Customized Technical Assistance
Customized Solutions
Advance CTE partners with states to design and implement high-quality, learner-centered career pathways. Through customized technical assistance, we work side-by-side with education and workforce leaders to align policy, data, and practice across secondary, postsecondary, and workforce systems to ensure every learner can access meaningful career opportunities close to home.
Advance CTE brings deep expertise across key focus areas that help states strengthen and connect career pathways systems. Our work commonly spans topics such as strategic planning and systems alignment; high-quality work-based learning; implementation of the modernized National Career Clusters® Framework; credentials of value; and data-based decisionmaking. These areas often serve as a launch point for collaboration, enabling us to tailor support to each state’s unique goals, priorities, and context.
The
Advance CTE Advantage
With more than 100 years of experience, Advance CTE offers a unique combination of longevity, influence, and system-level expertise. We bring a trusted national perspective shaped by deep Perkins knowledge, strong federal and partner relationships, and a team that includes former state and local CTE leaders. Grounded in the realities of state leadership, our technical assistance is practical, strategic, and adaptable. Advance CTE members benefit from preferred access to customized support, with special member pricing to maximize value and impact.
A century of leadership
With more than 100 years of experience, Advance CTE brings unmatched institutional knowledge and credibility to career pathways and CTE system design.
A trusted seat at the table
We work closely with federal partners, national organizations, and state leaders, shaping policy conversations and translating them into actionable guidance.
Member-first partnership
Advance CTE members receive preferred access to customized technical assistance, with special member pricing for tailored scopes of work.
Experience that bridges partners and systems
With team members who have lead at the state and local level, we understand how to support collaboration across K-12, postsecondary, workforce, and employer partners.
Deep Perkins experience
We understand the intent, flexibility, and practical realities of Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins V) implementation, and help states use it as a lever for meaningful system improvement.
Explore examples of our technical assistance work below.
Work-Based Learning Continuum & Framework
Alaska Department of Education
Advance CTE teamed up with the Alaska Department of Education to spark early career awareness and make work-based learning a central part of every student’s journey. Together, we created the state’s first K–12 Career and Technical Education Continuum Framework: a clear, visual roadmap showing how career exploration grows from curiosity in elementary school to hands-on, work-based learning experiences in high school. To bring the Framework to life, Advance CTE also produced grade-span posters, promotional materials, and a comprehensive toolkit with age-appropriate activities and resources for educators. The result: Alaska schools can introduce career possibilities earlier and inspire students and families to envision their futures with confidence.
Modernized National Career Clusters Framework Industry Alignment
Kansas State Department of Education
Following its release in October 2024, Advance CTE supported a cohort of eight trailblazing states leading the adoption and implementation of the modernized National Career Clusters Framework. Over eight months of collaborative peer learning sessions, targeted technical assistance and individualized coaching, state teams aligned data systems, reimagined programs of study, and strengthened communications across partners and communities. Lessons learned, shared resources and sustained peer connections through the broader Career Clusters Community of Practice are building capacity nationwide to accelerate Framework adoption and expand learner voice, choice, and opportunity in every state.
As one of eight Early Adopter states, Kansas aimed to make the most of its opportunity. In partnership with Advance CTE, the Kansas State Department of Education led a comprehensive, cross-agency transition to the modernized National Career Clusters Framework. More than a simple adoption effort, Kansas sought to ensure its CTE programs were not only aligned to the Framework, but deeply contextualized to the state’s labor market. Through “train-the-trainer” workshops on occupational data, interagency working sessions and a transition roadmap tailored to Kansas’ policy and workforce landscape, this work positions Kansas to modernize CTE statewide and ensure learners have access to high-quality pathways aligned to high-skill, high-wage, in-demand opportunities.
Interested in partnering with us?
We regularly collaborate with national organizations, intermediaries, and technical experts to support states and advance shared priorities. If you’re interested in exploring how we might work together, contact our Director of Technical Assistance to start the conversation.
Customized Goal-Setting Tool
Colorado Community College System
After participating in Advance CTE’s Opportunity Gap Analysis and CTE Goal-Setting Workshops, the Colorado Community College System wanted to take the next step: customizing the data tools to meet their local needs and build on previous efforts to close gaps with intention. Advance CTE partnered with the state to create a state-specific tool that merges both workbooks into a single, streamlined resource for identifying priorities, using data to drive decisions, and tracking progress over time. Paired with hands-on training and tailored implementation supports, this project is strengthening continuous improvement and expanding high-quality CTE opportunities for more learners across Colorado.
Panel at the 2nd Annual Data Summit
“Advance CTE was amazing! They listened to our needs and helped build out a more integrated OGA dashboard that combined the traditional components and also the goal setting data within the same tool. Along the way, they engaged with our constituents to get feedback and share progress in addition to supporting our team with presenting the new tool and testing with an early adopter group. The Advance CTE team also coordinated internally to help us align this project with our other projects (i.e. intensive OGA) so that we weren’t doing multiple heavy lifts at the same time.”
Victoria Crownover, State Director for CTE
Colorado Community College System
The publicly available CTE Goal-Setting Tool is an Excel template that helps state CTE leaders analyze current learner representation as identified by the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins V) and performance to set clear, data-informed goals.
This tool supports the Comprehensive Local Needs Assessments (CLNAs) process as well as improvement planning, strategic planning, and CTE goal-setting. It provides a structured, low barrier to entry format to translate existing data into action without the need for new data systems.
An additional Quick Guide serves as a printable and downloadable companion resource designed to support effective use of the tool.
Graduate Profiles
New Mexico Public Education Department
When New Mexico passed legislation requiring every district and state-authorized charter school to create a graduate profile, state leaders wanted more than compliance. They wanted a clear, statewide vision for what future-ready learning should look like. Advance CTE partnered with the Public Education Department to develop the New Mexico Graduate Profile Framework, built from extensive interviews and focus groups across communities, native tribes, and regions. A companion toolkit, gallery, and statewide technical assistance (including office hours, virtual consultations, and workshop series) are empowering all 135 districts and charters to design meaningful graduate profiles that reflect the competencies learners need to thrive in college, career, and life.
“The project is far from over, but we have been impressed with the delivery of services to date. For example, despite getting a late start due to contract delays, Advance CTE provided a timeline for keeping the project on track and has provided regular updates on their progress. When Advance CTE came to New Mexico to present about the partnership to our state’s superintendents, Brenna succinctly addressed each of our requesting talking points and we were impressed with her professionalism; the experience confirmed that we had made the right decision in selecting Advance CTE to partner with us.”
Alexandra Lutz, Deputy Director, College and Career Readiness
New Mexico Public Education Department
Examples of state resources
Opportunity Gap Analysis Workshops
Advance CTE’s Opportunity Gap Analysis (OGA) workshop gives state and institutional CTE leaders the data confidence and practical tools they need to uncover gaps and improve learner outcomes. The work begins with two dynamic workshops and continues with hands-on technical assistance, communities of practice, and individualized coaching. Participants learn how to use their own data to identify opportunity gaps, pinpoint root causes, and take action. With data dashboards, facilitation guides, strategy playbooks, and a train-the-trainer model, states walk away ready not only to use the tools but to lead the work themselves.
Since its launch, the initiative has expanded nationwide and evolved to meet the needs of diverse audiences. Postsecondary systems, regional intermediaries, and state agencies have completed customized versions focused on topics like postsecondary access, nontraditional CTE pathway participation, Perkins V alignment, and work-based learning. Examples include statewide train-the-trainer rollouts in Washington and Texas, Nebraska’s customization for nontraditional Career Clusters, and a two-day Harvard Strategic Data Project workshop for 41 fellows. To date, the Opportunity Gap Analysis workshop has been introduced in 42 states and continues to grow as partners seek actionable, equity-driven results.
“Based on our participation in the OGA workshops, we recognized the importance of taking a data-driven approach to enhancing opportunity and access for CTE students. This perspective now informs our decision-making and shapes the development of our CTE initiatives and programs.” – OGA Participant
“Our work on this project has forced us to look at our systems’ inadequacies. So, while we are still waiting to complete the comparison analysis with CTE centers, participating in this work is allowing us to advocate for state-level systems change.” – OGA Participant
“A key impact [of OGA] was the full comprehension, dare I say light bulb moments, about how critical the data reporting process is, to include utilizing the data to make data-informed decisions.” – OGA Participant
“The [workshop] materials will serve as a foundation for staff professional development and cross-departmental collaboration, helping us embed access-focused WBL practices into the fabric of the college.” – WBL OGA Participant
