Career Technical Education Standards Released for Review and Comment

Posted by Gary Page on August 30, 2012 in Contributors, News | TechWire

The California Department of Education (CDE) is pleased to announce the release, for public review, of the newly revised draft Career Technical Education (CTE) Model Curriculum Standards. Education Code Section 51226 provides legal authority to develop the CTE standards and framework. This legislation requires the development and adoption of CTE standards that incorporate the integration of career technical and academic education no later than June 1, 2005. The CTE Model Curriculum Standards were adopted by the State Board of Education (SBE) on May 11, 2005. The standards, written for grades seven through twelve, specify learning goals in 58 career pathways organized around 15 industry sectors. Building on the previous CTE Standards, the revised draft standards were created with input from more than 300 representatives from business, industry, labor, postsecondary, and secondary education and reviewed by others in the education community. The draft standards are written to demand high quality coursework for students to complete on their way to a future career and are aligned with the Common Core State Standards in English-Language Arts and mathematics. They are also a component of Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson’s Career Readiness Initiative. The standards are rigorous, evidence-based, relevant and reasonable in scope. They offer clear guidelines for course content development and expectations for student achievement.

To download, review, and provide input on the standards visit the CTE Standards webpage. Public hearings will be conducted September 17, 2012 in Los Angeles and September 19, 2012 in Sacramento with all public input concluding on September 19, 2012. It is anticipated that the revised draft standards will be presented for approval to the State Board of Education in January 2013.

About Gary Page

Gary Page is an Information Technology Consultant the with the California Department of Education. He is also the publisher of Ed Synergy, a blog that exists to provide information and support to classroom teachers and administrators in California who teach primarily in subjects related to information technology and computer science.