Teacher perceptions on the effectiveness of professional development for academic and career planning

Abstract

As the 2017-2018 academic year began, every school in the state of Wisconsin was required to participate in the Academic and Career Planning (ACP) initiative, also known as PI 26 (WI DPI, 2016a). The ACP process helped students integrate career development activities with their academic coursework. To do so, students created and maintained evidence that documented those activities (WI DPI, 2016c). Through this descriptive study, data identified academic teachers' understandings of career development, and what steps they took to incorporate the ACP requirements into their curriculum. Findings from the data suggested that teachers felt more time was needed on professional development related to the integration of ACP into their curriculum. In addition, the respondents believed that more in-depth training using the Career Cruising platform would benefit their instruction, and ultimately, the students' learning.