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Burlington board approves annual district career and academic plan, highlights Xello career-planning platform
Summary
The Burlington Community School District board approved its annual District Career and Academic Plan (DCAP) after a presentation describing a year-by-year career planning process that uses the Xello online platform to build student four‑year plans, career research, and postsecondary pathways.
The Burlington Community School District board on May 19 approved the district's annual District Career and Academic Plan, a required, year-by-year program the district uses to guide middle- and high-school students through career exploration, course sequencing and postsecondary planning.
Superintendent Bridal Johnson introduced the item and turned the presentation to Brian, a district staff member who described the plan and the district's use of Xello, an online career-planning tool that the district adopted in recent years. Brian said the DCAP is "a living document" reviewed each spring, and that the district is building student portfolios and four-year course plans that teachers and counselors can access.
In a detailed online demonstration, Brian showed how Xello pulls a student's transcript, identifies missing graduation requirements, displays recommended course sequences and prerequisites, and generates career matches and education pathways. He demonstrated how students can view day‑in‑the‑life interviews, salary data by state and lists of colleges that offer related degrees. He said students' Xello accounts can be retained over time and shared with employers, colleges or scholarship committees.
Board members asked how students access Xello and where in the schedule the work occurs. Brian said eighth graders begin the planning work during career classes and the district uses advisory time and some CTE classes in high school to continue the work. He explained that Xello exports course-request data into a CSV file the district imports into its student information system to help produce master schedules.
Board members also asked about data currency for salaries and program listings. Brian said Xello pulls from multiple databases and refreshes periodically (he said he believed updates were roughly yearly) and that the district can add more concurrent-enrollment course listings for area community college (SCC) offerings over time.
After questions, the board voted to approve the DCAP for 2024' 25. The superintendent and district staff said they will keep refining course lists and integrating more SCC concurrent-enrollment options in future updates.
The approval includes continuing the district's emphasis on career exploration beginning in eighth grade and the district's plan to expand integration of Xello into advisory, career classes and selected CTE coursework.
Looking ahead, staff said they will continue teacher and counselor training on Xello, add additional SCC concurrent-enrollment entries, and monitor student and counselor feedback to refine timelines and implementation.
