CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION PROGRAM | Policy Manual

2421 - CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION PROGRAM

The Board recognizes that education is a function of both knowledge and the application of knowledge. Education that ties abstract ideas to practical applications also prepares students to use their minds, as well as preparing them to be citizens, parents, and members of a civilized culture. Career and technical education and academic education are complementary, rather than exclusive.
For the purposes of this policy, "career and technical education" shall be defined as a program designed to provide career and technical education experiences. These experiences will complement and reinforce academic concepts that are particularly amenable to contextualized learning in a distinct career area and provide occupationally specific skills.
The Board shall provide a career and technical education program that includes, but is not limited to:
1. job preparatory courses designed to provide students with the competencies necessary for effective entry into an occupation;
2. exploratory courses designed to give students initial exposure to skills and attitudes associated with a broad range of occupations in order to assist them in making informed decisions regarding their future academic and occupational goals;
3. practical arts courses designed to teach students practical generic skills which, although applicable in some occupations, are not designed to prepare students for entry into an occupation;
4. career education instruction which is designed to strengthen and integrate basic academic skills and vocational/technical skills and occupational awareness;
5. accelerated technical programs such as vocational dual enrollment designed to enable high school students to earn elective credit toward graduation and postsecondary credit toward an A.S. degree or a technical certificate.
6. Additionally, each high school in the District shall host a career fair during the school year and establish a process to provide students in grades 11 and 12 the opportunity to meet or interview with potential employers during the career fair. The career fair must be held on the campus of the high school, except that a group of high schools in the District or the District and other school districts may hold a joint career fair at an alternative location to satisfy this requirement. A joint career fair must be held at a location within reasonable driving distance for students at all participating schools. The career fair must be held during the school day and may use Florida’s online career planning and work-based learning system as part of the career fair activities. Alternatively, the District may consult with local workforce development boards, advisory committees, and business groups to determine free or cost-effective methods to provide other career and industry networking opportunities during the school day for secondary students and exposure for elementary and secondary students to a representative variety of industries, businesses, and careers.
Any effort to recruit students to participate in a particular career and technical program shall follow applicable State and Federal laws regarding provision of information.
Career and technical education programs are available to high school students without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability. The Superintendent is to ensure that application forms for cooperative education programs contain a notice of nondiscrimination. The notice of nondiscrimination shall be part of the application forms provided to employers.
Procedures for program operation in accordance with applicable labor laws are incorporated in the Florida Department of Education, Curriculum Frameworks, and Student Performance Standards.
The Board recognizes the value of providing students with actual workplace experiences as part of their preparation for productive employment and appreciates the cooperation of local employers in accommodating such education and training activities at their places of business and therefore authorizes the Superintendent to develop workplace education and training programs as part of the career and technical education curriculum.
Career and Professional Academies; Career-Themed Courses
1. The District shall offer career and professional academies at the middle and high school levels, and at least two (2) career-themed courses. A "career and professional academy" is a research-based program that integrates a rigorous academic curriculum with an industry-specific curriculum aligned directly to priority workforce needs established by the regional workforce board or the Department of Commerce.
2. A "career-themed course" is a course, or a course in a series of courses, that leads to an industry certification identified in the CAPE Industry Certified Funding List pursuant to rules adopted by the State Board of Education. Career-themed courses have industry-specific curriculum aligned directly to priority workforce needs established by the regional workforce board or the Department of Commerce. Students completing a career-themed course will be provided opportunities to earn postsecondary credit if the credit for the career-themed course can be articulated to a postsecondary institution approved to operate in the State.
3. The Board expects career and professional academies offered in the District to provide rigorous and relevant career-themed courses that may articulate to postsecondary-level coursework and provide students with the opportunity to receive a standard high school diploma, earn an industry certification, or earn postsecondary credit, and to attain the Florida Gold Seal Vocational Scholars award or the Florida Gold Seal CAPE Scholars award. Schools are encouraged to forge partnerships with local businesses in the development of career and professional academies. These partnerships will help prepare students for their career goals while supporting the local and State workforce needs, as well as help attract, expand, and retain targeted, high-value industry and jobs in the community.
4. The Board further provides the opportunity for middle school students who successfully complete the curriculum of the career and professional academies or a career-themed course to transfer to a high school career and professional academy or a career-themed course currently operating within the District. Students who complete such courses at the middle school level must have the opportunity to earn an industry certificate, high school credit, and participate in career planning, job shadowing, and business leadership development activities. The District shall inform students and parents during course selection for middle school of the career and professional academy or career-themed courses available within the District.
5. The District's career and professional academies should increase student academic achievement and graduation rates through integrated academic and career curriculum. Each middle school career exploration program, middle and high school career, and professional academies leading to industry certification, and high school graduation requirements shall be aligned.
6. Each career and professional academy and career-themed course at the high school level must:
  1. provide a rigorous standards-based academic curriculum integrated with a career curriculum; consider multiple styles of student learning; promote learning by doing through application and adaptation; maximize relevance of the subject matter; enhance each student’s capacity to excel; and include an emphasis on work habits and work ethics.
  2. include one (1) or more partnerships with postsecondary institutions, businesses, industry, employers, economic development organizations, or other appropriate partners from the local community. Such partnerships with postsecondary institutions shall be delineated in articulation agreements and include any career and professional academy courses or career-themed courses that earn postsecondary credit. Such agreements may include articulation between the secondary school and public or private two (2) year and four (4) year postsecondary institutions and technical centers. Such partnerships must provide opportunities for:
    1. instruction from highly skilled professionals who possess industry-certification credentials for courses they are teaching;
    2. internships, externships, and on-the-job training;
    3. a postsecondary degree, diploma, or certificate;
    4. the highest available level of industry certification;
    5. maximum articulation of credits pursuant to F.S. 1007.23 upon program completion.
  3. promote and provide opportunities for students enrolled in a career and professional academy or a career-themed course to attain, at minimum, the Florida Gold Seal Vocational Scholars award pursuant to F.S. 1009.536.
  4. provide instruction in careers designated as high-skill, high-wage, and high-demand by the regional workforce development board, the chamber of commerce, economic development agencies, or the Department of Commerce.
  5. deliver academic content through instruction relevant to the career, including intensive reading and mathematics with an emphasis on strengthening reading for information skills.
  6. offer applied courses that combine academic content with technical skills.
  7. provide instruction resulting in competency, certification, or credentials in workplace skills, including, but not limited to, communication skills, interpersonal skills, decision-making skills, the importance of attendance and timeliness in the work environment, and work ethics.
7. Each career and professional academy at the middle school level must:
  1. lead to careers in occupations designated as high-skill, high-wage, and high-demand in the CAPE Funding List approved under rules adopted by the State Board of Education.
  2. integrate content from core subject areas.
  3. integrate career-themed course content with reading and mathematics.
  4. coordinate with high schools to maximize opportunities for middle school students to earn high school credit.
  5. provide instruction from highly skilled professionals who hold industry certificates in the career area in which they teach.
  6. offer age-appropriate work-based learning experiences.
  7. provide personalized student advisement that includes a parent-participation component.
8. An adult student with a disability who is enrolled in an apprenticeship program that is registered with the Department of Education in accordance with F.S. Chapter 446, Job Training, is exempt from the provisions of F.S. 1004.91 relating to career preparatory instruction.
Digital materials, CAPE Digital Tool certificates, and CAPE industry certifications
1. DIGITAL MATERIALS — Each district school board, in consultation with the district school superintendent, shall make available digital materials, CAPE Digital Tool certificates, and CAPE industry certifications for students in prekindergarten through grade 12 in order to enable students to attain digital skills. The digital materials, CAPE Digital Tool certificates, and CAPE industry certifications may be integrated into subject area curricula, offered as a separate course, made available through open-access options, or deployed through online or digital computer applications.
2. CAPE DIGITAL TOOL CERTIFICATES — The department shall identify, in the CAPE Industry Certification Funding List under ss. 1003.492 and 1008.44, CAPE Digital Tool certificates that indicate a student’s digital skills. The department shall notify each school district when the certificates are available. The certificates shall be made available to all public elementary grades students. Targeted skills to be mastered for the certificate include digital skills that are necessary to the student’s academic work and skills the student may need in future employment. CAPE Digital Tool certificates earned by students are eligible for additional funding pursuant to s. 1011.62(17).
3. BASIC CAPE INDUSTRY CERTIFICATIONS —
  1. CAPE industry certifications, issued to middle school and high school students, which do not articulate for college credit, are eligible for additional funding pursuant to s. 1011.62(17). Each approved industry certification must be specifically identified in the CAPE Industry Certification Funding List as a CAPE Basic Non-articulated industry certification.
  2. CAPE industry certifications, issued to high school students, which articulate for college credit, are eligible for additional funding pursuant to s. 1011.62(17). Each approved industry certification must be specifically identified in the CAPE Industry Certification Funding List as a CAPE Basic Articulated industry certification
  3. CAPE ACCELERATION.—Industry certifications that articulate for 15 or more college credit hours and, if successfully completed, are eligible for additional funding pursuant to s. 1011.62(17). Each approved industry certification must be specifically identified in the CAPE Industry Certification Funding List as a CAPE Acceleration industry certification.
  4. CAPE PATHWAYS.—Industry certifications issued to high school students who complete at least three courses and an industry certification in a single career and technical education program or program of study and who exit with a standard high school diploma are eligible for additional funding pursuant to s. 1011.62(17). Each approved industry certification must be specifically identified in the CAPE Industry Certification Funding List as a CAPE Pathways industry certification.
  5. GRADE POINT AVERAGE CALCULATION.—For purposes of calculating grade point average, a grade in a course that is level 3 or above and leads to an industry certification must be weighted the same as a grade in an honors course.
High School Credit for Career and Technical Student Organization Participation

Students in grades 6 through 12 may earn one (1) high school credit upon providing their school with verifiable documentation showing an accumulation of at least 150 hours of participation in career and technical student organization activities that occur outside of regular class time. The 150-hour threshold may be accumulated over the course of one (1) or more academic years.
1. "Career and technical education program" means a comprehensive program of secondary instruction for which a curriculum framework has been adopted in accordance with F.A.C. 6A-6.0571. “Career and technical student organizations” or “CTSOs” are organizations for students enrolled in a career and technical education program that engages in career and technical education activities as an integral part of the instructional program to develop knowledge and skills by participating in activities, events, and competitions.
2. CTSO experiences and activities may count toward a high school credit if they provide the opportunity for students to apply academic and technical content to career experiences. These activities may include events, projects, competitions, and workshops, including preparation or practice time for such activities, supervised agricultural experiences, or any other activity that meets the definition of work-based learning under F.S. 446.0915, that is related to a CTSO.
3. To apply for a high school credit, a student, including a transfer student, must provide a completed course approval log signed by the CTSO advisor(s), parent, and student and with details relating to demonstrable CTSO participation, no later than April 30 of each school year:
4. Within fifteen (15) calendar days of receipt of the student's documents related to CTSO participation, the District's Work-Based Learning Specialist will review the documentation and notify the student and counselor if the student's CTSO participation meets the requirements of F.A.C. 6A-1.09442 and this policy.
  
  CTSO advisors, CTSO teachers, and other relevant District personnel will be provided training on the requirements to award credit for CTSO participation.
Industry Certification in Industry-Certified Career Education Programs
1. Secondary schools offering career-themed courses and career and professional academies shall enable students in such programs to earn industry certification in an industry that is:
  1. within an industry that addresses a critical local or Statewide economic need;
  2. linked to an occupation that is included in the workforce system's targeted occupation list; or
  3. linked to an occupation that is identified as emerging.
2. To earn industry certification, the student must demonstrate the required proficiency on an assessment evaluated by an independent, third-party certifying entity using predetermined standards for knowledge, skills, and competencies.
Collection of and Accounting for Expenditure of Block Tuition and Other Fees for Postsecondary Career Education
1. The standard tuition of $2.33 per clock hour for residents and $9.34 per clock hour for nonresidents. For adult general education programs, block tuition of $31.50 per semester shall be assessed.
Strategic Plan to Address Local and Regional Workforce Demands

Florida statutes require each Board to develop, in collaboration with regional workforce boards, economic development agencies, and postsecondary institutions approved to operate in the state, a strategic three (3) year plan to address and meet local and regional workforce demands. If involvement of a regional workforce board or an economic development agency in the strategic plan development is not feasible, the Board, with the approval of the Department of Commerce, shall collaborate with the most appropriate regional business leadership board.

The Board authorizes the Superintendent to collaborate with one (1) or more neighboring counties in the development of the strategic plan, and, upon approval of the plan, to offer career-themed courses, as defined in F.S. 1003.493(1)(b), or a career and professional academy as a joint venture.

The strategic plan must describe in detail provisions for the efficient transportation of students, the maximum use of shared resources, access to courses aligned to State curriculum standards through virtual education providers legislatively authorized to provide part-time instruction to middle school students, and an objective review of proposed career and professional academy courses and other career-themed courses to determine if the courses will lead to the attainment of industry certifications included on the CAPE Industry Certified Funding List pursuant to rules adopted by the State Board of Education.

The strategic three (3) year plan shall be constructed and based upon the elements set forth in F.S. 1003.491. Each strategic plan shall be reviewed, updated, and jointly approved every three (3) years by the School District, regional workforce boards, economic development agencies, and State-approved postsecondary institutions.
Maintenance of Records for Workforce Education Programs Funded with State Appropriations
If the District receives State appropriations for workforce education, it will maintain adequate and accurate records, including a system to record District workforce education funding and expenditures, to maintain the separation of postsecondary workforce education expenditures and secondary workforce education expenditures. These records will be submitted to the FLDOE in accordance with rules of the State Board of Education.
Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB)

The District shall provide opportunities to students in grades 11 and 12 to take the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) during normal school hours and, if requested by a student, the opportunity to consult with a military recruiter.

Revised 4/10/07
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