Career Pathways to Prosperity

Which pathway is right for you?

As the debate around public education continues, Harvard University has released their Pathways To Prosperity Project, an insightful report that focuses attention on the benefits of vocational education. If Career and Technical Education needs anything, validation from one of the top universities in the world comes pretty close.
The empirical evidence in the project has been culled from several European countries with strong public education systems that place far more emphasis on vocational education than we do.
While the U.S. has over 15 million students currently in CTE secondary programs, a stigma still exists, yet enrollment has gone up-perhaps due a realization that college isn’t for everyone, and for those who are poor, can bear a heavy financial burden, even with the support of federal aide.
As we continue to tout the benefits of Career and Technical Education, we must create specific pathways that start with strong career counseling at both the middle and high school levels and provide students with viable pathways that lead to industry-reconognized certifications, internships, technology skills and dual college credits.
Here’s the link to the report:

http://www.agi.harvard.edu/

I Heart iPad

Oh Yeah, iPad

For a Christmas present this year,  I recieved the ultimate gift-an iPad, and I love it!  As a life long learner and one who just loves to find out about stuff, I embrace my inner geek, google and go!  As an educator, it’s a great tool for the classroom, and I am always looking for cool apps to reinforce what students are learning about in  just about any subject area.  So I found a site that put together a list of awesome apps just for teachers, below is the link and happy iPading!

http://palmbeachschooltalk.com/groups/ipadpilot

The Final Countdown

Good Luck Seniors!

As we prepare for the end of our school year, I thought I’d post a CTE link about engaging students in our classrooms, especially now, with the weather heating up, graduation dates growing closer and students gettting ready to check out!  I hope you can not only use it for getting through the end of this year, but also as a reflection of what we aim to do every day….Enjoy!

http://www.acteonline.org/tech_may10.html

Free! Higher Ed

Hey kids!  Wanna brush up on that AP physics exam coming up?  Or perhaps you’d rather sit back, relax and learn more about the American Revolution?  Find a good on-line GED program or finish some high school credits?  Well, all of this is possible and, even better, it’s free!  Open CourseWare, or OCW, is becoming quite popular at universities such as MIT, Yale, Michigan State and several others across the country.  These programs are designed to give students access to on-line courses that are actually taught in university classrooms. If you are a self-learner or prefer to learn on your own time, this a great resource to assist in preparing you for post-secondary coursework.  There is no registration and no fees to pay, however, students do not earn credits or get the opportunity to interact with a professor.  Still, OCW to me is another way to make technology work for you.  To find out more, check out the following link:    https://www.indianacareerconnect.com/learning.asp and happy learning!