Grade 6 Grade 7 Grade 8 Grade 9 Grade 10 Grade 11 Grade 12

 

Grade 6 Curriculum

 

Lessons Domains Objectives Duration
Creating My MEFA Pathway Profile
Academic Skills
College & Career Exploration
  1. Create their MEFA Pathway Account
  2. Learn about the features available in MEFA Pathway to support college and career exploration
  3. Update their Profile Details within MEFA Pathway
45 minutes
Developing My Study Skills Academic Skills
  1. Evaluate their current study habits
  2. Learn strategies to improve study skills
  3. Make a plan to improve their study habits for academic and future success
45 minutes
Creating Personal and Academic Goals Academic Skills
Social Emotional Learning
  1. Learn about SMART goals and how to write them
  2. Understand the difference between academic and personal goal
  3. Create strategies to help them achieve their goals
45 minutes
Matching Interests to Careers College & Career Exploration
Social Emotional Learning
  1. Explore the connection between interests and careers
  2. Connect their favorite school subjects to related careers
  3. Learn how to evaluate careers based on their core interests
75 minutes
Developing Decision-Making Skills Social Emotional Learning
  1. Learn about the importance of decisions and the impact they can make
  2. Understand the steps to making responsible decisions
  3. Reflect on how to make the best decisions
45 minutes

 

Grade 7 Curriculum

 

Lessons Domains Objectives Duration
Updating My MEFA Pathway Profile
Academic Skills,
College & Career Exploration
  1. Learn about the features on a resume
  2. Update their Profile Details within MEFA Pathway
  3. Make connections between their Profile Details and their plans for the future
30 minutes
Creating Career Goals Social Emotional Learning, Academic Skills
  1. Learn about SMART goals and how to write them
  2. Connect their career interests to future goals
  3. Create strategies to help them achieve their goals
30 minutes
Developing Career Interests College & Career Exploration
  1. Exploring careers based on subjects or activities they enjoy
  2. Identify on-the-job tasks related to specific work environments
  3. Identify education level & areas of knowledge needed for potential careers
  4. Identify a career category of interest
45 minutes
Growth Mindset Social Emotional Learning
  1. Learn about growth mindsets and fixed mindsets
  2. Compare the differences between the two mindsets
  3. Reflect on a time when they succeeded by having a growth mindset
45 minutes
Developing Healthy Relationships revised Social Emotional Learning
  1. Learn about the characteristics of healthy and unhealthy relationships
  2. Define key aspects of effective communication
  3. Identify communication skills that they can improve upon
60 minutes
Exploring Career Categories College & Career Exploration
  1. Learn about career categories and how they can use them to prepare for a career
  2. Connect their top interests and values to career categories
  3. Evaluate the career categories they’ve researched and choose one career that isthe most appealing
  4. Create an advertisement promoting the career they’ve researched
90 minutes
Discovering My Learning Style
Social Emotional Learning
  1. Learn about the three learning styles
  2. Identify how they learn and remember information best
  3. Explore how their learning style can help them in school and on the job
45 minutes

 

Grade 8 Curriculum

 

Lessons Domains Objectives Duration
Updating My MEFA Pathway Profile
Academic Skills
College & Career Exploration
  1. Learn about the features on a resume
  2. Update their Profile Details within MEFA Pathway
  3. Make connections between their Profile Details and their plans for the future
30 minutes
Discovering the Discovery Zone College & Career Exploration
  1. Explore the Discovery Zone activities
  2. Learn about potential careers
  3. Understand the education level and areas of knowledge needed for potential careers
  4. Identify a career category of interest
45 minutes
Saving Careers to My Career List College & Career Exploration
  1. Discover the skills and education needed to perform a wide range of jobs
  2. Search for careers by keyword or category
  3. Create a balanced career list
  4. Formulate a plan for what they might study in the future
45 minutes
Creating a High School Road Map College & Career Exploration Academic Skills
  1. Learn how courses align with graduation requirements and post-high school plans
  2. Learn about CTE programs and determine if they will go to a vocational or technical high school
  3. Learn about MassCore requirements
  4. Review their favorite subjects
  5. Start to develop their course schedule based on graduation requirements and post-high school plans
45 minutes
Discovering Jobs and Employers College & Career Exploration
  1. Explore ways to find jobs
  2. Understand the different strategies to find a job
  3. Research potential employers within their community
60 minutes
Developing Financial Skills Financial Literacy
  1. Learn about the importance of saving and determine a personal savings plan
  2. Investigatedentify and evaluate money management skills
  3. Create financial goals
45 minutes
Preparing for the Transition to High School
Social Emotional Learning
Academic Skills
  1. Investigate courses that align with their favorite subjects, talents, and interests
  2. Identify questions and concerns they have about entering high school
  3. Explore clubs, activities, and other resources to help handle the transition to high school
45 minutes
Developing Self-Advocacy Skills Social Emotional Learning
  1. Learn about the concept of self-advocacy
  2. Identify situations in which they may need to advocate for themselves
  3. Develop strategies to effectively advocate for themselves
90 minutes

 

Grade 9 Curriculum

 

Lessons Domains Objectives Duration
My Learning Style Social Emotional Learning
  1. Explore visual, auditory, and tactile learning styles
  2. Identify their preferred learning style
  3. Use their learning style to create an academic goal to support high school success
60 minutes
Making Goals and Action Plans Social Emotional Learning
  1.  Learn about SMART goals and how to write them
  2. Connect what they’ve learned about SMART goals with their lives
  3. Evaluate the goal that they’ve written in order to determine if it is actually a
    SMART goal
  4. Create a plan of strategies that allows them to take steps that will keep them on target for achieving their goal
30 minutes
Applying Skills to a Career Category Academic Skills
  1. Learn about the difference between skills and technology skills
  2. Complete the What are Your Skills assessment
  3. Use their What are Your Skills assessment results to explore careers and identify a career category suited for them
45 minutes
My High School Resume College & Career Exploration Academic Skills
  1. Learn about the typical format and sections necessary for writing a resume
  2. Connect information from their own lives to the sections needed for their resume
  3. Learn why resumes are an important part of postsecondary planning
  4. Create a resume using the Resume Builder within MEFA Pathway
45 minutes
Exploring Options for After High School College & Career Exploration
  1. Identify and compare several postsecondary options
  2. Choose a postsecondary option based on their criteria that fits with their interests, experiences, and needs
  3. Develop criteria for analyzing postsecondary options
  4. Discuss criteria needed for making educational decisions
45 minutes
Applying Interests & Values to a Career Category College & Career Exploration
  1. Complete the What are Your Interests and What are Your Values assessments in MEFA Pathway
  2. Discover and learn about the results of their Interests and Values assessments
  3. Use the results of the assessments to explore career categories that are best
    suited for them
45 minutes
Demonstrate Awareness of Talents Social Emotional Learning
  1. Identify past accomplishments
  2. Identify the skills and talents used to achieve each past accomplishment
  3. Identify possible careers that utilize their skills and talents
45 minutes
Discovering the Importance of Career Fairs
Academic Skills
College & Career Exploration
  1. Learn about career fairs
  2. Determine which career fairs they are interested in attending
  3. Register for two onsite and/or virtual career fairs
45 minutes
Getting Work Experience
Academic Skills
College & Career Exploration
  1. Learn about the different types of work-experience
  2. Explore different ways they can get work experience while still in school
  3.  Assess which type of work experience is best suited for their career interests and
    goals
  4. Generate a list of school offerings, including courses or specialized programs, that provide an opportunity to gain work-related experience
45 minutes
Securing a Financial Future Financial Literacy 
  1. Identify their financial values
  2. Discover the importance of establishing a budget
  3. Learn how to create financial goals
45 minutes
Creating a Course Plan Academic Skills
  1. Identify what courses must be taken
  2. Create a course plan that meets graduation and MassCore requirements
  3. Add to the course plan throughout high school to stay on track
  4. Explore AP and Dual Enrollment options
60 minutes
What College Factors Are Important to You College and Career Exploration
  1. Identify college factors to consider
  2. Explore and discover factors that are important
  3. Search for colleges based upon preferences
  4. Save colleges to My College List to research further
45 minutes

 

Grade 10 Curriculum

 

Lessons Domains Objectives Duration
Finding Satisfying and Rewarding Jobs College & Career Exploration
  1. Complete the What are your Work Values assessment
  2. Contemplate if they agree with the results of the assessment
  3. Search for careers based on the results of the assessment
30 minutes
Making Goals and Action Plans
Social Emotional Learning
Academic Skills
  1. Learn about SMART goals and how to write them
  2. Connect what they’ve learned about SMART goals with their lives in three areas, academic, personal, and career in order to write one SMART goal for each area
  3. Evaluate the goals that they’ve written in order to determine if they are actually SMART goals
  4. Create a plan of strategies that allows them to take steps that will keep them on target for achieving their goals
45 minutes
Writing a Resume College & Career Exploration
  1. Learn about the typical format and sections necessary for writing a resume
  2. Connect information from their own lives to the sections needed for their resume
  3. Evaluate the information that they’ve gathered in order to organize and prioritize what will be included on their resume
  4. Create a resume using the Resume Builder within MEFA Pathway
45 minutes
Connecting Courses to Post-High School Plans
Academic Skills
College & Career Exploration
  1. Learn how courses align with graduation requirements and post-high school plans
  2. Develop a course schedule based on their goals
45 minutes
Learn About Standardized Tests & Customized Test Prep
Academic Skills
College & Career Exploration
  1. Learn about the two major standardized tests used by colleges during the admissions process
  2. Evaluate which test(s) they plan to take and their preparedness for the test by taking practice tests
  3. Create a plan for preparing for and taking the standardized test
45 minutes
Importance of College Fairs, Rep Visits, and College Tours College & Career Exploration
  1. Learn about college fairs, rep visits, and college tours
  2. Utilize MEFA Pathway’s Search Colleges section to create a list of colleges in which they are interested
  3. Take virtual tours and interact with college reps through colleges’ webpages
  4. Learn about the importance of interacting with colleges to show demonstrated interest
45 minutes
Workplace Skills and Values
Social Emotional Learning
College & Career Exploration
  1. Explore skills and behaviors employers look for and expect in their employees
  2. Explain why these employability skills are important
  3. Assess students own employability skills
60 minutes
Exploring Trending Careers
College & Career Exploration
  1. Explore career categories and in demand careers
  2. Identify top skills required for corresponding career categories
  3. Explore top companies hiring for specific career categories
90 minutes 
Exploring Options for After High School
College & Career Exploration
Academic Skills
  1. Learn about the various postsecondary pathways available
  2. Understand the differences between postsecondary programs
  3. Explore career options related to different types of postsecondary programs
  4. Evaluate their desired postsecondary pathway based on their interests,skills,and goals
45 minutes
Growth Mindset
Social Emotional Learning
  1. Learn about growth mindsets and fixed mindsets
  2. Compare the differences between the two mindsets
  3. Reflect on a time when they succeeded by having a growth mindset
45 minutes 

 

Grade 11 Curriculum

 

Lessons Domains Objectives Duration
Writing a Resume College & Career Exploration
  1. Learn about the typical format and sections necessary for writing a resume
  2. Connect information from their own lives to the sections needed for their resume
  3. Evaluate the information that they’ve gathered in order to organize and prioritize what will be included on their resume
  4. Create a resume using the Resume Builder on the website
45 minutes
Exploring Options for After High School College & Career Exploration
  1. Identify and compare several postsecondary options
  2. Choose a postsecondary option based on their criteria that fits with their interests, experiences, and needs
  3. Develop criteria for analyzing postsecondary options
  4. Discuss criteria needed for making educational decisions
45 minutes
Civic Participation College & Career Exploration
  1. Learn about community service.
  2. Connect their own interests to community service opportunities.
  3. Evaluate and complete any requirements associated with serving at the location of their choice.
  4. Create an entry in the My Profile and My Journal sections on the MEFA Pathway website
30 minutes
Standardized Test Preparation Financial Literacy
College & Career Exploration
  1. Learn about the two major standardized tests used by colleges during the admissions process
  2. Research the standardized tests required by the colleges to which they intend to apply
  3. Evaluate which test(s) they plan to take and their preparedness for the test by taking practice tests
  4. Create a plan for preparing for and taking the standardized test
45 minutes
Scholarship Search
College & Career Exploration
Financial Literacy
  1. Learn the information that is needed to search for scholarships
  2. Connect their own culture, family background, interests, and activities to available scholarships
  3. Evaluate the scholarship opportunities that exist to help them achieve a post-secondary education
45 minutes
College Application Timeline College & Career Exploration
  1. Learn about the different steps of applying to college
  2. Hear other students’ experiences applying to college
  3. Develop an action plan for their senior year
  4. Determine the next steps to plan for their college and career
45 minutes
Letters of Recommendation College & Career Exploration
  1. Learn about letters of recommendation
  2. Evaluate who knows them well and would make good recommenders
30 minutes
Writing a Personal Essay College & Career Exploration
  1. Review the Common App essay prompts
  2. Review and reflect on sample essays
  3. Compose a draft essay for college admissions
30 minutes
Preparing to complete the FAFSA Financial Literacy
  1. Identify the colleges they are applying to and research each school’s financial aid requirements
  2. Learn about the FAFSA
  3. Learn how to create an FSA ID prior to completing the FAFSA
45 minutes
Learn about Types of Aid and the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) Financial Literacy
  1. Learn how colleges and universities use the EFC to calculate the amount of financial aid a student is eligible to receive
  2. Use information from a sample student to practice calculating an EFC using the EFC Calculator
  3. Evaluate the EFC of the sample student and brainstorm ways the sample student could pay for college
  4. Research information required to complete their own EFC
45 minutes
What College Factors Are Important to You College & Career Exploration
  1. Identify college factors to consider
  2. Explore and discover factors that are important
  3. Search for colleges based upon preferences
  4. Save colleges to My College List to research further
45 minutes
Popular Places to Work College & Career Exploration
  1. Learn about factors that influence the labor market
  2. Explore areas of the United States with specific career concentrations
  3. Explore how demands for careers may shape their post-secondary plans
30 minutes
Learn How MassTransfer Can Help Save on the Cost of College College & Career Exploration
Financial Literacy
  1. Learn about the cost-saving options of paying for college in Massachusetts
  2. Create a combination of a two-year and four-year college to determine a savings estimate
  3. Summarize their findings and share them with classmates
60 minutes
Career Back Up Plans College & Career Exploration
  1. Investigate careers related to those they have expressed interest in
  2. Learn about the importance of having a back-up plan
  3. Research career paths as a way to identify related careers
90 minutes
Writing a Cover Letter College & Career Exploration
Financial Literacy
  1. Learn about cover letters
  2. Understand the basic structure of a cover letter
  3. Analyze what to include and exclude in a cover letter
  4. Create a cover letter
60 minutes
Making Goals and Action Plans Social Emotional Learning
  1. Learn about SMART goals and how to write them
  2. Connect what they’ve learned about SMART goals with their lives
  3. Evaluate the goal that they’ve written in order to determine if it is actually a SMART goal
  4. Create a plan of strategies that allows them to take steps that will keep them on target for achieving their goal
30 minutes
Building Your College List College & Career Exploration
  1. Learn to define Probable, Target, and Reach Schools
  2. Select colleges that fit into their Probable, Target, and Reach School lists
  3. Review the details of their favorite colleges
  4. Write a journal entry reflecting on their college list
45 minutes

 

Grade 12 Curriculum

 

Lessons Domains Objectives Duration
Understanding Loans Financial Literacy
  1. Learn the difference between federal and private loans and how they are different from other forms of financial aid
  2. Review the details of federal loans and find a private loan
  3. Evaluate the differences between the federal and private loans they’ve researched
  4. Create a comparison chart that details the differences in the loans and write a reflection about the one they find most suitable for their situation
45 minutes
Building Your College List College & Career Exploration
  1. Learn to define Probable, Target, and Reach schools
  2. Select colleges that fit into their Probable, Target, and Reach School lists
  3. Review the details of their favorite colleges
  4. Write a journal entry reflecting on their college list
45 minutes
Writing a Personal Essay College & Career Exploration
  1. Review the Common App essay prompts
  2. Review and reflect on sample essays
  3. Compose a draft essay for college admissions
30 minutes
Senior Year College Planning Checklist College & Career Exploration
  1. Review the senior year timeline
  2. Learn the steps of applying for college
  3. Learn about deadlines and guidelines
  4. Listen to peers’ experiences applying to college
45 minutes
Applying Personal Criteria to the Scholarship Search College & Career Exploration
  1. Learn how to collect information about their culture, family background, interests, and activities
  2. Connect their own culture, family background, interests, and activities to available scholarships
  3. Evaluate the opportunities that exist to help them achieve a post-secondary education
  4. Create a presentation that demonstrates an understanding of their own background and scholarships available
30 minutes
Preparing for Interviews College & Career Exploration
Financial Literacy
  1. Learn about the different types of interviews
  2. Explore ways to prepare for an interview
  3. Practice answering common interview questions
90 minutes
Career Back Up Plans College & Career Exploration
  1. Investigate careers related to their goals
  2. Identify alternate career paths
90 minutes
Writing a Cover Letter College & Career Exploration
  1. Learn about cover letters
  2. Find out the basic structure of a cover letter
  3. Analyze what to include and exclude in a cover letter
  4. Create a cover letter
45 minutes
Transition to College College & Career Exploration
Social Emotional Learning
  1. Students will learn about what they need to do after making their final college decision in preparing for the transition to college
  2. Students will learn about organizing and managing deadlines
45 minutes
Practicing Interview Questions College & Career Exploration
  1. Students will be introduced to 6 commonly asked interview questions
  2. Students will practice answering interview questions to be better prepared for real-world interviews
45 minutes
Building Your Personal Brand Social Emotional Learning
College & Career Exploration
  1. Students will learn about a personal brand and how to market oneself for college, career, and the future
  2. Students will review the My Profile details in MEFA Pathway
  3. Students will update the 12th grade resume
  4. Students will learn about how to create a cover letter or a LinkedIn Profile
45 minutes
Applying to College with MEFA Pathway College & Career Exploration
  1. Students learn how to connect with MP and Common App accounts
  2. Students will learn how to request letters of rec. in MP
30 minutes
Comparing Financial Aid Offers to Help Make a Final Decision College & Career Exploration
Financial Literacy
  1. Learn about different types of financial aid to help comprehend financial aid offers
  2. Utilize MEFA Pathway’s College Cost Calculator and Loan Cost Estimator to calculate a personalized cost gap at each college they were accepted to
45 minutes