CTE College & Career Readiness

All students should graduate from high school ready for college and career. Career and Technical Education (CTE) is an education system that combines rigorous academic classes with industry-specific knowledge and skills to prepare students both for direct entry into industry sectors and post-secondary education. CTE programs offer students the opportunity to explore various career options and then put in place the classes and experiences they need to succeed in the career of their choice.

Expert Panel at Moving Forward Event, March 2019

Vera Jacobson and Tina Smith Presenting at the Move Forward event, March 2019

Networking at Moving Forward event, March 2019

Connect the Dots Networking Event, Sept. 26, 2018

National CTE Awareness Month

February is National Career and Technical Education (CTE) Awareness Month. Learn about the value of CTE and how you can support students in developing their skills and preparing for college and career:

Week One: The New World of Work

Week Two: Post-Secondary Education for All

Week Three: Career Exploration Begins with Self-Awareness

Week Four: Tips for Supporting Students

Keeping Up with CTE

In the past, the CTE Department produced a monthly online newsletter with the latest information, news, and opportunities to improve students' college and career readiness. View all of the published emails and subscribe to learn how to support students in having successful college and career experiences.

There are fifteen industry sectors identified by the California Department of Education. Click on the links below to learn more about each industry sector.
Below are the 11 anchor standards all students need to master in order to be successful in the CTE curriculum and in the workplace:
- Academics: Analyze and apply appropriate academic standards required for successful industry sector pathway completion leading to post secondary education and employment.
- Communications: Acquire and accurately use general academic and domain-specific words and phrases sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the (career and college) readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.
- Career Planning and Management: Speaking and listening standard: Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (eg. visually, quantitatively, orally) in order to make informed decisions and solve problems, evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source and noting any discrepancies among the data.
- Technology: Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products in response to ongoing feedback, including new arguments and information.
- Problem Solving and Critical Thinking: Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem, narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate, and synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
- Health and Safety: Determine the meaning of symbols, key words, and other domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context.
- Responsibility and Flexibility: Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
- Ethics and Legal Responsibility: Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives, synthesize comments, claims, and evidence made on all sides of an issue; resolve contradictions when possible; and determine what additional information or research is required to deepen the investigation or complete the work.
- Leadership and Teamwork: Work with peers to promote civil, democratic discussions and decision making; set clear goals and deadlines; and establish individual roles as needed.
- Technical Knowledge and Skill: Use technology, including the internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products in response to ongoing feedback, including new arguments or information.
- Demonstration and Application: Demonstrate and apply the knowledge and skills contained in the industry-sector anchor standards, pathway standards, and performance indicators in classroom, laboratory, and workplace settings, and the career technical student organization.
- Distance Learning Resources/Opportunities for Career Technical Education and to support Career Readiness - San Diego County Office of Education
- 11 Elements of High-Quality CTE: Overview
- 11 Elements of High-Quality CTE: Breakdown of 11 elements
- Creativity: The essential future job skill
- Making Power Skills Your Own: Also known as soft skills, this is how you can apply these skills
- Core Messages for Attracting Students to CTE
- 21st Century Skills Primary Attributes for Classroom and Digital Badging Assessment
- Who Do U Want 2B?: CTE Resource Kit

Flipping the College Decision-Making Paradigm

Traditionally, when students U.S. weigh their educational choices after high school, they consider the college they attend more important than the major they study and the career they choose. This helps us understand why many college students take a few semesters to settle on a major, why the U.S. has the largest college drop-out rate in the developed world, and why so many graduates end up in unfulfilling careers.

Get Focused...Stay Focused! is a program that helps students flip the college decision-making paradigm by helping them understand who they are, what they want, and how they are going to get it.