Dear Colleagues —

We are pleased to share the congressionally-mandated National Assessment of Career and Technical Education (NACTE): Final Report was sent to Congress this past Friday, September 12, 2014. Among the findings:

• In 2009, 85 percent of public high school graduates completed one or more occupational CTE courses, 76 percent had earned at least one full CTE credit and 19 percent were CTE concentrators who completed at least three credits in the same CTE field.
• Secondary CTE coursetaking declined from 1990 to 2009, while academic coursetaking increased. However, some occupational areas saw large increases in CTE coursetaking, most notably health sciences (+222 percent) and public services (+153 percent).
• At the postsecondary level, the number of students earning certificates or associate’s degrees in CTE fields rose 71 percent from 2002 to 2012, compared with a 54 percent increase in all undergraduate awards. Some CTE fields showed higher rates of growth (e.g., health sciences, +137 percent) while other fields showed declines (e.g., marketing, –44 percent).

Also transmitted to Congress on Friday was the congressionally-mandated Independent Advisory Panel’s report, entitled Putting "Career" in "College and Career Ready": The Report of the Independent Advisory Panel of the National Assessment of Career and Technical Education.

We hope you will have an opportunity to review these report and discuss ways that its key findings can help inform your State’s career and technical education programs.

Best —
Sharon Lee Miller
Director, Division of Academic and Technical Education