Advance CTE, the non-profit organization for Career Technical Education (CTE) across 50 states, describes Career Technical Education (CTE) as, “an educational option that provides learners with the knowledge and skills they need to be prepared for college and careers.”
While in the past, CTE was mainly considered “vocational school,” CTE advocates are now aiming to promote its value in providing students with a solid foundation from which to pursue a career or post-secondary education.
CTE programs are available through high schools, area career centers, career academies, community and technical colleges, four-year universities, and more, and are available for high school students and professionals alike all across the country. At this time, 75 percent of high school graduates are earning at least one CTE credit, and 21 percent of high school students are taking a concentration of CTE courses.
Many high schools have a CTE concentration that is a two- or three-year program in which students take multiple hours of CTE credits every day in their chosen field, which, depending on the state, can range from Agriculture, Carpentry, and Culinary Arts to Emergency Response Technology, and Multimedia Production and Coding.
The Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Grant allows schools across the U.S. to purchase state-of-the-art equipment for their labs and classrooms. For many schools with a Health Careers Technology Program, this means manikins, hospital beds, and other simulation equipment from Pocket Nurse®. In exchange for the Perkins Grant, schools must meet rigorous curriculum requirements and student achievement benchmarks that keep the programs innovative and effective.
Benefits of Career Technical Education
- Better high school graduation rates, lower dropout rates: Students involved in CTE are less likely to drop out of high school than the national average, and CTE concentrators have a 93 percent graduation rate.
- Hands-on learning in realistic settings: Forty-five percent of students have said that CTE courses provide them with real-world examples that help them better understand academic classes.
- Prepares students for post-secondary education: In many high schools across the nation, courses taken in a CTE program qualify as dual-enrollment credits, which can apply to the student’s chosen degree path in post-secondary education.
Are you interested in implementing simulation into your CTE curriculum? Pocket Nurse has an extensive line of simulation products.
Learn More:
Find out about CTE in your state here.
Nicki Murff is Marketing Coordinator I at Pocket Nurse.
Sources:
Association for Career & Technical Education
