Part 1: Key Facts
Student & Teacher Information
According to 2004-2005 data from the U.S. Department of Education (the latest numbers publicly available), the total number of CTE students in Florida was 712,398. This includes the following:
- Secondary: 504,652
- Postsecondary: 98,725
- Adult: 109,021
Delivery System/School Information
CTE in Florida is delivered through a mix of services, including comprehensive high schools, area technical centers, and comprehensive community colleges.
With an overall estimated 2006 population of 18.01 million residents, there are 517 middle/junior high schools, 630 senior high schools, 45 school district area vocational-technical centers, and 187 juvenile justice schools. There are 28 community colleges, 11 public state universities and colleges, and 28 independent private universities and colleges. Currently, Florida maintains approximately 360 career and technical programs and courses that provide occupational and academic skills attainment for students from sixth-grade through an associate degree.
Florida’s area technical centers offer CTE training for certificates and short-term training that is less than an associate degree. Programs at these centers are open to enrollment by both youths and adults.
Florida’s locally-governed public community colleges and school district area technical centers are governed by local boards, but are coordinated under the State Board of Education. Administratively, the Chancellor of the Division of Workforce Education is the chief executive officer of the system, reporting to the Commissioner of the Florida Department of Education who serves as the chief executive officer of Florida's K-20 Education System.
Funding/Financing for CTE
Federal: Florida is estimated to receive $64,341,737 from the Perkins Basic State Grant and $5,096,530 from Tech Prep in FY 2007.
State: For high schools, Florida uses a weighted student funding system for CTE, meaning that the state provides an additional “weight” to its student funding formula that is provided to local school systems for enrolled students. For the 2007-2008 fiscal year, the assigned weight of 1.119 is applied for each CTE course the local district offers. This weighting factor is applied to the base student allocation amount of $4,163.47 per student under the Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP).
Part 2: State Administration
Key State CTE Contacts
Dr. Bonnie Marmor
Vice Chancellor for Workforce Education
Division of Community Colleges and Workforce Education
Florida Department of Education
325 West Gaines Street, Suite 724
Tallahassee, FL 32399
Phone: 850-245-0469
Fax: 850-245-9466
Kathleen Taylor
Senior Education Program Director
Perkins IV Planning and Implementation
Florida Department of Education
325 West Gaines Street, Suite 714
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0400
Phone: 850-245-9062
State Agencies
Florida has a unified Department of Education with one Commissioner of Education. Three chancellors who oversee K-12 Public Schools, Community Colleges, and Workforce Education, respectively, report directly to the Commissioner.
The Chancellor for Workforce Education has jurisdiction over career and technical education and administration of the federal Perkins Act. Vice Chancellor Bonnie Marmor, who manages the Perkins Act funds, reports directly to the Chancellor for Workforce Education. Approximately 21 staff members work on CTE program administration in the Division.
State Standards for CTE
Florida has created state content standards for its CTE courses. The Division of Workforce Education has aligned the curriculum frameworks and standards with the 16 Career Clusters delineated by the U.S. Department of Education.
Within each of the CTE curriculum frameworks, there are intended outcomes which are consistent with career cluster content, as well as 21st century skills and employability skills. In addition, the CTE curriculum frameworks are aligned with Florida’s Sunshine State Standards, which provide specific student performance standards and benchmarks that outline what students should know and be able to do upon completion of each course, including academic expectations and technical skills.
Part 3: CTE Initiatives & Related Policies
State Education & Workforce Agenda
Florida Governor Charlie Crist, who began serving in 2007, has proposed several new initiatives and expansions of existing initiatives regarding education and workforce development. Crist has proposed:
- $300 million to increase the pay for the top performing teachers (the top 25 percent) by 10 percent.
- $3.8 billion in funding to implement Florida’s class-size reduction constitutional mandate, totaling about $10.7 billion over a five-year period.
- $26 million in new funds to hire 400 new reading coaches, bringing the statewide total of reading coaches to 2,400.
- $10 million to fund Pathways to Success, a virtual tutoring program.
- $250 million to expand the Innovation Incentive Program to increase Florida's ability to attract clean, vital industry and high-wage, high-skill jobs to the state.
- A $45-million Quick Action Closing Fund that will allow Florida to respond quickly to economic opportunities for business expansion, recruitment and retention.
In addition, in an effort to increase the number of Bachelor’s degrees in the state, a new policy was signed into law in June 2008 that establishes a pilot program intended to create a new state college system under which the two-year institutions will offer four-year degrees. The legislation creates the “Florida College System” and the “Florida College System Task Force,” which will develop recommendations for transitioning the community colleges to four-year colleges. Nine community colleges have joined the initial pilot program.
High School Redesign
In Florida, there are at least three complementary activities that are happening simultaneously to raise expectations for students and restructure high school programs within the State. According to CTE Director Bonnie Marmor, there is a beneficial “perfect storm” in which state initiatives and federal initiatives are moving CTE into a very visible and viable and educationally appropriate direction that will benefit students.
The first activity is implementing the requirements of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 through the development and roll-out of the new state plan.
Simultaneously, the state is implementing Senate Bill 1232, the Career and Professional Education Act (CAPE). This legislation, passed by the Florida legislature in May 2007, “calls on school districts to create joint ventures with business groups to establish Career and Professional Academies that graduate students with high school diplomas, national industry certifications in high-demand jobs, and college and university credits.” The new legislation is driving the development of career academies as a key strategy within the state for high school reform.
Thirdly, another very important intersection of career technical education and high school redesign is the Florida “A++ legislation,” also known as the “Secondary Redesign Act” (House Bill 7087). This bill, passed in 2006, instituted new standard graduation requirements. The legislation requires that, beginning with students entering ninth-grade in 2007-2008, students will enroll in a “major area of interest (MAI).” Students will be required to earn 16 core academic credits and eight elective credits in order to graduate with a high school diploma. Core requirements consist of four credits of English and math; three credits of social studies and science; one credit of fine arts; and one credit in physical education and health. Out of the eight elective credits, students must complete four credits within a “major area of interest.”
The state has approved over 400 MAIs. Approximately 120 MAIs are comprised exclusively of CTE coursework and many other MAIs integrate academic and CTE courses. In addition, MAIs may also include concentrations in mathematics, the arts, English, and science. Each district must offer at least two career interest plans of study from which students can choose (one for standard diploma students and one for students with disabilities pursuing a special diploma), and each plan of study must offer a sequence of four courses.
Florida offers a number of alternative high school degree options as well:
- An International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program
- An Advanced International Certificate of Education Diploma Program
- A three-year, 18-credit college preparatory program (does not require a MAI)
- A three-year, 18-credit career preparatory program (does not require a MAI)
All the graduation options require obtaining passing scores on the 10th grade Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT).
CTE-Related Graduation Requirements Summary:According to the Education Commission of the States, Florida students must choose between CTE and another course option to meet graduation requirements. All students must complete a career concentration/major/sequence, and a state-level CTE diploma or endorsement is available.
Career Academies
For a number of years, the Florida Legislature has appropriated special funding for the implementation of career academies at the school district level through “SUCCEED Florida” grants. This program, in its third year of funding at about $5 million per year, supports the development, redesign, and implementation of career academies. This program requires districts to apply the national standards for career academies that were identified by a coalition of organizations in 2005. All SUCCEED Florida career academy programs are partnerships between a district school board and one or more businesses, industries, or postsecondary educational institutions. Funded academies correlate directly with career and industry certifications with high-growth, high-demand, high-wage occupations and provide a rigorous and relevant standards-based academic curriculum through a career-based theme.
Role of Career Clusters
Florida has sorted major program areas into the 16 Career Clusters, identified areas of concern, and begun to address those issues that have to be resolved before full implementation of the model. All Florida Department of Education program specialists met in summer of 2007 to move toward finalizing implementation plans.
Academic & CTE Integration
Over the past five years, the Florida Department of Education has provided funding support to the Volusia/Flagler Career Connection Consortium project entitled the CTE/FCAT Connections Program. This is an initiative that aligns rigorous academic content and student academic achievement. Specifically, the program is a curriculum project written by high school and middle school career and technical education teachers in Volusia, Flagler, Hillsborough, Alachua, Pasco and Dade counties through the leadership of the Volusia district team and the Florida Association for Career and Technical Educators (FACTE).
As of June 2006, the initiative has produced 208 lesson plans, each five to 25 hours in length, that link the highly tested Sunshine State Standards and the International Center for Leadership in Education’s Essential Work Skills (Curriculum Survey of Essential Skills) to the career and technical education course frameworks. The lesson plans contain direct connections to rigorous and relevant reading, math, and science skills taught using real-world applications. Eighteen of the lesson plans are for courses that provide a pathway leading to an industry certification. Career and technical education teachers in thirty-eight counties in Florida have already received training to teach the lessons, which are published on the Internet for use by all teachers.
Secondary/Postsecondary Linkages
Programs of Study: All students in Florida, including special populations, will have the opportunity to participate in a program of study that will facilitate seamless transition from high school to college and careers.
Through the local application process for both Perkins Basic Grant and Career Pathways Consortia funding, eligible recipients will be required to develop Programs of Study that are aligned with the 16 Career Clusters. It is planned that statewide career pathways for all of Florida’s high skill, high wage, high demand career and technical education programs will be developed by 2012.
To assist eligible recipients in this process, Florida plans to develop a cohort-based professional development program that engages practitioners in structured seminars that provide the national, state and local perspectives on Career Cluster implementation and aligning Programs of Study with Career Clusters.
The Division of Workforce Education has customized Programs of Study templates based on the state Career Clusters model pathway template. Eligible recipients will be required to submit their Programs of Study on the customized state-approved template. The State has developed 57 sample Programs of Study for the Career Cluster pathways as a resource for eligible recipients. The samples include academic course recommendations that reflect the core courses required for graduation from a Florida public high school and the options for Industry Certification that may be obtained as a result of pursuing a particular Program of Study.
In addition, the templates address the secondary reform initiative requiring students to complete four credits in a major area of interest during high school. Major areas of interest range in focus from advanced science courses to early childhood education and provide opportunities for career and technical education dual enrollment.
Throughout the duration of the plan, the Division of Workforce Education plans to explore data collection initiatives to track students transitioning from secondary to postsecondary education; and also to develop a web-based database/repository of Programs of Study as a reference tool for eligible recipients.
Tech Prep: Florida’s Tech Prep program is a comprehensive system that includes high schools, technical centers, community colleges and college/university participation in each of the large urban districts and also in Florida’s many rural areas and serves approximately 450,000 students.
In previous years, funds were distributed to local Tech Prep consortia based on the submission of local implementation plans for Tech Prep.
Under the 2006 Perkins Act, the Florida Department of Education has decided to fold Tech Prep into the Perkins Basic State Grant. The state will allocate some of the local reserve funds for local consortia that will be called Career Pathway Consortia. Each eligible recipient will be required to use at least 1.5 percent of its basic grant to be eligible to receive the Reserve Fund Career Pathway Consortia allocation. Each of the allocations from the eligible recipients will be pooled with the Consortia allocation. Therefore, it is anticipated that the 28 consortia will stay in effect in some form, and can invite new partners to participate.
The State is currently developing some expected outcomes for the Career Pathway Consortia, and many of the elements of the previous Tech Prep programs – professional development, number of students enrolled in a program of study, and facilitating articulation agreements – will be carried out by the new consortia. Leveraging Tech Prep’s initiatives and Florida’s ongoing statewide articulation in a consolidated system will position the state to meet its goal to enroll every CTE student in a program of study and to seamlessly transition students to postsecondary education and training.
Articulation: The Florida State Board of Education has adopted a "Seamless Articulation and Maximum Access" goal as one of the four goals in their K-20 system. This seamless articulation model provides career ladder opportunities for students as they acquire college credit while still in high school. These credentials and/or credits may articulate to a technical center, a community college, or a four-year college or university.
The linkage between secondary and postsecondary education programs in Florida is accomplished with the implementation of several strategies to ensure seamless articulation. Acceleration options provide opportunities for secondary career and technical education students to participate in dual enrollment, early admission, advanced placement, credit by examination, the International Baccalaureate Program, and Tech Prep. Acceleration mechanisms shorten the time needed to complete postsecondary certificate or degree requirements, broaden the scope of available options after high school, and increase the depth of content available to students in a particular subject.
Dual enrollment enables secondary students to earn elective credits towards a high school diploma while completing requirements for a postsecondary certificate or degree offered at technical centers or community colleges. Tuition and fees for dual enrollment courses are waived. There is no cost to school districts for college tuition. Students who attend a Florida public college or university are exempt from registration, matriculation, or laboratory fees for courses taken through dual enrollment. Additionally, instructional materials assigned for use within dual enrollment courses must be available to students free of charge.
Due to the variation in credit awarded for equivalent programs across the state, Florida is moving beyond local articulation agreements and is developing statewide articulation agreements that will enhance and standardize the transfer of credit among delivery systems. Beginning with the 2000-01 academic year, students awarded Associate in Science degrees in select programs were guaranteed admission to any state university with guaranteed articulated course credit towards a designated program. The Division of Workforce Education has facilitated statewide articulation agreements at the postsecondary level through a process involving educators and administrators across the state.
Another component of articulation is the requirement for all postsecondary sectors participating in the Statewide Course Numbering System (SCNS). The SCNS is a database of postsecondary courses offered at Florida’s public and participating nonpublic institutions where equated courses are guaranteed automatic transfer of credit. Florida’s community colleges have participated in the SCNS since its inception in the 1970’s and all new or revised postsecondary courses, clock hour and college credit, are evaluated for course equivalency and automatic transfer to other community colleges, area technical centers and public universities. The Division of Workforce Education staff is currently working with a representative group from area technical centers to designate common courses for adult education programs to facilitate articulation. The adult education course numbers will be reported beginning with the 2007-08 reporting year.
Career Guidance & Advisement
As mentioned, Florida requires every eighth-grader to select a major area of interest, and during high school to earn four credits within one or more major areas of interest.
It is intended that the statewide programs of study templates will also be available to districts through a statewide web-based counseling system called FACTS.org. Middle school students will be able to determine the availability of high school career and technical education programs through the ePEP (Electronic Personal Education Planner) first using CHOICES to identify an occupation of interest and then FACTS.ORG to plan a sequence of courses within their chosen Career Cluster.
Technical Skills Assessments
Florida has implemented a career ladder approach to CTE programs with the development of Occupational Completion Points (OCPs) at both the secondary and postsecondary program levels. An Occupational Completion Point is a group of competencies/skills needed to obtain proficiency in a specific occupation as identified by Florida’s Agency for Workforce Innovation and/or business and industry. OCPs provide opportunities for students to acquire entry-level employment competencies at less than full program completion. This enables a student to enter and exit a program without penalty or repetition of competencies. OCPs provide clearly defined career paths for students and facilitate articulation between secondary and postsecondary institutions.
To further evaluate the attainment of technical skills for both secondary and postsecondary students, Florida will use a combination of assessments and non-assessment indicators of student achievement, increasing the number of students participating in assessments each year. The Florida Department of Education will use standardized criteria to determine the appropriateness of the assessment instrument to measure technical skill proficiency. Assessments will include:
- Federal or state regulatory agency-developed assessment instruments leading to licensure.
- Industry-developed assessment instruments leading to industry certification.
- Proprietary company-developed assessment instruments leading to certification of proficiency in one or more company product.
- Third-party-developed assessment instruments leading to award of state certification of proficiency in the area of study (May only be used if none of the first three types of Gold Standard assessments are available).
In the event that one of the above assessments is not available, the state will continue to accept student completion of an occupational completion point (for secondary programs and postsecondary clock hour programs) or student completion of a certain percentage of program hours required with a grade point average of 2.5 or higher (for postsecondary college credit programs) as measure of technical skill attainment.
The Division of Workforce Education has developed a database of state-approved assessment instruments. The instruments contained in the database will be the only assessment instruments that will be accepted by the Florida Department of Education for reporting technical skill attainment under the 2006 Perkins Act. Grantees that wish to use assessment instruments not contained in the database for measuring technical skill attainment must request an instrument evaluation by the Chancellor of the Division of Workforce Education for inclusion in the database. Formal documentation of the instrument’s reliability and validity will be required before the recommended instrument will be considered for inclusion in the database.
Florida is also linking industry certifications based on technical assessments and funding. During the implementation of the CAPE Act, the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation is required to publish an industry certification list for career and professional academies. For students that earn an approved industry certification, the school district will receive an additional FTE of .3 for the year in which the student earns the certification. The state has appropriated $30 million to fund the supplement for industry certifications, but there is no guarantee it will be funded in future years.
Additionally, the state is implementing the “Ready to Work” credential based on student performance on the ACT WorkKeys test. The certificate will validate mastery of general academic performance on work-based tasks.
Business & Industry Involvement
Postsecondary career and technical education programs are designed and validated in cooperation with business and industry partners to ensure the curricula are challenging academically and technically relevant. Florida's focus on high-skill, high-wage, and high-demand occupations has encouraged the strong involvement of business and industry in the design, implementation, and assessment of career and technical education programs.
Beginning with the 2007-2008 school year, Florida is requiring each district school board to develop, in collaboration with local workforce boards (or other appropriate business leadership entity) and postsecondary institutions approved to operate in the state, a strategic five-year plan to address and meet local and regional workforce demands.
Educator Development
Florida is working to provide comprehensive professional development activities. The state will be utilizing $500,000 from its Perkins leadership funds to support a free-standing CTE Professional Development Institute, operated by a community college or university. As of November 2007, the award for the institute had not yet been made.
For 2007-2008, the focus will be on providing teacher reimbursement for teacher industry certification, particularly where the industry certification is required for the teacher to teach the course. Once the institute contract is awarded, it will put together a strategic plan looking at key issues such as academic/CTE integration, services to special populations, and emerging technologies.
Part 4: Results
Coming Soon!
This state profile was developed by the Association of Career and Technical Education with the assistance of the Meeder Consulting Group, LLC. If you need further information or more specific details, please contact ACTE. Customized reports can be developed on specific topics or entities.
Last Updated 7/17/08
