Once one of the most disparaged forms of education in the U.S., what used to be called vocational education, now renamed and reimagined as career and technical education, has emerged in the past decade as one of the most promising approaches to preparing students for the future. Many charter school educators, traditionally focused on college access, have been slow to see the appeal of career education. But this is changing, and the CTE charter movement is poised to take off.

PANEL

In June 2017, Opportunity America convened a session on CTE charters at the National Charter Schools Conference. A panel of policy experts and school administrators discussed the promise of CTE charter schools and the issues they raise – for educators, students, families and education reformers.

Read more about the panel here.

ROUNDTABLE

Earlier that week, Opportunity America convened a private workshop that brought together some two dozen educators from CTE charter schools across the U.S. The goal of the half-day roundtable: to share best practices, discuss common challenges, float ideas about public policy and explore the value of continuing the conversation – forming a national network of CTE charter educators.

Read more about the roundtable here.

C-SPAN

In August 2017, Opportunity America president Tamar Jacoby championed CTE charters on a panel about high school choice convened by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.

Watch the panel here.

ARTICLES

Career and technical education and the soft bigotry of low expectations Thomas B. Fordham Institute, 1-28-21