The National Career Development Guidelines (NCDG) help educators, career professionals and community leaders develop high-quality career development programs for youth and adults nationwide.

Quality career development programs can:

• Increase academic achievement;
• Help students make sound decisions related to planning for, preparing for and financing postsecondary education or training;
• Contribute to safe and drug free schools;
• Help students develop the positive personal qualities they will need in their future roles as parents, workers and community members

The framework includes three domains of competency

• Personal Social Development,
• Educational Achievement And Lifelong Learning, and
• Career Management
  
  Under each domain are goals with indicators of mastery for each goal. The NCDG framework describes a continuum of personal, education and career skills young people and adults should master to get the most from education, life and work.

Developmental Level
Knowledge – Middle Grades

Domain 1: PERSONAL SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Goal PS1 Develop understanding of yourself to build and maintain a positive self-concept.

PS1.A1 Demonstrate behavior and decisions that reflect your interests, likes, and dislikes.
PS1.A2 Demonstrate use of your abilities, strengths, skills, and talents.
PS1.A3 Give examples of when you demonstrated positive personal characteristics (e.g., honesty, dependability, responsibility, integrity, and loyalty).
PS1.A4 Demonstrate behavior and decisions that reflect your work values/needs.
PS1.A5 Demonstrate a positive self-concept through your behaviors and attitudes.
PS1.A6 Show how you have adopted behaviors and sought experiences that build and maintain a positive self-concept.
PS1.A7 Give personal examples of specific situations, attitudes, and behaviors of others that affected your self-concept.
PS1.A8 Show how you have adopted behaviors and attitudes to positively affect the self-concept of others.
PS1.A9 Show how aspects of your self-concept could positively or negatively affect educational achievement (i.e., performance) and/or success at work.
PS1.A10 Give personal examples of how educational achievement (performance) and/or success at work affected your self-concept.

Goal PS2 Develop positive interpersonal skills including respect for diversity.
PS2.A1 Demonstrate effective communication skills.
PS2.A2 Demonstrate that you interact with others in a way that is honest, fair, helpful, and respectful.
PS2.A3 Demonstrate the ability to use positive social skills (e.g., good manners and showing gratitude).
PS2.A4 Demonstrate the ability to get along well with others and work effectively with them in groups.
PS2.A5 Demonstrate the ability to resolve conflicts and to negotiate acceptable solutions.
PS2.A6 Give examples of times when your behavior was appropriate and times when your behavior was inappropriate in specific school, social, and work situations.
PS2.A7 Demonstrate the ability to handle outside pressure on you.
PS2.A8 Demonstrate that you accept responsibility for your behavior.
PS2.A9 Demonstrate knowledge about, respect for, openness to, and appreciation for all kinds of human diversity.
PS2.A10 Show how the ability to interact positively with diverse groups of people may contribute to learning and academic achievement.
PS2.A11 Explain how the ability to interact positively with diverse groups of people is often essential to maintain employment.

Goal PS3 Integrate personal growth and change into your career development.
PS3.A1 Give examples of how you have grown and changed (e.g., physically, emotionally, socially, and intellectually).
PS3.A2 Demonstrate how you have adopted good health habits.
PS3.A3 Give examples of how your personal motivations and aspirations have changed with time and circumstances.
PS3.A4 Give examples of external events that have caused life changes for you.
PS3.A5 Demonstrate the ability to seek assistance (e.g., with problems at school or work) from appropriate resources including other people.
PS3.A6 Demonstrate adaptability and flexibility when initiating or responding to change.

Goal PS4 Balance personal, leisure, community, learner, family, and work roles.
PS4.A1 Give examples that demonstrate your life roles including personal, leisure, community, learner,
family, and work roles.
PS4.A2 Show how you are balancing your life roles.
PS4.A3 Give examples of decisions, factors, and circumstances that affect your current lifestyle.
PS4.A4 Show how your life roles and your lifestyle are connected.

Domain 2: EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT AND LIFELONG LEARNING
Goal ED1 Attain educational achievement and performance levels needed to reach your personal and career goals.
ED1.A1 Demonstrate educational achievement and performance levels needed to attain your personal and
career goals.
ED1.A2 Demonstrate strategies you are using to improve educational achievement and performance.
ED1.A3 Demonstrate acquisition of study skills and learning habits that promote educational achievement and performance.
ED1.A4 Show how you are using learning style information to improve educational achievement and
performance.
ED1.A5 Show that you have a plan to improve educational achievement and performance.
ED1.A6 Exhibit attitudes and behaviors that support educational achievement and performance.
ED1.A7 Show how your educational achievement and performance can expand your workplace options.
ED1.A8 Show how the ability to acquire and use information has affected your educational achievement
and performance.

Goal ED2 Participate in ongoing, lifelong learning experiences to enhance your ability to function
effectively in a diverse and changing economy.
ED2.A1 Show how lifelong learning is helping you function effectively in a diverse and changing
economy.
ED2.A2 Show how being a learner affects your identity.
ED2.A3 Demonstrate that you are an independent learner.
ED2.A4 Demonstrate the knowledge and skills necessary for transition from one learning level to the next (e.g., middle to high school, high school to postsecondary).
ED2.A5 Show how you are preparing to participate in ongoing learning experiences (e.g., two- and four- year colleges, technical schools, apprenticeships, the military, on-line courses, and on-the-job training).
ED2.A6 Demonstrate participation in specific education/training programs (e.g., high school career paths and courses, college majors, and apprenticeship programs) that help you function effectively in a diverse and changing economy.
ED2.A7 Demonstrate participation in informal learning experiences.

Domain 3: CAREER MANAGEMENT
Goal CM1 Create and manage a career plan that meets your career goals.
CM1.A1 Give examples of how you use career-planning strategies to attain your career goals.
CM1.A2 Develop a career plan to meet your career goals.
CM1.A3 Demonstrate actions taken to attain your short-term and long-term career goals (e.g., education, employment, and lifestyle goals).
CM1.A4 Demonstrate career management skills and personal traits (e.g., resiliency, self-efficacy, ability to identify trends and changes, and flexibility).
CM1.A5 Give examples of how changes in you and the world of work have caused you to adjust your career plans.

Goal CM2 Use a process of decision-making as one component of career development.
CM2.A1 Give examples of past decisions that demonstrate your decision-making style.
CM2.A2 Demonstrate the use of a decision-making model.
CM2.A3 Demonstrate use of information (e.g., about you, the economy, and education programs) in making decisions.
CM2.A4 Show how exploring options affected a decision you made.
CM2.A5 Show how personal priorities, culture, beliefs, and work values are reflected in your decisions.
CM2.A6 Give specific examples of how your education, work, and family experiences have influenced your decisions.
CM2.A7 Give specific examples of how biases and stereotypes affected your decisions.
CM2.A8 Give examples of times when chance played a role in your decision-making.
CM2.A9 Give examples of compromises you might have to make in career decision-making.

Goal CM3 Use accurate, current, and unbiased career information during career planning and management.
CM3.A1 Show how career information has been important in your plans and how it can be used in future plans.
CM3.A2 Demonstrate the ability to use different types of career information resources (i.e., occupational, educational, economic, and employment) to support career planning.
CM3.A3 Show how selected examples of career information are biased, out-of-date, incomplete, or inaccurate.
CM3.A4 Give examples of how occupational classification systems can be used in career planning.
CM3.A5 Demonstrate openness to considering occupations that you might view as nontraditional (i.e., relative to your gender, race, culture, or ability).
CM3.A6 Make decisions for yourself about being employed in a non-traditional occupation.

Goal CM4 Master academic, occupational, and general employability skills in order to obtain, create, maintain, and/or advance your employment.
CM4.A1 Demonstrate the ability to use your academic, occupational, and general employability skills to obtain or create, maintain, and advance your employment.
CM4.A2 Demonstrate the following job seeking skills: the ability to write a resume and cover letter, complete a job application, interview for a job, and find and pursue employment leads.
CM4.A3 Demonstrate attainment of general employability skills and personal qualities needed to be successful in school and employment (e.g., critical thinking, problem solving, resource, information, and technology management, interpersonal skills, honesty, and dependability).
CM4.A4 Show how your skills are transferable from one occupation to another.
CM4.A5 Make decisions for yourself regarding geographic mobility.
CM4.A6 Make decisions for yourself about self-employment.
CM4.A7 Demonstrate skills that show how you can market yourself in the workplace.

Goal CM5 Integrate changing employment trends, societal needs, and economic conditions into your career plans.
CM5.A1 Show how you are prepared to respond to changing societal needs in your career management.
CM5.A2 Show how you are prepared to respond to changing economic conditions in your career management.
CM5.A3Show how you are prepared to respond to changing employment trends in your career
management.