Career-technical education (CTE) has become a significant priority for Ohio leaders and lawmakers over the last several years. For those who aren’t familiar with CTE, or who may have outdated views about what it offers students, this increasing emphasis may be surprising. To fully grasp why leaders and lawmakers are right to invest so much time and effort, Ohioans need to understand the bigger picture. Specifically, they need to understand career pathways.
A detailed definition of career pathways can be found in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), a federal law that requires states to “strategically align their core workforce development programs” to increase opportunities and improve outcomes. This law, which was passed in 2014 with significant bipartisan support, defines a career pathway as a combination of rigorous and high-quality education, training, and other services. It also includes some more specific characteristics, such as alignment to workforce needs and work-based learning.
Aside from being instructive about what career pathways are, the WIOA definition offers a solid jumping off point to examine some of what Ohio has accomplished in the career pathways space over the last few years. Let’s take a closer look at Ohio’s progress in a few key areas.
Career pathways enable students to attain a secondary school diploma and at least one recognized post-secondary credential.
In 2019, Ohio lawmakers passed a revised set of graduation requirements that made room for career pathways. Under these standards, students must not only complete course requirements to earn a diploma, but also demonstrate both competency and readiness. For the competency portion, they are permitted to meet standards based on career experience and technical skill. For the readiness portion, they must earn at least two diploma seals. Of the twelve seals available, two incorporate components of career pathways—the OhioMeansJobs-Readiness Seal and the Industry-Recognized Credential Seal.
Speaking of industry-recognized credentials, Ohio has developed a comprehensive infrastructure that assigns each credential a point value between one and twelve. Values are determined by employer demand and/or state regulations; the more points a credential is worth, the more value it has in a career field. The number of students earning credentials has dramatically increased over the last few years, with over 10 percent of the Class of 2022 earning one. This increase is due in part to state-funded initiatives like the Innovative Workforce Incentive Program, which was designed to increase the number of students who earn qualifying credentials in “priority” industry sectors.
Career pathways align with industry skill needs in state and regional economies.
Alignment between career pathways and workforce needs ensures that students are effectively prepared to work in fields with plenty of opportunities and well-paying jobs. Here again, Ohio’s efforts with industry-recognized credentials come into play. To be included on the state’s approved list, a credential must be recognized by multiple Ohio employers within an industry sector, and must also be connected to a job on Ohio's Top Jobs List. But that’s not all. The Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation has established a development and alignment strategy for Ohio’s broadband and 5G workforce, as well as the auto and advanced mobility workforce, as these areas are expected to create thousands of jobs over the next decade. The state also oversees the Industry Sector Partnership Grant, which aims to drive collaboration between local businesses, education and training providers, and community stakeholders. To date, thirty-seven partnerships from around the state have been awarded funds.
Career pathways offer work-based learning.
WIOA asserts that a career pathway should offer education “concurrently with and in the same context as workforce preparation activities and training for a specific occupation.” One example of such training is work-based learning. To this end, Ohio has established guidelines for work-based learning opportunities and offers a tax credit certificate program for employers that offer experiences to students. The High School Tech internship program provides high school students with work experience in technology-related roles, and placed over 500 students in internships during 2023. Students also have access to pre-apprenticeships; there are currently 152 pre-apprenticeship programs that work with Ohio high schools and career centers.
Career pathways include counseling to support students in achieving their education and career goals.
Beginning with the 2015–16 school year, every district in Ohio has been required to adopt a policy on career advising. These policies must specify how districts will provide career advising to all students in grades 6–12, train staff to advise students on career pathways, and identify and publicize courses that award students CTE credit. The Department of Education and Workforce (DEW) has provided a career-advising toolkit to help accomplish these goals. More recently, DEW launched a communications campaign aimed at students and families. The Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation also offers resources designed to inform students of their options. And the most recent state budget allocated dollars for every public school—$7.50 per student for the 2023–24 school year and $10 for the 2024–25 school year—to fund career awareness and exploration.
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Clearly, Ohio has taken seriously its charge to implement career pathways. But although the programs and initiatives mentioned above are positive steps forward, it’s important to recognize that Ohio hasn’t yet crossed the finish line.
Each of the aforementioned areas has weaknesses that must be addressed. For example, it’s important for the state to ensure that every credential an Ohio student can earn is meaningful and fully aligned with workforce needs. Otherwise, students could end up struggling to find employment or being stuck in a job that pays too little. In the realm of graduation requirements, it’s crucial to ensure that schools aren’t gaming the system for their own benefit by encouraging students to earn meaningless credentials just so they can graduate. Work-based learning opportunities aren’t nearly as widespread or as easily accessible as they should be. And although Ohio has a decent foundation regarding career counseling, there are still far too many students and families who are unaware of their options.
Over the next decade, Ohio leaders and lawmakers will need to work on addressing these issues. The good news is that they’re clearly taking that duty seriously, as evidenced by just how much work has been done over the last few years. Here’s hoping that the next few continue this positive trend.
