Common Career Technical Core

The Common Career Technical Core (CCTC) is a state-led initiative to establish a set of rigorous, high-quality standards for Career Technical Education (CTE). The standards have been informed by state and industry standards and developed by a diverse group of teachers, business and industry experts, administrators and researchers. Forty-two states, the District of Columbia and Palau participated in the development stage of the CCTC, which was coordinated by Advance CTE. The development of the CCTC was a multi-step process that incorporated input from approximately 3,500 individuals representing K-12 education, business and industry and higher education from across the nation.

The process for developing the CCTC was informed by:

  • High-quality state and industry standards;
     
  • Input and guidance from educators, business and industry and state leaders; and
     
  • Feedback from the public.

The CCTC includes a set of standards for each of the 16 Career Clusters® and their corresponding Career Pathways that define what students should know and be able to do after completing instruction in a program of study. The CCTC also includes an overarching set of Career Ready Practices that apply to all programs of study. The Career Ready Practices include 12 statements that address the knowledge, skills and dispositions that are important to becoming career ready. View the CCTC in PDF or in Excel.


Note: This guidance has not been updated recently, and there are not current plans to continue updating the CCTC or the Career Ready Practices. Please contact Senior Policy Associate Dan Hinderliter at dhinderliter@careertech.org if you have questions about these documents.

 

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