A career academy is a small learning community within a high school, which selects a subset of students and teachers for a two-, three-, or four-year period. Students enter through a voluntary process; they must apply and be accepted, with parental knowledge and support. A career academy involves teachers from different subjects working together as a team. This team manages the program, with one member usually serving as the coordinator or lead teacher. One reason why growing numbers of states, districts, and high schools have decided to start career academies is that they have been found to be effective in improving students' performance. This document presents guidelines and resource materials to assist individuals in planning career academies. [For the previous edition, "Planning Guide for Career Academies" (2002), see ED473608.]