Dive Brief:

• Edmentum, an online learning solutions provider, has announced it will add 70 Career Technical Education (CTE) courses to its platform for the 2015-2016 school year.
• The decision to expand CTE course offerings matches a growing trend toward technical education; according to the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium (NASDCTEc), 12.5 million students take part in CTE courses each year.
• The CTE courses will be available through Plato Courseware’s online courses and the accredited virtual school EdOptions Academy.

Dive Insight:

The new CTE courses cover all 16 of the Career Clusters® identified by NASDCTEc and will allow students to dig deep into subjects like the Arts, A/V Technology, and Communications; Business Management and Administration; Health Science; and Information Technology. 

Ensuring that students get actual real world experience to try out their new CTE skills, beyond the computer, is key if individuals are really serious about instilling a more nuanced understanding of these careers.  

The push for CTE options was most recently seen in Michigan, where Gov. Rick Snyder approved an amendment allowing students to take welding or another career and technical education class in place of the traditional Algebra II requirement to graduate.