asp.

Title: Career Passports, Portfolios, and Certificates. ERIC Digest.

Note: Digest Number 238.

Document Type: Information Analyses---ERIC Information Analysis Products (IAPs)

(071); Information Analyses---ERIC Digests (Selected) in Full Text (073);

Available From: ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education,

Center on Education and Training for Employment, College of Education, The Ohio

State University, 1900 Kenny Road, Columbus, OH 43210-1090. For full text:

http://www.ericacve.org/pubs.asp.

Descriptors: Career Planning, Education Work Relationship, Educational Certificates,

Educational Experience, Employment Potential, High Schools, Job Skills, Portfolio

Assessment, Portfolios (Background Materials), Skill Development, Student Evaluation,

Student Records

Identifiers: Career Passports, Certificate of Initial Mastery

###

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