All school districts in Iowa are required to have a District Career and Academic Plan (DCAP) which demonstrates how the district supports each student''s individual career and academic plan (ICAP). The DCAP describes how the district provides opportunities and resources to help each student achieve their academic and career goals. The district plan is reviewed, revised, and updated internally on a regular basis to make sure that the ICAP process is fully implemented and assisting each student''s future goals. Through the DCAP process, districts will also analyze the data and effectiveness of their selected Career Information System (CIS) for the annual process for each grade level''s requirements.
The DCAP Workshop is provided by Northwest AEA in the fall and spring (optional) to provide training on the updated expectations from the Department of Education and time to work with your District''s DCAP team to collaborate, identify resources, establish partnerships within your community, analyze CIS integration, identify current and potential work-based learning opportunities, and ensure that current curriculum supports the ICAP process for every student.
All districts must send at least one person to the spring the "DCAP Evaluation: Training and Scoring Day" to score the regions DCAPs. Training will be provided by the Iowa Department of Education and all of the DCAPs will be scored by the end of that workday.
DCAP plans are due annually on April 1st.
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will review a SWOT analysis and feedback from the previous year''s District Career and Academic Plan (DCAP) to create action steps for the next year''s plan.
- Participants will discover the purpose and benefits of using a Career Information System (CIS) and supplemental resources to support the ICAP.
- Participants will understand the similarities and differences between the DCAP and the CLNA (Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment) in order to effectively use both resources.
- Participants will apply information acquired from the Perkins Desk Audit to support the work of the District Career and Academic Plan.
- Participants will work in district teams to effectively create a District Career and Academic Plan that improves post high school outcomes for students.