Paving Career Pathways in Schools

By Jes Gray

A beautiful locale alone will bring visitors, but the community that cares for it makes all the difference in its success. Growing up on the Outer Banks is not something I experienced as I am one of the many who chose to move to the area as an adult. But it’s our local youth who are in a unique position to truly understand what it takes to keep this area running. How do we best prepare the next generation to find success if they choose to remain here as adults to help continue caring for and maintaining this great and growing community?

Two programs, Career and Technical Education (CTE) and the Careers and College Promise (CCP) have been tailored to meet these education and career goals of students starting in middle school and are brought to life by the dedicated educators who bring years of experience and knowledge. Each year these state school requirements and options are updated to meet both a modern curriculum and current legislation. Two major changes have been introduced in 2023, adding a Computer Science requirement and defining a three year graduation track.

The Career and Technical Education programs are funded by a continuing grant known as the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006, amended by the Strengthening Career and Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V). This Act was created, according to the US Department of Education (DOE), to “provide many policy levers that a state can use to advance its education, workforce, and economic development goals.” At First Flight High School, for example, programs include: Adobe and Game Art Design, Aviation, Career Management and Entrepreneurship, Carpentry and Construction, Culinary Arts, Computer Science, Health Education, and Marketing.

According to the First Flight CTE website, “the CTE faculty at First Flight High School have a combined 200+ years of education and industry experience.” These students are learning skills that can be applied immediately after graduation or assist in completing secondary and post-secondary education. In fact, according to the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE), CTE concentrators, that is students that have taken two or more CTE courses in a single program, have a graduation rate in NC of 97.2% versus an 87% average for all students. This success rate seems to encourage participation, as there were a record number of students earning CTE credentials totaling 2,765 for the 22-23 school year per Dare County’s DareToLearn.com website.

North Carolina’s economy is, as stated by the ACTE, “experiencing a skills gap,” with 54% of jobs in NC needing persons educated beyond what is offered in High School, yet not requiring a 4 year degree, and only 44% of the labor force in NC being educated to these levels. With the long waits for construction and issues with healthcare, this gap is extremely obvious in Dare County, thus the programs are dearly needed.

In 2023, Federal Funding for the Perkins CTE reached over forty-eight million dollars, and it follows that this much expenditure requires proper documentation and statistical support. As was mentioned above, these programs do bear data-proven fruit in graduation rates and participation, and these statistics will be used to reapply for the funding for 2024. The DOE asks states to use “labor market information” to inform how these funds should best be used to achieve state and local specific goals. We see this being used in how the choices of which programs to offer align with each area’s needs, as in the Carpentry, Health, and Hospitality Programs leading individuals into professions so needed locally. Perkins V, in an effort to ensure financial success for students and thus their communities, asks that these CTE programs lead to “high wage”, “high skill” and “in-demand” job opportunities simultaneously. Certainly, this is true for our locality, where the growth of the tourism industry and the needs of the increasing year-round population are paying more than ever for skilled services.

The state takes the effort to assist in students completing a variety of secondary education options to another level with its dual enrollment program called the Career and College Promise.

According to the NC Department of Public Instruction (DPI), “this program allows eligible NC High School students to enroll in college classes at NC community colleges and universities through their high school.” Often these classes can work as dual credit at both the high school and college level.

In the CTE program, the CCP allows students who wish to “begin a certification or diploma program in a particular technical field or career area” per the DPI. These classes are free of charge at the local colleges for students enrolled in the program. The NC Promise goes even further to fulfill the state’s constitutional goal to make post high school education, “as free as is reasonably possible.” For all students, a reduced tuition rate is available at three NC institutions, one of which is the nearby Elizabeth City State University, the other two being UNC Pembroke and Western Carolina University. This reduced tuition is $500 for in-state and $2,500 for out-of-state and international students. While there are no eligibility requirements, some additional fees will apply.

Dare County Schools Career & Technical Education offers students an opportunity to explore potential career pathways and earn industry recognized credentials. Pictured: students in Dare County attending classes and events provided by these programs. Photos courtesy of Public Information Officer Hannah Nash via DaretoLearn.org

Even closer to home, the College of the Albemarle (COA) also is part of the CTE and CCP programs offering the “seamless” dual enrollment and acceleration of degree and certificate completion in many areas of study, including Nursing, Engineering, Teaching, Fine Arts, and Science. As Denise Fallon, Dare County School’s Director of Secondary Education explained, “Dare County Schools will continue to grow its partnership with the college of the Albemarle as students dual enroll through North Carolina’s College and Career Promise Program. In addition, Dare County Schools will continue to develop academic and career plans with students to personalize their educational experiences as they prepare for life and graduation.” COA is also partnered with Camden, Elizabeth City – Pasquotank, and J.P. Knapp “early college” or Cooperative Innovative High School programs as well, which allows access to, “accelerated learning opportunities” according to the DPI and from the Rowan County Community College description, “provides the opportunity for students in grades 9-12 to earn both a high school degree and a two year degree or two years of transferable credit in 4 to 5 years tuition free.”

North Carolina’s legislature seemed to have the earlier mentioned skills gap on their minds this summer session, as they passed several pieces of legislation concerning education. First, is House Bill 8, which makes Computer Science a requirement of graduation, whereas before it was an elective course, if offered. This bill sets a timeframe for schools without the program to create one in compliance with the state or submit a waiver for their students by 2026. As Blair Rhodes the communications director for NCDPI explained, “The bill says that before a student graduates, they must have a computer science credit taken in high school. When we say “Computer Science”- this involves a list of 30+ classes a student can take. Computer Science is a category like “Math” or “English” – it is not a course.” I asked about the local impact of House Bill 8 and Denise Fallon responded, “The components of HB 8 are currently being evaluated at both the state and local level. In Dare County we will continue to provide robust educational opportunities for our students as they prepare for college and career.”

Another interesting take away from the 2023 Budget is a three year graduation requirement. As Blair Rhodes wrote, “The language that was passed required our agency (NCDPI) to develop the core sequences (or pathway) for students to graduate in three years. The language passed by the legislature placed some limitations on a local school district’s ability to require anything beyond the State Board of Education minimum for graduation. (This technical correction has not yet been “applied” but is what our agency is advocating for in the meantime.) It’s worth noting the legislation requires a student to be 16 years old to pursue this ‘three year graduation track and that they must complete three years. This means they cannot “smush” credits into 5 semesters and graduate as a sophomore.”

She goes on to remind us that there already is a three year option available in NC and that this requirement grouping would take effect in 2024-25, so “a current sophomore could take advantage.” I also asked Hannah McClellan the senior reporter for Education NC about the impact of this “3 year track” and she kindly guided me towards the right folks to ask and shared her observations that, “Some people think only a select group of students will opt for this track, while others worry it will pose a significant impact on school funding and enrollment.” That being said, she points out, “the DPI is expecting a technical correction in the spring which would limit some impact of this bill, but I think most of the expected impact is speculation at this point.”

From the state capital to our local schools, student’s lives are shaped by these learning institutions, their leaders, and the government directives that guide their actions. These groups work in conjunction to help build our next generation, and we are clearly at an inflection point. All parties involved are working to keep our system modern and producing successful, community minded graduates. No one knows the future ramifications of these changes, and we will see as they come into effect, their true impact on both the schools and, more importantly, the students within. In the meantime, all of our hardworking educators, along with the CTE and CCP programs, offer our students many options for a bright future on the Outer Banks.

Author: CoastalLife