By Katarina Webb
Ask educators what they need more of, and the answer is often simple: time.
That need shaped the development of Career+ Pathways™ Preparing for College and Careers (PCC) course, which is now available to partner schools.
Throughout development, educators reviewed the course section by section and provided feedback on what would actually work in their schools and classrooms. The goal wasn’t to create another framework schools would have to assemble, customize, and build upon. It was to create a course educators could pick up and deliver.
A ready-to-deliver PCC course
Career+™ PCC is built around Indiana’s Preparing for College and Careers standards (course 5394) and designed so educators can spend less time building curriculum and more time supporting students.
The course helps students explore several important areas:
- Career exploration connected to real employers. Students explore careers while making connections to industries, employers, and opportunities they can encounter in their own communities.
- Graduation planning students can understand. Students learn about diploma options, credits, and the choices they’ll make throughout high school, helping them understand how decisions today connect to their goals after graduation.
- Connections to work-based learning. Many students are already gaining valuable experience through jobs and other activities. PCC helps students recognize how those experiences fit into their larger career pathway while giving schools another opportunity to introduce and support work-based learning.
PCC is also designed to connect with the broader Career+™ experience. A student exploring careers through the course can continue that exploration by meeting employers through Career+™ Tours and Career+™ Chats, building skills through Skills Bootcamps, or experiencing a career firsthand through a microinternship.
Instead of career exploration happening in isolated activities, PCC can serve as a classroom anchor that helps students connect those experiences.
Built to work within a school’s schedule
Every school approaches PCC differently, so flexibility was an important part of the course design.
PCC can be delivered synchronously or asynchronously. Schools can offer it during a dedicated class period or incorporate it into an existing schedule, while teachers maintain oversight of student progress and grading.
It can support students in grades 7 through 12. Starting career conversations in middle school gives students additional time to explore their interests and begin thinking about the choices they’ll make throughout high school.
It’s available at no additional cost to Career+™ partner schools. Schools already partnering with Career+™ can incorporate the course without an additional license or per-student cost.
Why start with PCC?
Preparing for College and Careers plays an important role in helping Indiana students understand the connection between high school and what comes next.
That also makes it an opportunity.
When students are already spending time exploring careers and planning for their futures, schools have an opportunity to make those conversations meaningful, connect them to real experiences, and help students understand why the choices they’re making matter.
Our goal with PCC is to give schools the tools to do that without adding another curriculum-development project to educators’ already-full plates.
What’s next for Career+™ curriculum
PCC is only the beginning.
Career+™ is currently developing two additional courses: Personal Financial Responsibility and Computing Foundations for a Digital Age. Like PCC, both are being developed with educator input and with the realities of school schedules, staffing, and implementation in mind.
Personal Financial Responsibility (4540) will help schools deliver personal finance instruction aligned with Indiana expectations while providing teachers with a ready-to-use semester course. Students will build practical financial knowledge they can carry into college, training, employment, and adulthood.
Computing Foundations for a Digital Age (4565) will introduce students to the digital and computing skills increasingly present across industries. Designed for students in grades 8 through 12, the course will provide an accessible starting point for students with different levels of previous computing experience.
Both courses will also connect to the broader Career+™ experience.
A student might explore a career through PCC, consider the financial implications of their future plans through Personal Finance, develop relevant technical skills through Computing Foundations, and then see those skills and careers firsthand through an employer experience.
The long-term goal is to create a connected set of courses and experiences schools can use across grade levels, giving students more opportunities to connect what they’re learning today with where they want to go next.
Personal Finance and Computing Foundations are currently in development and are expected to be available to Career+™ partner schools by Spring 2027.
Get involved
School leaders and counselors: Interested in bringing PCC to your students? We’d be happy to walk you through the course and discuss how it could fit within your school’s schedule and existing programming.
Educators: We’re assembling focus groups to review Personal Finance and Computing Foundations before release. If you’re interested in helping shape either course, we’d love to hear from you.
Employers and community partners: Meaningful career exploration depends on students having opportunities to see and understand real careers. There are many ways to help students connect classroom learning with the world of work.
Ready to learn more? Reach out to the Career+™ team to get started.
Bio
Katarina Webb, School Success Manager at Career+ Pathways™! Starting as a Career Advisor through a partnership with Ivy Tech, Katarina now leads a team supporting schools across central and southern Indiana. Outside of work, she enjoys traveling, the creative arts and spending time with her family and fur babies.
