Texas Scholars

Creating Student Plans

Students need a road map for success in high school and beyond. TBEC strongly recommends that school districts purchase the Achieve Texas Education and Career Planning System powered by Kuder as the education and career planning tool for Texas Scholars. This is a proven system that provides a comprehensive set of education and career planning tools at a very reasonable cost. The system creates a life-time portfolio for each student, provides quality career, skills, and work environment assessments for students and adults, and is currently being used by over 300 Texas school districts and colleges and is the statewide system for 9 other states. School districts can upload master schedules and create individual 4-, 6-, and 8-year education and career plans. TBEC is supporting the statewide implementation of this system for regional and statewide education and economic development planning. For more information, contact Charles Simmons at simmonsc@kuder.com or call the TBEC offices at (512) 480-8232.

About Kuder

Kuder, Inc. is the industry's leading provider of comprehensive, Internet-based educational and career planning tools that provide students and adults the necessary resources to create a roadmap for a lifetime of success. Backed by a world renowned faculty and staff, Kuder continues to pioneer innovative products and services for the education and career development marketplace grounded in over 65 years of research.

Kuder serves the educational and career planning needs of learners of all ages, while facilitating communication and collaboration between all stakeholders in economic prosperity - education, business, industry and state agencies.

Why Kuder?

Kuder is the leading provider of Internet-based assessment, career guidance and educational planning tools, with over 120 million Kuder assessments completed worldwide in the past 65 years.
World-renowned faculty and staff provides ongoing research, support, and technological advances to the system to keep it up-to-date, accurate, and reliable.
Currently, over 300,000 students are using the Kuder Career Planning System in Texas.
The Kuder system is completely customizable to meet the specific needs of the state of Texas.
The system combines valid, research-based interest, skills and work values assessments with portfolio development, comprehensive educational and occupational exploration resources and administrative database management.
The system is market-ready and market-tested, with states such as Arkansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Tennessee, among others, currently implementing statewide systems.

The Research-based Assessments

Designed to guide students and adults through the career planning process, the interest, skills and work values assessments are based on over 65 years of research, providing individuals with the most reliable and valid information to start them on the right road to career sucess.

Kuder Career Search with Person Match:

The Kuder Career Search with Person Match helps you discover your career interests, explore occupations beyond job titles, and effectively apply your personal interests to your career plans.

The Internet-based assessment is completed in approximately 20 minutes and provides immediate online scoring and reporting aligned to career clusters. You will receive an accurate report of your career interests which provides guidance for interpreting and using your results.

The report also includes the unique Person Match feature which compares your assessment results to a database of nearly 2,000 individuals working in today's occupations. Access career stories for the top individuals whose interests most closely match your own. Learn about how these individuals came to work in this occupation and why they like what they do.

Kuder Skills Assessment:

The Kuder Skills Assessment is a highly reliable self-estimate of your ability to perform work-related tasks. The results of the Kuder Skills Assessment parallel the interest results by aligning your skills with career clusters, promoting occupation selection with the greatest opportunity for satisfaction and success.

This online assessment can be completed in approximately fifteen minutes and provides immediate scoring. The results are presented in an easy-to-understand format that allows for self-interpretation and continuing education and career exploration.

Super's Work Values Inventory:

Donald E. Super has long been recognized for his research on work values. This revised inventory will assist you in determining what work characteristics are important to you. The online report will help to refine a potentially long list of occupation choices to those that most closely match your work-related values. Individuals can read about working adults whose job satisfies a particular work value and see a list of occupations that match their work values profiles.

On average, the online inventory can be completed in less than 15 minutes. The inventory assesses 12 work-related values and reports results immediately in order of individual preference. The report is presented in a straightforward and easily interpreted format.

TBEC Achieve Texas Education and Career Planning System - Powered By Kuder

TBEC Achieve Texas Education and Career Planning System is a comprehensive, Internet-based education and career assessment tool which will ensure that system users across the state have access to educational, postsecondary and career planning resources necessary to prepare them for a lifetime of success.
The Education and Career Planning System is the first major component of TBEC's support for the Texas Education Agency's Achieve Texas Initiative, an ambitious statewide venture designed to promote shared communication and collaboration between all stakeholders in the future of Texas - students, parents, educators, postsecondary institutions, business and workforce.
Using research-based interests, skills, and work values assessments, all system users are actively engaged in the process of preparing for their future. Once they create an account, users can access the system for a lifetime, easing future school and/or career transitions and ensuring they continue to make the right choices to create a roadmap for success.
All system users are guided step-by-step through the career development process, starting with discovering interests to exploring postsecondary opportunities to connecting with current job opportunities across the state.
The system promotes a consistent, statewide position to advance lifelong learning, career planning, development and management for all system users in Texas.

Using the TBEC Achieve Texas Education and Career Planning System- www.tbecachievetexas.org

With Middle School Students. The middle school/junior high years are a time for exploring-learning about interests and about the kinds of occupations students might enjoy. Once they have identified those, they will have a better idea about the courses they should take in high school.

Provide the following steps for students to consider while using the system:

Try new activities-both at school and in other community environments-to learn about what you like to do and in what settings you feel most comfortable.
Think about how the things you are learning in school could be applied to work. Pay special attention to the subjects in which you achieve good grades.
Talk with your guidance counselor or teachers about your tentative career goals and what education choices will support those goals.
Begin creating a portfolio of career-related items by using the online Kuder Career Portfolio. Enter academic accomplishments and record career exploration experiences with the Note Taker feature of the portfolio. You may wish to start a basic resumé with the Resumé Builder and begin recording accomplishments there as well.
Take the interest assessment, the Kuder Career Search with Person Match, to find two or more clusters of jobs you might like based on your interests.
Take the Kuder Skills Assessment to learn more about your current skills and review the Composite Report to see how your interests and skills match up. Don't worry if they don't; you still have plenty of time to increase your skills in almost any cluster.
Choose Explore Careers from your Kuder portfolio to find a list of occupations in those clusters and to get information about them. Talk to your parents about your results. Save the most interesting occupations to your favorites list.
Use the Education Planner to begin to develop a four-year or six-year education plan that would prepare you for work in your selected clusters.

With High School Freshman and Sophomores.

In the high school years-especially in the 9th and 10th grade years-students should be closing in on a decision about the cluster of occupations they are likely to enter, which high school courses would be most beneficial for them, and what kind of education or training they will pursue after high school.

Provide the following steps for students to consider while using the system:

Talk to your guidance counselor and/or teachers about your future plans. Choose a course of study and focus your electives in particular areas that support your interests and build your skills in those areas of interest.
Take part in extracurricular activities to learn about what you like to do and to gain experiences that will benefit you in your future academic and career paths.
Take advantage of additional opportunities to learn about other occupations through activities such as guest speakers, field trips, part-time jobs, and volunteer activities.
Document your career exploration activities by keeping appropriate notes and documents. The Note Taker feature of the Kuder Career Portfolio allows you to keep this information in one place.
Begin setting up a basic resumé in the Resumé Builder area of the Kuder Career Portfolio.
If you have taken any achievement tests such as EXPLORE or PLAN, enter those results in Assessment Results.
Manage your list of favorites in the Kuder Career Portfolio by removing items in which you are no longer interested and adding new items of interest.
Take (or re-take) the interest assessment (Kuder® Career Search with Person Match), the skills inventory (Kuder Skills Assessment), and print out the Composite Report from these two. You might want to discuss this report with your parents and your counselor.
Choose Explore Careers to find a list of occupations in the clusters of your highest interest and/or skill and to get detailed information about them. Use the Occupation Comparison feature to compare jobs that are saved to the My Favorites list.
Take the values inventory (Super’s Work Values Inventory-revised) to help you identify your personal values so you can remove occupations from your list that will not help you attain your values.
Use the Education Planner to develop or refine a four-year high school plan that will prepare you for work in your selected cluster(s).
Based on your favorite occupations, begin to develop a plan for education or training after high school. Begin exploring appropriate technical, two-year, and four-year postsecondary education options using the Select a College link and the Choose a Major link. Use these features to help you find educational institutions and programs that will best prepare you for your future occupation.

With High School Juniors

The junior year of high school is a crucial year in career and academic planning. If students have not already done so, they should decide which occupation or occupation cluster they intend to pursue. Based on that decision, they will need to make preparations for entering the job market or further education. .

Provide the following steps for students to consider while using the system: :

Attend career fairs and visit with school representatives who come to your campus.
Continue to record accomplishments, extracurricular activities, and work experiences in your Kuder Career Portfolio using the Resumé Builder and/or the Note Taker area, as appropriate.
Review your education plan to ensure you will meet graduation requirements and will be prepared to pursue the job, training, or education plans that best suit you.
If you are considering attending college after you graduate from high school, obtain schedules, forms, and other information about standardized exams such as the ACT, SAT I, SAT II, and AP exams. Find out which of these is preferred by the schools you have selected.
If you have not taken the Kuder Career Search with Person Match and the Kuder Skills Assessment within the past year, re-take them now so your results will be up-to-date as you continue to make occupation and postsecondary education plans.
If you haven’t already done so, take the Super’s Work Values Inventory-revised to help you determine which work characteristics are most important to you.
Based on the occupations that interest you, learn about the kind of education you need to pursue those occupations: technical school, two-year college, or four-year college/university and what major(s) would be most appropriate. Use the Choose a Major feature to determine what your major should be in order to be well prepared for your future occupation. Use the Select a College feature to find career-technology schools or colleges that offer the majors that most interest you and that meet your other requirements and preferences.
Search Colleges to review and compare over 7,400 postsecondary institutions. Save the schools that interest you in your “My Favorites” list.
Start planning visits to the schools and colleges that interest you. Take guided tours, meet with admissions counselors, and attend a class or two as a guest.
After any campus visit or talk with a school representative, write down your thoughts about the school and its programs. What, specifically, did you like? What did you not like? This information can all be stored in the Note Taker and will be helpful as you narrow your list of schools.
Start researching financial aid and scholarship information using the Find Financial Aid feature. Check with your guidance counselor to learn about local scholarships.

With High School Seniors

The senior year of high school is an exciting time as students make final decisions about their postsecondary plans. As they leave the familiar company and surroundings of high school, students will be looking forward to meeting new people and experiencing new opportunities in the workplace or in a new education environment. ;

Provide the following steps for students to consider while using the system: :

Attend career fairs and visit with school representatives who come to your campus.
Continue to record accomplishments, extracurricular activities, and work experiences in your Kuder Career Portfolio using the Resumé Builder and/or the Note Taker area, as appropriate.
Meet with your guidance counselor and review your education plan one more time to ensure you will meet graduation requirements and entrance requirements for the postsecondary schools or training programs that interest you.
Use the Search Colleges feature of the Kuder site to narrow your list of potential postsecondary schools or programs to your top three or four.
If you are interested in an apprenticeship program which combines on-the-job experience with classroom instruction, speak with individuals who work in your field of interest.
If you are interested in military service, there are many ways to join. Speak with recruitment representatives about the options.
If you plan to retake one or more of the standardized national exams, be sure to register for the upcoming tests.
Apply to the colleges, schools, or training programs that interest you. Apply to more than one school with different levels of admission requirements to give yourself options.
Continue searching for scholarships using the Scholarship Search feature and by asking your guidance counselor about local scholarships.
Ask teachers and counselors to write letters of recommendation to support your college and scholarship applications.
Begin writing essays for college and scholarship applications. Discuss your essays with teachers, counselors, parents, and other trusted advisors.
Continue to revise and update your resumé with the Resumé Builder by adding activities in which you have participated, jobs which you have held, and places or programs where you have volunteered.
Check application deadlines for postsecondary institutions, scholarships, and financial aid. Complete the necessary applications. Make photocopies of all application materials before sending them.
If you plan to enter the workforce after high school, begin looking for job openings. One of the best ways to find out about job openings is through networking—telling friends and acquaintances that you are looking for a position. You can access job banks through the Kuder system under the Get a Job area.
Whether you are seeking a full-time job or a part-time job to help pay for your education, it is important to work on your job-seeking tools and skills. Make sure your resumé is up-to-date, accurate, and as attractive as possible. Try the various options for styles and formatting available to you through the Resumé Builder. You can also prepare for job interview using the Job Interview Planning tool.
If you are applying for scholarships through a college or postsecondary program, apply as soon as possible. The earlier you apply, the more scholarship funds that will be available.
Fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form to apply for free financial aid. When you access the form through the Find Financial Aid section of the Kuder site, the form will be pre-populated with the information from your Kuder profile.