The modernized National Career Clusters® Framework presents an opportunity for states to make their policies and guidance on educator licensure more flexible when selecting instructors and the courses they teach. All learners should have access to high-quality instruction to further their success in Career Technical Education (CTE) programs and beyond. Flexible teacher credentialing is critical in ensuring that course instruction reflects the interdisciplinary nature of work and that learners have adequate instructional support in their career preparation journeys.
This brief outlines the secondary educator licensure landscape and highlights change processes and strategies that states can implement to create more flexible policies surrounding educator credentialing. This resource defines a teaching credential as a broad term encompassing a license, an endorsement, or another certification that permits someone to teach in a classroom. A teaching license is considered to be a credential earned through completing a teacher preparation program and passing a state licensure exam.
The resource shares:
- common licensure requirements and educator profiles
- optimal state for this policy area
- promising state practices
- key questions for consideration; and
- recommendations
This resource is part of a collection of briefs that provide recommendations, models, and promising practices to maximize the implementation of the Framework.
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This resource, developed by Advance CTE, supports the adoption and implementation of the National Career Clusters® Framework. The Framework serves as the central building block to achieve consistently designed and high-quality Career Technical Education (CTE) programs. First introduced in 2002, a version of the Framework is used by the majority of states with Advance CTE as its steward. A modernized Framework was unveiled in October 2024 after a 2-year development and validation process.
Visit the Career Clusters section of the Advance CTE website for additional information about the full Framework and all associated tools and resources.
