How to Create a High-Quality CTE Program with Standards-Aligned Integrated Curriculum

A recent Hechinger Report revealed that the need for skilled workers is more critical than ever, stating, “Our country’s skills gap isn’t just hurting our energy infrastructure. It’s hurting our global competitiveness, our businesses and our communities.”  

Career learning programs pair core content with applied work-based learning, benefiting students by helping them transfer knowledge into real world applications. According to the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE), career learning programs engage students, reduce dropout rates, and promote on-time graduation rates. Advance CTE reports, “Since 2011, 80,000 jobs that require a high school diploma or less have been created, while 11.5 million careers for workers with some postsecondary education have been added.”

The national framework shared by ACTE in 2018 notes 12 elements present within a high-quality program. The first two elements, standards-aligned and integrated curriculum and sequencing and articulation, are critical to success in any classroom, particularly within CTE courses. The following guiding questions will help you assess your district program elements.  

Guiding Questions to Assess Aligned and Integration Curriculum

How are CTE standards aligned to certification programs?

The alignment to Industry Based Certifications (IBC) in each pathway provides a roadmap for all courses in the pathway – not just the advanced levels that will build the foundation and support stackable certification opportunities.  

How are work-based learning and employability skills incorporated into your courses?

Taking the program of study and embedding employability and work-based learning aligns expectations of the workforce as well as integrates the curriculum with content standards. Considering and developing a student’s four-year graduation plan should not just begin in high school – these conversations should happen as early as elementary school with employability skills incorporated into classes and courses.

What knowledge and skills can be integrated within core subject areas?

Pairing core classes with CTE courses, such as partnering geometry with construction technology, enhances the learning experience with interdisciplinary study and provides relevant learning needed for the workforce. As STEM programs expand, this integration should become second nature in planning across multiple subject areas.  

Guiding Questions to Assess Sequencing and Articulation

How is the CTE program of study sequenced and connected?  

A program of study should include articulation coordinated through collaboration with community and business partnerships, post-secondary institutions, and internally in grades K-12. Creating advisory groups, hosting annual stakeholder meetings, and encouraging curriculum collaboration between middle school and high school teachers will provide input to create sustainable career pathways and accelerate learning.

How does the CTE program allow for equitable access?  

A student-centered focus is paramount in planning and articulating a well-defined program of study. Planning for the inclusion and support for special populations and non-traditional roles addresses federal and state compliance while also developing a high-quality inclusive program. A well-documented course also ensures equity access with teachers benefiting from the same curriculum sequence and activities.  

What resources and support are available to teachers during planning?  

Every CTE teacher needs easy access to quality resources that are aligned to the courses and pathways.  Having singleton teachers within the building creates challenges for collaborating on course content and strategies. Capturing and cascading these ideas will assist new teachers in course development, lesson planning, and delivery of effective instruction.  

Meeting Workforce Demand with High Quality CTE

The retirement trend among baby-boomers has presented increased challenges to meet workforce demands. College and career readiness programs afford students the opportunity for post-secondary choices. Creating a high-quality CTE program with a standards-aligned curriculum that is well sequenced and articulated promotes student success and fills the skills and workforce gap we currently experience.  

Embarc (formerly BYOC) provides a standards-aligned, integrated platform to centralize resources and support a collaborative curriculum. Cardonex provides a patented master scheduling tool to ensure students have equitable access to their articulated program of study.  

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