Career Technical Education (CTE) connects learning to the world of work, preparing learners with the skills they need to achieve college and career success. CTE has the potential to more deeply link systems and experiences, bridge education and industry, and operate as the connected path to economic mobility for learners of all ages.
Advance CTE partnered with hundreds of national, state, and local leaders representing K-12, postsecondary, workforce development, business and industry, researchers, learners, and philanthropy to develop a new, collective vision for CTE to serve as a “north-star” for the next five years, and set the stage for progress far into the future.
The Connected Path: A Shared Vision for Opportunity and Empowerment Through CTE (CTE Connects) envisions a bold future toward a career readiness ecosystem that expands learner opportunity, agency, and belonging, while ensuring that industry partners are not only engaged but invested every step of the way.
In this future, each learner
- engages in a coherent CTE system, codesigned by education and industry,
- participates in a CTE system that is transparent and accountable to all partners,
- experiences a learning journey that seamlessly integrates CTE and core academics,
- has access to personalized and flexible pathways,
- develops a sense of empowerment and belonging through CTE, and
- navigates ethical and innovative approaches to using emerging technologies.
CTE Connects challenges education and industry to codesign and champion systems that center the learner experience, reimagine partnership across learner levels and sectors, and strengthen outcomes for all CTE partners. The six interconnected principles of CTE Connects represent the priority areas of focus for CTE leaders, employers, and policymakers to improve opportunities for and to empower all learners within their state.
CTE Connects was developed through a highly collaborative, cross-sector process to ensure it reflects and benefits learners, educators, CTE leaders, employers, and national partners. CTE Connects builds on a legacy of shared visions stewarded by Advance CTE that similarly challenged the field to expand opportunities and advance systems that fully prepare learners for the ever-changing world of work. Supported by over 35 national organizations, CTE Connects truly serves as a shared vision for the next five years of CTE and beyond.
