Educating the Workforce of Tomorrow Fall 2017 - Page 7

LOCAL INITIATIVES
At the local level, educators are rethinking high school coursework to build student pathways into high-demand
jobs, and are working with higher education leaders to provide students opportunities to earn college credits
while enrolled in high school. These efforts are showing measurable results.
Career And Technical Education –
Rigorous, Career-Aligned Learning
In 2012, Tennessee revised its Career and Technical
Education (CTE) programs of study to provide students
a sequenced path to careers that can sustain a family
CTE Concentrators In Tennessee
High school students who take three or more CTE
courses in a single area of study are known as CTE
concentrators.
and have lasting potential in a changing economy.
First, the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE)
identified and retired courses and programs of study
leading to economic dead ends, and aligned state-
approved courses to 16 modern career clusters. Then,
Tennessee rewrote CTE course standards to focus
on industry expectations, literacy, and writing, and
• By 12th grade, 46 percent of Tennessee’s 2012 freshman
high school student cohort concentrated in a CTE path.
• Between 2012 and 2016, the number of CTE concentrators
grew by 18 percent.
• Of the 2011 freshman student cohort who became CTE
concentrators, 65 percent enrolled in a community,
technical, or four-year college.
developed course exams to equip educators with tools
to understand students’ progression through programs
Number of CTE Concentrators in Tennessee,
by School Year
of study.
40,000
A particularly promising area of CTE coursework
involves science, technology, engineering, and math
30,000
25,795
28,136
30,213 30,386
2014-15 2015-16
(STEM). STEM is an educational approach that links
classroom learning to the knowledge and skills
required by careers involving applied math, creative
thinking, and analysis. Through a STEM approach,
teachers connect otherwise separate academic
content through cross-disciplinary projects. For
20,000
10,000
0
2012-13
2013-14
example, a STEM-based robotics program requires
the use of math, computer coding, and engineering.
Source: Tennessee Department of Education, 2017
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