Raritan Valley Community College received funding from the New Jersey Department of Education for the "Career and Technical Education Partnership Grant" in September 2009. Through the four-year grant, RVCC and partner SkillsUSA New Jersey are collaborating with statewide partners in business, industry, higher education, secondary education and labor & workforce development to enhance career and technical education in the following seven Career Clusters: Architecture & Construction; Arts, A/V Technology & Communications; Government & Public Administration; Hospitality & Tourism; Law, Public Safety, Corrections & Security; Manufacturing; and Transportation, Distribution & Logistics.

Advisory Committees for each Career Cluster were established in year one of the grant. Please contact us to participate on a committee.

CTEP websites have also been developed for the Health Science, the Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) and the Marketing Career Clusters.

Embracing A New Vision for Career and Technical Education (CTE)

The CTEP grant stems from a national initiative supported by New Jersey’s Office of Career and Technical Education and the U.S. Department of Education, to develop a new vision for CTE that responds to 21st century issues and challenges.

A major component of the national vision for CTE is the "Program of Study" – a structured approach to delivering academic and CTE content that:

• Incorporates and aligns secondary and postsecondary education elements such as curricula, standards and assessments.
• Incorporates opportunities to participate in structured learning experiences, and career and technical student organizations (CTSOs).
• Incorporates applied, contextual, cross curricular and interdisciplinary instructional strategies into the curricula.
• Includes an articulation agreement or memorandum of understanding to ensure that students have a seamless transition from secondary into postsecondary education. 
• Leads to an industry-recognized credential, certificate in postsecondary education, apprenticeship, an associate or baccalaureate degree.

A primary objective of CTEP is to develop model Programs of Study in each of the seven Career Clusters that can be voluntarily adopted and implemented by school districts/institutions.

Meeting New State Standards

In 2009, New Jersey adopted new and revised Core Curriculum Standards that emphasize 21st century skills. Standard 9.4 applies to CTE programs and requires that all students who complete a CTE program acquire academic and technical skills for careers in emerging and established professions that lead to technical skill proficiency, credentials, certificates, licenses and/or degrees. To be eligible for approval by the state, districts must align existing and new CTE programs with Standard 9.4 by 2012. CTEP curriculum recommendations will be aligned to this state standard.


Providing Professional Development

Providing learning opportunities for educators and administrators, establishing secondary/post-secondary partnerships and raising awareness of CTE in New Jersey is another critical goal of the CTEP grant. In its first two years, CTEP has hosted a number of statewide professional development conferences. Moving forward, CTEP will continue to provide professional development opportunities for educators on a variety of topics. Read about past and current professional development opportunities here.

If you have an idea for a professional development topic or presenter, please contact us.