In June 2022, the Illinois State Board of Education, Illinois Board of Higher Education, Illinois Community College Board, and the Illinois Student Assistance Commission passed legislation that requires Illinois public school districts to implement a Postsecondary and Career Expectations (PaCE) Framework in grades 6-12. 

The PaCE Framework strives to equip students with comprehensive information and essential skills to empower them to make well-informed decisions about their paths after high school. Illinois School Assistance Commission (ISAC) offers a benchmark framework, but each district has the flexibility to tailor and develop their own. 

The PaCE Framework is organized around three key areas:

• Career exploration and development
• Postsecondary education exploration, preparation, and selection
• Financial aid and literacy

Xello seamlessly aligns with the unique frameworks adopted across grades 6-12 and offers comprehensive support for Illinois students and educators and their individualized approach. 

“For us, Xello checks all the boxes. Xello fits in with our PaCE framework. It fits in with CCPE, CCRI, and it’s really important for our entire district because it is going to be on our school report card now with our career development stuff.”  Lisa Miller 

Takeaway 1: The PaCE framework is not a checklist, but a flexible guide for career development

The flexibility of the PaCE framework means that it is not a prescriptive checklist, but is designed to be adapted to fit the specific needs of individual school districts.

“PaCE is a framework, but it is absolutely not a checklist… It’s a schoolwide collaboration… it’s not something that you need to look at as something that has to be done. It’s something that is a great tool,” Lisa Miller, a school counselor at Cambridge High School, advised.

She also urged educators to take advantage of the flexibility offered by the PaCE framework, encouraging them not to “doubt yourself and your existing program.”

Takeaway 2: The importance of utilizing online programs to support college and career readiness

Underscored is the utility of online programs, like Xello, in supporting students to become college and career ready. Xello, a K-12 online future readiness program, is designed to support all students, irrespective of their background, ability, or pathway.

“Many of you are clients in various stages of implementation and we want to emphasize that Xello has just launched a new correlation guide – with more resources on the way – to better support you in meeting the PACE guidelines” elaborated Delfina Manocchio.

Takeaway 3: Customizable lessons that engage students and easy tracking for career development educators

The benefits of customizable lessons and easy tracking features for career development supports the flexibility Illinois districts need to service students and different curricula. In addition, the platform provides an easy way to track students’ progress, which allows those who support students able to make more data-driven decisions.

“Creating a custom lesson of your own is very simple… It’s just identifying the grade, the title, any prerequisites, and then putting in that content… And then adding any prerequisites that you wish,” Lisa points out.

They also emphasized the importance of lesson sequencing for PaCE and the availability of extensive support (with state-specific resources also found on Xello Support) for educators. 

Using Xello to Support PaCE Framework

Xello has career development lessons that fulfill the benchmarks of the PaCE Framework. These lessons can be entered in the framework by the year they were assigned. 

• Students can complete quarterly lessons independently in the classroom, as well as explore topics in more depth.
• Xello provides many ways to compile and collect data, which makes reporting data to the state much easier. 
• Teachers are using Xello to monitor students. “It’s very easy in Xello for the teachers to set up a group with their students. They will monitor that all quarterly lessons have been completed thoroughly, and they’re also going to start looking at CCRI data,” says Lisa. 
• Students enter the data that needs to be tracked in Xello, which makes reporting this information to the state and included on the report card very easy. 

“We use the Xello data often (e.g. saved clusters and careers) to identify students who are showing interests in a certain pathway so we can plan career and college fairs. Xello data also helps us support student IEPs (individual educational plans), ILPs (individual learning plans), and as well as those who are undecided so we can help them narrow down their interests.” Lisa Miller 

To Conclude

When new requirements are set by the state, it’s easy to become overwhelmed with yet another thing that needs to be done and reported on, but as Lisa says, “Don’t overthink it.” 

She encourages educators to think of PaCE as a guide, not as an assignment. “Don’t doubt your existing program. You already are doing so much of each benchmark! Don’t sweat it,” she says. 

Not yet on Xello and want to learn more about Xello in Illinois? Contact Us.