IDEAS: Interest Determination, Exploration and Assessment System®

Interest Determination, Exploration and Assessment System® (IDEAS™) is a self-scored inventory that helps students and adults develop an awareness of possible career choices.

The IDEAS assessment is designed to be used in conjunction with career exploration and guidance units. The IDEAS inventory helps both students and adults develop an awareness of possible career choices. Ideal for the classroom, materials are self-contained for administration, scoring, and interpretation — usually within a single class period.

Benefits

• Familiarize students with careers and the world of work.
• Explore career paths that match their interests and aptitudes
• Develop an awareness of personal likes and dislikes that can have a bearing on career development and direction.
• The adult version of this inventory can be used with adults re-entering the job market to help identify interests for individuals with limited work experience and plan for a meaningful vocation upon retirement.

Features

The IDEAS test offers 16 basic scales based upon the widely-accepted RIASEC themes.

• The IDEAS workbook helps students develop their own profiles and action plans using
• Individual results can be understood with minimal interpretation by a teacher or counselor.
• Item topics include school subjects, occupational titles and activities at a 6th-grade reading level to help ensure that the inventory is relevant to students.
• The newly-revised Spanish version can be used to help reach a larger number of individuals.
• Norms are based on students in schools across the U.S., representing a variety of ethnic backgrounds.

Practical guidelines for career planners of all ages.

The IDEAS™ assessment is designed to be used in conjunction with career exploration and guidance units. The IDEAS inventory helps students and adults develop an awareness of possible career choices. The IDEAS test offers 16 Basic Scales based upon the widely-accepted RIASEC themes.

Ideal for the classroom, materials are self-contained for administration, scoring, and interpretation by students, usually within a single class period.

Teachers and counselors can use the IDEAS inventory with junior high, middle school, and high schools students in conjunction with career programs and guidance units to help students:

• Familiarize themselves with careers and the world of work
• Explore career paths that match their interests and aptitudes
• Explore higher education alternatives
• Plan their high school coursework
• Develop an awareness of personal likes and dislikes that can have a bearing on career development and direction

The adult version of the inventory can be used with adults re-entering the job market to help:

• Identify interests for individuals with limited work experience
• Plan for a meaningful vocation upon retirement

What It’s Best Used For

• Guiding classroom career exploration: Helping junior high, middle, and high school students familiarize themselves with the world of work.
• Planning academic coursework: Assisting students in selecting high school classes and evaluating higher education alternatives that align with their strengths.
• Supporting adult workforce re-entry: Identifying viable career paths for adults re-entering the job market who have limited prior work experience.
• Mapping retirement vocations: Helping aging adults plan for meaningful secondary careers, volunteer opportunities, or hobbies upon retirement.
• Facilitating low-overhead counseling: Providing self-contained, self-scoring workbooks that allow clients to map out action plans with minimal supervision.

Key Features

• Students use the IDEAS workbook to develop their own profiles and action plans.

The workbook also provides specific occupational information and references to the O*NET™ codes and the Occupational Outlook Handbook.

• Individual results usually can be understood with minimal interpretation by a teacher or counselor.
• Item topics include school subjects, occupational titles and activities at a 6th-grade reading level to help ensure that the inventory is relevant to students.
• The newly-revised Spanish version can be used to help reach a larger number of individuals.

Scales

The IDEAS test has 16 Basic Scales that are organized according to the widely accepted RIASEC themes:

Realistic: Mechanical/Fixing, Protective Services, Nature/Outdoors
Investigative: Mathematics, Science, Medical
Artistic: Creative Arts, Writing
Social: Community Service, Educating, Child Care
Enterprising: Public Speaking, Business, Sales
Conventional: Office Practices, Food Service

Psychometric Information

Norms for the IDEAS inventory are based on students in schools across the U.S., representing a variety of ethnic backgrounds. In addition to students, the female and male general reference samples used for the Career Assessment Inventory-Enhanced Version scale construction were used to represent adult data.

Ages / Grades – 13 years and older
Reading Level – 6th Grade
Administration Time – Approx. 35 minutes (128 items); Paper-and-pencil or computer administration
Scoring Options – self-scoring; Individual report
Qualification – Level A
Norms – Students across the U.S. with a variety of ethnic backgrounds

IDEAS Test Booklet includes instructions for self-scoring

Individuals score their own responses and record results on a profile grid. Combined gender norms are provided for use in comparing their scores with those of other individuals of their own age. Descriptive paragraphs and references to the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) and the Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) are also included in the test booklet. The IDEAS manual provides additional information about how to interpret an individual’s score based on the six RIASEC themes.

IDEAS Test Booklet, Adult Version, includes instructions for self-scoring

Hand Scoring – Administer assessments on answer sheets and score them quickly yourself with an answer key.

© Pearson Assessment, Inc.