Career Technical Education (CTE) and Advanced Placement (AP) may seem worlds apart. The National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education, with input from state CTE directors and the College Board, recently reported AP courses and CTE pathways are both relevant and compatible from a college and career readiness perspective.

According to their report, as students navigate through high school systems, it is critical that no doors of opportunity be closed. All students need to be prepared to pursue postsecondary education (associate degrees, industry certificates, bachelor’s degrees and beyond) because the majority of careers now require postsecondary education and training beyond high school. Watch this companion video for a more complete understanding of the report.

When AP courses are not aligned within a student’s CTE program of study, students may perceive AP courses as not “relevant,” since the courses are positioned for students going on to four-year colleges, and they therefore are discouraged from enrolling in AP. Within the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector it may be appropriate to include the AP Computer Science A course for courses that align with the Software and Systems Development pathway.

A new AP course that will launch in school year 2016-17, named AP Computer Science Principles (CSP), also aligns with the ICT sector.  Special thanks to Richard Kick for his work in piloting the new CSP course at Newbury Park High School in the Conejo Valley Unified School District!