Aligning Career and Technical Education Programs with Department of Navy STEM Careers
Abstract
?States currently offer career and technical education (CTE) programs of study to prepare high school and college students for entry into STEM fields. A program of study describes a coherent sequence of courses—technical and academic—that prepares students to seamlessly transition across educational levels and into the workforce. Curriculum and instruction are rigorous and standards-based, aligned across the secondary and postsecondary education levels, and lead to the award of an industry-recognized credential or certificate, or an associate’s, bachelor’s or professional degree. Although a career in a uniformed or civilian, Department of the Navy (DoN) STEM-related field is the natural extension of a CTE program of study (POS), to date connections between the two have yet to be articulated. This project will seek to assess the potential for linking CTE POS offered in secondary and postsecondary settings with in-demand, high-skill Naval STEM careers. Through this pilot project, RTI will convene representatives from the education, military, and civilian, defense-related workforce sectors to: • Catalog occupations in private sector firms serving DoN interests for which there is a current or projected shortage of trained workers; • Specify the academic and technical skills, certifications, and degrees expected of entry-level and advanced career professionals in recognized fields; • Identify statewide CTE POS that prepare high school students to enter postsecondary education to pursue advanced skills training in STEM-related fields, and postsecondary students to find employment in STEM-related careers in fields with identified occupational shortages. RTI will produce a white paper assessing the potential for aligning state CTE POS with STEM-related careers in the military and defense-related industries serving DoN interests. This paper will summarize pilot project work and offer recommendations for whether and, if so, how subsequent efforts to align state CTE POS with STEM-related careers should occur. RTI will further establish the foundation and relationships necessary to support cross-walking efforts in the second phase of the project, should the conceptual approach prove feasible. It is anticipated that project findings from the pilot phase also will help inform efforts to replicate project work in other state contexts to ensure that results are scalable at the national level.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- May 20, 2016
- Source ID
- N000141512447
Entities
People
- Steve Klein
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- RTI International
- United States Navy