WVBE Policy 2510 [PDF] [Word] (Assuring the Quality of Education: Regulations For Education Programs) specifies that by July 1, 2021, counties will implement a comprehensive career exploration experience for middle school students, in accordance with W. Va. Code §18-9D-19a. This experience may include, but is not limited to CTE foundational courses, stand-alone county-developed career exploration courses, stand-alone county-created career mini-courses, field trips, guest speakers, and career mentors.

Career exploration of the 16 career clusters is to be integrated into the middle school content for grades 6 – 8, or taught as stand-alone career exploration courses in each grade. More information on the specific information to be covered in career exploration can be found within the Middle School Programming section of Policy 2510. Information and resources are provided on this site to support counties in the development of their comprehensive career exploration experience.

For more information on middle school career exploration required in policies 2510 and 2520.13, please contact Stephanie Latif at stephanie.latif@k12.wv.us. Career programming is also covered in Policy 2520.19. For more assistance with the Student Success Standards, please contact Lauren Landry at lauren.landry@k12.wv.us.

Each county/school site should reach out to their local Career and Technical Education (CTE) director and make connections with your in-house professionals to assist with Content Skill Sets (CSS) understanding and serve as guest speakers. Your CTE teachers should be able to draw on their advisory councils to help make connections with local industry professionals (Local Fire Department, Hospital, Manufacturer etc.).

Additionally, the WV Public Education Collaborative hosts a K12 speakers bureau. Please access the list of speakers on their site: https://k12speakersbureau.wvu.edu/

Information on the Foundational CTE courses is included with each course description. Additionally, the current course code manual (located here: https://wveis.k12.wv.us/wveis2004/support.htm) gives additional information on offering these course offerings.