States' Career Clusters

Cluster Leader Highlights

June 2006 – June 2007

AGRICULTURE, FOOD & NATURAL RESOURCES

National Council for Agricultural Education

Alexandria , Virginia

  • The National Ag Ed Council (representing all of the Agricultural Education constituents) meets monthly by conference call and twice a year face-to-face.
  • The National Ag Ed Council has hired the Center for Agricultural and Environmental Research and Training, Inc. (CAERT) to create National Content Standards for Agricultural Education and to crosswalk these standards with national math, science and communications standards. The final report will be presented at the February 2008 National Ag Inservice.
  • The Council has adopted a strategic plan to establish 10,000 quality secondary Ag Ed Programs by the year 2015. The content standards work is one of eight initiatives outlined to work toward this vision.

ARCHITECTURE & CONSTRUCTION

National Association of Home Builders

Home Builders Institute

  • Architecture and Construction National Advisory Committee members met in Washington, D.C. to finalize the three Pathway Plans of Study and work on revisions for the Foundation and Knowledge and Skills Statements. A smaller subcommittee of the NAC members met in order to further redefine the Construction Pathway Knowledge and Skills Statements. The subcommittee’s recommendations were presented to the full committee for review and comment, and the NAC members felt that the expansion of the Construction Pathway enhanced the document.
  • In an effort to encourage the promotion of the Architecture and Construction Cluster, NAC members have resolved to demonstrate their connection to the Cluster by (1) using the Cluster name more frequently when discussing the related industries; (2) including specific information about the Cluster when they present to their membership and/or write articles for their specific sectors; and (3) talking about the 15 Critical Components and ways to involve industry with education partners.

ARTS, A/V TECHNOLOGY & COMMUNICATIONS

VTECS

Atlanta , Georgia

  • The National Advisory Committee convened in June 2007 to review and finalize the six Pathway Plans of Study and to update the Knowledge and Skills content for the Cluster and all six Pathways.
  • The National Advisory Committee for this Cluster is continuing its work on refining the Knowledge and Skills Statements.

BUSINESS, MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION

FINANCE

MARKETING, SALES & SERVICE

Highlights for 2006-2007 include:

  • Six senior-executive futuring panels
  • 30+ validation focus groups
  • Formal contact with 150+ practitioners
  • Extensive secondary research
  • Proposal for revision of pathway structures in each Cluster
  • Complete revalidation of performance indicators, with extensive revisions
  • 4+ regional workshops
  • Preparation of final report/recommendations for the Career Clusters Task Force
  • Initiation of new courses of study and course guide development
  • High School of Business model and pilot project

EDUCATION & TRAINING

Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Growth, Office of Career & Technical Preparation

Lansing , Michigan

and

Career Communications, Inc.

Overland Park , Kansas

  • The Education and Training National Advisory Committee met April 2-3, 2007 in Kansas City with the goal of establishing a more formalized structure to address the needs of the education community at the secondary and postsecondary levels. Committees were formed to address issues such as functionality, accountability, and sustainability.
  • Other recommendations and concerns arose during the meeting, including (1) bringing representatives from business/industry, the military, etc., to serve on the committee; (2) using the Career Clusters website to house web-based materials and resources and to provide links to other agencies and organizations; (3) developing an online Speakers’ Kit, brochures and other communications tools to promote the Education & Training Cluster; (4) working with State Directors to develop a marketing plan for high priority groups; and (5) devising a professional development plan within the context of the Knowledge and Skills Statements.

HEALTH SCIENCE

National Consortium on Health Science & Technology Education

Okemos , Michigan

  • To help meet the growing demands of the healthcare workforce and concurrently increase students' academic achievement, The National Consortium on Health Science and Technology Education (NCHSTE) and ConnectEd formed a partnership to develop a health science career path model program of study for grades 9-12.
  • At the 2006 Career Clusters Institute, teachers from Year I teams presented 16 problem/project-based curriculum units. In July 2006 the teams met in Rochester, Minnesota, to begin work on Year II integrated units. The July teams partnered with healthcare professionals from the Mayo Clinic to develop unit topics that addressed health science topics and academic classes, including mathematics, biology and chemistry, English language-arts, government and civics, and history and foreign language.
  • By June 2007 there should be a total of 39 integrated units.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

CompTIA

Oakbrook Terrace , Illinois

  • CompTIA was approved as the new IT Career Cluster leader, with Gretchen Koch, Director of Skills Development Programs, representing CompTIA.
  • The IT National Advisory Committee was updated and reactivated, with members representing industry, academia and government subject matter experts in IT.
  • In August 2006, the IT Career Cluster NAC met in Baltimore to review and update the Plans of Study for the four IT pathways. Recommendations for changes to the Plans of Study were finalized and submitted in September.
  • The IT Career Cluster NAC split into four subcommittees to complete an extensive content review of the Knowledge and Skills Statements for all four IT pathways. The final edits were submitted in January 2007.

LAW, PUBLIC SAFETY, CORRECTIONS & SECURITY

National Partnership for Careers in Law, Public Safety, Corrections and Security

Annandale , Virginia

The Law, Public Safety, Corrections and Security Career Cluster, under the leadership of the National Partnership for Careers in Law, Public Safety, Corrections and Security has taken several steps to support this growing cluster as homeland security issues and resources continue to dominate this area. These steps include:

  • The development of model and program assessment process to provide opportunities to ensure quality career programs and allow national certification for such programs. This involves (1) working with State of Arkansas to identify dates and volunteer sites for testing and implementing the model and process; and (2) contacting other states to ask if they want to have one or more sites involved.
  • The development and/or approval of assessments for each of the 5 pathways and the Cluster overall.
  • Taking steps to establish support centers around the country that would: (1) take responsibility for knowing what programs exist at the high school and college levels and how they might connect and support transitions from one to another and into employment [some sort of database]; (2) host workshops/training for students at both the secondary and college levels; (3) host workshops for instructors/teachers at both levels; and (4) develop an area of national expertise. The regional centers so far are Skagit Valley College (WA), Central Piedmont Community College (NC and SC), Husson College (ME and NH), Delta College (MI), National Center for Telecommunication Technologies (NCTT) at Springfield Technical Community College (MA, CN, and RI), Savannah Tech (GA), Century College (MN, ND, and SD), and Erie Community College (NY). Middle College of Denver (CO), Elgin Community College (IL), and St. Petersburg College (FL) have expressed interest in being regional centers.
  • The 2006/7 National Conference was held in Charlotte, North Carolina, in partnership with Central Piedmont Community College.
  • The 2007/8 National Conference will be held in Las Vegas on December 11-12, in partnership with ACTE.

MANUFACTURING

National Council for Advanced Manufacturing (NACFAM)

Washington , D.C.

  • In 2006, the National Council for Advanced Manufacturing (NACFAM) was named the Cluster Leader for Manufacturing and formed the Manufacturing National Advisory Council (MNAC).  
  • NACFAM continues working with the Manufacturing National Advisory Council, the Manufacturing Skill Standards Council (MSSC), and others to improve the Plans of Study and promote their use. Recent and/or ongoing activities include alignment with the Employment and Training Administration’s Advanced Manufacturing Competency Model and other similar programs, and spotlighting the Pathway Plans of Study at the NACFAM Annual Leadership meeting in June 2007.

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING & MATHEMATICS

Project Lead The Way, Inc. (PLTW)

Clifton Park , New York

  • In October 2006, Project Lead The Way, Inc., along with the Corporate Member Council of the American Society of Engineering Education (CMC/ASEE), brought together a stakeholder group with representatives from Business and Industry, NASA, Post-Secondary Education, Secondary Education, STEM Education Associations, and K-12 STEM Programs to establish a preliminary set of standards to serve as a catalyst and discussion document for the establishment of K-12 Engineering/Engineering Technology Standards in the United States. The stakeholder group reviewed national and state engineering related standards and used them as a basis to guide their work.
  • In November 2006, the draft of the K-12 engineering standards was released for input. Additional input has also been received for additional Knowledge and Skills to include for the Homeland and Security pathway. In April 2007, an overview of the K-12 engineering standards was presented to the NASDCTEc Career Clusters Task Force.

Accessibility | Disclaimer | Policies | Terms of Use