ACT DISCOVER : Internet Version : What's New

1. Middle School Grade Levels added to DISCOVER

We have updated the Internet version of DISCOVER to now serve everyone from grade 5 through adult. You will see new options under the question "Which of these best describe you?"

The Inventories are designed for people with sufficient maturity. The Interest Inventory can be administered to grades 6 and up. The Abilities Inventory is appropriate for grades 8 and up. The Values Inventory is designed for grades 9 and up. Therefore, the option the user selects when logging on the first time determines which inventories the user will see in the Inventories section. People in grade 5 or below are welcome to use the World-of-Work Map to learn about occupations, but there are no inventories in DISCOVER for people in that age group.

Last year, a summary written at the 5th grade reading level was added for all occupations. This year more features have been added to provide additional assistance for younger users. Those in grades 8 and below will see more information about how their education level choice impacts their career options. They will see additional information about the six career clusters because selecting a career cluster is an appropriate developmental task for middle school students. The Course Planner includes an explanation of some terms that younger students need to learn when planning their high school courses, such as "prerequisites."

As these changes were made, the reports available for staff have been improved to better reflect the type of students served at your institution.

2. Occupational Information Updated

For all occupations, salary information was revised based on data from the Economic Research Institute (ERI), the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the National Association of Colleges and Employers, labor unions, and a variety of other sources. The numbers of workers in each occupation were also updated.

Check out our new Hot Occupations lists for Highest Salary, Fastest Growing, and Largest Number of New Openings. The data used reflect the number of workers during the year 2008 and were released in May 2009 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Current mail and web addresses were obtained for all associations listed in the section titled "More Information."

3. Schools Information Updated

Schools respond to a questionnaire to provide us with their information for the Schools section of the program. A major revision to the questionnaire was completed this year, allowing more schools to respond and enhancing the accuracy of the data. We are confident that the data is better then ever!

The number of schools in each file is:

Undergraduate	5894
Career/technical Schools	3767
Two-year Colleges	2814
Four-year Colleges	2169
Graduate Schools	1695
Schools Offering Distance Degree Programs	496

For all schools, web addresses were verified as of June 2009.

4. Resumes and Cover Letters Expanded

Based on feedback from our sites, we have increased the number of resume and cover letter samples provided. At the same time, all of the information in the Job Search section was revised and updated.

5. Other Information and Web Addresses Updated

Internships, Military Information, and all other information files have been reviewed and corrected as needed. Websites were checked and all web addresses in the program were valid as of June 2009.

6. Usage Report Time Extended

Due to the volume of extensive data required to produce a Usage Report, the data was previously retained for only 13 months. The time frame has been extended to 15 months so Site Administrators who forget to print usage reports before leaving for summer break will have a second chance in the fall. Please remember to print your usage reports in September, however, because usage data for June will be erased in October. (Note: User records are retained until you delete them. Usage data -- which identifies when a person used each part of DISCOVER -- is a different kind of data that is deleted after 15 months.)