Expanding Equitable Access to High-Quality CTE Programs in San Diego County

SDCOE and 17 partner local educational agencies (LEAs) recently received more than $800,000 from the K-12 Strong Workforce Program to support a newly developed project to support career pathways for students. 

The Building Professional Capacity for Transformational CTE project was developed by Jamie Davenport, Instruction and Curriculum coordinator for SDCOE, and aims to address the regional need to expand access to high-quality career technical education (CTE), close persistent equity gaps, and strengthen transitions into priority programs at local community colleges.

“So many districts and schools across San Diego County came together to support this project and work together for the larger purpose of providing consistent, high-quality CTE across the entire region,” said Davenport. “We have partnered with several small LEAs that are just getting started with CTE pathways, as well as many of the larger comprehensive districts. It’s exciting that the small LEAs will be able to learn alongside more experienced districts as they develop CTE pathways.” 

As part of the project, SDCOE aims to deliver measurable improvements in the number of students who complete a CTE pathway and graduate ready for college or career. It starts by ensuring educators have what they need, so the team will provide a variety of professional learning opportunities designed for CTE teachers, counselors, and administrators.

Planned professional learning opportunities will include: 

• Workshops on curriculum mapping, Project-Based Learning (PBL), Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and artificial intelligence in the CTE classroom
• Summer “bootcamp” for new CTE teachers
• A series of regional “Counseling for Careers” summits
• A master scheduling workshop series for administrators

“The intent of this project perfectly aligns with SDCOE's goal to champion a collective responsibility to improve student outcomes through transformational experiences,” said Michael Bruder, senior director of College and Career Readiness. “Together, with each of our partner LEAs, we are excited to help provide transformational CTE experiences for all students, and ultimately, reach our goal of supporting all students in being prepared for college and career.” 

Additionally, to support CTE educators, SDCOE will expand communities of practice for CTE pathways. A community of practice is a network of educators who regularly come together to share expertise and collaborate on common challenges. 

Pathway-specific communities of practice are particularly valuable for CTE educators as many of them are the only — or one of very few — educators within their district teaching courses in their specific CTE pathways. By connecting educators across the region, these communities of practice help educators connect with their peers across the county and, as a group, connect with and build relationships with relevant industry partners that help support real-world learning experiences for students. 

Currently, SDCOE facilitates communities of practice in the following pathways: education, healthcare, technology and computer science, and climate-related STEM. 

For more information on SDCOE’s support for CTE educators, visit the SDCOE College and Career Readiness webpage.