ODE Approved Career and Technical Education Programs

Career and Technical Education (CTE) provides students with valuable experiences and important knowledge and skills in academic and career areas. The CTE program approval process has been the vehicle for schools and districts to determine whether local CTE programs meet quality criteria in order to meet the needs of students. The current program approval process has been in effect since 1990-1991 and has not been updated to reflect ongoing changes in both the workplace and education systems, and state and federal legislation.

The implementation of the Oregon Educational Act for the 21st Century, and especially the development and implementation of the Certificate of Advanced Mastery (CAM), prompted the need for a review and modification of the current system, including the alignment of CTE with CAM. Congress' reauthorization of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act in 1998 also highlighted the need to consider changes to the current system. In addition, several Oregon's Perkins task forces, including Secondary and Postsecondary CTE Program Design, recommended revisions and restructuring of the current program approval process, and the development of a consistent and systemic approach.

The Secondary Career and Technical Education (CTE) Program Quality Assurance process is intended to help Oregon schools design and develop high quality, state of the art professional technical education programs. Providing students with high quality, meaningful learning experiences that connect to post high school next steps is integral to this process. Quality professional technical education provides students with technical, academic and career-related learning standards (CRLS) and skills necessary for their success. Students success is the true measure of program effectiveness and quality. A program quality assurance process provides an external measurement of a program's quality and effectiveness in meeting the needs of students.

The quality assurance process will include three primary components: program criteria, program approval and renewal, and program evaluation. This is a continuous improvement process that is part of the overall school improvement effort in the state, and is designed to promote connections across systems at both the secondary and post secondary levels. It is important that this process be closely linked to other state and federal initiatives for measuring students and schools performance such as the Consolidated District Improvement Plans (CDIP) and the Improving America's Schools Act (IASA).