The California Legislature for several years now has shown increased interest in career technical education (CTE) and its relationship to college preparation and to the California State University’s (CSU) admission requirements; including the “a-g” list of college preparatory courses that represent the depth and breadth of content knowledge necessary to prepare high school graduates to succeed at both the CSU and the University of California (UC).

At January’s Board of Trustee (BOT) meeting, the Committee on Educational Policy heard a presentation from a non-profit organization, Achieve Inc., on the knowledge and skills high school graduates will need to be successful in college but also get good jobs. Achieve is an independent, bipartisan, non-profit education reform organization created in 1996 by the nation’s governors and corporate leaders to help states raise academic standards and graduation requirements, improve assessments and strengthen accountability so that the transition from high school graduation to postsecondary education and careers is seamless. Christine Tell, director of Achieve Alignment Institute, The America Diploma Project made the presentation of their study.

The information items on the Board’s agenda was prepared to demonstrate the value that CSU places on academic preparation and the role that CTE courses play while in high school as students prepare both for college and seek good jobs in the workforce.

Below are some of the highlights of the study:

Today’s employers of good jobs want to hire and retain employees who have strong academic skills that relate effectively with the realities of the workplace. Achieve’s study identified “good jobs” as:

• Pays enough to support a family well above the poverty level,
• Provides benefits, and
• Offers clear pathways for career advancement through further education and training.

The study identified workplace expectations for “good” blue-collar jobs that require high school students to obtain high-level of skills before graduating from high school. For example:

• Requirements for iron workers, recommended high school courses include algebra, geometry and physics.
• Requirements for electricians recommend high school courses include algebra, geometry, trigonometry and physics.
• Requirements for sheet metal workers include four to five years of apprenticeship and algebra, geometry, trigonometry and technical reading.
• Finally, requirements for tool and die makers: four or five years of apprenticeship and/or postsecondary training, algebra, geometry, trigonometry and statistics.

The key findings in the study identified that Math and English skills are needed to succeed in “good” jobs. In Mathematics, Algebra II was the threshold math course for most workers in “good” jobs. Important content included algebra, geometry and measurement, data analysis and statistics, and fluency with computation. Important skills included ability to think creatively and logically and to identify and solve problems. In English, most workers at all levels of employment had completed four years of English at grade level or above in high school. The study pointed out that below-average English or functional and basic English increased the likelihood of being employed in a low-paid or low-skilled job.

Finally, the study highlighted some important cross-disciplinary proficiencies and skills that are required to succeed in the workforce:

• Research and evidence gathering: employers are seeking workers that can conduct research; use research process to describe, summarize and synthesize information or to solve problems.
• Critical thinking and decision making: workers that can employ logic; use abstract and concrete reasoning to make and assess inference, conclusions and predictions.
• Communication and teamwork: understand different viewpoints to reach consensus; work productively in teams; and communicate effectively.
• Media and technology understanding: access and use a variety of media and formats to evaluate, create and distribute information.

For more information the full study can be found on Achieve's website.

The CSU firmly believes that high school students should have multiple pathways to preparation for the workforce or to go directly to college. The CSU places academic preparation, including career technical education courses as a very important component to preparing student both for college and for the workforce. In fact, the CSU working with the UC have adopted model uniform academic standards for high school CTE courses that satisfy the completion of general elective course requirements for the purposes of admission into the CSU. General electives are known as Area “g” of the “a-g” fifteen college preparatory courses required for admission to the university. The CSU has been working hard with high schools to increase the number of CTE courses that meet the “a-g” course content requirements, making them a part of the coursework that best prepares a high school graduate for the workforce or for admissions to the CSU.