First created in the mid-1980s, the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act was reauthorized in 2006. The Act provides federal funding for CTE programs as well as tracks CTE students academic achievement, heightens accountability and ensures strong connections between high school and post-secondary CTE education. Perkins dollars are distributed to the states which, in turn, disperse the funds to school districts and post-secondary institutions. The $1.3 billion in annual funding is intended to maintain CTE programs and make certain they remain viable to American business and industry.
Literally, millions of high school students across the country enroll in CTE programs. It may simply be a business or marketing class or a student may be in an agricultural program or a health track that will prepare him for college courses. Virtually every state has similar programs and research has proven them highly successful. For example, according to the American Youth Policy Forum, students at-risk of failing in high school are more likely to succeed if they can receive knowledge and skills that translate to a foreseeable future.
CTE career clusters are occupational categories that serve as a means to organize career fields into related areas. For example, in Wisconsin, there are 16 broadly-defined clusters that have 79 career pathways – combined high school and community college curricula that lead to an associate degree according to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Similarly, in Colorado, according to the Colorado Community College System, there are 17 clusters and 81 career pathways. Each pathway has a standard for students to achieve.
Many CTE teachers come from the career field in which they teach. In Washington State, CTE instructors must earn a CTE Teaching Certificate in their specialty area from the Washington State Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The teacher must complete the prescribed coursework and have 6,000 hours of paid occupational experience, be it as an auto mechanic, carpenter or other field in which she plans to teach. The certification ensures that instructors are not only qualified to teach in a specific area, but able to do so.
CTE coursework is not always in the classroom, laboratory or shop. Work-based learning programs allow students to take what they have learned in classrooms and apply it to real world work experiences. Wisconsin offers student apprenticeships, mentoring programs, job shadowing and other learning opportunities. Tennessee allows high school juniors and senior to enter work-based learning arranged by counselors and their school.