Policy 6178 - Career Technical Education

Career technical education

The Board of Education desires to provide a comprehensive career technical education (CTE) program in grades 7-12 which integrates core academic instruction with technical and occupational instruction in order to increase student achievement, graduation rates, and readiness for postsecondary education and employment. The district’s CTE program shall be designed to help students develop the academic, career, and technical skills needed to succeed in a knowledge and skills-based economy. The program shall include a rigorous academic component and provide students with a strong experience and understanding of all aspects of an industry.

The district’s CTE program shall focus on preparing students to enter current or emerging high-skill, high-wage, and/or high-demand occupations. CTE opportunities may be offered through linked learning programs, partnership academies, apprenticeship programs or orientation to apprenticeships, regional occupational centers or programs, tech prep programs, charter schools, small learning communities, or other programs that expose students to career options while preparing them for future careers in a given industry or interest area.

The Board shall review and approve all district plans and applications for the use of state and/or federal funds supporting CTE.

The Board shall adopt district standards for CTE which meet or exceed the state’s model content standards and describe the essential knowledge and skills that students enrolled in these courses are expected to master. The course curriculum shall be aligned with district-adopted standards and the state’s curriculum framework.

At least every three years, the Board shall compare the district’s curriculum, course content, and course sequence of CTE with the model state curriculum standards.

The Superintendent of designee shall systemically review the district’s CTE classes to determine the degree to which each class may offer an alternative means for completing and receiving credit for specific portions of the course of study prescribed by the district for high school graduation. The Board shall ensure that these classes are equivalent in content and rigor to the courses prescribed for graduation.

The Superintendent or designee shall inform all secondary students and their parents/guardians about the CTE experiences available in the district, CTE courses that satisfy college admission criteria, and, if applicable, CTE courses that satisfy high school graduation requirements. In addition, secondary students shall receive individualized career guidance and academic counseling which provides information about academic and CTE opportunities related to the students’ career goals.

The Superintendent or designee shall develop partnerships with local businesses and industries to ensure course sequences, career technical and integrated curriculum, classroom instruction and projects, and assessments have real-world relevance and reflect labor market needs and priorities. He/she also shall work to develop connections with businesses, postsecondary institutions, community organizations, and/or employers to provide students with actual or simulated work-based learning opportunities.

The Superintendent or designee shall collaborate with postsecondary institutions to ensure that the district’s program is articulated with postsecondary programs in order to provide a sequential course of study. Articulation opportunities may include dual or concurrent enrollment in community college courses.

The Superintendent or designee shall ensure that teachers of CTE courses possess the qualifications and credentials necessary to teach their assigned courses. He/she also shall provide teachers and administrators with professional development designed to enhance their knowledge of standards-aligned CTE and shall provide opportunities for CTE teachers to collaborate with teachers of academic courses in the development and implementation of integrated curriculum models.

The Superintendent or designee shall provide counselors with professional development that includes, but is not limited to, information about current workforce needs and trends, requirements of the district’s CTE program, work experience opportunities, and postsecondary education and employment options following high school.

Upon written request from a nonprofit private school within the geographical area served by the district, the Superintendent or designee shall consult with private school representatives in a timely and meaningful manner and may provide for the participation of private school secondary students in the district’s programs and activities funded under the federal Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act. To the extent practicable, the Superintendent or designee also shall, upon request, permit participation of CTE teachers, administrators, and other personnel form private schools in the district’s in-service and pre-service professional development programs funded through the Perkins Act.

The district’s program shall provide equal access to and shall not unlawfully discriminate against students who are members of special populations. Special populations include, but are not limited to, students with disabilities; students from economically disadvantaged families, including foster youth; students preparing for nontraditional fields; single parents and single pregnant females; displaced homemakers; and students with limited English proficiency. Nontraditional fields include occupations or fields of work, including careers in computer science, technology, and other emerging high-skill occupations, for which individuals from one gender constitute less than 25 percent of the individuals employed in each such occupation or field of work.

Prior to the beginning of each school year, the Superintendent or designee shall advise students, parents/guardians, employees, and the general public that all CTE opportunities are offered without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, or disability.

The above notification shall be disseminated in languages other than English as needed and shall state that the district will take steps to ensure that the lack of English language skills will not be a barrier to admission and participation in the district’s CTE program.

Advisory Committee

The Board shall appoint a CTE advisory committee to develop recommendations on the district’s CTE program and to serve as a liaison between the district and potential employers. The committee shall consist of one or more representatives of the general public knowledgeable about the disadvantaged; students; teachers; business; industry; school administration’ and the field office of the California Department of Employment Development.

The district shall involve parents/guardians; students; academic and CTE teachers; administrators; career guidance and academic counselors; representatives of tech prep consortia if applicable, business and industry, labor organizations, representatives of special populations, and other interested individuals in order to involve them in the development, implementation, and evaluation of CTE programs.

Adult Participation in ROC/ROP

The Board shall prepare an annual plan to increase participation by these students.

The Board of Education recognizes that education is a lifelong process and that it is important for individuals to continuously develop new skills. Recognizing that adult learners may have a need to learn new occupational skills or upgrade existing levels of skills, the board permits adult access to Regional Occupational Program (ROP) classes on high school campuses during the school day as space permits. For purposes of these programs, “adult” includes a person age 18 or older or other persons not concurrently enrolled in a regular high school program. High school students shall have first priority for enrollment in district offered ROP classes. 

Program Evaluation

The Board shall monitor and evaluate the achievement of students participating in the district’s CTE program in order to determine the need for program improvements. The Superintendent or designee shall annually report to the Board on program enrollment and completion rates, including enrollment and completion of programs in nontraditional fields as defined in 20 USC 2302; student academic assessment results; attainment of career and technical skill proficiencies; attainment of a high school diploma or equivalent; graduation rates; and subsequent placement in postsecondary education or advanced training, military service, or employment. Data shall be disaggregated, in accordance with 20 USC 2323, by race, ethnicity, gender, disability status, migrant status, English proficiency, and economic disadvantaged status and for each special population as defined in 20 USC 2302 and listed in the section “Nondiscrimination” above.