About Career & Technical Education

Career and Technical Education (CTE) is an educational program that aligns academic standards with technical knowledge and skills to prepare students for careers in current or emerging occupations and further education. CTE is the only educational program in which course content is guided by business and industry input.

 

CTE courses are not required for all occupations but CTE courses can help everyone get a head start on career preparation. The Hawai‘i Career Pathway System is the framework for CTE programs of study and provides the structure for career guidance and educational planning, standards development, and assessment.

 

CTE programs of study, in compliance with federal legislation, offer a sequence of courses to prepare students for the workplace as well as further education. At the high school level, a CTE program of study begins with a Pathway-specific core course followed by a second-year cluster course. Some programs of study also include a third-year concentration course. A specific academic course is also required in all high school CTE programs of study. CTE programs of study at the community college level include all CTE-related degree and/or certificate programs.

 

Each of the six Career Pathways begins with a core course that provides an overview of all occupations within a particular Career Pathway. The CTE pathway core course allows students to explore a variety of occupational opportunities within a particular Pathway while learning work-related skills and knowledge common to all occupations within the Pathway.

 

A CTE pathway cluster course is the second-year course in a CTE program of study. The cluster course focuses on more specific occupational requirements for a sub-grouping of occupations within a particular Career Pathway. For example, a student who has completed a Business Pathway Core Course might select a second-year Business Pathway Cluster Course such as Marketing, Management, or Accounting.

 

A CTE pathway concentration course is the third-year course in a CTE program of study. The concentration course focuses on more specific occupational requirements requiring advanced skills and knowledge for a sub-grouping of occupations within the cluster. For example, a student who has completed the Business Pathway Core Course and the Business Pathway Management Cluster Course might select a third-year Concentration course such as Human Resource Management or Travel Industry Management.

 

A special performance-based assessment (PBA) event is conducted to determine student proficiency in applying the skills and knowledge learned in CTE programs of study. A PBA requires that students develop a solution/product/strategy to resolve a need or problem specified by a business or industry. Within a 24-hour period of time, students must analyze the need or problem, develop a response, and prepare a presentation defending their response. Students present and defend their responses to panels of business and industry representatives who judge the appropriateness of the solution/product/strategy and determine performance-based mastery of CTE program of study course content.