Microdocs

ACTE’s Microdocs tell the stories of how career and technical education is changing the lives of learners across the country. These short, five-minute videos chronicle how CTE prepares students for the high wage and high demand career fields of the 21st Century By sharing the personal journey of individuals, and through their connection with a CTE program, they overcame barriers to set a course for their future. Microdocs recalibrate our community’s, as well as the general public’s perception of how CTE educates students to be college and career ready.

ACTE’s Microdocs are directly connected to the popular Sector Sheet series that describe CTE’s role in growing the qualified workforce for high-growth, high-demand industries such as advanced manufacturing, health care and information technology. Microdocs are intended for broad distribution beyond the CTE community and for use by Career & Guidance Counselors, educators and others to share with students and their families to help guide their own pathways.ACTE Microdocs are generously supported by the Cisco Networking Academy and Silicon Valley Trust Foundation.

Not Your Grandfather’s Vocational Education

Policymakers, community leaders and businesses have become increasingly aware of CTE as a proven strategy to prepare every student for college and career success while ensuring our continued economic prosperity. Once called “vocational education” or the “industrial arts”, CTE now also encompasses high-tech in-demand skills such as robotics, information technology, and mobile app development. Even in traditional programs such as automotive repair or culinary arts, students are learning new technical, inter-personal and entrepreneurial skills to develop their future careers. As more and more students across the country look to programs that will prepare them for the jobs of tomorrow, CTE is now in high demand at both the secondary and postsecondary level.

Yet despite all this renewed interest, there are still few resources for educators to explain the value of CTE programs to their students. Where can students find out if CTE is right for them How can educators equip students with the facts about CTE The Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) has the answers.