Integrating Career Technical Education (CTE) and core academic instruction represents a major step toward modernizing teaching and learning at the secondary level. Rather than existing in parallel, academic and technical instruction can work in tandem to create coherent, applied, and engaging learning experiences that prepare learners for both college and career success. This integration aligns education with the evolving workforce, helping learners connect classroom concepts with real-world applications and develop transferable skills such as communication, problem-solving, and digital literacy.
This resource helps state and local education leaders to:
- zero in on three priority areas necessary to lay and build the foundation for integration;
- gain knowledge on introductory state examples to inspire first steps, and
- prioritize considerations to guide systemic implementation.
Use Cases
Content from this resource can be connected to a variety of policy conversations, including:
- Guide new conversations between state-level CTE and core academic leaders/departments
- Inform conversations on implementation of statewide initiatives and legislation;
- Connect course and program of study curriculum and standards development and review;
- Support goal-setting for secondary performance and outcomes at the state and local level; and
- Inform professional development and technical assistance opportunities with state and local leaders.
Additional Resources
- Resource Repository: This repository lists resources including academic/CTE crosswalks, approaches to teacher credentialing, graduation requirements, state-provided professional development or technical assistance, state policies, and research. Resources included in this tracker demonstrate state efforts to integrate academics and CTE.
- Explainer Slide Deck: This resource can be used to share the concept of academic-CTE integration with others.
- Graphic: Policy Pillars for Academic-CTE Integration
