Overview

The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that 45 percent of all job openings in the economy through 2014 will be in skilled occupations like nursing, electricians, and automotive technicians. These jobs pay quite well, are increasingly technical, and cannot easily move offshore. And while a baccalaureate degree may not always be necessary, these jobs do require postsecondary training, industry certificates, and/or technical sophistication.

With the number of jobs that require both academic/technical skills as well as problem-solving and communication skills on the rise, today’s students need to graduate high school better prepared than their parents. Career technical education “programs of study” that begin in high school and extend through community college—and often into four-year degree programs—can help states respond to this looming challenge.

Half of all high school students enroll in at least one career technical education (or CTE) course—and 21 percent complete the four courses that comprise a typical program of study. Although CTE has always made the high school curriculum more relevant, it has struggled to provide sufficient rigor. In the latest report of 12th-grade mathematics scores, two-thirds of CTE concentrators scored below basic on the National Assessment of Education Progress. As a result, CTE has historically been viewed as a second-tier track that offers students few options and little preparation for the future.

And yet, modernized CTE programs demonstrate that combining complex technical courses with a challenging academic foundation can provide the skills demanded by 21st century jobs. Moreover, these more effective CTE courses engage and motivate students and lead to lower dropout rates, higher student achievement, and greater earnings for high school graduates. For states to realize the promise of CTE programs of study, technical courses should build upon an academic core that enables postsecondary admission, include a work-based learning component like an internship, and offer additional instruction and remediation in reading and mathematics.

Issue Brief: Retooling Career Technical Education
In 2007, the NGA Center for Best Practices released this Issue Brief which provides governors with strategies to capture the promise of CTE, if they:

• Connect education to economic growth industries;
• Use the bully pulpit to promote CTE;
• Include the skills employers demand in state standards, assessment, and accountability systems;
• Base CTE curricula around state standards;
• Improve the quality of CTE teaching;
• Design quality-control measures to promote more rigorous programs; and
• Improve transitions between high schools and postsecondary systems.

State policy can effectively address academic and economic needs by rethinking CTE programs. Governors in particular are uniquely positioned to improve the outcomes for both high school students and the workforce. They recognize that states seeking to harness the benefits of CTE must move from “random acts of progress” to a more integrated education and workforce system. Those that undertake this strategic approach can expect more engaged and persistent graduates who have added earning potential and are better prepared to enter high-paying, skilled occupations.

Policy Academy: Meeting Academic and Economic Need Through Career Technical Education
In September 2008, NGA awarded five states (Arizona, Nebraska, New Jersey, Ohio, and Oklahoma) with a grant to design more rigorous career technical education (CTE) programs. Governor-appointed teams of state executive, legislative, and administrative policymakers, as well as industry leaders, will work with national experts to identify specific goals and improvements to the CTE systems in their states and develop an appropriate action plan. (Also see: NGA news release)