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Wisconsin Career Readiness Standards

Community of Practice

Skills for Success:

The Why Behind Wisconsin's Career Readiness Standards

Module 5: The Wisconsin Career Readiness Framework

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Objectives

Deepen Understanding of the WCRS Framework

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Quote

“Career readiness is an essential part of a comprehensive PK-12 education for all students and gives Wisconsin students a way to understand and empower themselves and their worlds. The knowledge, skills, and habits of mind gained through career readiness education in Wisconsin schools support the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction’s vision of engaged learners creating a better Wisconsin together.”

Jill K. Underly, Ph.D., State Superintendent

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Wisconsin Academic Standards

Define what students should know and be able to do at specific grade levels.
Serve as goals for teaching and learning across the state.
Local school boards adopt standards to meet community needs.
Ensure equal access to high-quality educational programs.
Provide clear expectations to prepare students for success beyond the classroom.
Adoption of standards is voluntary for districts.
Implementing standards may lead to curriculum updates, instructional changes, and new assessments.

"Let’s take a moment to review the basics of Wisconsin’s academic standards policy. These standards are designed to clearly define what students should know and be able to do at each grade level. They serve as goals for teaching and learning across the state, ensuring that students are being equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary for success beyond the classroom."

"It’s important to note that in Wisconsin, all state standards serve as a model. Local school boards are responsible for adopting standards that best meet the needs of their communities. This flexibility allows districts to tailor their approach while ensuring that all students have equal access to high-quality educational programs."

"While the adoption of these standards is voluntary, many districts use them as a guide for developing curriculum. Implementing these standards may lead to updates in instructional methods, curriculum materials, and even assessments. This ensures that educators have the tools and guidance necessary to prepare students for their futures."

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Wisconsin Career Readiness Standards

Life Ready Skills

Learning Ready Skills

Career Ready Skills

"Now that we’ve covered the basics of Wisconsin’s academic standards, let’s take a look at the structure of the Wisconsin Career Readiness Standards. The release of the Wisconsin Standards for Career Readiness provides a set of important academic standards for school districts to implement. These standards are organized into three distinct strands: Career Ready, Life Ready, and Learning Ready."

"While career readiness is often associated with employability skills, the WCRS goes beyond that. It recognizes that being truly career-ready means also being prepared for life and lifelong learning. These three strands—Career Ready, Life Ready, and Learning Ready—reflect the comprehensive set of skills that students need to thrive both in their careers and in life as a whole."

"There is some natural overlap between these strands, as the skills required for career readiness often intersect with those needed for life and learning readiness. Together, these strands form a cohesive framework that prepares students for success across all areas of their lives."

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Wisconsin Career Readiness Standards

Wisconsin Career Readiness Standards (WCRS)
Career Ready	Learning Ready	Life Ready
Career Awareness (KNOW)	Academic Skills	Self-Awareness, Management, & Responsibility
Career Exploration (EXPLORE)	Critical Thinking and Problem Solving	Interpersonal Communication & Collaboration
Career Planning (PLAN)	Innovation Mindset & Skills	Global Competence
Career Preparation (GO) Postsecondary Education & Training Preparation (GO)	Technology Skills	Responsive Leadership
K5 12th grade Integrated across all subject areas, as a part of ACP activities, and/or into Career Pathways (WBL, IRCs, DE)

"As we look at the structure of the Wisconsin Career Readiness Standards, it’s important to recognize that you’re getting more than just career readiness. These standards were intentionally crafted to incorporate elements from a wide range of high-leverage resources, both state and national."

"The WCRS are influenced by important frameworks like Wisconsin’s Social Emotional Learning standards, Personal Financial Literacy, and Information & Technology Literacy. They also draw on competencies from areas such as entrepreneurship education, STEM skills, the ASCA Mindsets and Behaviors for school counselors, and even global leadership outcomes and decision education standards."

"This integration ensures that the WCRS provide a well-rounded, holistic approach to student development, bringing together career readiness with essential life and learning skills. The result is a set of standards that prepares students not just for the workforce, but for all aspects of life in our rapidly changing world."

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Career Ready Standards At-A-Glance

Career Ready Strand Students will create a plan for their future education, training, and career goals based on research and exploration of their options.
WCRS.CAR.1: Career Awareness KNOW how interests, skills, and strengths connect learning to career opportunities in their future.
WCRS.CAR.2: Career Exploration EXPLORE multiple career and educational choices to evaluate how they compare and contrast to personal interests and skills.
WCRS.CAR.3: Career Planning Based on what they know and have explored, develop a PLAN to reach individual education career goals.
WCRS.CAR.4(a): Career Preparation GO into the community to implement an individual career plan to learn in a variety of workplace settings and industries. WCRS.CAR.4(b): Postsecondary Education and Training Preparation GO into the community to put an individual postsecondary education and training plan into action.
K5 12th grade Integrated across all subject areas, as a part of ACP activities, and/or into Career Pathways (WBL, IRCs, DE)

"Let’s dive into the first strand of the Wisconsin Career Readiness Standards: the Career Ready strand. This strand focuses on guiding students through the process of planning for their future education, training, and career goals. It’s designed to ensure that students are aware of their options, explore various opportunities, and ultimately create a solid plan for their futures."

"The Career Ready strand is built around four key standards:

First, Career Awareness (WCRS.CAR.1) ensures that students understand how their interests, skills, and strengths connect to future career opportunities.
Next, Career Exploration (WCRS.CAR.2) encourages students to explore multiple career paths and educational choices, helping them compare and contrast how those options align with their personal skills and interests.
Then, we have Career Planning (WCRS.CAR.3), where students use their knowledge and exploration to develop a plan for reaching their individual education and career goals.
Finally, there are two components of Career Preparation: WCRS.CAR.4a, which focuses on students implementing their career plans in the community through workplace experiences, and WCRS.CAR.4b, which emphasizes putting postsecondary education and training plans into action."

"Together, these standards guide students from early awareness through concrete steps to prepare for and pursue their postsecondary and career goals, giving them real-world experiences and actionable plans."

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Learning Ready Standards At-A-Glance

Learning Ready Strand Students will understand how K-12 classroom learning will prepare them for careers and lifelong learning.
WCRS.LRN.1: Academic Skills Acquire academic skills and real-life experiences to prepare for future education and a career.
WCRS.LRN.2: Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Develop the motivation and acquire the critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills needed to prepare for future education and careers.
WCRS.LRN.3: Innovation Mindset & Skills Develop a spirit of innovation and creativity that encourages educational risk-taking, acceptance of failure, and learning from mistakes in pursuit of achieving a goal.
WCRS.LRN.4: Technology Skills Acquire commonly used technology skills required for all careers.
K5 12th grade Integrated across all subject areas, as a part of ACP activities, and/or into Career Pathways (WBL, IRCs, DE)

"Next, we have the Learning Ready strand, which focuses on how K-12 classroom learning prepares students not only for their future careers but also for lifelong learning. This strand emphasizes the connection between academic success and the skills needed to thrive in any career path."

"The Learning Ready strand is built around four key standards:

First, Academic Skills (WCRS.LRN.1) ensures that students acquire both academic skills and real-life experiences that will prepare them for future education and careers.
Next, Critical Thinking and Problem Solving (WCRS.LRN.2) focuses on helping students develop the motivation, critical thinking, and creative problem-solving abilities necessary to succeed in their education and future careers.
Then, Innovation Mindset & Skills (WCRS.LRN.3) encourages students to adopt a spirit of innovation and creativity, where they learn to take educational risks, accept failure, and grow from mistakes as they pursue their goals.
Finally, Technology Skills (WCRS.LRN.4) ensures that students gain proficiency in the technology skills commonly required across all career fields."

"Together, these standards prepare students with the academic, critical thinking, creative, and technical skills needed to be successful, adaptable learners throughout their lives."

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Life Ready Standards At-A-Glance

Life Ready Strand Students will develop a positive identity and act with an awareness of self and others to collaborate, advocate, and lead effectively across various contexts.
WCRS.LIF.1: Self-Awareness, Management, & Responsibility Gain insight into oneself to help inform and build paths to success in personal, educational, and career settings.
WCRS.LIF.2: Interpersonal Communication & Collaboration Use interpersonal skills to interact with others for positive outcomes and collective success.
WCRS.LIF.3: Global Competence Understand one’s impact on the world and develop the ability to interact with people from other backgrounds, countries, and cultures.
WCRS.LIF.4: Responsive Leadership Take individual and collective action that demonstrates responsibility, care, and purpose to create positive change.
K5 12th grade Integrated across all subject areas, as a part of ACP activities, and/or into Career Pathways (WBL, IRCs, DE)

"The final strand of the Wisconsin Career Readiness Standards is the Life Ready strand. This strand focuses on developing students' ability to understand themselves and others, and to act with purpose, responsibility, and leadership in a variety of contexts. The goal is to help students grow into well-rounded individuals who can collaborate, advocate, and lead effectively, both personally and professionally."

"The Life Ready strand is built around four key standards:

First, Self-Awareness, Management, & Responsibility (WCRS.LIF.1) focuses on helping students gain insight into themselves, building a foundation for success in personal, educational, and career settings.
Next, Interpersonal Communication & Collaboration (WCRS.LIF.2) teaches students to use interpersonal skills to interact with others, fostering positive outcomes and collective success.
Then, Global Competence (WCRS.LIF.3) encourages students to understand their impact on the world and develop the ability to engage effectively with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures.
Finally, Responsive Leadership (WCRS.LIF.4) promotes taking action with responsibility, care, and purpose, empowering students to create positive change in their communities and beyond."

"These standards aim to develop students’ social, emotional, and leadership capacities, preparing them to lead fulfilling lives and contribute positively to society."

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Understanding the Standards

CAR – Career-Ready
LRN – Learning-Ready
LIF – Life-Ready

"Before we dive deeper into the Wisconsin Career Readiness Standards, let’s take a moment to understand how these standards are structured. The Wisconsin Standards for Career Readiness follow a specific format to ensure clarity and consistency across all content areas."

"Each standard is organized into four key parts:

The discipline, which represents the Career and Technical Education (CTE) program area;
The strand, which identifies an instructional topic within that discipline;
The standard, which is a broad statement outlining what students are expected to know or be able to do;
And the learning priority, which breaks down that broad statement into smaller, more manageable learning goals."

"Each standard also has its own coding structure, with strands coded as CAR for Career-Ready, LRN for Learning-Ready, and LIF for Life-Ready. This coding helps educators easily identify the specific focus of each standard."

"Understanding this structure will help us as we move forward and explore how these standards can be applied in our systems."

Discipline Standards Structure

The Wisconsin Standards for Career Readiness follow a specific structure:

Standards Formatting

• Discipline: CTE program area

• Strand: Instructional topic within the discipline

• Standard: Broad statement that tells what students are expected to know or be able to do

• Learning Priority: Breaks down the broad statement into manageable learning pieces

Standard Coding Strands for Career Readiness in this code structure include:

• CAR – Career-Ready

• LRN – Learning-Ready

• LIF – Life-Ready