COLLEGE AND CAREER ADVANTAGE

A career-ready person effectively navigates pathways that connect education and employment to achieve a fulfilling, financially-secure and successful career. A career is more than just a job. To be career ready in our ever-changing global economy requires adaptability and a commitment to lifelong learning, along with mastery of key academic, technical and workplace knowledge, skills and dispositions that vary from one career to another and change over time as a person progresses along a developmental continuum. Students attain knowledge, skills, and dispositions that are inter-dependent and mutually reinforcing.

A high school CTE career pathway is defined by the California Department of Education as a sequence of career technical courses that are equal to, or exceed a minimum of 300 hours in one industry sector. This can be made up of one course (Surgical Technologist training is 650 classroom hours and 700 internship hours, therefore it is considered a career pathway) or multiple courses. A high school career pathway completer can then continue from high school to community college, an entry-level job, or a four-year university. The successful outcome of a career pathway is a certification, a degree, an industry license, or a combination of all three that results in obtaining a career.

An example of a high school career pathway including UC a-g approved courses and resulting in an Industry Certification is below: