Submitted by Erin Fender on
The College & Career Academy Support Network (CCASN, formerly CASN) is based in the Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Berkeley. Formed in 1998, CCASN combines research, practice, and policy work to increase college and career readiness for youth. CCASN works throughout California and in other states to build the capacity of teachers and schools to develop and improve career academies and other college and career pathways in high schools.
In order to support its mission, CCASN has compiled an open library of resources with over 700 lessons, projects, interdisciplinary projects, units, or courses. Each of the resources cataloged was selected due to its relation to one or more career clusters. Teachers of any subject have access to this curriculum, which highlights the academy/pathway theme. The National Curriculum Database can be searched by subject area, industry sector, keyword, grade level, and other desired features.
Through CCASN, educators gearing up to implement Common Core College and Career Readiness standards will have access to a treasure trove of curriculum. CCASN also provides a searchable database of applied, hands-on approaches to teaching math, science, English, or social studies, as well as career-technical lessons and projects in every industry field. Designed to address the needs of College and Career Academy teachers, the interdisciplinary and project-based materials are of value to programs seeking to strengthen both college and career readiness.
Most of the materials available in the CCASN database are at the unit or project level, and many were chosen for inclusion because they are already tailored, or could easily be adapted, for interdisciplinary collaborative projects. Consulting this resource would be a valuable step in any collaborative team’s curriculum design process. While investigating the database, educators may also access Instructional Resources for additional resources related to project-based learning, work-based learning, and building a college-going culture.
View our previous blog post highlighting new research from CCASN on students enrolled in state-funded career academies in California.
Erin Fender is a project manager at CCASN and Annie Johnston is a post-doctoral scholar at CCASN and a lecturer at UC Berkeley.
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