The following print publications relate to improving Career and Technical Education and Career Readiness. Publications are group by:
NY CTE Technical Assistance Center
The following publications from SPN and the CTE Technical Assistance Center, organized by topic.
Career and Technical Education
Career and Technical Education:An evidence-based dropout prevention strategy -- Findings indicate that dropout prevention efforts are resulting in positive impacts on students, which is especially important considering the cost of dropouts on both an individual and societal level. Further, we now have empirical evidence to support CTE as a key strategy in preventing high school dropouts.
Career-Technical Education for Education Administrators -- Career-Technical Education (CTE) courses and/or programs are available to a high percentage of middle and high school students. However, many school and district administrators are unfamiliar with CTE and may not be comfortable leading a CTE department. There are two primary reasons for this. First, most administrators followed a traditional, academic path during their professional career and have had little contact with CTE. Second, the administrator preparation programs in colleges offer little exposure to CTE programming.
Addressing the Dropout Prevention Challenge in the Age of the Corona Virus Pandemic: Effective Strategies to Keep Young People Engaged in Schooling and Learning-- The Covid-19 pandemic has created huge challenges for all levels of society. Schools and students have been affected dramatically, with school facilities closed and most instruction now on-line. Since we don’t know how long this crisis will last, or whether there may be a second or third wave and additional closures of schools, we need to start planning for a changed environment for education in the future. The on-line systems and lack of personal connections have created new concerns about high school dropouts.
Career Technical Education: Unique Professional Development -- This white paper examines the profile and professional development of Career-Technical Education (CTE) teachers. It will enable those connected to CTE such as administrators, academic teachers, counselors, students, employers, and parents to understand who CTE teachers are and how they are prepared.
Middle School Career Academies for College and Career Readiness: A Guide for Interdisciplinary Implementation --This is a description of the Newark Valley Middle School program with additional materials for moving toward a Career Academy structure in middle school. The document may be used to meet individual school and teacher needs in creating active and engaging student experiences for career development and exploration at middle level.
Student Assessment in Career and Technical Education -- Student assessment in Career and Technical Education (CTE), and in all disciplines, serves many important purposes. While rooted in demonstrating student proficiency, assessments are also used to measure the effectiveness of curricula, teaching practices, targeted supports, program design, and other aspects of the educational system. An example of an assessment strategy that can be used throughout a course to benchmark and assess growth in a student’s technical and literacy abilities is provided at the end of this paper.
Career and Technical Education: A Driving Force in School Improvement -- This white paper describes how the best high schools in America are creating stronger blueprints for success through the use of Career and Technical Education (CTE).: Model CTE programs are embracing their role in developing related academic skills and knowledge to improve student achievement.
The Convergence Imperative: Unifying Academics and Career and Technical Education -- Teaching for both academic rigor and CTE relevance is a win/win experience for all education stakeholders. The resulting convergence helps students improve their performance and assists in the transition to postsecondary education and careers.
Career Readiness
Career Readiness Self-Assessment Guide --This set of worksheets and directions with help school leaders self-assess the current level of career readiness in schools by systematically examining student learning results, school culture and instructional practices. The helps school leadership teams open important questions about student career readiness and adequately preparing students for their future.
Learning Criteria for College and Career Readiness -- This is an overview on how to expand student learning measures to achieve a more comprehensive view of student learning. When schools only use a few academic state tests to measure success they are limited in improving student career readiness. This framework challenges schools to rethink measures of student success to align with their beliefs as educators.
New York State High School Graduates: What Does It Mean to Be College and Career Ready? -- The Career and Technical Education Technical Assistance Center (CTE TAC) of New York takes a critical look at “college readiness” and “career readiness.” Are they one in the same? Recent developments have blurred this issue. While college readiness is widely accepted, the interpretation and application of career readiness would suggest different skill sets.
Career Readiness Is More than Career and Technical Education -- This white paper reviews the differences between career readiness and Career and Technical Education (CTE) and the role CTE plays in developing student career readiness.
Career Readiness Data Handbook: Measuring What Matters -- This handbook offers practical suggestions to teachers and administrators for using data to answer the twelve most common questions regarding student achievement in Career and Technical Education and reaching career readiness.
Life/Career Abilities
Life/Career Abilities Framework: Begin with the End in Mind -- Soft skills is the learning domain that contributes significantly to student career readiness and leads to future job success. To develop these abilities, schools should follow the “begin with the end in mind” approach. This framework helps educators define a list of life/career behaviors that can be observed.
Data Practices for Developing Life Career Abilities -- This is an introduction to one of the keys in developing Life/Career Abilities (soft skills and non-cognitive skills). Schools cannot fully improve practices in facilitating student’s development of these skills until staff begins to quantify and measure these essential behaviors.
Nurturing Student Development of Life/Career Abilities -- Life/career abilities cannot and should not be taught or tested in the same manner we handle other subjects. Using a nurturing approach is one way to define the teaching practices needed to develop students’ life/career abilities.
Literacy
Reading Skills and the Career Readiness -- This is an analysis of Lexile reading level of workplace documents and text giving teachers a target for reading comprehension needed in the workplace.
School Improvement
Differences Between Students’ and Teachers’ Perceptions of Their School Culture -- This is a summary of student and staff perceptions of learning using national data from SPN’s We Learn and We Teach perceptions surveys.
Focused on Student Success: A Five-Year Research Study of Models, Networks, and Policies to Support and Sustain Rigor and Relevance for ALL Students -- A Research Partnership of the Successful Practices Network, the Council of Chief State School Officers, the International Center for Leadership in Education, and the Quaglia Institute, this report describes the results of five years of research SPN led in 75 schools in 10 states. The factors that emerged from this research have contributed to a national understanding of what distinguishes model schools.
Leadership
Leadership for College and Career Readiness -- This white paper fully describes the ten essential leadership shifts necessary to support enhancing student career readiness in schools.
Overwhelm School Inertia -- This white paper shares leadership practices to Reshape School Culture to Truly Reflect College AND Career Readiness. As schools embrace the goal of preparing students for college and career, their leaders must engage in the task of reshaping school culture.
CTE Instructional Leadership - This is a PDF version of the iBook CTE Instructional Leadership which explores the unique challenges of instructional leadership for CTE programs in high school. The resource focuses on how leaders can use relationships and reflection to raise student achievement in technical and academic skills.
National Research
The Learning that Works Resource Center was developed through the New Skills for Youth initiative, a partnership of the Council of Chief State School Officers, Advance CTE and the Education Strategy Group, funded by JPMorgan Chase & Co.