In these times of high stakes testing, we must remember the purpose of public education in America; and that is to prepare our children to be good citizens, productive members of society and ultimately gainfully employed.  

Clearly, the purpose of our educational system is to educate and prepare our students to be productive citizens and build a national character and more…

Today educators and communities alike are obsessed about test scores and school labels, and while we all agree that this is context of what school communities must live with, it has been the dominant conversation in determining the success of schools and students.  And has in some cases, marginalized those institutions and students that can least afford it.  

While we all agree that accountability is important in measuring institutional effectiveness, we need to look at what type of students we are creating: are we creating the next generation of excellent test takers or do we want to create a generation of critical and independent thinkers?

Career and Technical Education (CTE) provides some of the solution to this conundrum, as we provide educational programs that are centered on developing critical and independent thinkers, while at the same time providing the connection of academic education and career training.

The definition of CTE has changed from what many of us remember when we went to school, while the trades such as construction, plumbing and auto technologies still and will always remain in some form, the CTE philosophy has shifted to a new paradigm that replaces the traditional Vocational Education model.  

This new CTE Delivery System focuses on the incorporation of a 2 + 2 + 2 or two years of CTE while in High School, two years of CTE while in Community College and two years of CTE while attending University.  

It is apparent that this model is better aligned with the needs of students in continuing their education as life long learners; while at the same time providing a clear and connected career pathway, as well as the level of rigor and relevance that is linked from the primary grades through higher education.

The “New CTE Delivery System” has three major components as follows:

Component I - Career Awareness for primary school children, giving them a topical overview of what career pathways are available

Component II – Career Exploration for Middle School students that is designed to provide with an in-depth knowledge of careers and to assist student in developing individualized career and learning plans

Component III - Career Preparation for secondary students that is designed to provide training in specific CTE Programs, school to work opportunities and dual college credit with post secondary institutions

In order to support these components Douglas Unified School District and the Cochise County Joint Technological Educational District has constructed three new Career Exploration Centers at the Douglas High School campus, and two additional Career Exploration Centers; one at each of their middle schools.  Along with this and other program improvements, DUSD has made a focused and serious commitment to provide an embedded and connected Career and Academic Counseling approach; allowing for seamless connection for all three CTE components across all grade levels within the district.

The CTE Promise

“To provide the highest quality CTE Programs possible…we are committed to delivering this promise through a student centered and research based approach to delivering the highest quality programs of instruction.”