To try to hasten the integration of higher-level academics into traditionally hands-on career and technical education courses, the National Governors Association鈥檚 Center for Best Practices is sending five states back to school.
The association announced last month that Arizona, Nebraska, New Jersey, Ohio, and Oklahoma will take part in what it鈥檚 calling a Career and Technical Education Policy Academy鈥攁 yearlong series of working field trips and self-evaluation sessions meant to help policymakers establish and work toward research-based standards for rigorous, modern CTE courses.
Alex Harris, a program director of the NGA center, said the academy, which also involves the Washington-based American Youth Policy Forum, is meant 鈥渢o accelerate the shift from the old vo-tech to the new CTE.鈥�
Mr. Harris said the academy is intended to show state leaders successful examples of CTE classes that have integrated disciplines such as geometry into classes such as construction. Those leaders can then answer criticism they have recently faced from CTE educators concerned that the hands-on aspects of their curriculum will be squeezed out, he added.
The first stop this month on the academy鈥檚 itinerary, which is financed by the Ford Motor Company Fund and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (the latter also underwrites some Education Week projects), is Sacramento, Calif., where small teams representing each state鈥檚 education, government, workforce, and business institutions will visit high schools that have successfully melded CTE and academics.
鈥淚 think there are more and more high schools that are seeking to connect both academic and career and technical education in a comprehensive program,鈥� said Gary Hoachlander, the president of ConnectEd: California Center for College and Careers, a Berkeley, Calif.-based nonprofit organization. But, he noted, CTE courses shouldn鈥檛 be the only ones changing. 鈥淚t鈥檚 also equally important to infuse application into the academic courses.鈥�
