Advanced Course

The Career Essentials advanced curriculum

The Career Essentials advanced curriculum  provides students ages 17-19 (high school grades 11-2 and traditional college freshmen) with a meaningful, engaging mix of independent and group-based activities that promote reflection, critical reasoning, self-awareness and growth in personal, workplace and technical skills. The advanced course is designed to be flexible to meet the needs of  students exploring careers in all fields or occupational areas.

  • Designed for students ages 17-19 (high school grades 11-2 and traditional college freshmen).
  • Course includes five workplace-based units and a Capstone authentic assessment unit, where learners develop a career readiness portfolio and interview materials and skills.
  • All units were created using project-based learning design best practices and include a 30-minute instructor-led kickoff, student instruction sheets, instructor guides, online e-learning events, offline learning events, a pre- and post-test, and scoring rubrics.
  • Includes formative and summative assessments in each unit.
  • May be taught synchronously or asynchronously in an online environment, face-to-face, or in a hybrid approach, with individualized and differentiated pacing opportunities.
  • Activities are mobile-responsive, so students can work on assignments using smartphones and tablets and are accessible for students with disabilities.

Students earn badges following successful  completion of each unit and the SkillsUSA Career Essentials  credential, when course  and  post-assessment  are passed at 80% or above. A student is only allowed one (1) attempt to achieve a passing score on the post- assessment within the curriculum.  Students who are unsuccessful in achieving a passing score may purchase a second stand-alone assessment or retake for an additional attempt to obtain the credential.