Business Management essay

Business Management essay Business Management essay Business Management essayBusiness management is essential for me because I have a great desire to successfully manage people and business projects, as well as to develop effective business-related policies.   I want to major in business in order to pursue my Bachelor’s Degree and become a true professional in business management. The reason that I am applying for the scholarship is that it will help me to pay for my academic tuition, academic resources (books, programs, etc.) and spend much more time on my studies.Today I have to work full time in order to advance myself with a degree in business management. I am currently pursuing my Associate’s Degree, but I am not going to stop my education. To become a true professional in business management, it is necessary to learn more about the key business strategies that will help to enhance management practices and develop the proper skills and abilities. I am going forward to achieve my Bachelor’s Degree.I am curre ntly pursuing a career course that will help me to advance my leadership and management skills and have the opportunity to work in an advanced management field.   My specific academic goals contribute to my professional growth. Some of my academic goals include:To develop effective leadership and management skills in order to apply these skills in practice;To improve my academic performance in order to become more professional in decision making and goal setting practices;To develop good technical skills in order to apply new technologies in business practices;To learn more about business management strategies that could be applied in practice;To learn how to identify and successfully resolve various organizational and business problems;To develop my communication skills that are necessary in achieving strategic goals;To learn more about strategic planning in business;To use my skills and abilities to continue maintaining a â€Å"B† average;To do everything possible to keep satisfactory attendance.My career plans depend on my academic achievements and work experience. I know that business management is not an easy field to work in.   I will be focused on my professional development. My work experience involves dealing with conflicts within management, problem solving, decision making, critical thinking, discrimination, as well as personal development. I have been well trained to deal with standard operating procedures and implementation of such standards, to satisfy the Department of Defense and be in compliance with the established laws and regulations of our Federal Government.In addition, I will do my best to develop professional skills in business management practices that will help me to make good management decisions in my future career. To be a good manager, it is very important to develop not only effective interpersonal communication skills, but also good intuition, which helps to make effective management decisions.   I need general know ledge in HR management, finance and accounting operations. I know that Bachelor’s programs in this field are effective in achieving the established academic goals. The greatest pleasure for me would be to pass exams successfully. I believe that my personal skills and abilities will be useful in achieving my academic goals. I am self-confident, hard-working and persistent. I know that to become a good manager I should study hard. I know that a good manager should be competent in three key areas: managing people; managing and developing processes and policies; and managing and developing oneself. I believe that my Bachelor’s program in business management will help me to develop the proper skills to become competent in the above mentioned areas. Today I pay due attention to my personal development. I successfully deal with stresses and conflicts. A good manager should know how to avoid stressful situations which may lead to conflicts in the workplace. Besides, I use my c reativity in decision making process to demonstrate the best traits of my character. Innovative ideas in business management provide massive opportunities for successful implementation of the established strategic goals.Thus, it is necessary to conclude that my specific academic goals and career plans will motivate me to study hard. I know that to become a professional in business management, it is necessary to never give up and be quick about solving any problem or overcoming any barrier.   I realize that my academic and career goals are the essential goals I should achieve in the nearest future. Achieving these goals will help to succeed in the realization of my personal potential in profession and career. Business management practices guarantee professional success if a manager is goal-oriented and creative. One of my great desires is to pursue my Bachelor’s Degree in order to become a true professional in business management. I believe that I will be able to apply my be st skills and abilities to succeed in academic performance and become a well-trained specialist. My work experience will help me to be confident in everything I need to do to attain my academic goals and career plans.

The Original Boss--William Tweed

The Original BossWilliam Tweed The Original BossDuring the "Golden Years" of America, in the middle of the 19th century, it seemed as though nothing happened in New York City unless the Boss wanted it to happen. William Marcy "Boss" Tweed, a formidable politician, ruled and corrupted the city so shamelessly in the years right after the War Between the States, that his name became synonymous with dishonesty. Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge could not proceed until Tweed got a seat on the bridge company board. It was reported that he redirected more than $6 million of the city's money into his own bank account. Known among political reformers as the forty thieves, The Tweed Ring [Peter Sweeny, city chamberlain; Richard B. Connolly, city comptroller; and Oakey Hall, mayor (to name a few)], "sold" money-making franchises to companies they controlled, padded construction bills, practiced graft and extortion, and exploited every opportunity to plunder the city's funds, the Boss was a figure to be reckoned with.Englis h: Caricature of Boss Tweed by Thomas Nast.Both beloved by many of the city's poor immigrants yet the target of pointed jabs from political cartoonist Thomas Nast, these were two opposite faces of the Boss.There is little question that the Tweed Ring practiced thievery and that Tammany Hall had a series of reoccurring scandals. An estimated 75 to 200 million dollars were swindled from the City between 1865 and 1871. Yet, there is more to the story than a confrontation of the machine form of city government and the ideology of reformer exhortations. Tammany represented a form of organization that wedded the Democratic Party and the Society of St. Tammany (started in 1789 for patriotic and fraternal purposes) into an interchangeable exchange. The weave of city politics was the triangulation of the Mayor's office, the Democratic Party and the social club organization. During the...

Bertrand Russell (1912) The Value of Philosophy and Brie Gertler Essay

Bertrand Russell (1912) The Value of Philosophy and Brie Gertler (2008) In Defense of Mind-Body Dualism - Essay Example Deliberating fundamental questions on the meaning of life, human nature, the cosmos, etc do not have any commercial value. But a life lived without such philosophical speculation is quite limited and enslaved. Philosophy helps us to broaden our intellectual and emotional horizons by subjugating our self-interest. It cultivates in us to focus on the non-Self, which liberates us from individual petty concerns and veers our consciousness toward bigger questions on the human condition. In other words, if specialized disciplines in science are preoccupied with the ‘how’ question, philosophy is concerned with the ‘why’ question. As Russell aptly terms it, philosophy helps us to move beyond the ‘here and now’. In doing so, it makes us separate from the particular circumstances of history and culture, thereby experiencing a universal mode of existence. Uncertainty is a basic feature of philosophy, where various answers are proposed for any given question. It is this element of uncertainty that distinguishes philosophy from other scientific disciplines. But instead of causing ambiguity, the open-ended speculations actually enhance our imagination and identify novel solutions. As the magisterium of our mind is expanded we become calmer and more secure. Unlike the defensive and anxious behaviour of the unenlightened person, the one well-versed with philosophy is able to negotiate all sorts of contingencies in life with relative ease. I totally agree with Russell’s assessment of the value of philosophy. I strongly believe that philosophy should be moved into mainstream academia, away from its perception as an esoteric pursuit. Today, almost every major problem in society is caused as a result of an unenlightened citizenry. With education increasingly becoming skill-oriented or vocational, generations of adults graduate from college without social consciousness. Studying philosophy mitigates this phenomenon by prompting us with valid questions. And in

Economic policies of the UK on overcoming global financial crisis of Essay

Economic policies of the UK on overcoming global financial crisis of 2008 - Essay Example Every crisis has a unique cause, as well as characteristics; however, the following are typical amongst the factors responsible for generating this disaster: overshooting of markets; rise in credit; excessive debt leveraging; incorrect view of dangers; a country’s capital flight; off-balance sheet procedures by banks; macroeconomic policies that are non-sustainable; deregulation with no appropriate system of supervision; and latest financial instruments utilized in an inappropriate manner. The distinctiveness of the current disaster is that it happens to be a combination of a financial crisis coming from one of the largest world economy, i.e. the USA, with a universal downturn. The present financial crisis got triggered by the replete of the housing bubble, together with the consequent sub-prime mortgage crisis within the USA. Although the crisis has not yet been thoroughly analyzed, there are suggestions by experts that a number of causes explaining the reasons for the sub-pr ime crisis, which exploded in August 2007 in the USA ( Hansjorg & Milka 2011, p.36). There are two significant trends in the years resulting in the crisis; firstly, interest rates had been dropping since the 1980s, secondly, following the financial crisis in Asia during 1997–1998, countries began accumulating foreign exchange reserves, aided by the current account deficit of the US. The majority of countries diverted part of their reserves to sovereign wealth funds put into higher-yielding assets compared to the US Treasury, in addition to other government securities, streaming into high technology stocks and, following the â€Å"dot.com Bubble† spout in 2000, to housing markets within the USA and countries such as the UK. The continuous falling of interest rates, along with the large...This paper clearly outlines the effectiveness of the economic response of the UK to the global financial crisis challenges. Every crisis has a unique cause, as well as characteristics; however, the following are typical factors responsible for their origination: overshooting of markets; rise in credit; excessive debt leveraging; incorrect view of dangers; a country’s capital flight; off-balance sheet procedures by banks; macroeconomic policies that are non-sustainable; deregulation with no appropriate system of supervision; and latest financial instruments utilized in an inappropriate manner. In March 2011, the Government published its â€Å"Plan for Growth† This plan had four ambitions: creating the most competitive system of tax within the G20 group of key economies; making the UK the best place within Europe for starting, financing and growing business; encouraging investment, as well as exports as a key to a more balanced economy; and finally creating a more educated workforce that happens to be the most flexible within Europe. Amongst the measures announced were a lessening in the tax rate on the profits of businesses; an internationally competitive tax rule governing multinational organizations; tax enticement for company investment; an embalm of deregulation particularly for helping small businesses; additional investment within infrastructure, science, vocational training, research and development. In 2009, the international leadership of the UK through its chairmanship of the G20 assisted the world in taming the worst economic crisis. It succeeded in drawing the leaders of the world's main economies at the G20 Summit thereby agreeing on strongly coordinated action of stabilizing the world economy.

Angela McRobbie’s Analysis of Jackie Essay Example for Free

Angela McRobbie’s Analysis of Jackie Essay This essay will be exploring Angela McRobbie’s analysis of Jackie and why the magazine has seen a new found popularity in recent years. Jackie was a popular British weekly teenage girls’ magazine published by Scottish company D.C. Thomson which was published from 1964 up until 1993. It was named after the children’s author Jacqueline Wilson who worked for D.C. Thomson at the time. The magazine was most popular with girls in the age range of 10 to 14. Before Jackie made its debut, magazines aimed at teenaged girls were normally romance orientated comic strips such as Mirabelle, Romeo and Valentine. Although Jackie did indeed feature romantic stories, they were not the main focus of the magazine. Features that had normally previously featured only in women’s magazines such as problem pages, fashion pages, reader’s true life stories, and hair and beauty advice were now introduced to a teenage population. Indeed Jackie was written by the women’s magazine department of D.C. Thomson rather than the one focused on children’s comics such as The Beano and The Dandy. Taking all this into consideration, it could be argued that Jackie provided the blue print for the modern teenage girl’s magazines. In her analysis, McRobbie says she feels that Jackie tapped into the biological nature of teenage girls, when they start to become more curious about their changing bodies and start to show an interest in the opposite sex. The Cathy and Claire problem pages were a popular feature with readers of the magazine, and many problems readers wrote in with mainly focused on boys and other common problems that come hand in hand with growing up. McRobbie believes that one purpose of the magazine was to prepare girls for the â€Å"brief flowering† period that many young working class women in that time had before marriage but after they had just left school and started work and so had freedom and a disposable income to go out with their friends to pubs a nd dances and buy adult items such as clothes and make-up. Richard Hoggart discusses this period in his analysis of working class teenage girls in his book The Uses of Literacy. One feature Jackie was famous for was its photo stories that provided a stepping stone to fame for celebrities such as Fiona Bruce and Hugh Grant, which were usually of a romantic nature, in the style thought to appeal to the young women of the target audience. These provided girls with a romantic ideal which McRobbie discusses in her analysis of the magazine, McRobbie believes that young girls are conditioned to seek romantic based  relationships instead of sexual ones and that romantic stories like the ones that featured in Jackie and other magazines aimed at teenaged girls at the time helped to reinforce this. Again, these can seem comically clichà ©d and dated by the standards of today. In fact, one of the reasons that Jackie may have regained popularity is that this style of article, although probably reasonable at the time written, seem almost laughable and maybe also politically incorrect by today’s standards (for example one article featured in The Best of Jackie Annual on ways how to attract boys suggests that a girl should try sitting on a park bench â€Å"looking tearful†, and a fashion feature refers to plus sized girls as â€Å"fatties† and very slim girls as being â€Å"stick like†). To many people in 2012, these almost seem like satire. Indeed, on the popular bookselling website Amazon, The Best of Jackie Annual and it’s spinoffs such as Dear Cathy and Claire The Best of Your Favourite Problem Page can be found under the sub-category â€Å"Humour†. A feature that can be found in The Best of Jackie Annual, which had previously been published as a part of an actual Jackie Christmas annual, on how to survive Christmas parties advises the readers to be wary of drunken bosses and uncles making passes at them. This is disturbingly mentioned in a casual and almost light hearted fashion, like it is a common occurrence to be expected, and perhaps even tolerated. The idea of a girl so young being put in a vulnerable position with a much older man, especially one who is in a position of authority or a relative, would be unlikely to be treated in this fashion today. This article may appear humorous to some people in a dark way, simply because it is so shocking and highly inappropriate by today’s standards. Another reason why Jackie may have seen a new increase in popularity is because older women, who would have been readers of Jackie in the past, may want to look back at their youth and remember a much simpler time before they had children to worry over, bills to pay, jobs (or lack of them) and mortgages. Looking back on the past is something which has always been very popular with people and becomes more common during times of economic recession, like the one Britain (and Europe in general) has been struggling with in recent years. There are numerous discussions on the internet in forums with older women talking fondly about their experiences and memories of reading Jackie. When Jackie stopped being published in 1993, D.C. Thomson realised a new magazine aimed at teenaged girls called Shout,  which could possibly be seen by some people as a rebranding of Jackie. Shout is still being published today and I compared a recent copy of Shout from May 2012 to a copy of Jackie from June 1981. Both magazines feature a celebrity on the front cover, with Shout having Cheryl Cole and Jackie having Adam Ant, and both also have tampon adverts on the back covers. A similar layout to that which Jackie used, and which McRobbie discusses in Jackie: An Ideology of Adolescent Femininity, is used in Sh out. Problem pages, fashion pages, celebrity gossip, hair and beauty advice, â€Å"pin-ups† of attractive male celebrities, horoscopes and reader’s true-life stories all feature in both magazines, although there are clear generational differences in these articles between the two magazines. Advice given in the problem pages of Shout is more concerned with more serious issues such as sex and alcohol abuse and also offers career advice. In the days of Jackie’s popularity girls were not often encouraged to stay on to do further education after the compulsory school leaving age and usually got married at an age which would be considered very young today, whereas today many girls go on to go to college and university and choose to put off marriage and having children to a later stage in life, if they opt to at all. Jackie also contained sewing and knitting patterns, which are things which are no longer common hobbies with teenaged girls today. This is likely due to fashionable clothing being sold cheaply in supermarkets and high-street stores such as Primark and Asda. The popularity of teenage magazines is currently on the decline, with many once popular magazines no longer being published. This is possibly due to the fact that the features of teenage magazines such as celebrity gossip, hair and beauty tips and updates on the latest fashions are readily available on the internet. Even if a young girl finds herself in need of advice there are now websites such as Yahoo Answers, Girls Ask Guys and Answerbag where she will be able to get (possibly dubious) responses to her question quickly from a variety of people across the world and there is also websites set up by charities offering advice on more serious matters such as abuse, bullying, drugs and sexual health. It is also worth having a brief look at the context of the magazine’s existence, with the early-mid 1960s being a reasonable period of progress in Britain. In the nation of Labour leader Harold Wilson’s â€Å"white heat† † (Sandbrook, 2005:737) – a nation still getting over the war, but  proudly (if cautiously) advancing in what historian Dominic Sandbrook called â€Å"a new era of creativity and progress† (Sandbrook, 2005:737)– it is only natural that Britain’s young women would have a need for their own entertainment and place for advice. While it is true that this is not the intended focus of the essay, such a background should not be ignored, and may go some way towards explaining the magazine’s eventual demise(arguably, rebranding) in the very different world of the 1990s.

Analyzing The Moral Panic Of Media Media Essay

Analyzing The Moral Panic Of Media Media Essay Thompson(1998) describes 5 key elements in a moral panic. It is something or someone who is defined as a threat to values and interests; the threat is depicted in an easily recognisable form by the media, with use of aspects such as Exaggeration, distortion, prediction and symbolisation. This then causes a rapid build up of public concern. Newspaper coverage and news broadcasts are commonly known to exaggerate issues in society which then encourage the public to react timorous to the concerns. Lastly, moral panics are continuously used to result in; a response from the authorities or opinion-makers. Thus, this included changes made evident from law enforcement, the councils and general charity organisations. The final element is that panic recedes or results in social changes. There are many issues that are often subject to moral panics such as Youth Crime/Gun Crime, Binge Drinking, child abuse, sex and violent behaviour, drug abuse, paedophilia, the law and asylum seekers and immigration policy. A moral panic can be defined in several ways, one definition is a kind of short-hand for public hysteria, by definition irrational, and is almost always held to be indicative of someone elses behaviour rather than our own (Critcher, 2003). The media directs its judgments and perspectives at members of society that are classed as unacceptable or deviant. In his book Moral Panics and the Media, Chas Critcher explains that Moral panics involve a  ¿Ã‚ ½heightened level of concern over the behaviour of a certain group or category and the consequences that the behaviour presumably cause for the rest of society(Critcher,2003,pg 23). A moral panic must be manifested in concrete ways in other words there must be a public commentary in the form of media; such as newspaper coverage and news broadcasts. In relation to Thompsons description the media then proposes legislation and social movement activity. The media is acting as a voice for the public; some may argue that it offers biased/distorted views of issues which therefore cause a moral panic. Conversely, it can also be argued that the media plays a crucial role in establishing a moral panic as a way of creating awareness to the public; thus without media involvement this is not possible. A key subject that is continuously making heavy appearances in tabloid newspapers and news broadcasts daily; is Gun/Knife crime which is commonly affiliated with youth culture/youth gangs. To understand how Thompsons, Critchers and other theorists concept of moral panic works, analysis of media coverage is critical. The media has developed and distorted representations of British youth for a long time, and certain coverage in British cinema, documentaries, press coverage and broadcasting have made it evident that the representation of  ¿Ã‚ ½youth ¿Ã‚ ½ is seen as a threat to many. However the coverage differentiates from different forms of media. The coverage of moral panics in broadcasting differs to press; television news broadcasts, are described as unbiased and therefore have a minor affect on moral panics as the impact might have not been on such a large scale. However in major moral panics they tend to have the same large amount of coverage on daily. British Youth are constantly being associated with factors such as drug abuse, low achievers, under age drinking, ASBO ¿Ã‚ ½s , violence; leading to such headlines as  ¿Ã‚ ½Britain a nation of yobs ¿Ã‚ ½. The term  ¿Ã‚ ½yob ¿Ã‚ ½ and  ¿Ã‚ ½thug ¿Ã‚ ½ is commonly used in numerous press cuttings specifically from tabloid newspapers such as ¿Ã‚ ½The Sun ¿Ã‚ ½ and the  ¿Ã‚ ½Daily mail ¿Ã‚ ½. It can be argued that the depiction of a sterotypicaly  ¿Ã‚ ½thug ¿Ã‚ ½ is being used as the  ¿Ã‚ ½Folk Devil ¿Ã‚ ½. Moreover the use of these metaphors are adding to the sensation of the moral panic  ¿Ã‚ ½Yobs must get tough sentences not a slap on the wrist ¿Ã‚ ½,  ¿Ã‚ ½Another stab victim dies, yet yobs with blades could escape with fine ¿Ã‚ ½,  ¿Ã‚ ½Thug stabs student to death ¿Ã‚ ½ and  ¿Ã‚ ½Blade Britian ¿Ã‚ ½. The headlines are poignant and direct, ¿Ã‚ ½1 day. 5 dead ¿Ã‚ ½, this encourages the readers to be aware but also an element of paranoia can be injected provoking public distress, causing a stir in society. There is use of emotive language such as  ¿Ã‚ ½His mother has run out of tears ¿Ã‚ ½ and use of alliterations in  ¿Ã‚ ½Kids killing kids, families in fear, its time to say, No More ¿Ã‚ ½, these are examples of rhetoric which newspapers use to persuade its readers in supporting their views. An example the initial making of a moral panic is a headline used in the Daily Mail;  ¿Ã‚ ½Random attack by thugs every 30 seconds ¿Ã‚ ½. This can be described as heavily exaggerated which provokes public reaction and emotion. On the other hand, youth crime is rapidly increasing, in society.  ¿Ã‚ ½The amplification which takes place through the medias work serves to appeal to the public so that they concur with ready-made opinions about the course of action to be taken. Combined with the opinions of the experts who are wheeled out to give their diagnosis, they reach an agreement about how to cope with the situation in hand, and the problem either disappears or at least deteriorates. ¿Ã‚ ½(Burns:2000). In reference to Youth crime; various  ¿Ã‚ ½anti-gun/knife crime ¿Ã‚ ½ campaigns have been made and according to an article in 2008 from the  ¿Ã‚ ½Sunday Mirror ¿Ã‚ ½ the home secretary Jacqui smith states that  ¿Ã‚ ½thugs carrying knives will face four years in jail ¿Ã‚ ½. It can also be argued that moral panics can result in social change. In Conclusion, Sometimes  ¿Ã‚ ½panics ¿Ã‚ ½ have existed in society for a considerable time but a particular event has triggered the significance; although generally they pass as quickly as they came and are long forgotten. The media ¿Ã‚ ½s involvement plays a crucial role in the establishment of moral panics, as it raises awareness of serious ongoing issues. However it can be argued that it promotes a bias nature which can ultimately prevent the public from the truth.  ¿Ã‚ ½Yobs must get tough sentences not a slap on the wrist ¿Ã‚ ½.(The Sun;2008). The media ¿Ã‚ ½s powerful role can be criticised for using moral panics to enforce the ideas and rules about the government. Moral panics will continue to dominate society and the media; provoking public concern and sometimes legislation but there will always be questions doubting whether it does reinforces public opinion and if it is a voice for the people or a propaganda tool for the rich and powerful.

Career Passports and Career Portfolios Essay

Portfolios have long been used in some professions to showcase professional work and skill. In education, portfolios have also been used for assessment, including self-assessment (Lankes 1995; Pond et al. 1998). Both career portfolios and career passports reflect this dual focus—students assess themselves in the process of developing a product, and the resulting product showcases and documents their experiences and skills. A distinction is sometimes drawn between a portfolio as developmental and a passport as summative (Bridging the Gap 1993). With portfolios, more emphasis is put on the developmental process of self-assessment, planning, and goal-setting; with passports, more emphasis is put on the final product that sums up the results of the process and communicates them to others. In practice, however, both passports and portfolios represent a combination of developmental process and summative product. The value of the passport or portfolio is also twofold: students come to an awareness of their own skills and experience, and employers have richer, more detailed information for hiring decisions than is provided in transcripts and diplomas. As early as the mid-1980s, Charner and Bhaerman (1986) advocated a Career Passport as a way for secondary students to identify and document their work and nonwork experiences and to translate those experiences into statements of skills specifically related to work. The process was necessary for students to understand what they had to offer to employers; the resulting Career Passport provided employers with critical information to supplement the information in school transcripts or even resumes. The Ohio Individual Career Plan (ICP) and Career Passport. The Ohio Career Passport is the capstone of students’ career decision-making process, begun before the ninth grade (Gahris n. d. The planning and decision making involved in the ICP process lead to each student’s Career Passport, an individual credential housing an array of formal documents that students use in the next step after high school. Components include a letter of verification from the school; a student-developed resume; a student narrative identifying career goals and underlying rationale; a transcript (including attendance); diplomas, certificates, licenses, or other credentials; and a list of any specific vocational program competencies. The state recommends housing tho se components in a consistent, easily recognizable folder. Students develop ICPs through career interest and aptitude assessment, exploration experiences, preferably through job shadowing, and annual review and revision in high school. The ICP and Career Passport can be developed in any statewide curriculum area but most often this occurs in English or social studies, with assistance from the computer instructor and guidance counselor. Classroom support materials include elementary, middle, and high school Career Development Blueprints and sample activity packets (Classroom Support Materials n. d. ). All Ohio schools are required to provide students the opportunity to complete the ICP and Career Passport in a structured classroom setting and local school boards may make the Career Passport a graduation requirement for their district, although parents may choose not to have their child involved. The South Dakota Career and Life Planning Portfolio. The Career and Life Planning Portfolio is a collection of work that documents a student’s skills, abilities, and ambitions (Division of Workforce and Career Preparation 1999; â€Å"DWCP Wins National Award† 2000). Usually organized in a standard jacket with color-coded folders, documentation can include both examples of work and information on career and education planning, skills employers want, projects/work samples, and assessment results. The Portfolio, which is not required, can be used for a variety of educational purposes, but its ultimate use is to house the projects and work samples that demonstrate to a prospective employer that the student has the skills and talents the employer needs. Based on a model developed by the Sioux Falls School District and tested at 25 state high schools, the Portfolio is accompanied by curriculum materials, activities, and resources for teachers. Career Certificates The Wisconsin Employability Skills Certificate. The Employability Skills Certificate Program is designed for students who do not participate in the Cooperative Education Skills Certificate Program and the Youth Apprenticeship Program (Lifework Education Team 2000). The Employability Skills Certificate, issued by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, recognizes students’ mastery of the employability skills identified by the U. S. Department of Labor’s Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS). To participate in the voluntary program, local districts must provide three required components: Instruction and assessment of SCANS skills—Instruction can be provided in any curriculum area, and demonstration and assessment can occur either in the school or in the community. School-supervised work-based learning experience—Considerable flexibility is allowed for local districts in providing work-based learning experiences, which can include existing cooperative education, work experience, internships, or service learning programs. A minimum of 180 total work hours is required; occupation-related instruction is not required. Career planning—Working with parents and school personnel, each student develops a written Individual Career Plan (ICP) to make appropriate career, educational, and occupational choices. The ICP identifies tentative career goals and concrete, specific steps after high school to realize those goals; schools manage the ICP process and provide objective data both for original development and periodic reevaluation. The Connecticut Career Certificate (CCC). Part of the continuing School-to-Career (STC) system, the CCC verifies that a student has mastered a set of employability, academic, and technical skills identified in a partnership between the state Departments of Labor, Education, and Higher Education and the Connecticut Business and Industry Association (Connecticut Department of Labor 2001; Stickney and Alamprese 2001). The CCC is awarded by state-approved local districts to students who achieve all required competencies in one of eight career clusters. Academic standards (reading, writing, communication skills, math, science, and computer knowledge) are based on state-determined levels of performance on one of four assessments: Connecticut Mastery Test, administered to all 8th-grade students; the Connecticut Academic Performance Test, administered to all 10th-grade students; the voluntary Scholastic Assessment Test; or the voluntary Comprehensive Adult Students Assessment System, Level C or D. Employability standards (attitudes and attributes, customer service, teamwork, and adaptability), which are integrated curriculum frameworks for all eight career clusters, are correlated with SCANS skills. Both academic and employability standards are common across all eight career clusters, whereas technical skills and standards vary by cluster. The number of CCCs awarded has increased from 101 statewide in 1997-98 to 569 in 2000-01. More substantial percentages of high school students participated in STC career development activities—for example, 72 percent in career counseling and 50 percent each in career interest surveys and portfolio development. The Oregon Certificates of Mastery. By the school year 2004-05, all Oregon high schools will be required to offer the Certificate of Advanced Mastery (CAM). Designed to prepare students for success in their next steps after high school, the CAM documents each student’s academic and career-related knowledge and skills (Oregon Department of Education 2001). In the 2001 CAM model, academic skills include state performance standards in English (reading, speaking, and writing) math, science, and social science; these are four of the seven standards required for the state’s Certificate of Initial Mastery (CIM), which also include art, second language, and physical education. CAM candidates can meet the four required CIM performance standards either through CIM knowledge and skill tests or through CIM work samples. The six career-related learning standards—†fundamental skills essential for success in employment, college, family and community life† (p. 2)—include personal management, problem solving, communication, teamwork, employment foundations, and career development. To earn a CAM, each student must develop, review, and update an education plan for next steps after high school; develop an education profile to document progress and achievement; meet performance standards for applying academic and career-related knowledge and skills in new and complex situations; demonstrate career-related knowledge and skills; participate in planned career-related learning experiences; and satisfy the four CIM standards. Students can select specific areas of their education profile to document and communicate specific knowledge and skills to specific audiences, such as employers, and supplement that with a record of personal accomplishments, experiences, and skills. Other examples could be added to those presented here. Oklahoma’s 2001 Career Activity File: Career Portfolios K-12 (2001), Arizona’s Career Pathways: An Implementation and Resource Guide (1997), and Michigan’s proposed Content Standards and Working Draft Benchmarks for Career and Employability Skills (Using Employability Skills 1998) all address the same need for students to communicate knowledge and skills not captured well by traditional diplomas and transcripts. Whether an empty structure to fill or a carefully defined credential to earn, career passports, portfolios, and certificates provide a new means for students to document the whole range of knowledge and skills—employability, academic, or technical—they have to offer to employers. Effective practices in developing and using career portfolios and passports involve defining the roles of different actors, addressing issues of portfolio or passport design, and facilitating students’ developmental process (Wonacott 2001). Issues related to career passports, portfolios, and certificates that have not yet been addressed include student outcomes and success (e. g. , employment, starting salary), program coordination and cooperation across states, and the possible development of a national model.