States are using program approval and review processes to develop programs of study and career pathways aligned with postsecondary and labor market opportunities, as described in a new brief from Advance CTE, developed through the New Skills for Youth initiative.
Raising the Bar: State Strategies for Developing and Approving High-quality Career Pathways provides a detailed account of Tennessee’s state-driven, multi-faceted course revision initiative, including reviewing existing programs of study, updating standards and identifying industry assessments. This has resulted in the discontinuation of nearly 100 courses in recent years that were determined to be duplicative, low quality and/or not aligned with labor market demand, meaning districts could no longer offer these courses. In their stead, new and revised courses were created, programs of study were organized into four-course sequences and the state developed a list of approved industry certifications. Programs must annually prove their postsecondary and labor market connections to continue.
Alternately, New Jersey, which is locally driven, has used its program of study approval criteria as the basis of a review process in which districts submit information and data on their programs of study through an online application system. And Delaware offers both state-developed and locally driven options.
Additional examples and recommendations can be found at https://careertech.org/resource/raising-the-bar.
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