Career Readiness Curriculum

Career Readiness Curriculum - Two high school students work on a chemistry experimentFor the past 25 years, PYD has been running our Career Readiness program in Boston-area classrooms. Due to a high demand, our curriculum is now available for other teachers and schools that would like to implement it in their own classrooms.

PYD provides our “train-the-trainer” partners with the full curriculum, start-up training, ongoing support, and evaluation and technical assistance from PYD staff. Our pilot site, Boston Public Schools, has over 50 trained teachers and counting. Our national partners include:

  • Alabama Goodwill Industries in Birmingham, AL
  • Associates for Human Services in Taunton, MA – NEW
  • Aurora Mental Health Center in Aurora, CO
  • Berklee Institute for Arts Education and Special Needs in Boston, MA
  • Brookings County Youth Mentoring Program in Brookings, SD
  • Charles Hamilton Houston Foundation, Inc. in Durham, NC
  • Daymark Living in Waxahachie, TX
  • Excel Academy Charter Schools in East Boston, MA
  • Florida Atlantic University’s Center for Autism and Related Disabilities in Boca Raton, FL
  • Fairview Park City School District in Fairview Park, OH
  • Humanim, Inc. in Baltimore, MD
  • Lesley University Threshold Program in Cambridge, MA
  • Pretty Purposed in Petersburg, VA
  • The Mentor Coach Foundation in Wheaten, IL
  • Thompson Public Schools in North Grosvenor Dale, CT
  • Villanova University VUnited Scholars Program in Villanova, PA
  • Workplace Essentials and Beyond in Arlington, TX

The curriculum was designed using the principles of Universal Design for Learning, which include flexible goals, methods, materials, assessments, and accommodations for learning differences, allowing for the curriculum to be used in both inclusive and substantially separate special education classrooms.

Because of the inclusive nature of the curriculum, over the years it has been used with students with a wide range of disabilities including learning, intellectual, social emotional, physical, and sensory disabilities.

Curriculum details

Our curriculum includes 37 lessons (about 1 hour each), with a student workbook and teacher’s guide for each lesson. It covers such topics as:

  • Professional communication
  • Resumes, cover letters, and interviews
  • Stress management
  • How to be a good employee
  • Soft skills in the workplace
  • Disability disclosure
  • Financial responsibility & budgeting
  • Entrepreneurship

A media resource list is included with the curriculum. This list includes resources such as videos, interactive activities, worksheets, visuals, and more.

“Working with [PYD] helped me to connect my students with many more real world, authentic experiences. The curriculum helped me to redesign my units in my classes for students with a variety of skills so that all students were able to benefit. Although some of the lessons I used only as a guide, the ability to have an entire curriculum to access was extremely helpful in planning and developing lessons. With [PYD], I was more motivated to bring in partners such as East Boston Savings Bank, STRIVE, and Gear Up- to name a few. I will definitely continue to incorporate these lessons into my units every year.”

~Teacher at East Boston High School

Staff Contacts

Angela Ortiz headshot

Angela Ortiz

Director of Business Development and Strategy
She, Her, Hers

Phone: 617-556-4075 x100

Email: aortiz@pyd.org