The middle grades have become the agreed upon starting point for high-quality Career Technical Education (CTE) programs, as this represents a critical time for students making important decisions that may have a lasting impact on their careers. However, there lacks a common view among state and local leaders on what makes up a high-quality middle…

Despite the widespread education reform discourses attempting to alleviate high-stakes examination pressure and narrowly test-driven education systems in East Asia, none have been as systematic and drastic as the Free Year Program (FYP) recently implemented in South Korea. The FYP provides middle school students with a year-long reprieve from…

Career development and professional identity remain critical areas that need addressing for young girls of color. Currently, racial-ethnic minorities continue to face disparities educationally and economically. Girls of color, in particular, are subjected to "double jeopardy" as they navigate a world still ridden with racial and gender…

The State of Texas makes provision for students to be enrolled in career and technical education (CTE) courses including dual credit courses that would prepare them for occupations identified by local businesses to be in high demand. Knowledge of labor market projections is essential in the design of CTE programs of study (Houston ISD, 2018). CTE…

The COVID-19 pandemic produced a dramatic nationwide shift in K-12 education from in-person classroom learning to remote online learning. This shift left teachers and parents facing the challenge of finding engaging online resources to motivate students to become deeply involved in science learning. The pandemic also left educators and…

Individualized Learning Plans (ILPs), an effective strategy to promote students' college and career readiness, are increasingly used in US school systems as a mechanism to encourage students' career exploration and identification of career goals. After describing features of ILPs, we provide an example of the ILP process developed and implemented…

Since the inception of career technical education in community colleges and the building trades, women have been severely underrepresented in male-dominated training programs and careers. Many initiatives have been introduced over the last 45 years to remedy this disparity and include women in high paying careers in the building trades and other…

Preparing today's students for careers that are emerging or not yet developed is a significant challenge for educators within the U.S. education system. In reaction to this challenge, there is a growing shift that focuses on ensuring that students have transcending and transferable skills, including academic, technical, and employability skills.…

We explored the perception and actual occupational knowledge of jobs on career exploration across Holland's categories in 60 elementary and 60 middle school students. Results showed a closer relationship between career exploration and actual knowledge than children's perception of knowledge. We found higher levels of actual knowledge and…

Middle school is a natural time for students to learn about careers and develop skills such as problem solving, critical thinking and teamwork through career exploration activities. This report from the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) examines different approaches to supporting career exploration in middle school and…

Within the education field, international partnerships to address career development have been successful around the world (Brown, Bim Rose, & Hughes, 2005; Nazali, 2007; Prideaux, Patton, & Creed, 2002; Repetto, 2001). Career development programming impacts the educational development for children and adolescents (Gottfredson, 1981;…

The mission of the Houston Independent School District's (HISD) Career and Technical Education (CTE) program is to empower students with the academic and technical skills needed to strengthen the economic and social foundation of the city of Houston and beyond. HISD CTE programs are also tailored to prepare students to meet the current and future…

The Houston Independent School District (HISD) offers 16 Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs that meet high school graduation endorsement requirements. CTE programs offer a sequence of courses that provides students with coherent and rigorous content aligned with challenging academic standards and relevant technical knowledge and skills…

The aim of this study was to examine whether adolescents' career exploration is predicted by perceived social support. Participants were 718 seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth grade students. In this research, simultaneous regression analysis assessed the contributions of perceived social support to the adolescent's career exploration. Perceived…

The mission of the Houston Independent School District's (HISD) Career and Technical Education (CTE) program is to empower students with the academic and technical skills needed to strengthen the economic and social foundation of the city of Houston and beyond. The program's goals and objectives focus on preparing students for success in their…