A set of career cluster standards was developed for the school-to-careers division of a large urban school district that is moving toward a career academy model for high school education. The process used to develop the standard was based on a standards development model consisting of the following stages: synthesis; collection of input; and validation. In the synthesis stage, career content skills analyses developed by local community college faculty were reviewed along with related industry skills standards and existing national and state standards. General employability and career-specific standards that had been well validated and developed through broad-based, inclusive processes that included industry were emphasized. Next, input was collected from educators and industry through focus groups and a review of the draft standards. During a weeklong summer institute, more than 70 high school teachers reviewed, discussed, and provided input into the standards for their career cluster. In the validation stage, nearly 300 local educators and industry representatives participated in a written survey as an initial validation of the revised standards. The standards format included the following types/levels of standards: employability skill standards; technical content standards; and academic standards. Standards were developed for 12 career clusters and subjected to external validation. (Contains 16 tables/figures.) (MN)