The MECA System®
A career exploration, career assessment and vocational assessment system related to training, education and employment.
The MECA System®
A career exploration, career assessment and vocational assessment system related to training, education and employment.
The MECA System is an age-appropriate transition, career exploration, career assessment and vocational assessment system related to training, education and employment. MECA is also a popular maker education system connecting hands-on projects to applied academics.
The MECA System is comprised of four unique parts, tied together by a comprehensive management system:
- Interest Indicator
- Work Samples
- Learning Assessment Programs
- Career Planners
The management system allows for a seamless program integration from interest testing to the assigning, delivery, benchmarking, tracking, and creating a transition IEP and a Summary of Performance. This eliminates the expensive and time-consuming activities of scoring and reporting results, and frees up the program administrator to help where needed.
Research-Based Effectiveness
Everything in our MECA System is evidence-based and built off of 40+ years of experience and tens of thousands of users, nothing else on the market comes close to Conover Online in terms of credibility and validity.
The Interest Indicator™
The Interest Indicator is an assessment of interests based upon personal likes and dislikes of general everyday activities.
- Assesses individual career interests
- Places users into areas of interest in the MECA® system
- Contains an audio option for individuals with limited reading skills
- Works with assistive technology devices such as touch screens, switches, screen readers and more
- Can be used by individuals with little or no work experience
- Links to Guide for Occupational Exploration (G.O.E.) and John Holland Scales® for access to O*Net and other occupational information systems
The assessment is delivered in a multimedia format with full audio.
The assessment is electronically scored and results are presented and thoroughly explained. The system correlates to most career information systems.
Activities related to the areas of highest interest are assigned and delivered.
Work Samples
The Work Samples are hands-on simulations of an actual part of a job. The Work Samples provide opportunities to try out jobs in a non-threatening way. Each career kit contains all of the tools, supplies and hardware needed to perform all activities. Each career area contains three Work Samples. This allows exposure to entry-level, mid-level and advanced-level job activities.
- Can be used in maker education programs linking hands-on projects to post-secondary careers
- Provides age-appropriate transition assessments
- Provides an opportunity to try out jobs in a non-threatening way
- Contains three Work Samples for each career area
- Takes about 30-40 minutes to complete each Work Sample, allowing users to experience some entry-level, mid-level and advanced-level job activities
- Contains all items necessary to administer the activity
- Uses quality hand tools from the workplace
- Presents each task with full video/audio
- Contains over 2000 video clips
The computer administers and then scores the Work Samples (time and quality). Work Samples take approximately 30-40 minutes to complete. Each job task is analyzed and broken down into very easy and understandable steps. Every step is presented through a video clip coupled with audio. If the video is too fast, the program can be slowed down by using the still image with audio and/or text options.
What Does a Work Sample Look Like?
Take a look! Here is a quick video walking through what a learner would experience using a MECA Work Sample.
Available Career Areas
Each career area contains all related hardware and quality hand tools, used in the three Work Samples. All items are packaged in a sturdy carrying case. Each MECA® kit is specifically designed to be portable and easy to administer and maintain. Extensive use of computer simulations keeps consumable supplies at a minimum. Supplies can be replaced locally.
Learning Assessment Programs™
How many times does a teacher hear a discouraged learner utter the question, “When am I ever going to need to use this information in the real world?” This can be a tough question for a teacher to answer. Learning Assessment Programs (LAPs) were designed to help create an academic course of study that directly relates to a learner’s post-secondary goals.
Each LAP demonstrates how math, communication, and problem solving skills relate to the actual demands of the workplace. There are three LAPs per career area with 12-15 job-specific assessments. Each assessment takes about 20-30 minutes to complete and includes full audio. Each LAP addresses entry-level, mid-level and more advancedlevel skill requirements for the job.
LAPs address the most challenging requirement of the special education law – the course of study needed to assist learners in developing and achieving their transition goals. LAPs are correlated to all 50 state content standards and the Common Core State Standards. This means you can now easily create annual academic goal statements related to each learner’s post-secondary goals and tie their goal statements to your state content standards or the Common Core State Standards, as well as ensure adequate yearly progress.
Available Career Areas
- Accountant
- Automotive Technology
- Biotechnology
- Building Maintenance
- Case Aide
- Commercial Fishing
- Computer-Aided Design
- Computer Applications
- Computer Graphics
- Construction Technology
- Cosmetology
- Custodial Housekeeping/Janitor
- Customer Service Representative
- Day Care Worker
- Dietetic Technician
- Digital Video Producer
- Distribution/Warehouse
- Doctor
- Electronics
- Emergency Medical Technician
- Entrepreneur
- Environmental Technician
- Fast Foods Worker
- Firefighter
- Food Service
- Graphic Design
- Health Care
- Heating,Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC)
- Home Health Aide
- Horticulture
- Manufacturing–Fabrication & Assembly
- Manufacturing–Small Parts Assembly
- Medical/Dental Assistant
- Medical Laboratory Specialist
- Medical Records Technician
- Multimedia Designer
- Nursing
- Office Technology
- Painter
- Performing Artist
- Physical/Occupational Therapist Assistant
- Police Officer
- Postal Worker
- Professional Athlete
- Quality Assurance
- Radiologic Technician
- Sales
- Security Guard
- Small Engines
- Taxi Driver
- Teacher Aide
- Telecommunications
- Telemarketer
- Truck Driver
- Vending Machine Operator
- Veterinary Assistant/Technician
- Welder
The Career Planner™
If users feel that a post-secondary goal is being forced onto them, resentment may result. It is vital that individuals are actively involved in mapping out their own post-secondary goals. Of course users must be provided with relevant information in order to set appropriate goals. The Career Planner provides information and planning activities for each occupation in the MECA® System, including:
- Job requirements
- Related jobs
- Related interests
- Physical demands
- Working conditions
- Academic/technical skills
- Where to obtain these skills
- Helpful high school courses
- Ways to get a job
- Licensing and certification
- Wages
- Job outlook
Career planning should be something that users get excited about since it revolves around their specific interests. If the process involves reading page after page of boring text, users will likely become overwhelmed and frustrated. The Career Planner was designed to hold interest through extensive use of pictures, video clips and limited use of text (4th – 5th grade reading/listening level), as well as full audio for low and non-readers.
After completing an occupation in The Career Planner, a simple questionnaire begins the “reality check” needed for creating appropriate post-secondary goals. The Career Planner creates a career portfolio or summary of performance, documenting post-secondary goals and setting a plan for achieving these goals.
Available Career Areas
- Accountant
- Automotive Technology
- Biotechnology
- Building Maintenance
- Case Aide
- Commercial Fishing
- Computer-Aided Design
- Computer Applications
- Computer Graphics
- Construction Technology
- Cosmetology
- Custodial Housekeeping/Janitor
- Customer Service Representative
- Day Care Worker
- Dietetic Technician
- Digital Video Producer
- Distribution/Warehouse
- Doctor
- Electronics
- Emergency Medical Technician
- Entrepreneur
- Environmental Technician
- Fast Foods Worker
- Firefighter
- Food Service
- Graphic Design
- Health Care
- Heating,Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC)
- Home Health Aide
- Horticulture
- Manufacturing–Fabrication & Assembly
- Manufacturing–Small Parts Assembly
- Medical/Dental Assistant
- Medical Laboratory Specialist
- Medical Records Technician
- Multimedia Designer
- Nursing
- Office Technology
- Painter
- Performing Artist
- Physical/Occupational Therapist Assistant
- Police Officer
- Postal Worker
- Professional Athlete
- Quality Assurance
- Radiologic Technician
- Sales
- Security Guard
- Small Engines
- Taxi Driver
- Teacher Aide
- Telecommunications
- Telemarketer
- Truck Driver
- Vending Machine Operator
- Veterinary Assistant/Technician
- Welder
MECA Success Stories
David Esparza is the District Wide Career Counselor at Socorro Independent School District in El Paso, TX! Hear David explain how he and his team have used MECA in their 18 middle school CTE programs for the past 15 years!
The Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) provides new opportunities to improve CTE and enable more flexibility for states to meet the unique needs of their learners, educators, and employers.
Opportunity Development Centers, Inc. is a great partner of ours. They have been using Conover Online for a couple of years with their clients to get them gainful employment.
We have helped over 13,000 organizations to help millions of people maximize their personal and professional success with our easy-to-use online assessment and skill building tools in Conover Online.