Counseling expert V. Scott H. Solberg introduces a new paradigm and framework for career development focused on teaching skills that all students need to set long-term goals and experience post-secondary success. Based on nearly a decade of research and technical assistance in schools, the book shows how educators can leverage the use of individual learning plans (ILPs) to help students identify their interests and create their own career pathways using resources inside and outside of school.

In Making School Relevant with Individualized Learning Plans, Solberg argues that the most effective career development is delivered using a multiyear whole-school approach led by caring advisors and other mentors, combined with the use of readily available online tools and resources. Core chapters provide examples of specific activities and resources that advisors and others can draw on for helping students develop three critical skill sets: self‐exploration, career exploration, and career planning and self‐management, which are needed to succeed in the world of work.

This book will help educators and youth development leaders understand how ILPs prepare their youth to become college- and career-ready and thereby transition from high school with the competencies and drive necessary to pursue their career and life goals.
About the Author: V. Scott H. Solberg, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Counseling and Applied Human Development at Boston University's Wheelock College of Education and Human Development. For over twelve years, Solberg has studied the nature and value of individualized learning plans. After launching Success Highways, a resiliency curriculum used in schools throughout the United States, Solberg became interested in ILPs while directing an online career information system (WisCareers) and leading an effort to localize it for Singapore (ecgcareers). Solberg has been fortunate to learn about ILPs from a number of state leaders, districts, and schools both in the United States and internationally, and has developed a number of ILP-related toolkits, briefs, and policy recommendations. When he takes a break from what his family describes as "always sitting around and writing on the computer," Solberg enjoys traveling with his wonderful wife and three amazing children and savoring the ocean air from his back porch in Marblehead, Massachusetts.