What Makes Magellan the Motivator?

Today there is great pressure to make certain that students pass state competency tests. This is the high-stakes version of the age-old problem of getting students to care about school and their futures. The solution has been known to good teachers for a long time.
The solution is to get students fired up and motivated about their futures. That means making the connection between academic performance and finding a “good job.” But how do kids find out what a “good job” is? What awareness do they have of what’s out there in the real world? Oftentimes, it’s not much, and it makes students question the school experience.
It’s one thing to tell students that they have to prepare and pass a high-stakes test, but it’s another for them to discover for themselves why it’s important. Once students make the discovery and zero in on real career choices, they will be motivated, and they will work harder.
One of the most important aspects of developing the connection between the academic arena and the real world is to be an active participant in the process. Magellan requires each individual to do just that. Students don’t simply answer an interest questionnaire and get a long, computer-generated report that lists arbitrary job choices nicely backed up by meaningless gobbledygook and pretty bar graphs.
Instead, they have access to eight assessments, each concentrating on specific real-world job skills. With each assessment, a student will learn about these skills, learn why they are important, learn how they relate to specific jobs, and learn his or her own level for each skill. The student uses this new knowledge to explore a database of over 1000 careers to find his or her top picks. Many sources of information are available in Magellan, from wage data and job descriptions to four-year study plans and on-line video clips, all of which help the student discover exciting career options and develop the motivation to succeed.
Magellan provides many levels of motivation. A young student who is intrigued by a particular career can discover what it’s all about and come away from Magellan with a realistic four-year study plan. A student who wants to drop out because truck driving can pay big money now will discover that you need certain skills to succeed in that job and the best place to get them may just be in school. A student who dreams of flying airplanes will discover that there is more to it than sitting in a cockpit and moving a little stick around. Magellan can provide the motivation to get down to brass tacks or the wake up call to try something else.
That’s why Magellan is the Motivator — it can open a kid’s eyes to the realities of the workplace, and it can be a tool of personal discovery, leading to opportunities never dreamed of. It makes the connection between school and the future.

Coming Soon! Version 5.0

Higher Student Interest =

Higher Student Motivation =

Higher Competency Scores

What's the secret to increasing student interest?
When your students know what they want to do to earn a living — when they discover for themselves viable job options, their motivation and interest in learning will rise dramatically.

How will students discover their options?

Through serious exploration — not just one of those simple interest surveys. Your students deserve the best in career assessment. Give them...

A Career Assessment Program from Valpar

Coming Soon! Version 5.0

Winner of the Curriculum Administrator Districts' Choice Award - Top 100 Products

Magellan is being used as an integral part of a National award winning program in Texas.

Magellan also can be used successfully in Special Education Programs — Helps develop Transition Plans and I.E.P.s that are meaningful to students and parents — easy and fun for teachers!

Check Out These Great Features...

Self-directed, personalized, performance-based assessment
Eight different assessments and surveys
On-line video clips
Two pictorial interest surveys with audio
Links to 4-year schedule of classes
Internet HotLinks
Custom activity plans
Optional, ready-to-go curriculum and video components available
Use throughout a student’s middle and high school years
A great tool for Transition Planning

Flexible to individual student needs • Flexible to time demands • Cool look and fun activities your students will enjoy doing • Integrate with academics • Use to develop goals and objectives • Teacher control over student-generated reports • Eight assessments including Interests, Aptitudes, and Temperaments • Pictorial Interest Surveys with sound • Cross-referenced to Enter Here Videos, Delphi Career Videos, and Vocational Biographies.

Optional complete curriculum with nine sessions of career planning • Lesson plans linked with computerized assessment • Curriculum guides students through self-knowledge and exploration of careers.

THE ASSESSMENTS

The essential ingredient in Magellan that separates it from the pack is "career assessment". Assessment has been Valpar's business for over 25 years and we now bring this expertise to career exploration.

Magellan uses 8 assessments and surveys to measure 12 interest areas and 27 criterion-referenced factors based on the U.S. Department of Labor's "Revised Handbook for Analyzing Jobs." Magellan's academic skills assessment is based on Valpar's field-proven assessment software. Magellan's surveys delve into physical skill factors, temperaments, interaction with people and data, and time commitment. Two interest surveys round out the suite.

The results of each assessment are used to explore Magellan's database of over 1000 occupations, each described in terms of the 27 factors. Explorers can see occupations related to their own skills, abilities, and desires. Just as importantly, they can see how lack of a particular skill can affect career choices.

DATA SOURCES

The explorer's goal is to find 5 Top Picks in the database. The assessment and survey tools provide a powerful method of exploring the database and the data sources give the explorer the necessary information to make their picks. Magellan's data sources include:

Job Descriptions in task-list form
Interest Information from the U.S. DOL's "Guide for Occupational Exploration"
The Occupational Outlook Handbook
Wage and employment information for each state
On-line video clips
Curriculum information
875 Vocational Biography career stories
100 Enter Here® career videos
Delphi Productions' Careers for the 21st Century Video Library® - covers 170 occupations
Delphi Productions' Emerging Careers Video Library™ - covers 30 occupations
Internet HotLinks
Your school's class schedules

READY to GO

Like Ferdinand Magellan, Valpar's Magellan is ready to go:

It can run on one computer or a network
It can be self-directed, requiring little or no counselor intervention
It is easily configured to provide a fixed sequence of activities
Optional courseware is available, providing ready-to-use class curriculum (available in EZ Reading version)
It can be used throughout a student's school career.

Magellan is very affordable. Call for pricing.

There are NO annual licensing fees. Magellan is also available bundled with Vocational Biographies and Delphi Videos at special discounted prices. (Ask about our Gold and Silver Explorer Series discount packages.)