Looking online recently, I saw an image of a warning sign that read as follows:

DANGER: DO NOT TOUCH
Not only will this kill you,
but it will hurt the whole
time you are dying

While this sign may or may not have been mocked up for humorous effect, it reflects how many of us feel about the prospect of change. And not without cause: We probably all bear the scars of changes we weren’t fully prepared for, or worse, scars from “change management” efforts that went awry.

Why is this relevant? Because CTE is now awash in a sea of change. These changes are almost universally positive: Business and political leaders are realizing the value of CTE and their essential connection to workforce systems, and this is driving funding decisions (like JPMorgan Chase’s recent investment in the field), policy efforts (like WIOA federally, and countless efforts at the state level), and the push towards college and career pathways (where CTE should be a primary and driving force).

But even though the changes are positive, that doesn’t mean that they don’t offer the threat of danger and pain. Failing to meet the expectations of funders, industry partners, and policymakers can bring disappointment, diminished support, or even increased oversight. And most importantly, these changes offer a real opportunity to improve the future lives of students, and no one in education wants to be responsible for shortchanging them.

That’s why the National Center for College & Career Transitions (NC3T) was founded: To help secondary and postsecondary educators, industry partners, and community leaders successfully navigate the changing landscape and build quality CTE and pathways models that serve students and all other stakeholders.

The mission of the National Center for College & Career Transitions (NC3T) is for “every learner to have a dream and a plan, and every community to have a capable, ready workforce.” We support CTE offices and other stakeholders in the following areas:

• Pathways System Design and Development – NC3T provides coaching for the design and implementation of college and career pathways. Our proven planning process and Pathways Design Specifications guide community leadership teams as they create pathways that help students transition from high school to postsecondary education/training to the skilled workforce.
• Building Statewide Pathways Networks – NC3T manages state-level networks in Pennsylvania and Indiana to build awareness of, and engagement with, college and career pathways efforts, and is actively looking for additional states to support through its Pathways Innovation Network (PIN) model.
• Employer Engagement Tools and Training – Businesses and schools need to connect; NC3T’s resources, workshops, and coaching make that happen by bringing everyone to the table.
• Program Improvement Review – Using program quality criteria, NC3T professionals provide a structured process for reviewing and enhancing the quality of CTE and STEM programs.

NC3T is a proud supporter of Advance CTE – we look forward to seeing you all in May at the 2016 Spring Meeting  and working with you to capitalize on the opportunities that change provides.

Anyone who has ever climbed a mountain knows the experience of a false peak: the exhilaration of finally reaching what has looked like the top of the mountain all day, only to summit and see that the real peak is further on and higher up.

Sometimes these historical apex moments—like the public recognition of the importance of computer science education culminating in the White House’s announcement of the Computer Science for All initiative—can seem like a false peak. It’s all there: the challenge, the endurance, the euphoria of reaching the top, and then the difficult realization that there is still a long way to go.

But: there is how things seem, and then there is reality.

For those of us who have been working in computer science education for some time, the two months since President Obama announced the CS for All initiative have been nothing short of amazing. In the blink of an eye, the relative moonscape that was the U.S. computer science (CS) education space has become a Los Angeles freeway at rush hour—and we could not be happier about that. Evidence that our kids need access to computer science education abounds, from Bureau of Labor Statistics data to corporate anecdotes, and with new state-level efforts, coding camps, non-profit organizations, schools and traditional curriculum providers all entering and strengthening the conversation, there is now a real opportunity for our kids to get that education. And I don’t just mean kids with techie parents or kids in affluent schools—Computer Science for All challenges us to make CS education available to every American student, everywhere. It’s an important, and worthy, challenge.

That’s why I’m especially proud that my company, Oracle, is formally making a Computer Science for All commitment today. Although we’ve been working to advance computer science education globally for more than two decades, we’re usually pretty quiet about the work we do. Through our flagship Oracle Academy program, we work to serve educators and provide them the skills and tools they need—including academic, vendor-neutral curriculum—to bring computer science to life with passion in the classroom. We teach teachers and help fill the CS education supply pipeline. We engage with a range of partners, organizations, and events to introduce kids to computer science and inspire them to become tomorrow’s technology innovators and leaders. In all, we invest more than $3.3 billion in resources annually to help educators bring computer science to more than 2.5 million students in 106 countries.

At Oracle, we have been successfully partnering with public education for a long time. We know that an investment in education is very much like climbing a mountain; the children who were primary school students when we started this work in 1993 are just now 20-somethings in the workforce. It’s a marathon, not a sprint, and seeing an investment yield real results takes endurance, patience, and faith. The investment we make in introducing a first grader to computer science today will not realize its full potential until the year 2034, or beyond.

Given timelines like this, there is the potential for Computer Science for All to be a false peak in computing education. It is a much needed infusion of focus, passion, and funding into a vitally important issue, and we, as a nation, are now at a high point where we can look proudly back at where we’ve been, and what we’ve done. But we can also more clearly see the work still ahead. Of the people and organizations on this peak today, who will become discouraged and turn away when the wins aren’t quick and the resources become scarce? And who will persevere?

Those of us who are committed to supporting education, though, know that achieving success in education isn’t like climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, a freestanding mountain surrounded by plains. It’s more like mountaineering in the Rockies; for every peak you climb, there is always another summit to reach. Make no mistake: Computer Science for All is a summit. It is an honor for me, as a part of Oracle, to join this strong and committed Computer Science for All cohort. Now, more than ever before, access to computer science education is the key to economic growth and social mobility. We’re all on this journey with our children—for our children. Won’t you join us?

 This post was written by Oracle, a sponsor of the 2016 Spring Meeting in Washington, D.C.! 

How many of us have taken the time to think about our first safety training? Most of us think about a safety lesson in school or a safety course at work, but in reality it began at home long before we understood completely what we were being told. Do you remember when your mom would yell, “No! Don’t touch that pan, you will burn yourself!” Or perhaps you remember your father saying, “Get out of that tree! You’ll fall and hurt yourself!” Do you remember someone yelling at you, “Stop playing with those matches! Do you want to burn the house down?” All these life instructions were meant to keep us safe and healthy which is why, at CareerSafe, we advocate — “Safety is a Life Skill”— and as such, safety awareness training is not just the responsibility of employers.

Long before students start their first paying job, they work around the house, on their family farm or ranch, at school, in student organizations, volunteering, or at places of worship. In each of these settings, young people are exposed to many of the same hazards they will find in the workplace. If you Google®” student dies”, you will get 153 million results in 0.43 seconds. We do not have to look very hard to find that hazards to students are everywhere all the time. It sad to think that many of these lives might have been saved if only these students had been better prepared to avoid commonly encountered safety hazards.

Our sons and daughters are the future and they deserve a foundation of safety awareness training as part of their life skills long before they reach their first employer. Providing students with safety training early is crucial to establishing good safety and health practices before our children develop bad habits that place them at risk. We must recognize that safety is not simply the concern of business, but requires the responsibility of people at all levels of our communities in order to protect those who are least prepared and most at risk.

There is a reason why our parents and the other adults in our lives spent so much time telling us what not to do. They love us. This love is what drove them to constantly correct our behavior. They wanted to make sure we would understand how to recognize and avoid those life hazards that would place us at risk. In our role as CTE educators, we have a responsibility to share our life lessons to help students build a solid foundation of safety awareness as part of their preparation for managing and living a better quality of life. Let’s always remember that No Job is Worth a Young Worker’s Life.
About CareerSafe
Since 2003, more than 670,000 students have enrolled into CareerSafe safety training programs. By providing fundamental safety knowledge and awareness to entry-level workers, students enter the workforce more confident, capable, and efficient. CareerSafe’s OSHA 10-Hour training courses give students the opportunity to lay a long-term groundwork for future career success. At a cost of $25 per student, CareerSafe provides the most affordable authorized online OSHA training programs in the country. America’s youth are our future. Make safety a priority. For additional information about CareerSafe, visit our website.

This post was written by CareerSafe, a sponsor of our 2016 Spring Meeting in Washington, D.C. 

When Watkins Mill High School in Gaithersburg, Maryland, decided to add the International Baccalaureate’s new Career-related Programme (CP) to its offerings in 2012, it already had five career academies in place. They offered courses in engineering (affiliated with Project Lead the Way), finance (affiliated with NAF), early child development (affiliated with the Maryland Department of Education and Montgomery College), hospitality management (completion and graduation certified by the National Restaurant Association) and medical careers (after successfully completing the first year of the program, students are eligible for certification as a nursing assistant by the Maryland Board of Nursing). Since then, students and academies have benefited in many ways, says CP coordinator Lisa Ingram.

The Career-related Programme has enriched everything about the CP students’ experience and learning, Ingram says. “The CP prepares students to be amazing learners for whatever future they anticipate. They’ve had strategic lessons. That’s huge when they transition to the real world.” Meanwhile, the academies have grown and retained students, and Watkins Mill even added a computer science pathway. The medical academy actually doubled in size.

The CP is an excellent choice for students who have already decided on their area of career specialization, seek academic challenge and want hands-on learning and experience in their chosen field. The program provides students with an impressive portfolio of accomplishments for college study and employment. It allows students to create an individualized path that leads to higher education or to employment after graduation.

Here’s how the CP works: It combines courses from the International Baccalaureate’s highly regarded Diploma Programme with an approved career-related study and a unique CP core. The core consists of four components— a personal and professional skills course, service learning, language development and a reflective project–blended together to enhance both critical and ethical thinking and intercultural understanding. Combined, these elements help students develop the communication and personal skills necessary for success in a rapidly changing world.

A key feature of the CP is that it offers flexibility to allow for local differences. Each school creates its own distinctive version of the program to meet the needs and backgrounds of its students. The school selects both the DP courses it offers as part of the CP and the career-related study best suited to local conditions and students’ interests. The career-related study must meet International Baccalaureate criteria.

At Watkins Mill, Ingram talks about one student who chose the Child Care Academy. “She was born to be a teacher,” Ingram says. “She thrives in the child care environment, and since we have an onsite child care center, she’s in the thick of it here.” She has been deeply involved in a CP service learning project that provides child care for Watkins Mill feeder middle schools during evening parent meetings and on Saturdays.

Ingram also remembers the day that educators from Colorado visited her school to learn about how the CP worked there. Watching students answer questions from these adults, she couldn’t help but think about how the kids “would have been blushing purple as sophomores. But they were completely poised this year talking about their research projects and the program. I think there’s a lot of risk taking and stretching your learning in IB classes. It kind of forces those kids out of their comfort zone.”

Not everyone can tour another school to learn about the CP. However, Ingram strongly recommends getting into details and seeing how it really works. “Presuppositions will sell it short,” she says. “The program gives all these worthy tools to the kids and really respects the way they learn.”

Thank you to International Baccalaureate, one of our 2016 Spring Meeting Sponsors! Want more information on how you can become a sponsor? Email Karen at [email protected].