Dear CTE teachers, coordinators, and administrators,
As you look ahead to the coming school year, we want you and the entire career and technical education community to stop a moment, take stock, and recognize what you are doing right. You’ve made a tremendous difference in the lives of Wisconsin students, and you should be proud.
The state of CTE in Wisconsin really hit home for DPI’s CTE Team as we were developing the CTE Annual Report. We saw this:
While all graduation rates fell in the 2020-21 school year during the height of the pandemic, CTE Concentrator graduation rates fell very little especially when compared to non-CTE graduation rates. CTE teachers around the state are doing something right. You are engaging your learners. For some high school students, the prospect of going to class for hands-on learning is not only a reason to go to school, but also a reason to stay in school.
For other students, CTE dual credit and industry-recognized credentials give them a way to earn college credit while in high school. It saves families time and money. Most important, it helps students figure out their career direction.
That does not erase the challenges we have before us:
- The shortage of CTE teachers that we are tackling with grow-your-own teacher education programs
- The inequities that we are trying to address through the use of proficiency-based learning levels rather than grade-based levels in our CTE standards
- The understanding that it takes partners to build career pathways and employer pipelines, and we have those and they are growing!
- The funding that can make Wisconsin a strong education and business state
The 2021 CTE Annual Report will soon be available. Our goal is to publish the 2022 and the 2023 annual reports within a year as well. Then we can all see the trends for ourselves and move … Forward, Wisconsin CTE!