AchieveTexas
College and Career Initiative: New
CTE Courses and Programs of Study
Dr. Karen L. Alexander
karen.alexander@ttu.edu
Copyright © Texas Education Agency 2010. All rights reserved.
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Why is Career
Planning important?
Profound social and economic changes have
significant implications for our education
system:
– Rapid change and technological advancements
– More flexible and complex job market
– More individual freedom to choose jobs
Career seeking and change lasts a lifetime
Individuals’ values and beliefs sometimes
change
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Career Planning…
Helps students find and use information
Helps students make career
connections
Is essential in creating and managing a
career plan or program of study
Guides students through school years
and beyond
Prepares students for successful
transitions (postsecondary and careers)
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3
Career Planning…
Essential process in the understanding
and selection of career clusters
Helps students connect the pieces of
the puzzle
– Self assessment
– Career exploration
– Decision making
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Organizing
Components
Created around 16 career clusters
Improve learner achievement – both
academic and technical
Promote successful transitions from
secondary to postsecondary education
Support workforce and economic
development
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Based upon the…
Concept - Students can succeed in school,
career, and life if they plan their own
individual college and career success.
Philosophy - No career option is intrinsically
better than the other. Whether the choice is
right or not depends on the personal goals of
the student.
Goal - Prepare students for college and
career, and allow them to choose the options
that are best for them.
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Programs of Study
Require a career development
framework that spans all grades, P-20,
and beyond.
– The American School Counselor
Association has indicated that the
elementary school years is a period
appropriate for a child to begin developing
awareness of self and careers.
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Steps to Success
Career Development Spans All Grades
Employment: Career Advancement
Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning
Postsecondary: Career Preparation
Achieving credentials: college, certification, apprenticeship, military
9-12: Programs of Study Related to a Career Goal
Academics and technical courses, intensive guidance, individual graduation plans
Grade 8: Career Exploration and Transition
Develop a graduation plan based upon personal/cluster interests
6-8: Initial Career Exploration
Discovering interest areas
K-5: Understanding the Importance and Value of Work and Jobs
Introduction to the world of careers
Implementing
Programs of Study
Aligned with rigorous academic standards and student
achievement standards.
Include Academic and CTE content in a coordinated,
non-duplicative progression of courses.
Relevant and challenging at the secondary and
postsecondary level.
Lead to employment in high skill, high wage, or high
demand occupations.
Offer opportunities for dual credit.
Lead to a degree, certificate, or credential.
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Programs of Study
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New Features
Specific POS career goal
is listed first and in bold.
Related career goals are
listed with the assigned
O*NET Code.
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New Features
Districts can list courses
offered for high school
credit at the 8th grade,
such as Algebra I.
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New Features
Core Courses reflect
changes resulting
from House Bill 3.
Career-Related
Electives reflect
approved CTE
courses resulting
from the TEKS
revision process. All
POS are based upon
the Recommended
High School
Graduation Program
and can be adapted
for the Distinguished
Achievement
Program (DAP).
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New Features
Section added for
student identification.
This cell can be edited
to meet the needs of the
local district.
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New Features
Career and Technical Student
Organizations (CTSOs) have
hotlinks to take students to the
organization’s website. CTSOs
are curricular organizations
supporting the related CTE
courses.
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New Features
Districts may customize this
section by listing all of the
college credit opportunities
available on the local level
while students are enrolled in
high school.
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Implementation
Guide
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Building the
Initiative
1. Decide to implement AchieveTexas
2. Span all grades
3. Add Texas Achievement Plans
4. Enhance guidance and counseling
5. Build seamless connections
6. Establish extended learning
7. Build strong partnerships
8. Support intense professional development
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Where to Begin
with Revisions
Get organized
Produce DRAFT documents (POS)
Stakeholder feedback and buy in
Revise documents as needed
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Getting Organized
Print course TEKS and place in notebooks.
Print TEA’s crosswalks and sequences.
– Place them in notebook with their cluster
Review new Programs of Study on AchieveTexas website.
Develop spreadsheet that includes your list of current
courses with grade levels and credits with columns to
make district specific choices.
– From the TEA documents you will need to find what new courses
are replacing the old ones and which grade levels and credits
TEA is recommending.
Select the courses you wish to include in each Career
Cluster.
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Locating
Resources
Career Clusters Interest Inventory
http://www.careerclusters.org/
New TEKS, Course Crosswalks, and Recommended
Sequences (Text version)
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=5415
New Programs of Study
http://www.achievetexas.org/POS_Covers.htm
Scope and Sequence for courses will be available on the
websites of the three EE grant holders (by cluster)
Texas A&M - http://tea.im.tamu.edu/
UNT - http://cte.unt.edu/
SFA - http://www.cte.sfasu.edu/index.shtml
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Produce DRAFT of
Documents
Present recommendations to the School
Board, teachers, parents, stakeholders,
etc.
– Course List mentioned previously
– Sequence Chart
– Chart showing sequences for each cluster.
• This includes a named pathway and a four
years of suggested courses at all ability levels
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Stakeholder Buy-In
Present documents for discussion/
additions/subtractions to:
• Teachers in each Cluster group
• Advisory Board – including Post Secondary,
Business leaders, and Tech Prep
• Administration
• Director of Counseling
• Curriculum Director
• Counselors
• Core Teachers
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Revise Documents
Revise based on stakeholder feedback.
Prepare and present CTE New Course
Alignment in a School Board
presentation notebook.
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Next Steps…
Begin work on Course Catalog
Teachers begin vertical and horizontal
alignment with course specific TEKS
Determine available resources for teachers:
i.e. textbooks, software
Create Counselor notebooks, Special
Education ESL/LEP guidance notebook
Create Middle School and High School
documents
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Principles Course
Introductory course in all career clusters
Any certified CTE teacher for that
cluster can teach the course
Can be taught at the 8th grade for 9th
grade credit
• Used in a coherent sequence
• Not available for weighted funding at 8th
grade
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A Few Other
Points
Tech Apps requirement may be gone, but can
still be required locally.
Business Information Management I (BIM I) can
be added to any coherent sequence.
Use the Course Crosswalk to transition
students to the new POS.
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Recent SBOE
Decisions
The agency is preparing correspondence for districts
with a set of Frequently Asked Questions to further
explain the changes and related issues.
Detailed information regarding these changes will be
shared as soon as possible.
Please visit the following website in the coming
weeks to access updated information regarding the
graduation requirements:
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/graduation.aspx
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With Programs of
Study…
We can promote college and career readiness.
We can better inform parents of opportunities for
their students.
We have an opportunity to impact ALL students.
We can improve the coordination between core
and career-related electives.
ALL students will benefit from a focus on
academic and technical skills.
ALL students can focus their future.
Copyright © Texas Education Agency 2010. All rights reserved.
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AchieveTexas
Product Update
Spanish College and
Career Planning Guide
Best Practices Guide for
Local Implementation
February 2010
Both available for order
and in e-zine format on
the website,
www.achievetexas.org
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February TETN
AchieveTexas College and Career Initiative:
Best Practices for Local Implementation
2/25/10, 10:00 am to 12:30 pm
This session will highlight the new resource
guide highlighting best practices for local
implementation. Local districts highlighted in
the guide will be available to share ideas and
answer questions.
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