The Future of CTE February 18, 2016

Career Readiness Career Ready is Postsecondary Ready! 2/3 of all jobs will soon require postsecondary education or training beyond high school. Pathways cannot be terminal in high school.

We Must End the Stigma Associated with CTE Schools must move away from the old paradigm that some students will enter the college prep track and others a less rigorous career prep track. MYTH: CTE students aren’t ready for rigorous, college preparatory academics. MYTH: CTE students lack ambition and aren’t high-achieving.

Stigma: Career Readiness Challenge Source: NASDCTEc’s 2015 survey of opinion leaders

Career Readiness Initiative Career readiness must be a priority for ALL students. CTE is a key lever for states but career readiness can’t be the exclusive responsibility of CTE. Business, workforce development, and higher education must be equal partners.

Career Readiness Initiative K-14 Business and Industry Workforce Development Postsecondary Education Career Readiness

CCSSO Task Force Recommendation #1 Align career pathways with the demands of the labor market; recruit business as a core partner Identify high-demand, high-skill industry sectors most important to the state’s economy and prioritize pathways within those sectors Ask business to define skills and use those to design courses and pathways Establish structured process for engaging employers ; this won’t happen organically

CCSSO Task Force Recommendation #2 Set a higher bar for the quality and rigor of career preparation programs Require that all career pathways culminate with a meaningful postsecondary degree or credential Dramatically expand work-based learning opportunities and strengthen career counseling for students Build the capacity of educators by recruiting industry professionals into schools and “up-skilling” existing teachers Use state funding and program approval processes to scale up the pathways in greatest demand and phase our programs that do not lead to credentials of value Raise the level of rigor by including both a college- ready academic core and a technical core

CCSSO Task Force Recommendation #3 Make career readiness matter to schools and students by prioritizing it in accountability systems Make it matter to schools: Measure career readiness and make it count in school rating and accountability systems Make it matter to students: Adapt graduation requirements and scholarship criteria to give students credit for meeting rigorous career readiness indicators

Career Readiness Vision Through deep and sustained cross-sector engagement, we will align K-14 career pathways and programs with the high-skill, high-demand needs of business and industry to better prepare students for success in college and the 21 st century world of work Employer Engagement Quality Career Pathways Accountability Systems

Career Readiness Vision All students, especially those in underserved communities, access high-quality, rigorous career-focused programs, including career pathways, that span secondary and postsecondary levels and results in attainment of credentials with labor market value. Pathways are demand driven, fully integrated in the K-12 system, include a strong academic core with high-quality technical instruction, provide robust career guidance and advisement to help students understand their career opportunities, and engage students in real world problem solving and experiences. Transformed system ensures that the state’s complete delivery system – schools, technology colleges, postsecondary institutions, business and industry, and workforce and economic development authorities – functions synergistically to fully support access, quality, and integration of services to all students. It aligns state and federal funding streams to support integrated delivery of services to students to and through high school. Transformed System of Career Preparation