Learners have big dreams. They’re creative. Smart. Passionate. In your Career Technical Education (CTE) classrooms, they’re honing their expertise and building practical, workforce-specific skills. CTE is showing them clear pathways that connect their passions to in-demand careers. Still, CTE is often undervalued and underutilized.

Certiport sat down with Matt Fritzius, Curriculum Supervisor at Broward County Public Schools, on our CERTIFIED Educator Podcast to discuss common misconceptions and practical ways to elevate career and technical education. Here are the takeaways:

Do your research

Every community’s job market is different, and your state’s CTE programs should reflect that. Understanding your local and regional workforce needs across your state is essential to maximizing the impact of CTE. 

To understand your regional workforce, your districts need to know which degrees or credentials employers expect of new hires. While many still assume a four-year degree is the default path to opportunity, there’s a more nuanced story. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 35% of private sector jobs require a bachelor’s degree or higher. Employers are hiring for skills. A Harvard Business Review analysis noted that between 2017 and 2019, employers reduced degree requirements for 46% of middle-skill roles and 31% of high-skill roles.

“If every student pursues the bachelor’s degree track, the workforce will be full of people with credentials they don’t need for the jobs they land,” said Matt. “Furthermore, we’ll see a huge skills gap for jobs that require a significant amount of technical training and knowledge that can’t be filled by someone with a traditional liberal arts degree or a business degree. Today’s workforce is looking for employees with a very specific set of skills for specific job roles. CTE provides students with an opportunity to learn those skills, often while still in high school.”

You can verify your student’s skills on the state level with industry-recognized certifications. Certiport offers certification programs aligned to employer expectations across CTE Fields. These credentials give students a third-party validation of the skills they’ve learned in class, a signal to hiring managers that says, “I can do that job.”

Share the CTE story 

You have a clear picture of the careers in your state. Now it’s time to share the story—grounded in data and outcomes—with educators, administrators, and district leaders. Bring forward student testimonials. Invite local employers to speak about the capabilities they see. Highlight the milestones that make CTE tangible, such as industry certifications and student work programs. 

Matt has had many of these conversations. “Many administrators might not even realize what CTE encompasses. I’ve had conversations with school leaders before where they say, ‘I don’t know that we have many CTE classes at my school.’ They start talking about the programs they’re offering, and they mention robotics, entrepreneurship, and hospitality and tourism, for example. Those are all CTE programs! As professionals in the CTE sphere, it’s so important that we make sure everybody understands the breadth and depth of CTE; it’s all these different avenues that CTE offers to today’s students.”

Certification outcomes can help you demonstrate CTE impact. Certiport credentials demonstrate learners’ abilities to use up-to-date tools and technologies. Furthermore, administrators and policymakers can use certification data to track program quality, equity, and impact.

Help learners find their passion

When students find their passion, they’re more engaged. We know well that student engagement is the gateway to true learning. Gallup has conducted millions of surveys of K12 students and has revealed some key characteristics of engaged students. Learners who strongly agreed that their school supported the strengths of each student and had at least one teacher who helped them feel excited for the future were 30 times as likely to be engaged in class than those who strongly disagreed. Learners need caring adults who recognize their strengths, potential, and goals. 

Today’s CTE programs help learners find topics that are connected to their strengths and interests. Whether they want to be an entrepreneur or an IT professional, there are CTE pathways that help learners stay engaged in the classroom and learn the skills they need to get there. 

“By leveraging CTE programs, students see a clear pathway to their goals. Students need to know that the path they take to their career, whether through a four-year university, a technical college, and/or apprenticeship program, is celebrated and supported by the adults in their lives.” 

Establish business partnerships

Engagement and learning do not end in the classroom. Students need opportunities to apply their skills in the real world. By partnering with statewide and local businesses, schools gain insight into the competencies and tools the workforce needs. Employers benefit by influencing curriculum, offering work-based learning, and building a talent pipeline.

Florida is already seeing the impact of this approach. Matt recently visited Miami to see a partnership in action. “Miami-Dade College has partnered with Tesla. There’s a Tesla training center right on the Miami-Dade campus,” Matt said. “Students enroll in the Tesla Academy program and get work experience at either a Tesla dealership or service center here in South Florida. After completing the program, they get hired as a full-time technician.” By connecting with learners before they graduate, companies like Tesla can bridge the skills gap and find the talent they need to fill crucial job roles.

Matt continued, “To me, this really speaks to the power of CTE. There are dual benefits to investing in this type of education. It benefits the learner, and it benefits the community. When you upskill people in your community, they can make more money, and that money ends up staying in the community. It only makes sense to expand programs like Tesla’s moving forward.”

Certifications matter in Career Technical Education

Your districts are teaching the skills. Adding certification can show the impact. With Certiport, your state can turn students’ skills into credentials and those credentials into employment opportunities. 

Certifications deliver:

• Validation: Third-party confirmation that your students have mastered work-ready skills throughout their education.
• Employability: Portable, industry-recognized credentials that open doors to jobs, internships, and apprenticeships after graduation.
• Motivation and momentum: Clear milestones that keep students engaged and on track toward their chosen pathway.
• Program quality: Easily accessible data and insights that support accountability, access, and continuous improvement at the classroom, school, district, and state levels.

Certiport can help your state deliver on its promise to provide valuable, work-ready students, effectively bridging the gap between education and the workforce. 

To learn more about Certiport, the leading provider of official, industry-recognized certifications, please visit www.certiport.com.