EDP stands for Educational Development Plan.
Simply put, an EDP is a way of helping students plan their education.
To make any GOOD plan, it is important to know what it will take to make the plan work.
To make a GOOD EDP, a student must know:
- His/Her interests
- His/Her abilities… and “possibilities”
- What is available
- What it takes to get there
INTERESTS
To help students find out what their interests are, we provide “interest inventories” where students answer questions based on what they like and don’t like. From a compilation of the student’s answers, and there are no wrong answers, suggestions are made to students to explore various occupations.
ABILITIES
There are several ways for students to determine what their abilities are. Two of those ways include grades and test scores. Some other ways include things like hobbies (for example, making jewelry), personal traits (like organizing), and musical talents.
AVAILABLE
Helping students realize what is available in the Wide, Wide World of careers is the function of things such as:
- Classroom discussions about careers related to specific subjects
- Research (library, internet, interviews, etc.) careers of their choosing
- Writing Papers about careers researched
- Classroom speakers
- Service Learning Projects and/or Community Service
- Day-On-The-Job (or Job Shadowing) activities
- Field studies (formerly called Field Trips)
TO GET THERE
Next, students focus on two or three careers and the type of education and/or training it will take to be successful in their careers. Finally, students use all the information they have discovered about themselves and the world around them to develop an EDP—their EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN. Periodically, they revise their EDP based on new things they have learned or experienced.