About CDOS Learning Standards

All CHOICE programs conform to the New York State CDOS Standards.

Career Development And Occupations
Studies (CDOS) Learning Standards

The New York State Education Department developed the CDOS Learning Standards in 1998. There are 28 Learning Standards, which are categorized into several areas. The core CDOS Learning Standards are:

• Standard 1 – Career Development – Students will be knowledgeable about the world of work, explore career options, and relate personal skills, aptitudes, and abilities to future career decisions.
• Standard 2 – Integrated Learning – Students will demonstrate how academic knowledge and skills are applied in the workplace and other settings.
• Standard 3 a – Universal Foundation Skills – Students will demonstrate mastery of the foundation skills and competencies essential for success in the workplace.
• Standard 3 b - Career Majors – Students who choose a career major will acquire the career-specific technical knowledge/skills necessary to progress toward gainful employment, career advancement, and success in post-secondary programs.
  

Also according to the CDOS literature:

“… an enriched classroom environment results when teachers create an awareness of career development, show the application of the academic concepts, help students to become aware of and acquire the foundation skills necessary for success in life, post-secondary education and the workplace.” Students who participate in enriched classroom environments are focused and motivated learners and research results suggest the student’s academic perform-ance improves. According to the State Education Department, studies show that traditional teaching methods result in the majority of students not transferring the knowledge gained in the classroom to other subject areas or their everyday work and life situations. Lack of transfer occurs when instruction is based on the acquisition of information for the sole purpose of moving on to the next level of education. For most students, this is the least engaging environment in which to learn, as knowledge is gained out of context.

Benefits of Career Planning

Research demonstrates, however, that when relevancy of learning is addressed, student motivation increases, while the dropout rate and the number of at risk students decreases. A few highlight bullets from the New York State Department of Educations December 2002 Final Evaluation Report on Career Plan Training Initiative (the CDOS standards), showed…

• Career plan students demonstrate greater interest and involvement in school than comparison stu-dents.
• Middle and high school students who received more career planning experiences were more likely to discuss important issues with their parents/guardians than were middle and high school students with less or no career planning experiences.
• Career plan students were more confident in their decision-making skills and in their ability to follow through on their decisions than students with little to no career planning experience.
• The vast majority of parents believe the Career Plan Initiative has had a positive effect on students in the areas of career development, academics and personal qualities.
• The vast majority of participating teachers believe that the Career Plan Initiative has had a positive impact on student’s preparedness for the future, ability to pursue careers of interest, academic achievement and personal quality areas.
• Career Plan graduates are more certain of their career directions, more confident in their ability to secure meaningful employment in their fields of interest, and where employed, more often have jobs related to current educational programs and their long-term career plan goals than students with little to no career planning experience.