CTE Can Advance Every Student’s Future
Career and Technical Education is about exploration, not classification.
Make CTE Part of a Whole-Student Strategy
This isn’t your parents’ vocational ed. Twenty-first-century Career and Technical Education (CTE) creates clear connections between the academic world and a wide variety of exciting, fulfilling careers for all students. It should blend rigorous academics, hands-on experience, and career-aligned training, improving CCMR metrics across the board.
Thanks to its focus on transferable skills and real-world readiness, CTE provides students with exploration into high-wage, high-skill, in-demand careers, boosts enrollment at two-year colleges, and also supports general college readiness.
While ‘career-bound’ and ‘college-bound’ labels may offer guidance, they can also restrict how we view students’ unique journeys and potential. Almost every student will ultimately work, so districts should design their programs to help students backward map a combination of education and work experience toward thoughtfully selected career goals. Districts can help students inform those career goals with transparent information about the labor market, including demand, compensation, and long-term education requirements.
In Texas, schools choose from 56 approved programs of study, tailoring CTE offerings to regional needs and student aspirations.
Explore Career/CTE Resources
State and Federal Investments Offer Resources to Build What’s Next—Together, For Your Students
Perkins V
The Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) offers funds that can be used to develop and support CTE programs.
To be eligible for Perkins funding, local education agencies must complete a comprehensive local needs assessment (CLNA) every two years.
For more information on Perkins V, go here.
Local and Regional Partnerships
Schools and business leaders can combine their efforts to build robust CTE programs that fit students’ individual strengths and goals. Explore these resources to learn more:
- Rural Pathway Excellence Project (R-PEP) Guidance for rural school districts to enter into agreements with other school districts to develop rural college and career pathway partnerships with an opportunity to receive state funding.
- Texas Regional Pathways Network. A network of leaders across fields and industries working to create economic growth and ensure Texans have the skills to contribute to the future.
Deliver CTE With Precision, Fidelity, and Support
In CTE, fidelity isn’t a buzzword. It’s someone’s future.
Districts should ensure:
- A coherent sequence of courses that progress in rigor and tighten in focus
- Employer and inter-district partnerships to extend program offerings
- Hands-on experiences in work environments that build soft and hard skills
To do that, CTE programs should be designed with data, partnerships, and work-based learning (WBL) in mind.
DATA
Where are students going after graduation? What careers are they entering, and where? These insights help districts make smart decisions quickly and confidently.
PARTNERSHIPS
It would be difficult for a district to build a comprehensive CTE program in isolation. Pooling resources through partnerships with other districts and community members allows for optimized CTE programs and avoids duplicating work.
Finding veins of untapped talent is a key priority for recruiters. Employers want to apply their resources toward opening talent pipelines and improving the CTE process—and school systems should encourage them.
WORK-BASED LEARNING
Using work-based learning opportunities in CTE programs, where students earn as they learn, gives students access to high-value, hands-on experience and skill development. WBL affirms interest, builds skills—including employability skills like showing up on time—builds professional habits, and helps students develop a professional network.
Make CTE Part of a Whole-Student Strategy
Virtually all students will work as adults. We want to see them in work that is fulfilling and financially supportive. The quickest way to get there? CTE programs that connect to the rest of the student experience:
ACADEMICS
When principles of CTE are embedded in the core curriculum—highlighting real-world examples and applications of academic subjects—the campus transforms into a CTE hub where students can see their futures reflected in what they’re learning.
Placing dual-credit CTE courses within high school pathways is a good method of exposing students to what comes next. These courses help break down the mental barriers to college and the next post-graduation steps in life.
STUDENT FEEDBACK
Survey students to improve CTE program alignment—but at the same time, push them beyond what they already know and see around them. CTE should help students discover well-paying, lesser-known careers outside their immediate circles.
Informing students and families about well-paying careers that are predicted to grow can help students avoid getting stuck in traditional career paths that don’t pay well.
ADVISING
Bridge the divide between ‘college-bound’ and ‘career-bound’ by supporting CTE students in planning for degrees and credentials that build on their high school experience. At the same time, help students focused on advanced academics connect their coursework to real-world careers.
Districts should ensure forward-looking advising for CTE students that considers the most important questions:
- What are the stackable credentials that will serve this student as they progress through a career pathway?
- What institutions offer seamless transitions for students as they earn those credentials?
- Can they get that credential at their local community college, or do they need to pursue a four-year degree? What are the best four-year colleges for that field?
Invest in CTE, Reap Long-Term District and Community Rewards
High-quality CTE is beneficial for students, and it’s also a strategic move for districts. Programs that align to high-wage, high-growth careers achieve three benefits simultaneously:
- Driving CCMR Outcomes Bonus funding and weighted CTE funding
- Improving employment and quality of life outcomes for students
- Supporting local economic growth and workforce development
To Move Forward, Look Both Ways
Forward
Districts should consider future factors when designing CTE programs, such as likely fluctuations in regional labor markets, industry shifts, and new technologies. Districts that align CTE to high-wage, in-demand, and high-growth careers will see the greatest benefit with CCMR.
Insights about regional in-demand careers can be gained through partnering with local community colleges, helping build consistency with employer relationships and higher education pathways. Texas districts are required to have a CTE Advisory Committee and should consider developing their committee in partnership with other districts and colleges in the region to foster innovation and collaboration. TEA provides robust labor-market information through the bi-annual Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment (CLNA) process. Completing the process in partnership with other districts and colleges in your region will help inform strategic programmatic decisions.
- Strong CTE programs lead to greater employment rates in careers students are likely to persist in.
- Student success through CTE feeds district CCMR Outcomes Bonus and weighted funding success, creating a feedback loop that allows for continual reinvestment in CTE programs.
Back
The past is equally important, however. Use longitudinal employer data to gain a clear sense of CTE program effectiveness, make improvements, and ensure that CTE investments lead to real opportunity:
- Are students going on to use what they learned in CTE?
- Are they earning a high wage?
- Do employers find value in what students have to offer?
- Are students adequately prepared for the jobs they’re pursuing?
- Do students have soft skills that support their communication, teamwork, problem-solving, and leadership abilities?
The future belongs to the students we prepare today. When we treat CTE as a high-impact strategy for all learners, we elevate student agency, community prosperity, and district success.
