ICAP One Page
WHAT IS AN INDIVIDUAL CAREER ACADEMIC PLAN?
The ICAP – developed with collaboration among student, family, and educators – equips students with the awareness, knowledge and skills to create their own individualized, meaningful exploration of college and career opportunities. In order to reflect students’ changing passions, aptitudes, interests, and growth, the ICAP is a flexible, evolving document.
WHY IS AN INDIVIDUAL CAREER ACADEMIC PLAN VALUABLE?
Life beyond high school requires different, and ever changing, competencies. By 2025, three of four Oklahoma jobs will require education or training beyond high school. During the ICAP process, students discover the pathways that fit their unique talents and learn what academic preparation and experiences will prepare them for in-demand careers, some of which may not exist when they graduate from high school. When students complete a meaningful ICAP process, they: 1. Connect the relevance of education to their future goals 2. Create secondary and post-secondary course plans to pursue their career and life goals 3. Strategically select a post-secondary pathway to align with self-defined career, college, and life goals 4. Establish better communication and engagement between school and home 5. Understand and demonstrate career exploration and career planning 2015 Attainment 2025 New Jobs Oklahoma’s Workforce Gap Source: OK Office of Workforce Development EMSI Q2, 2015 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% 46% 30% 16% 8% 23% 53% 19% 5% High School and Less Associates/Certificate/Credential Bachelors Graduate Individual Career Academic Plan
WHAT SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN AN ICAP?
An ICAP has a strong, intentional connection with readiness for career and college. An ICAP identifies student interests, skills, postsecondary and workforce goals and experiences that lead to a meaningful plan that charts the progress needed to prepare students for college, career and life. It should include:
■ Career and college interest surveys
■ Written postsecondary and workforce goals and progress toward those goals
■ Scores on assessments (required state and federal assessments and a college and career ready assessment)
■ Experiences in service learning and/or work environments including apprenticeships, internships, mentorships, job shadowing and others
■ Intentional sequence of courses that reflects progress toward the postsecondary goal (this may include identified career pathways or career endorsements)
■ Academic progress
HOW WILL THE ICAP PROCESS BE IMPLEMENTED?
OSDE will introduce a pilot program study in the 2017-2018 school year and continue with additional school district pilots during the 2018-2019 school year. Implementation statewide will follow during the 2019-2020 school year. Students may start the ICAP process in sixth grade and update it every subsequent grade.
Students, families, school counselors, educators and school leaders can access two free online tools to help guide students on their ICAP journey. The Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education offers the OK Career Guide, and the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education provide OK College Start. The Oklahoma State Department of Education is working with these partners to include elements of these tools so that students can build a meaningful Individual Career Academic Plan. In addition, an ICAP Advisory Group will meet regularly to determine best practices, lessons learned and ways to provide professional development for those engaged in the ICAP process.
The ICAP Advisory Group, which will include stakeholders from across the state, will do the following to develop a valid, reliable and meaningful implementation of the ICAP:
■ Identify opportunities, challenges, and best/promising practices
■ Develop implementation recommendations
■ Explore and outline resources and tools
■ Align skills, abilities, and knowledge that are valued by business, industry, career technology, and higher education
■ Outline systematic pathways for students to explore and develop these skills
■ Identify stakeholder connections and messages
■ Maintain a written record of implementation recommendations, tools and resources, best/ promising practices and relevant discussions
■ Conduct surveys to gauge the status of ICAPs in districts across the state
