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Back at the ag center, the kids resembling cast members from the “Newsies” musical and movie were part of a Hollywood theme that the district’s CTE leaders used as a rallying point for the 2017-18 school year. A would-be movie trailer highlighted what CTE students and teachers accomplished this past school year. After it played, Batten challenged the teachers to think of a movie that would depict the classroom impact they had in 2016-17. Then he asked the teachers to consider coming attractions by picking a movie that would describe their classroom vibe in early June.
“What would you want your movie to be at the end of the year?” Batten asked.
As solid as CTE is in the district, students in the program could do a better job of demonstrating what they know, and that’s doable with more frequent assessments, Batten said.
This is the 100th year of CTE programming in America.
EXTRA, EXTRA! District's career, tech education solid
PITTSBORO — Kids dressed as newspaper hawkers from the early 20th century declared, “Extra, extra!” inside the Chatham County Agriculture & Conference Center in August. They were announcing news about Career Technical Education (CTE) in Chatham County Schools (CCS) outperforming most peer programs in North Carolina, said Dr. Kelly Batten, the executive director of secondary education and CTE in CCS.
The state’s goal for CCS was to have 84.8 percent of the district’s CTE students demonstrating proficiency during the 2016-17 school year. Eleven of the district’s CTE teachers either met or exceeded that benchmark for every course that they taught. And six CTE teachers in the district taught a course in which every student in the class was proficient. That’s a big deal, and it’s a testament to the high level of quality instruction going on in the district’s CTE classrooms, said Robin Stevens, one of the CTE instructional-management coordinators in CCS.
CTE shows students the connection between what they're learning in school and the places where grown-ups go to work.
Back at the ag center, the kids resembling cast members from the “Newsies” musical and movie were part of a Hollywood theme that the district’s CTE leaders used as a rallying point for the 2017-18 school year. A would-be movie trailer highlighted what CTE students and teachers accomplished this past school year. After it played, Batten challenged the teachers to think of a movie that would depict the classroom impact they had in 2016-17. Then he asked the teachers to consider coming attractions by picking a movie that would describe their classroom vibe in early June.
“What would you want your movie to be at the end of the year?” Batten asked.
As solid as CTE is in the district, students in the program could do a better job of demonstrating what they know, and that’s doable with more frequent assessments, Batten said.
This is the 100th year of CTE programming in America.