December 2, 2024 • 23 mins
CTAE, or Career Technology and Agricultural Education, offers students a pathway to acquire essential skills for high-demand careers, making it a valuable option for those navigating post-graduation decisions. David Owen hosts a discussion with Art O'Neill, the Supervisor of CTAE in Cobb, who explains the significance of these courses in preparing students for their future careers. The conversation highlights the various career clusters available, from agriculture to healthcare and the arts, as well as the importance of employability and industry-specific skills. O'Neill emphasizes the benefits of work-based learning opportunities, which allow students to gain real-world experience while still in high school. By the end of the episode, parents and students are encouraged to explore these educational pathways early, starting as early as kindergarten, to set the foundation for a successful career journey.
Guest: Art O'Neill, Supervisor of Career, Technical, & Agricultural Education
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The Cobb County School District
Takeaways:
- CTAE offers students pathways to develop specific career and industry skills in high-demand areas.
- Engaging in CTAE courses allows students to gain practical experience while still in high school.
- Parents should start considering CTAE opportunities as early as kindergarten to align with students' interests.
- Work-based learning provides high school students real-world experience that enhances their education.
- The importance of career portfolios is emphasized, showcasing students' skills and achievements early on.
- Articulated credits enable students to earn college credit while completing their high school education.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Ctae, where students learnskills and craft a future in high
demand careers is our topic onthis edition of the Inside Scoop.
Hello and welcome back to theInside Scoop.
I'm David Owen.
Today we've got a topic thatmay shed some light on more post
graduation options for your student.
(00:21):
If you find our discussionhelpful, make sure you like subscribe.
Click that notification bellso you'll be alerted to new episode
releases.
If you have a student who'sstill figuring out a general direction
to go in life, this chat's for you.
In fact, even if they alreadyhave a course plotted, you'll want
to know about the benefitsoffered to students through our CTAE
(00:43):
courses here in Cobb.
Our expert on the subject isCOBB, Supervisor of CTAE, Art O'Neill.
Art, welcome to the podcast.
David.
Thank you so much for inviting me.
I'm excited to be here today.
So we are in education, we arespecialists and putting letters where
words actually should be.
Can you tell our audience whatCTA is?
(01:04):
CTAE is Career Technology andAgricultural Education.
It's made up of a focus on 17nationally recognized industry clusters
and those clusters containspecific course or sequence of studies,
whether we're talking at themiddle school or high school level.
(01:24):
Okay, so when you say sequenceof studies, is that what you refer
to as a pathway?
Yes.
A pathway at the high schoollevel is a sequence of three courses
that introduce a student tocareer specific skills as well as
industry specific skills.
And there is a difference.
A career specific skill iswhat is often referred to as either
(01:47):
employability.
Sometimes you may hear softskills, durable skill, but that is
a skill that every individualneeds to be able to be successful
in the industry setting.
In any industry.
Any.
Yes sir.
And so but the industryspecific skill that becomes specific
to the pathway that thestudent is studying.
(02:08):
So if I'm in graphics, if I'min healthcare, engineering, marketing,
just go down the line.
That student is learningspecific industry skill that will
allow them to transition to anintermediate level position if that's
their choice in that industry.
Okay, so give us an example.
You kind of touched on threeof them right there.
(02:29):
Tell.
Can you tell us a little moreabout the general industries that
CTAE touches on?
Just to give us a ballpark picture?
And are there more that youcan tell us about?
Certainly the 17 clusters runfrom agriculture to you have government
service, which includes yourtraditional jrotc plus also government,
(02:53):
administration, architectureand construction.
That is more in line with aengineering, drafting and design
as opposed to other industryareas that we also have, which is
engineering and technology.
That's the more theoreticalapplication of engineering.
(03:14):
We could also talk about artsand av, which is graphics and your
audio video technology and film.
Okay.
A very big element now inGeorgia as that entertainment industry
continues.
Yellow wood is what we referto here.
Outstanding, but so.
(03:34):
And then some very important ones.
Law enforcement andhospitality and tourism.
But I don't want to downplaythe importance of education training
which allows us to reallyemphasize for students interested
in teaching to be able tobuild that platform before they transition
(03:56):
to their post secondary experience.
As a CTA course.
As a CTA course, wow.
You have two different, we'llcall them tracks if you will.
In education and training.
You have early childhood,which is specific to toddler to three
years.
And then you have educationwhich picks up with your pre K all
the way through the 12th grade year.
(04:18):
Wow.
Okay.
So we've already learned something.
Or at least I have.
That's amazing.
I had no clue.
Anytime somebody says ctae, weall have our kind of preconceived
notions ranging from oh gosh,I guess wood shop of the 1950s through
some of the newer things likeTV and film of course.
(04:41):
Caught my eye.
That's something we do here inour department.
So what are the ultimatebenefits of a student taking CTAE
courses?
Can you give us an idea of whya parent and or a student would be
motivated to move towardtaking CTAE courses?
(05:01):
Well, there are several and wecould, as we go into the weeds and
talk potentially about beingable to support my transition to
post secondary study.
But I think the most importantelement of career education is that
it provides that student thathas an interest, an aptitude or even
a passion for a particulararea to accelerate their development,
(05:25):
to be able to not onlyexperience that skill specific opportunity,
but also then transition tothe industry where they're able to
work and gain experience whilestill in high school to be able to
determine do I really want todo this?
What is the right time forparents to start paying attention
to CTAE opportunities?
(05:48):
I would argue kindergarten.
Kindergarten.
Kindergarten.
I was expecting a sixth grade answer.
Well, the reason that I sayelementary level is because that
is when Cobb starts to providestudents and parents with an inventory
of a student's interest, their aptitude.
(06:08):
And we realize skill continuesto grow well beyond the K5 setting.
But that's where the parentcan see what students talent and
skills inclination leanstowards as it relates to potential
program exploratory at theirmiddle school.
And then from the middleschool level.
Obviously, as I'm about tomake that transition from fifth to
(06:31):
sixth, it's going to beimportant for the parent to make
sure that the student'sprogram exploratory is part of their
special schedule.
Because you know that thestudent is going to be doing the
health personal fitness.
Many students are going to bedoing the fine arts band application,
which is amazing.
And then you have studentsthat are focused on accelerated core
(06:53):
content areas such as a worldlanguage or mathematics and science.
So within that, if the studenthas a particular interest in an industry
area, they'll be able to alsolook at incorporating that into their
schedule and then that setsthe transition into high school.
Yeah, yeah.
I mean, the options areactually kind of mind boggling when
(07:14):
you think of all thecombinations of them.
Tell us what exploratories arein this context.
What the middle school programexploratory does is it begins to
introduce those durable oressential employability skills in
the middle grade level.
It allows the student to beginto create their career portfolio.
(07:35):
And this is an important toolfor the student to have because it
not only allows them to have asingle spot to house any credentials
that they may, that they mayachieve while in middle school or
high school, but it alsoallows them to sort of focus the
development of their brand, myresume, my summary of who I am and
(08:02):
what I want to be, those typeof things.
But the exploratory is more ofa semantics because it provides that
30,000 foot picture of acareer as opposed to when they transition
into the high school wherethey're beginning to look at industry
specific skill.
So they're at high schoollevel, they're moving in on the ones
(08:25):
that capture their attention,capture their interest.
Exploratories are kind of themenu, if you will, pictures on the
menu to make it easier tounderstand what these various industries
are and where they might beable to fit in.
Is that a fair.
That's a great way to describe it.
That is very fair because theemphasis of that 30,000 foot view
is career exploration.
(08:47):
I have my own preconceivednotion, but can you tell us a little
bit about what work basedlearning actually is from CTA standpoint?
Well, to begin, I want to betransparent in that I believe the
work based learning experienceis the most important experience
a career education student canhave because what it does, it allows
(09:08):
them to take the industryskill that they've been introduced
in their high school programpathway and apply it in an industry
setting.
It's not just, it's no longerwhere I am experiencing or exploring
a career.
I have now stepped into that industry.
(09:28):
I've stepped into that careerfloor in a manufacturing plant, in
a hospital, in a graphics house.
All of those things are nowput in place where I'm working with
an industry mentor in the industry.
And so work based learning isan opportunity available at the high
(09:49):
school level to a student 15years of age or older.
They do not have to complete apathway to be part of work based
learning because oftentimeswhat we find is students begin to
combine that experience withthe opportunity to also enhance the
checkbook.
Yeah, that's always by lookingfor an experience that provides a
(10:11):
paid internship.
Not required, but one thingthat we are trying to develop for
our students.
I am extremely proud of thework that the district's CTAE team
has done in building workbased learning.
When I moved in this positionfive years ago, we had eight high
schools with work basedlearning program.
We now have programs at all 17high schools with programs also at
(10:37):
two district level programs.
And of those 17 high schoolprograms, four have full time work
based learning coordinators.
And that's what we want towork towards, is where that coordinator
can provide this experience tothe student across the whole day
to give them more flexibility.
And I'll explain why that'simportant for a student interested
(10:58):
in construction.
There aren't manyopportunities to intern at 4:00 in
the afternoon because theconstruction site is closed.
They don't want to work in the.
Heat of the day.
So that student would take thefirst part of their day to work on
site and then transition intothe school for the second half of
the day to continue with theircourse study.
(11:19):
Same in culinary.
All of your prep work is donebefore we open for lunch and dinner
opportunities that providesthe student with that flexibility.
And so we've also been able toadd, and this may be interesting
to parents who are alwayslooking for something for the kids
to do during the summer.
A summer work based learningopportunity, both at the district
(11:42):
level.
And we now have expanded it tothree high schools where their local
coordinator is working withtheir students.
Our district program is forstudents at schools that we're still
trying to build that summer experience.
It does not stop a studentwho's interested in participating
in the summer work basedlearning from being a part of it
because we have a districtcoordinator that works with that
(12:04):
set of students.
Wow.
Okay, so now the whole notionof summer school but getting paid,
it's a totally differentperspective on that option.
Just a minute ago youmentioned a portfolio, career portfolio
for students.
And we were in the middle oftalking about middle schoolers.
(12:24):
I can't even as A parent, thewhole notion of thinking what's going
to be on my child's resumewhen they're in seventh grade.
I mean, that's not a normalway of thinking for a parent, but
one who wants to look ahead.
This is a great way to helpbeef up that resume, even if the
child doesn't know exactlywhat they want to do.
(12:47):
Right?
Exactly.
When you're talking about themiddle school portfolio, you're looking
more at that skills inventory.
The student lists on theresume, the skills they've acquired
at the middle school level.
Those are most likely digitalbadges in the technology world.
Microsoft, your word, yourPowerPoint, your Excel.
(13:08):
So they can get certified onstuff like that.
They can earn credentials.
Holy cow.
At the middle school level.
In the middle school level, yes.
I am so behind.
And so now we also haveopportunities for students to initiate
the high school study ineighth grade.
You see that in areas mostlyin engineering and business programs.
(13:33):
And that's where you might seethat resume start to take a little
bit more definition.
But for the sixth grader, itemphasizes what experiences I've
had.
There is an opportunity forthe student to participate in a career
technical studentorganization, CTSO for short.
In any of our career areas,you may know these or your audience
(13:58):
may know them more as thingslike FBLA, DECA, SkillsUSA.
These are career organizationsthat allow the student to begin to
network with industryprofessionals earlier.
Wow.
They begin to network withpeers across the state through competitions
and leadership conferences,but they also get the opportunity
(14:21):
to expand that experiencethrough this platform.
Yeah.
But we found is our postsecondary partners, especially at
the university system, havereally enjoyed learning more about
portfolios because it showsthat that student's willing to complete
a task.
Oh yeah.
They're willing to build askill that will help them be successful
(14:43):
at that college or university level.
And so now these students areable to add that to their admissions
packet, which gives them a legup in that admissions process.
Huge.
Huge.
I mean, how many teenagers dowe know that have a little trouble
just focusing on any one thingin life?
(15:03):
I mean, you don't see that everywhere.
That's amazing.
No, and I'm unabashed when I,when I celebrate Ctae in reminding
our community we graduate.
99% of students that completea high school career pathway.
99.
99.
That is.
That's telling you, I think atleast in my world, something right
(15:25):
is going on.
Yeah.
Okay, so let's, let's touch onone last thing here.
The phrase articulated creditshas been bounced around lately.
Yes.
Is this.
Could I I'm hearing rumors ofsomething new coming about in ctae.
Can you give us the insidescoop, see how it works?
(15:47):
Certainly.
When you talk aboutarticulated credits, that's one of
three ways that a student canaccelerate their high school experience
to complete and then move onto the post secondary setting.
Okay.
Articulated credits are partof a agreement or a partnership between
(16:08):
the local school district andthe career technical college or the
Department of Education andthe technical College System of Georgia.
Okay.
So the first example of thatwould have been what Chet Tech.
Chattahoochee Technical.
Chattahoochee Technical isCobb's partner.
Partner technical college.
(16:29):
And then the Technical Systemof Georgia.
Would be any technical collegeacross the state.
Georgia Tech.
No, that is a University ofsystems school.
You have Gwinnett Technical College.
You have Lanier Technical College.
All right.
There are technical collegesacross the state that service particular
(16:51):
school districts in terms ofthe next opportunity outside of articulated
credit, which is dual enrollment.
Okay.
But the articulated creditallows the student to earn credit
towards the completion of atechnical college credential by completing
a high school pathway.
Okay.
And that's a part of thatpartnership agreement.
(17:12):
So the student is able toenter the school, retrieve those
credentials, and start furtheralong in the program, which gives
them more flexibility topotentially use open scheduling opportunities
for their core area to earn an associate.
Excuse me, an associates atthe end of two years.
(17:33):
And so that really.
That offers them an amazingopportunity to accelerate if they
choose then to transfer to auniversity assistant school to complete
their bachelor's.
It's similar actually to adual enrollment scenario, right?
Very.
But the difference is, you are.
The student is doing theircoursework in a COP school.
(17:56):
Yes.
And then once they graduatefrom Cobb schools and go to one of
these technical schools, thenassuming they're accepted there,
they can receive credit forwork they've already done, applied
toward their technical degree.
Is that correct?
Yes.
Okay, so you're talking aboutsaving money here.
(18:18):
Without question.
And I don't know a parent thatisn't excited about that.
I wanted to make sure that Iunderstood that.
Right.
The biggest difference whenbring up dual enrollment is dual
enrollment offers the studentan opportunity to take that experience
to the college while still inhigh school.
Right.
So that's the biggestdifference is the student is experiencing
(18:40):
that college level.
And when they complete thetechnical college course, they then
receive high school credit.
Okay.
So it allows them to continueon their path towards graduation,
but at the end game, they'rein the same position.
They're able to acceleratethat course of study if they choose
(19:00):
to matriculate to thetechnical college.
How do you distinguish betweenASETA and CTAE programs that are
in all of the high schools?
The difference is in their similarity.
Both have a platform in career education.
What the Innovation Academyoffers a student in Cobb is the opportunity
to study in a high demandcareer area that the district could
(19:25):
not put into a regular schoolbecause of the resource and equipment
demands.
It's just too expensive to putit all.
If I were to dilute thatacross the district, the student
would not be able to have thatsame experience and then transition
into these high demand areassuch as healthcare, emerging technologies
(19:47):
such as cybersecurity or networking.
And it allows a student thatknows they have that passion to really
get in depth.
Yeah.
Drill down into the nittygritty of it all.
Without question.
And so they again, both in thesame platform.
They're both looking atdeveloping that career platform,
(20:09):
those employability skills andthose industry specific skills.
But those programs that SITAhas done an amazing job developing
and expanding, they would notbe as successful in a local high
school setting.
Okay.
So we understand also there isa second CETA being constructed.
(20:31):
Are you a part of the planningfor that so that all of these things
work together instead ofcompeting against one another?
Without question.
And I really appreciateleadership's focus on bringing stakeholders
to the table and consideringme to be one of those stakeholders.
Sure.
Because of my focus on careereducation and working with industry
(20:53):
partners to identify thesehigh demand workforce needs, both
within the region and state,we're able to come to the table,
have conversations about whatthe next Innovation Academy should
emphasize.
One thing that we don't wantto do is duplicate programs.
Exactly.
Because that doesn't allow thestudent to have that experience.
(21:15):
I'm fortunate that the presentCETA administration has really emphasized
developing that partnershipwith the CTAE team.
Dr.
Barney and her team are amazing.
And I really appreciate theopportunity to have continued discussions
about not only how thedistrict can continue to support
(21:37):
development of her program,future academies, but also how their
program can help to developprograms at the local high school
in regards to ancillary type elements.
Yeah.
Health science, a major pillarat ceta.
And we then begin to look athealth office management in our schools,
(22:01):
which is something thatrequires a computer lab.
That's true.
Very easily addressed inregards to expenditure of resources.
But it goes to serve what theprograms at Cedar developing.
Specifically within the veryunique elements, say of clinical
(22:23):
lab, phlebotomy and surgical tech.
The student is the mostimportant element in everything that
we do.
And I know that often soundscliche, but that truly is our focus
and we serve this year.
We've just gotten over that60,000 student limit.
Wow.
Yeah.
So we are, we're very excitedabout the growth of career education.
(22:44):
Because you said earlier thisis not your grandfather's VO tech.
This is an academicallyrigorous and important course of
study for students to be ableto have.
Well, Art, thank you so much.
This is.
I've learned a lot and I'msure parents who have students that
are of the age to consider andI guess that would be kindergarten
on up K12.
(23:04):
Yes, sir.
Yeah, that sounds like this issomething really informative that
they can learn a lot from andhave a better idea of how to guide
their student in their future endeavors.
Finding their sweet spot ofeducation, so to speak.
So thanks again.
Thank you for inviting me.
This has been awesome.
Art and his folks have allsorts of resources on the district
(23:27):
website that you'll find helpful.
We'll be sure to make surethey're included in the show notes
and the description on YouTube.
And don't forget to pass thisepisode along to a friend.
Everybody likes having optionsfor their students.
Thank you for listening tothis edition of the Inside Scoop,
a podcast produced by the CobbCounty School.
Ctae, where students learnskills and craft a future in high
demand careers is our topic onthis edition of the Inside Scoop.
Hello and welcome back to theInside Scoop.
I'm David Owen.
Today we've got a topic thatmay shed some light on more post
graduation options for your student.
(00:21):
If you find our discussionhelpful, make sure you like subscribe.
Click that notification bellso you'll be alerted to new episode
releases.
If you have a student who'sstill figuring out a general direction
to go in life, this chat's for you.
In fact, even if they alreadyhave a course plotted, you'll want
to know about the benefitsoffered to students through our CTAE
(00:43):
courses here in Cobb.
Our expert on the subject isCOBB, Supervisor of CTAE, Art O'Neill.
Art, welcome to the podcast.
David.
Thank you so much for inviting me.
I'm excited to be here today.
So we are in education, we arespecialists and putting letters where
words actually should be.
Can you tell our audience whatCTA is?
(01:04):
CTAE is Career Technology andAgricultural Education.
It's made up of a focus on 17nationally recognized industry clusters
and those clusters containspecific course or sequence of studies,
whether we're talking at themiddle school or high school level.
(01:24):
Okay, so when you say sequenceof studies, is that what you refer
to as a pathway?
Yes.
A pathway at the high schoollevel is a sequence of three courses
that introduce a student tocareer specific skills as well as
industry specific skills.
And there is a difference.
A career specific skill iswhat is often referred to as either
(01:47):
employability.
Sometimes you may hear softskills, durable skill, but that is
a skill that every individualneeds to be able to be successful
in the industry setting.
In any industry.
Any.
Yes sir.
And so but the industryspecific skill that becomes specific
to the pathway that thestudent is studying.
(02:08):
So if I'm in graphics, if I'min healthcare, engineering, marketing,
just go down the line.
That student is learningspecific industry skill that will
allow them to transition to anintermediate level position if that's
their choice in that industry.
Okay, so give us an example.
You kind of touched on threeof them right there.
(02:29):
Tell.
Can you tell us a little moreabout the general industries that
CTAE touches on?
Just to give us a ballpark picture?
And are there more that youcan tell us about?
Certainly the 17 clusters runfrom agriculture to you have government
service, which includes yourtraditional jrotc plus also government,
(02:53):
administration, architectureand construction.
That is more in line with aengineering, drafting and design
as opposed to other industryareas that we also have, which is
engineering and technology.
That's the more theoreticalapplication of engineering.
(03:14):
We could also talk about artsand av, which is graphics and your
audio video technology and film.
Okay.
A very big element now inGeorgia as that entertainment industry
continues.
Yellow wood is what we referto here.
Outstanding, but so.
(03:34):
And then some very important ones.
Law enforcement andhospitality and tourism.
But I don't want to downplaythe importance of education training
which allows us to reallyemphasize for students interested
in teaching to be able tobuild that platform before they transition
(03:56):
to their post secondary experience.
As a CTA course.
As a CTA course, wow.
You have two different, we'llcall them tracks if you will.
In education and training.
You have early childhood,which is specific to toddler to three
years.
And then you have educationwhich picks up with your pre K all
the way through the 12th grade year.
(04:18):
Wow.
Okay.
So we've already learned something.
Or at least I have.
That's amazing.
I had no clue.
Anytime somebody says ctae, weall have our kind of preconceived
notions ranging from oh gosh,I guess wood shop of the 1950s through
some of the newer things likeTV and film of course.
(04:41):
Caught my eye.
That's something we do here inour department.
So what are the ultimatebenefits of a student taking CTAE
courses?
Can you give us an idea of whya parent and or a student would be
motivated to move towardtaking CTAE courses?
(05:01):
Well, there are several and wecould, as we go into the weeds and
talk potentially about beingable to support my transition to
post secondary study.
But I think the most importantelement of career education is that
it provides that student thathas an interest, an aptitude or even
a passion for a particulararea to accelerate their development,
(05:25):
to be able to not onlyexperience that skill specific opportunity,
but also then transition tothe industry where they're able to
work and gain experience whilestill in high school to be able to
determine do I really want todo this?
What is the right time forparents to start paying attention
to CTAE opportunities?
(05:48):
I would argue kindergarten.
Kindergarten.
Kindergarten.
I was expecting a sixth grade answer.
Well, the reason that I sayelementary level is because that
is when Cobb starts to providestudents and parents with an inventory
of a student's interest, their aptitude.
(06:08):
And we realize skill continuesto grow well beyond the K5 setting.
But that's where the parentcan see what students talent and
skills inclination leanstowards as it relates to potential
program exploratory at theirmiddle school.
And then from the middleschool level.
Obviously, as I'm about tomake that transition from fifth to
(06:31):
sixth, it's going to beimportant for the parent to make
sure that the student'sprogram exploratory is part of their
special schedule.
Because you know that thestudent is going to be doing the
health personal fitness.
Many students are going to bedoing the fine arts band application,
which is amazing.
And then you have studentsthat are focused on accelerated core
(06:53):
content areas such as a worldlanguage or mathematics and science.
So within that, if the studenthas a particular interest in an industry
area, they'll be able to alsolook at incorporating that into their
schedule and then that setsthe transition into high school.
Yeah, yeah.
I mean, the options areactually kind of mind boggling when
(07:14):
you think of all thecombinations of them.
Tell us what exploratories arein this context.
What the middle school programexploratory does is it begins to
introduce those durable oressential employability skills in
the middle grade level.
It allows the student to beginto create their career portfolio.
(07:35):
And this is an important toolfor the student to have because it
not only allows them to have asingle spot to house any credentials
that they may, that they mayachieve while in middle school or
high school, but it alsoallows them to sort of focus the
development of their brand, myresume, my summary of who I am and
(08:02):
what I want to be, those typeof things.
But the exploratory is more ofa semantics because it provides that
30,000 foot picture of acareer as opposed to when they transition
into the high school wherethey're beginning to look at industry
specific skill.
So they're at high schoollevel, they're moving in on the ones
(08:25):
that capture their attention,capture their interest.
Exploratories are kind of themenu, if you will, pictures on the
menu to make it easier tounderstand what these various industries
are and where they might beable to fit in.
Is that a fair.
That's a great way to describe it.
That is very fair because theemphasis of that 30,000 foot view
is career exploration.
(08:47):
I have my own preconceivednotion, but can you tell us a little
bit about what work basedlearning actually is from CTA standpoint?
Well, to begin, I want to betransparent in that I believe the
work based learning experienceis the most important experience
a career education student canhave because what it does, it allows
(09:08):
them to take the industryskill that they've been introduced
in their high school programpathway and apply it in an industry
setting.
It's not just, it's no longerwhere I am experiencing or exploring
a career.
I have now stepped into that industry.
(09:28):
I've stepped into that careerfloor in a manufacturing plant, in
a hospital, in a graphics house.
All of those things are nowput in place where I'm working with
an industry mentor in the industry.
And so work based learning isan opportunity available at the high
(09:49):
school level to a student 15years of age or older.
They do not have to complete apathway to be part of work based
learning because oftentimeswhat we find is students begin to
combine that experience withthe opportunity to also enhance the
checkbook.
Yeah, that's always by lookingfor an experience that provides a
(10:11):
paid internship.
Not required, but one thingthat we are trying to develop for
our students.
I am extremely proud of thework that the district's CTAE team
has done in building workbased learning.
When I moved in this positionfive years ago, we had eight high
schools with work basedlearning program.
We now have programs at all 17high schools with programs also at
(10:37):
two district level programs.
And of those 17 high schoolprograms, four have full time work
based learning coordinators.
And that's what we want towork towards, is where that coordinator
can provide this experience tothe student across the whole day
to give them more flexibility.
And I'll explain why that'simportant for a student interested
(10:58):
in construction.
There aren't manyopportunities to intern at 4:00 in
the afternoon because theconstruction site is closed.
They don't want to work in the.
Heat of the day.
So that student would take thefirst part of their day to work on
site and then transition intothe school for the second half of
the day to continue with theircourse study.
(11:19):
Same in culinary.
All of your prep work is donebefore we open for lunch and dinner
opportunities that providesthe student with that flexibility.
And so we've also been able toadd, and this may be interesting
to parents who are alwayslooking for something for the kids
to do during the summer.
A summer work based learningopportunity, both at the district
(11:42):
level.
And we now have expanded it tothree high schools where their local
coordinator is working withtheir students.
Our district program is forstudents at schools that we're still
trying to build that summer experience.
It does not stop a studentwho's interested in participating
in the summer work basedlearning from being a part of it
because we have a districtcoordinator that works with that
(12:04):
set of students.
Wow.
Okay, so now the whole notionof summer school but getting paid,
it's a totally differentperspective on that option.
Just a minute ago youmentioned a portfolio, career portfolio
for students.
And we were in the middle oftalking about middle schoolers.
(12:24):
I can't even as A parent, thewhole notion of thinking what's going
to be on my child's resumewhen they're in seventh grade.
I mean, that's not a normalway of thinking for a parent, but
one who wants to look ahead.
This is a great way to helpbeef up that resume, even if the
child doesn't know exactlywhat they want to do.
(12:47):
Right?
Exactly.
When you're talking about themiddle school portfolio, you're looking
more at that skills inventory.
The student lists on theresume, the skills they've acquired
at the middle school level.
Those are most likely digitalbadges in the technology world.
Microsoft, your word, yourPowerPoint, your Excel.
(13:08):
So they can get certified onstuff like that.
They can earn credentials.
Holy cow.
At the middle school level.
In the middle school level, yes.
I am so behind.
And so now we also haveopportunities for students to initiate
the high school study ineighth grade.
You see that in areas mostlyin engineering and business programs.
(13:33):
And that's where you might seethat resume start to take a little
bit more definition.
But for the sixth grader, itemphasizes what experiences I've
had.
There is an opportunity forthe student to participate in a career
technical studentorganization, CTSO for short.
In any of our career areas,you may know these or your audience
(13:58):
may know them more as thingslike FBLA, DECA, SkillsUSA.
These are career organizationsthat allow the student to begin to
network with industryprofessionals earlier.
Wow.
They begin to network withpeers across the state through competitions
and leadership conferences,but they also get the opportunity
(14:21):
to expand that experiencethrough this platform.
Yeah.
But we found is our postsecondary partners, especially at
the university system, havereally enjoyed learning more about
portfolios because it showsthat that student's willing to complete
a task.
Oh yeah.
They're willing to build askill that will help them be successful
(14:43):
at that college or university level.
And so now these students areable to add that to their admissions
packet, which gives them a legup in that admissions process.
Huge.
Huge.
I mean, how many teenagers dowe know that have a little trouble
just focusing on any one thingin life?
(15:03):
I mean, you don't see that everywhere.
That's amazing.
No, and I'm unabashed when I,when I celebrate Ctae in reminding
our community we graduate.
99% of students that completea high school career pathway.
99.
99.
That is.
That's telling you, I think atleast in my world, something right
(15:25):
is going on.
Yeah.
Okay, so let's, let's touch onone last thing here.
The phrase articulated creditshas been bounced around lately.
Yes.
Is this.
Could I I'm hearing rumors ofsomething new coming about in ctae.
Can you give us the insidescoop, see how it works?
(15:47):
Certainly.
When you talk aboutarticulated credits, that's one of
three ways that a student canaccelerate their high school experience
to complete and then move onto the post secondary setting.
Okay.
Articulated credits are partof a agreement or a partnership between
(16:08):
the local school district andthe career technical college or the
Department of Education andthe technical College System of Georgia.
Okay.
So the first example of thatwould have been what Chet Tech.
Chattahoochee Technical.
Chattahoochee Technical isCobb's partner.
Partner technical college.
(16:29):
And then the Technical Systemof Georgia.
Would be any technical collegeacross the state.
Georgia Tech.
No, that is a University ofsystems school.
You have Gwinnett Technical College.
You have Lanier Technical College.
All right.
There are technical collegesacross the state that service particular
(16:51):
school districts in terms ofthe next opportunity outside of articulated
credit, which is dual enrollment.
Okay.
But the articulated creditallows the student to earn credit
towards the completion of atechnical college credential by completing
a high school pathway.
Okay.
And that's a part of thatpartnership agreement.
(17:12):
So the student is able toenter the school, retrieve those
credentials, and start furtheralong in the program, which gives
them more flexibility topotentially use open scheduling opportunities
for their core area to earn an associate.
Excuse me, an associates atthe end of two years.
(17:33):
And so that really.
That offers them an amazingopportunity to accelerate if they
choose then to transfer to auniversity assistant school to complete
their bachelor's.
It's similar actually to adual enrollment scenario, right?
Very.
But the difference is, you are.
The student is doing theircoursework in a COP school.
(17:56):
Yes.
And then once they graduatefrom Cobb schools and go to one of
these technical schools, thenassuming they're accepted there,
they can receive credit forwork they've already done, applied
toward their technical degree.
Is that correct?
Yes.
Okay, so you're talking aboutsaving money here.
(18:18):
Without question.
And I don't know a parent thatisn't excited about that.
I wanted to make sure that Iunderstood that.
Right.
The biggest difference whenbring up dual enrollment is dual
enrollment offers the studentan opportunity to take that experience
to the college while still inhigh school.
Right.
So that's the biggestdifference is the student is experiencing
(18:40):
that college level.
And when they complete thetechnical college course, they then
receive high school credit.
Okay.
So it allows them to continueon their path towards graduation,
but at the end game, they'rein the same position.
They're able to acceleratethat course of study if they choose
(19:00):
to matriculate to thetechnical college.
How do you distinguish betweenASETA and CTAE programs that are
in all of the high schools?
The difference is in their similarity.
Both have a platform in career education.
What the Innovation Academyoffers a student in Cobb is the opportunity
to study in a high demandcareer area that the district could
(19:25):
not put into a regular schoolbecause of the resource and equipment
demands.
It's just too expensive to putit all.
If I were to dilute thatacross the district, the student
would not be able to have thatsame experience and then transition
into these high demand areassuch as healthcare, emerging technologies
(19:47):
such as cybersecurity or networking.
And it allows a student thatknows they have that passion to really
get in depth.
Yeah.
Drill down into the nittygritty of it all.
Without question.
And so they again, both in thesame platform.
They're both looking atdeveloping that career platform,
(20:09):
those employability skills andthose industry specific skills.
But those programs that SITAhas done an amazing job developing
and expanding, they would notbe as successful in a local high
school setting.
Okay.
So we understand also there isa second CETA being constructed.
(20:31):
Are you a part of the planningfor that so that all of these things
work together instead ofcompeting against one another?
Without question.
And I really appreciateleadership's focus on bringing stakeholders
to the table and consideringme to be one of those stakeholders.
Sure.
Because of my focus on careereducation and working with industry
(20:53):
partners to identify thesehigh demand workforce needs, both
within the region and state,we're able to come to the table,
have conversations about whatthe next Innovation Academy should
emphasize.
One thing that we don't wantto do is duplicate programs.
Exactly.
Because that doesn't allow thestudent to have that experience.
(21:15):
I'm fortunate that the presentCETA administration has really emphasized
developing that partnershipwith the CTAE team.
Dr.
Barney and her team are amazing.
And I really appreciate theopportunity to have continued discussions
about not only how thedistrict can continue to support
(21:37):
development of her program,future academies, but also how their
program can help to developprograms at the local high school
in regards to ancillary type elements.
Yeah.
Health science, a major pillarat ceta.
And we then begin to look athealth office management in our schools,
(22:01):
which is something thatrequires a computer lab.
That's true.
Very easily addressed inregards to expenditure of resources.
But it goes to serve what theprograms at Cedar developing.
Specifically within the veryunique elements, say of clinical
(22:23):
lab, phlebotomy and surgical tech.
The student is the mostimportant element in everything that
we do.
And I know that often soundscliche, but that truly is our focus
and we serve this year.
We've just gotten over that60,000 student limit.
Wow.
Yeah.
So we are, we're very excitedabout the growth of career education.
(22:44):
Because you said earlier thisis not your grandfather's VO tech.
This is an academicallyrigorous and important course of
study for students to be ableto have.
Well, Art, thank you so much.
This is.
I've learned a lot and I'msure parents who have students that
are of the age to consider andI guess that would be kindergarten
on up K12.
(23:04):
Yes, sir.
Yeah, that sounds like this issomething really informative that
they can learn a lot from andhave a better idea of how to guide
their student in their future endeavors.
Finding their sweet spot ofeducation, so to speak.
So thanks again.
Thank you for inviting me.
This has been awesome.
Art and his folks have allsorts of resources on the district
(23:27):
website that you'll find helpful.
We'll be sure to make surethey're included in the show notes
and the description on YouTube.
And don't forget to pass thisepisode along to a friend.
Everybody likes having optionsfor their students.
Thank you for listening tothis edition of the Inside Scoop,
a podcast produced by the CobbCounty School.
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