(1)  The career and technical education standards for sixth through eighth grades are that each student will: 

(a) act as a responsible and contributing citizen and employee:

(i)  defend choices related to positive, safe, legal, and ethical behavior; and

(ii)  practice employability skills;

(b) apply appropriate academic and technical skills:

(i)  develop a product using oral, illustrative, or multimedia communications;

(ii)  compose well-organized written documents for the workplace;

(iii)  communicate mathematical data using charts, tables, and graphs; and

(iv)  integrate and translate scientific methods to technical data using oral, written, and multimedia communications;

(c) attend to personal health and financial well-being:

(i)  investigate the connection between work and financial well-being;

(ii)  identify how peers positively or negatively influence personal well-being; and

(iii)  develop a personal budget and savings plan;

(d) communicate clearly, effectively, and with reason:

(i)  apply employability skills to productively interact with all team members to accomplish group goals; and

(ii)  integrate a variety of multimedia applications to effectively organize and present information.

(e) consider the environmental, social and economic impacts of decisions:

(i)  evaluate peer behaviors and exhibit personal responsibility to promote personal and group safety in all environments; and

(ii)  identify personal protective equipment for workplace, classroom, and personal use, determining when and where it should be utilized;

(f) demonstrate creativity and innovation by developing or modifying an existing innovation to improve the workplace;

(g)  employ valid and reliable research strategies:

(i)  evaluate the accuracy, credibility, perspective, and relevance of information, media, data, and other resources;

(ii)  curate information from multiple sources to make meaningful connections and draw conclusions; and

(iii)  apply fair use and copyright laws;

(h)  utilize critical thinking to make sense of problems and persevere in solving them:

(i)  analyze trends to draw conclusions and explore solutions to problems;

(ii)  analyze and explain how individual behaviors influence processes and environments; and

(iii)  evaluate resources in testing and refining solutions to problems before asking for assistance;

(i)  model integrity, ethical leadership, and effective management:

(i)  examine the importance of professional ethics, cultural, and legal responsibilities of the workplace;

(ii)  evaluate alternative responses to workplace situations; and

(iii)  describe the diversity of workplace environments;

(j)  plan education and career path aligned to personal goals:

(i)  develop programs of study for various Career Pathways, examining outlook, salary, education, job duties, and lifestyle; and

(ii)  identify job opportunities, and organize and synthesize information about career skills and requirements for applications.

(k)  use technology to enhance productivity:

(i)  explain how scientific and technological changes impact specific careers; and

(ii)  describe the role of technology within a community in maintaining safe and healthy environments;

(l)  work productively in teams while using cultural/global competence:

(i)  evaluate local and global challenges; and

(ii)  evaluate diversity and inclusion language in documents and policies.