Achieve today released two reports highlighting state policies and leadership in CTE in Ohio and Massachusetts. The reports detail promising initiatives and best practices in the two states that have led to improved graduation rates and student achievement through CTE, including ACTE Educational Institution Member Auburn Career Center!
The report on Ohio’s CTE programs, “Seizing the Future: How Ohio’s Career-Technical Education Programs Fuse Academic Rigor and Real-World Experiences to Prepare Students for College and Careers,” begins by noting the enormous strides that the state’s CTE programs have taken in recent years. By making changes to their CTE programs like shifting accountability measures, working to align programs with the local economy and continuously working to update technical content standards, the state has turned CTE from a last resort for struggling students to a magnet for high-flyers. In addition, the schools highlighted in the report have worked with local businesses to create work based learning opportunities that give students the chance to put their knowledge and skills to the test (and even helped some students graduate with a job)!
In addition, the report on Massachusetts’ CTE system, “Best of Both Worlds: How Massachusetts Vocational Schools are Preparing Students for College and Careers,” highlights the ways that schools are successfully preparing students to accomplish their goals in postsecondary education and the workforce through CTE. For many years, the state’s educational institutions siloed CTE and academic students into different classes and curricula – however, the tides have since turned to focus on integrating the two to the benefit of all students. In addition, the state has prioritized career and guidance counseling, real-world learning opportunities and continuous involvement of district leaders and schools to ensure maintenance of academic rigor. These changes among the state’s vocational institutions have improved their student’s outcomes academically, and opened new doors to careers. Kyle Brenner, director of career and technical programs at Worcester Tech, states in the report, “Who are we to tell them they can’t [go to college]... The way I see it is, we’re giving you a key to each one of those doors.”
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