CONTINUED FROM 1 PROGRAM PATHWAYS
2021-22 ENROLLMENT AREAS OF STUDY: CTE programs provide varying routes to trade programs and certi cations that allow students to take on apprenticeships or go straight to working in their eld, such as health care, agriculture or trades, but also includes certi cations that can provide students with a head start in traditional college.
WHAT IS CTE?
Family and consumer: 1,631
Business management and nance: 330 STEM and IT: 345 Agriculture: 351 Health science: 496 Arts and communication: 833
Enrollment in one or more career and technical education, or CTE, courses in each school district can be broken down into various areas of study. Each district uses slightly di erent wording for their respective programs.
Aviation and manufacturing: 170 Auto tech: 209 Architecture: 434 Engineering: 464 Business/ marketing: 583 Criminal justice/ law: 964 Computer: 1,227 Health science: 1,228 Agriculture: 1,554
NEW BRAUNFELS ISD
COMAL ISD
Law, public safety: 234
Certi cation examples: • Adobe Suite software certi cations • Beef quality assurance • Entrepreneurship and small business • Phlebotomy tech • Welding safety
Certi cation examples: • ASE automotive certi cations • Adobe Suite software certi cations • Beef quality assurance • Certi ed Nursing Assistant (CNA) • Phlebotomy tech
Human services: 195
SOURCES: COMAL ISD, NEW BRAUNFELS ISD COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
Education: 141
Transportation and other: 109
education, they already have a leg up in a career route.” A variety of state and federal fund- ing is available to school districts for these programs through the contin- ued reauthorization of the Carl Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006, most recently reauthorized by Congress in 2018, according to the U.S. Department of Education. State and federal funding is then allocated by the TEA based on local needs assessments submitted by school districts that gather data on local economic considerations, jobs available and student needs. Advance CTE, a national nonpro t organization that represents state directors of CTE education and tracks data, found that in a 2022 survey of more than 300 employers, 77% hired an employee due to their CTE experi- ence, and 84% reported it was “easy” to nd quali ed candidates based on their CTE experience. In the most recent school year, stu- dents in NBISD earned more than 500 certi cations, and in CISD students
earned over 1,500. “We’re trying to increase the num- ber of industry
Marketing: 69
law enforcement. There’s other things in the criminal justice eld that they could do. So it kind of gives them a brighter perspective of what they could actually do with their degree if they go into criminal justice.” Thompson added that through her sequences of classes, former students have gone on to all aspects of law enforcement, such as working as a 911 dispatcher while studying criminal jus- tice at Texas State University as well as several who became military police. Jake Waldrip, a 2014 graduate of New Braunfels High School, said he always knew he would pursue a career in agri- culture, and through the Future Farm- ers of America programs he had shown cattle since he was a child. He gradu- ated from Texas State with a degree in animal science and now works for both his family’s business—Waldrip Bros. Cattle Co.—and in livestock trailer sales at D&D Texas Out tters.
certi cations that are available to stu- dents. Those are really prevalent in health science,” Behnke said. Renee Martinez, director of career readiness in CISD, said the programs have grown partly because they are not monolithic, but instead o er several degrees of involvement—from clear sequences of courses throughout high school to students electing to take a course or two out of interest. “CTE covers a lot of areas. If you have a kid that’s not in band, choir or athlet- ics, their only other elective options fall in CTE, and even then you might have a kid that’s involved in one of these programs randomly taking a CTE class [such as] accounting or principles of health science,” Martinez said. CISD o ers more than 140 CTE courses throughout the district, and within those there are 35 programs of study that students can pursue through high school.
In NBISD there are more than 80 courses and 20 programs of study. Career pathways The specialization of CTE programs provides for a variety of paths into the workforce, and many students nd themselves employed in their eld of choice directly out of high school. Others use their experience to guide them down a path they might not have fully gured out while in high school, but the programs give them a leg up in nding the right career, according to the program directors at NBISD and CISD. “Some kids come into my classroom having no idea what they want to do,” said Jennifer Thompson, a CTE teacher at New Braunfels High School who teaches courses in criminal justice, law enforcement, public safety, foren- sic science and other related courses. “They realized I don’t just focus on
Public education is always on the ballot. And the countdown to the legislative session is on.
Join us to get engaged in supporting our teachers, students, and schools.
Visit us at RaiseYourHandTexas.org
Ad paid by Raise Your Hand Texas
24
COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER • COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM
Powered by FlippingBook