Vermont Career Quest for 9th Graders

Learning Goals & Products

Learning Goals

Students will be able to investigate local career pathways in agriculture, health care, trades, and outdoor recreation by conducting interviews, observations, and source analysis to understand real job tasks, training requirements, and access barriers.

Students will be able to synthesize user evidence about rural Vermont teens and local employers to define an accurate career expo station problem statement that reflects needs, interests, and constraints.

Students will be able to analyze transportation, schedule, training, and cost constraints affecting access to local jobs so they can prioritize which barriers most affect rural teens' career choices.

Students will be able to ideate multiple hands-on career expo station concepts that connect a local employer's work to teen interests, abilities, and supports.

Students will be able to prototype a low-fidelity career expo station using materials, scripts, and activity structures that make the pathway understandable and engaging for 9th graders.

Students will be able to test and refine a career expo station using feedback from classmates, Workforce in Motion, and local employer partners to improve clarity, usefulness, and realism.

Students will be able to justify design decisions for a career expo station by citing user feedback, local labor-market evidence, and trade-off analysis about feasibility, accessibility, and engagement.

Products

individual

Career Pathway User Research Portfolio and Concept Prototype

Each student submits a research portfolio grounded in firsthand evidence from interviews, observations, notes, and source analysis about one local career pathway. The portfolio also includes one individual low-fidelity concept prototype that shows how that pathway could be explained to 9th graders and why the design fits user needs.

team

Workforce in Motion Career Expo Station and Stakeholder Pitch

Teams create a revised, higher-fidelity career expo station plus a shared problem statement and pitch for Workforce in Motion and local partners. The final station must show how individual research shaped the team’s decisions and demonstrate a collaborative solution that is realistic, accessible, and ready for public testing.

Rubric

Competency Progression Rubric Competency-first rubric

Category	Learning Goal	Emerging	Developing	Proficient	Applying
Pursuing Goals	Planning for postsecondary	I understand the steps to start a plan for postsecondary goals. Project-specific: I can identify the first steps in planning for my postsecondary goals by listing a few possible interests and local pathway options and describing what information I still need (skills, training, transportation, and supports).	I can navigate the steps toward implementing a plan for postsecondary goals by considering personal strengths and challenges. Project-specific: I can make progress toward implementing my postsecondary plan by connecting my personal strengths to specific pathway requirements and naming realistic challenges (e.g., cost, schedule, transit, accessibility) that could affect my access.	I implement a plan for postsecondary goals by building on personal strengths and addressing challenges. Project-specific: I can implement my postsecondary plan by building on my strengths and choosing strategies to address my challenges, using evidence from interviews, site visits, or data (such as job tasks, training timelines, and support options).	I skillfully build on personal strengths and personal challenges to create a postsecondary plan that accounts for potential obstacles. Project-specific: I can skillfully refine my postsecondary plan by anticipating obstacles and adjusting my plan accordingly, clearly explaining trade-offs (time, cost, safety/reliability, and supports) and how my choices best fit my goals and capacities.
Sharing Ideas	Seeking feedback	I can gain new insights on specific ideas and work by sharing them with people and describing their response. Project-specific: I can share my career expo station idea with a specific partner (e.g., a classmate, employer, or Workforce in Motion contact) and describe their response so I can identify at least one new insight to improve my prototype.	I can gain new insights on specific ideas and work by asking helpful questions of a targeted and relevant audience. Project-specific: I can ask targeted, relevant questions to a specific audience about my career expo station (what teens can understand, what feels confusing, what barriers seem real) so I can gather actionable feedback to refine one part of my design.	I gain new insights on specific ideas and work by sharing them openly and asking open-ended questions with varied audiences. Project-specific: I can share my revised career expo station plan openly with varied audiences and ask open-ended questions (e.g., “What would make this more useful for rural teens?”) to gain deeper insights from different perspectives.	I intentionally pursue numerous opportunities to solicit feedback from varied audiences when considering a new idea, and explain my process for considering and/or incorporating that feedback. Project-specific: I can intentionally seek feedback from multiple varied audiences during the engineering process, explain how I considered it using prioritized criteria (accuracy, accessibility, usefulness, logistics), and incorporate changes or justify why I did not change my design.
Problem Seeking	Responsible engagement	I can identify when I should not get involved in a given situation and/or when I can make a positive impact. Project-specific: I can recognize when I should stay out of a situation (or pause to ask for help) and when I can contribute responsibly so my choices do not harm people, disrupt partnerships, or violate expectations during our project work.	I can take responsibility for the ethical and practical implications of my ideas and actions. Project-specific: I can take responsibility for the ethical and practical implications of my ideas and actions by following team norms, communicating respectfully, and completing assigned tasks with care for safety, accuracy, and fairness.	I consider the ethical and practical implications of my ideas and actions when looking at the opportunities, challenges, and problems facing myself and others before I share or act on them. Project-specific: I can consider ethical and practical implications of my ideas and actions before I share or act by weighing impacts on others (teens, employers, families) and checking constraints like accessibility, transportation realities, and respectful representation of careers.	I consider the ethical and practical implications of my ideas and actions before I share or act on them, and adjust my next steps accordingly. Project-specific: I can consider ethical and practical implications before I share or act, and I can adjust my next steps based on feedback and evidence by revising my expo station plans to better meet prioritized needs and reduce risks or barriers for real community users.
Creative Process	Asking questions	I can identify when a question is complex, and explain why. Project-specific: I can identify when a question is complex and explain why it needs more information (e.g., multiple causes, stakeholders, constraints, or trade-offs).	I can create complex questions about the world and people around me. Project-specific: I can create complex questions about rural career pathways by connecting my observations to what teens, employers, and communities need and want, and I can include specific details I want answered (skills, training, transportation, cost, supports).	I create and investigate my own authentic, complex questions about the world and people around me. Project-specific: I can investigate my own authentic, complex questions by gathering evidence (from interviews, site visits, maps, data, and/or artifacts) and refining my questions based on what I learn.	I create and investigate my own authentic, complex questions about the world and people around me and describe what I don’t know about the possible answer(s). Project-specific: I can investigate my own authentic, complex questions and clearly explain what I don’t know yet about the possible answer(s), including uncertainties and what additional evidence I would need to test or confirm.
Productive Collaboration	Navigating roles	I can identify and describe my role on a team, and the contribution I will make, and am aware of the value of roles. Project-specific: I can identify my assigned role on our team for the career expo station, describe what I will contribute, and explain how roles help us meet shared goals (accuracy, accessibility, and usefulness for teens).	I can identify my role and describe ways I can make a contribution and support team members in reaching shared goals. Project-specific: I can identify my role and describe specific ways I will make a contribution while supporting teammates to reach our shared goals by sharing needed information and materials on time.	I identify discrete needs and roles in group work, and defer to teammates' strengths and expertise to achieve them. Project-specific: I can identify discrete needs for our station (e.g., logistics, script, accessibility, or materials) and choose a role-aligned task; I can also defer to teammates’ strengths or expertise when it would improve the final product.	I seek and find effective ways to help my teammates make valuable contributions to our shared goals (including leading or delegating authority as appropriate). Project-specific: I can seek and use feedback from teammates to coordinate work that strengthens our station; I can lead or delegate appropriately to help teammates make valuable contributions toward prioritized criteria and trade-offs.
Building Empathy	Understanding others' viewpoints	I can attempt to identify the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of people with diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and identities with whom I interact. Project-specific: I can try to identify what people in the careers and community roles we interview might be thinking, feeling, or experiencing, using clues from their words, roles, and the situation (e.g., schedules, commute realities, safety concerns).	I can ask questions in order to attempt to describe the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of people with diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and identities with whom I interact. Project-specific: I can ask focused questions to describe what people with different backgrounds might be thinking, feeling, or experiencing in their work and pathway experiences, with questions that connect to access, training, and supports.	I use a process of inquiry (questioning, research, interviews, etc.) in order to attempt to describe the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of people with diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and identities with whom I interact. Project-specific: I can use an organized inquiry process (e.g., interview questions, short site/speaker notes, follow-up questions) to more accurately describe the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of diverse people and how those perspectives shape what makes a pathway realistic.	I apply a process of inquiry (questioning, research, interviews, etc.) in order to capture and amplify the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of people with diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and identities with whom I interact. Project-specific: I can use inquiry findings to capture and amplify diverse viewpoints in my team’s career expo design by translating what I learned into specific station prompts, roles, or explanations that reflect others’ experiences and address real constraints.
Community Mobilization	Building relationships	I can describe ways in which community members help improve their communities. Project-specific: I can describe how community members help improve shared outcomes and I can name examples from local partners (e.g., employers, Workforce in Motion) that support teens’ access to careers.	I can engage with others to help improve our communities. Project-specific: I can engage with others to build trusting relationships by listening to partner input, asking clarifying questions, and using what I learn to better plan our career expo station for local students.	I contribute to building trusting relationships and group structures to create momentum and action toward goals that benefit my communities. Project-specific: I can contribute to building trusting relationships and group structures by taking on a role, helping the team coordinate with partners, and using feedback to improve our station’s connection to student needs and barriers.	I build trusting relationships and group structures to create momentum and action toward goals that benefit my communities and build toward a future that is sustainable, equitable, and just. Project-specific: I can build trusting relationships and group structures that create momentum toward a sustainable, equitable, and just goal by collaborating with partners to refine our expo station so it is accessible, accurate, and responsive to diverse student circumstances.
Productive Collaboration	Valuing others	I can value the contributions of others. Project-specific: I can value the contributions of others by listening respectfully during team tasks and using others’ ideas or information when making decisions.	I can express to others that I value their contributions in order to encourage them. Project-specific: I can express to others that I value their contributions by encouraging participation (e.g., acknowledging effort/ideas and inviting input) and responding with a supportive tone during collaboration.	I articulate to others the specific ways in which I value their contributions and effectively embed constructive feedback. Project-specific: I can articulate to others the specific ways in which I value their contributions by referencing what they added (skills, evidence, or ideas) and embedding constructive feedback that improves our plan or prototype.	I maximize productivity and quality of output by encouraging group members to contribute. Project-specific: I can maximize productivity and quality of output by encouraging group members to contribute their strengths (e.g., assigning or requesting specific roles/ideas) and integrating their contributions to strengthen the final product or presentation.
Community Mobilization	Removing barriers	I can identify actions that are exclusionary, prejudiced, and/or discriminatory, and how someone might be able to remove such barriers for myself and/or other people. Project-specific: I can identify actions, information gaps, and access obstacles in rural career pathways that could exclude or limit people (e.g., missing transportation details, unclear training steps, or costs), and I can explain why they are barriers for myself and others.	I effectively articulate how I can use my relationships and strengths to contribute to thoughtful practices and collective actions to help remove barriers and discrimination for myself and/or other people. Project-specific: I can use my relationships with classmates, employers, and community partners and my strengths (like interviewing, mapping, or designing activities) to propose specific ways to reduce barriers for myself and others in a career expo station.	I help remove barriers, exclusion, prejudice, and discrimination for myself and other people in the context of collective action. Project-specific: I can help remove barriers by applying feedback from partners and potential teen visitors to improve my station’s clarity, accessibility, and realism (such as refining instructions, materials, and logistics) so more students can participate and understand the pathway.	I intentionally remove systemic barriers for myself and other people by joining with people of diverse backgrounds and identities to plan and carry out collective action against exclusion, prejudice, and discrimination. Project-specific: I can intentionally plan and carry out collective action with people of diverse backgrounds to address systemic barriers in how teens access career pathways by coordinating roles, using data/feedback to prioritize changes, and explaining the trade-offs of our design decisions.
Productive Collaboration	Reflecting on our work	I can articulate how I think my group is feeling about our work, and why I think they are feeling that way. Project-specific: I can describe how my group is feeling about our work (e.g., confident, frustrated, curious) and explain the reasons I think they feel that way using specific moments from our project.	I can contribute to shared reflection and discussion of how we felt during our work together after group work is complete. Project-specific: I can contribute to a shared reflection by speaking up about how our group felt during different parts of the project and linking those feelings to what worked, what didn’t, and what we learned.	I facilitate shared reflection and discussion of how we felt during our work together after group work is complete. Project-specific: I can facilitate shared reflection by helping my group discuss our feelings after group work is complete, asking questions that connect our emotions to evidence from our process (what we did, what happened, what changed).	I implement and evaluate appropriate processes for providing and receiving constructive feedback, and synthesize and incorporate feedback. Project-specific: I can implement and evaluate feedback processes by collecting input from others, reflecting on how the feedback affected our station and team dynamics, and incorporating the most important feedback into revisions.