Resources
Resources
Gain knowledge to connect the National Career Clusters® Framework to the larger world of education and work and execute meaningful implementation the Framework.
The following resources, created by both Advance CTE and national partners, are designed to support Career Technical Education (CTE) professionals in understanding and implementing the modernized National Career Clusters® Framework. Topics include but are not limited to:
- making connections between updated Career Clusters and other major areas of learning
- enhancing intersectionality within and across Career Clusters
- assessing and innovating state and local policy and practice connected to the Framework
- crosswalks between the modernized Framework, the original Framework, and national labor market data
- raising awareness about the release of the Framework
The Basics: The National Career Clusters Framework
This resource provides an overview of the history, purpose, and value of the modernization of the National Career Clusters Framework, first created in 2002 with an updated released in October 2024.
Explainer: Interdisciplinary Elements of the National Career Clusters Framework
The modernized National Career Clusters Framework consists of 14 Career Clusters. One major innovation of the updated Framework is the intentional de-siloing of many of the Clusters and the designation of three Career Clusters Cross-Cutting Clusters. This resource walks through the Cross-Cutting Clusters structure and other closely aligned Career Clusters to advance interdisciplinary programs of study.
This resource provides the full listing and definitions of the Career Ready Practices, which form the core of the modernized National Career Clusters Framework. These 12 practices represent the skills needed to succeed in the modern workplace, and were built on a meta-analysis of over 30 different listings of general professional skills developed by industry and educational institutions.
This resource outlines common questions about the history, modernization initiative, structure, and other key components of the modernized Framework.
This document compiles the key elements of the modernized National Career Clusters Framework, including:
- Descriptions of Framework layers
- Framework graphics
- Career Cluster and Sub-Cluster definitions and sample programs of study
- Crosswalk of Career Clusters from the original Framework to the modernized Framework
Framework Graphics
Grid
Wheel
This resource provides details on the approach to modernization for the National Career Clusters Framework, including methodology, Framework organization, and input structures. The report also includes reasoning for key final decisions made on Framework design and organization.
Methodology and Development Timeline Overview
This resource provides an abridged overview of the modernization initiative timeline, input structures, as well as data sources and use in the development of the modernized National Career Clusters Framework.
Crosswalk: Original and Modernized Career Clusters Framework
This resource aligns the 16 Career Clusters of the original Framework with the 14 Career Clusters of the modernized Framework and the Career Pathways of the original Framework with the Sub-Clusters of the modernized Framework.
Framework Crosswalk: CIP, SOC, NAICS, Career Cluster, and Sub-Cluster
A listing of each Career Cluster and Sub-Cluster with corresponding North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), Standard Occupational Classification System (SOC), and Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) codes.
State Policy Pushes to Implement the Modernized National Career Clusters Framework
This resource identifies key policy areas – program of study flexibility, teacher credentialing and licensure, and data reporting and analysis – that can and should be examined as components of the implementation of a modernized National Career Clusters Framework. When combined, changes to each of these areas can be a powerful driver towards a flexible and responsive career preparation system.
Family and Consumer Sciences in the National Career Clusters Framework
Embedded across multiple Career Clusters, Family and Consumer Sciences contributes to many state and local level programs of study starting in the middle grades and extending into postsecondary experiences. This brief centers this discipline and discusses where and how these careers can be accessed across the modernized National Career Clusters Framework.
The Green Workforce in the National Career Clusters Framework
The green workforce is known by a variety of terms, is complex and multifaceted, and spans a wide variety of different sectors. This brief centers this workforce and discusses where and how these careers can be accessed across the modernized National Career Clusters Framework.
STEM in the National Career Clusters Framework
STEM emphasizes critical thinking, problem-solving, and innovation—skills that are foundational across a broad range of careers rather than being confined to a standalone category. This brief explains how STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) is embedded and interwoven across the modernized National Career Clusters Framework.
Career Clusters
Click each Cluster for Cluster definitions and implementation resources.
