DCAP Professional Development, Workshops and Consulting
Build a Meaningful District Career and Academic Plan
A strong District Career and Academic Plan is more than a required form. It is a districtwide plan for ensuring every student has meaningful, connected career and academic planning experiences.
ICAN offers flexible professional learning and customized support to help Iowa districts understand DCAP expectations, strengthen student engagement with Individual Career and Academic Plans (ICAPs), coordinate experiences across grade levels, engage staff and partners, and measure the impact of their work.
Choose from on-demand learning, an interactive virtual series, full-day district team workshops or tailored consulting.
While individuals can participate in many ICAN DCAP offerings, districts will see the greatest impact when counselors, administrators, teachers, career advisors and other team members engage in the work together.
Explore DCAP Courses and Services
Choose the Support That Meets Your Needs
On-Demand Learning
Build foundational knowledge independently or establish shared understanding across your district team.
Interactive Virtual Series
Apply DCAP concepts through four connected live sessions, district activities and collaborative planning.
In-Person Workshop
Bring your district team together for a full day of focused planning, guided discussion and expert feedback.
Tailored Consulting
Receive customized support based on your district’s current plan, goals, needs and implementation priorities.
On-Demand DCAP Learning
Build foundational knowledge at your own pace through ICAN’s DCAP Learning Library. Courses are designed to help individuals and district teams understand DCAP expectations, examine specific components and strengthen important areas of implementation.
Understanding DCAP: From Requirement to Student Success
Begin with a foundational overview of the purpose of the DCAP, its relationship to student ICAP experiences, state expectations, shared roles and the difference between isolated activities and a coordinated district plan.
DCAP Five Essentials
Explore the purpose and expectations of each essential DCAP component:
- Self-Understanding
- Career Information
- Career Exploration
- Postsecondary Exploration
- Career and Postsecondary Decision-Making
Participants who complete all five courses will earn the DCAP Five Essentials Certificate of Completion.
Additional On-Demand Courses
Additional courses help districts strengthen specific areas of their DCAP:
On-demand learning is ideal for individuals who are new to DCAP, district teams seeking a common foundation, and experienced staff who want to strengthen a specific part of their work.
Explore On-Demand DCAP Courses
Interactive Virtual DCAP Series
Beyond the Form: Building a Meaningful District Career and Academic Plan
Move beyond DCAP compliance to build a coordinated, student-centered approach. Across four connected virtual sessions, participants will map current experiences, strengthen student learning, establish shared ownership and identify meaningful measures of progress.
The series includes:
Session 1: Reframing the DCAP—From Requirement to Student Experience
Rethink the DCAP as a districtwide student-development plan. Explore its purpose, relationship to ICAP and the shared responsibility for creating meaningful career and academic planning experiences.
Session 2: Seeing the Whole System—Mapping What Students Already Experience
Identify career and academic planning already happening across your district. Map experiences across grade levels and begin recognizing gaps, duplication, access concerns and opportunities for stronger coordination.
Session 3: Designing for Meaning—From Completed Activities to Student Learning
Examine how DCAP and ICAP activities can move beyond completion requirements to help students reflect, apply their learning and make informed career, academic and postsecondary decisions.
Session 4: Building Shared Ownership and Measuring What Matters
Turn district ideas into a sustainable approach by clarifying responsibilities, building staff ownership, selecting meaningful measures and establishing practical next steps.
An Interactive Working Series
This is not a sequence of lecture-based webinars. Participants will actively engage through:
- Live polls and district self-assessments
- Guided individual and district-team activities
- Small-group discussions
- Case studies and district scenarios
- Collaborative planning tools
- Peer discussion and feedback
- Application to their own district’s work
District teams are encouraged to participate together, but individuals responsible for leading or supporting DCAP work are also welcome.
Between Sessions
Participants should plan for approximately 30 minutes to two hours of district application work between sessions.
Assignments may include district conversations, experience mapping, staff outreach, activity review and action planning. Each assignment contributes to a working implementation framework developed throughout the series.
Participants should plan to attend all four sessions because the learning and district work build from one session to the next.
View Virtual Series Details and Registration
In-Person District Team Workshops
Strengthening Your DCAP: A Hands-On Workshop for District Teams
Bring your district team together for a full-day, hands-on workshop to evaluate, build or strengthen your DCAP. Apply planning tools, receive expert feedback and leave with clear priorities and next steps.
Throughout the day, participants will:
- Explore the purpose and essential components of the DCAP
- Evaluate current district practices
- Participate in guided planning and team discussions
- Examine implementation strategies and best practices
- Use planning tools and templates
- Receive real-time feedback from ICAN
- Identify practical next steps for continued district work
This workshop is designed for cross-functional district teams that may include administrators, school counselors, teachers, career advisors, work-based learning coordinators, CTE educators and instructional leaders.
February 2027 Workshops
- Ankeny — February 10, 2027
- Hiawatha — February 24, 2027
View Workshop Details and Register
Tailored DCAP Consulting
Every district approaches career and academic planning from a different starting point. Your district may need to build a DCAP from the ground up, evaluate an existing plan, strengthen specific components, improve student engagement with ICAP or create greater staff ownership of the work.
ICAN’s tailored consulting program provides individualized support based on your district’s current plan, priorities and areas of need.
Consulting May Include
- Review and evaluation of the current DCAP
- Customized districtwide needs assessment
- DCAP expectations and component analysis
- Facilitated team reflection and discussion
- Goal-setting and measurement development
- Scope and sequence planning
- Plan development and drafting
- Communications planning
- Implementation barrier analysis
- Staff engagement and training support
- Community partnership development
The consulting process is designed as facilitated district work rather than a general presentation. Your team will actively evaluate current practices, establish priorities, define responsibilities and develop or revise its plan.
Base Consulting Package: $2,500
The base package includes five hours of virtual consulting with an ICAN facilitator.
Additional virtual consulting hours and on-site support can be added based on district needs.
Schedule an Informational Meeting
Which DCAP Option Is Right for You?
| If you want to… | Consider… |
|---|---|
| Learn the fundamentals of DCAP | On-Demand Learning |
| Understand a specific DCAP component | On-Demand Learning |
| Establish shared understanding among staff | On-Demand Learning or the Virtual Series |
| Apply concepts through a structured process | Interactive Virtual Series |
| Give your district team concentrated planning time | In-Person Workshop |
| Build or substantially revise your plan | In-Person Workshop or Tailored Consulting |
| Receive individualized evaluation and guidance | Tailored Consulting |
| Strengthen a specific area of implementation | On-Demand Learning or Tailored Consulting |
Begin Strengthening Your DCAP
ICAN can help your district move beyond completing a required form and build a coordinated plan that creates meaningful career and academic planning experiences for every student.
Visit the ICAN Training Portal to view current offerings, complete course descriptions, dates, pricing and registration options.
