Interest Explorer

An Overview
The Interest Explorer is a career guidance and counseling instrument designed to help students make wise educational and career-planning decisions about their futures. Specifically, it provides information about students' interests in 14 career areas that are directly linked to the most recent publications of the Department of Labor, including the Guide for Occupational Exploration (GOE). Using the GOE's system of organization, the career areas defined by the Interest Explorer were formed on the basis of similarity of work activities and educational requirements. The career areas are as follows:

Animals and Plants	Legal Services
Arts	Management and Administration
Business Services	Mechanical and Craft Technology
Computer Technology	Medical Sciences
Customer Services	Physical and Life Sciences and Mathematics
Educational and Social Services	Protective Services
Engineering Technology	Sales

The Interest Explorer consists of a number of activity-related statements. The statements are either career-related or related to a subject area or opportunity. The students read each statement and indicate the degree to which they would like to do the activity.

Two levels of the Interest Explorer are available. Level 1 is designed to be used with students in middle school and junior high (e.g., grade 8). When an interest inventory is given at this level, it is usually used to help students establish educational goals. Level 2 is designed to be used with students in high school and provides students with opportunities to do advanced career exploration.

Components

• Level 1 and Level 2 Survey Booklets contain the items of the Interest Explorer. Each booklet is reusable.
• The machine-scorable answer sheets used for ITBS (grade 8 only) and ITED testing contain a page for the responses to the Interest Explorer items.
• The Directions for Administration for the ITBS and ITED are designed to be used with either Level 1 or Level 2 of the Survey Booklets.
• The leaflet, A Message to Counselors, for use with the Interest Explorer, contains information on how to interpret score results.
• The Counseling Report, which can be ordered as part of the ITBS/ITED scoring services, provides Interest Explorer score results for each student along with achievement-score information.