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 Georgia was 654,330. This includes the following: 

• Secondary: 496,177
• Postsecondary: 158,153

Delivery System/School Information

Georgia is a large and fast-growing state, with a population of approximately 9,363,941 in 2006; a population that doubled between 1960 and 2000. About 18.4 percent of the population is children and youths age 5-17.

Secondary school systems in Georgia are divided into 16 Regional Education Service Agencies, each composed of a number of counties and school districts. There are a total of 356 high schools, 425 middle schools, and 1,473 elementary schools. Secondary CTE programs are offered primarily through comprehensive high schools, middle schools, and charter schools.

Georgia’s Technical College System is composed of 33 technical colleges and four technical divisions at university system institutions, providing a broad range of career opportunities. These colleges offer a variety of associate degree, diploma, and certificate programs.

• Associate of Applied Science and Diploma Programs
  Standardized curriculum programs leading to diplomas and associate degrees in more than 80 career areas are developed and continuously refined with input from Georgia’s employers and professionals in the field. 
• Technical Certificates of Credit
  Technical certificates of credit are short-term, targeted programs that prepare students for specific jobs. Normally, courses taken in certificate programs also provide credit towards diploma and associate degree programs.

Funding/Financing for CTE

Federal: Georgia is estimated to receive $37,972,843 from the Perkins Basic State Grant and $3,076,714 from Tech Prep in FY 2007. 

State:Georgia uses additional weighted funding based on student enrollment to fund secondary CTE programs. In addition, some categorical funding is provided by the state Legislature. For example, the Governor’s FY 2006 budget included $222,402,854 for Vocational Education Laboratories, $7,999,999 for High School Ag Ed programs, $36,060,780 for High School Tech Ed programs, and $3 ,811,974 for Youth Apprenticeship Grants.

Part 2: State Administration

Key State CTE Contacts

James Woodard
Director
Career, Technical & Agricultural Education
Georgia Department of Education
1752 Twin Towers East
205 Jesse Hill Jr. Drive SE
Atlanta, GA 30334
Phone: 404-657-8304

Dr. Freida Hill
Interim Assistant Commissioner
Georgia Department of Technical & Adult Education
1800 Century Place, Suite 400
Atlanta, GA 30345-4304
Phone: 404-679-1660

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State Agencies

The Georgia State Board of Education is the designated state board to coordinate the development and submission of the state plan for career and technical education as required by the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act of 2006. The Georgia Department of Education, on behalf of the Board of Education, is responsible for coordinating the development and submission of the state plan; for adopting procedures as necessary to carry out the responsibilities of the Act; and for consulting with the Governor’s office and appropriate agencies, groups, and individuals involved in the planning, administration, evaluation, and coordination of programs funded under the Act. 

The administration of secondary CTE is the responsibility of the Office of Standards, Instruction and Assessment under the direction of the Division of Career, Technical and Agricultural Education (CTAE). Administrative staff are responsible for coordinating state-level administrative responsibilities with other state agencies and other divisions of the Department of Education. The Director of the Division of CTAE reports to the Associate Superintendent for Standards Based Learning who reports to the Deputy Superintendent for Standards, Instruction and Assessment. The Deputy Superintendent reports to the State Superintendent of Schools.

Under Georgia law, the responsibilities for the operation and management of postsecondary career and technical education are delegated to the Georgia Board of Technical and Adult Education and the Georgia Department of Technical and Adult Education (GaDTAE). The Georgia Department of Technical and Adult Education oversees the state's system of technical colleges, the adult literacy program, and a host of economic and workforce development programs.

GaDTAE provides a unified system of technical education, customized business and industry training and adult education, with programs that use the best available technology and offer easy access to lifelong education and training for all adult Georgians and corporate citizens. This system will be part of a seamless education process for Georgia in which students can transfer credits efficiently as they advance. The commissioner of GaDTAE is the chief executive officer. Four division heads report to the commissioner:  Administrative Services, Technical Education, Economic Development Programs, and Adult Literacy Programs. 

The Governor's Office of Student Achievement (GOSA), formerly the Office of Education Accountability, was established to address two major goals that affect all students: student achievement and school completion. GOSA works to increase student achievement through the analysis and communication of statewide education data. In addition, GOSA uses this data to provide education policy support to the Governor. While GOSA's direct affiliation remains with the Governor's office, it also works closely with all of Georgia’s education agencies, including the Georgia Department of Education, the University System of Georgia, the Department of Early Care and Learning, the Department of Technical and Adult Education, the Georgia Student Finance Commission, and the Georgia Professional Standards Commission.

State Standards for CTE

The Department of Education recently completed a review of all its academic content standards, converting them to a new structure called Georgia Performance Standards. These standards, when reviewed by outside organizations like the Fordham Foundation, have been rated as some of the most clear, precise, and user-friendly academic standards in the nation. This same format is being used as the Division of Career, Technical and Agricultural Education (CTAE) reengineers its programs.

The development of the Peach State Pathways (described under the Programs of Study section of this profile) builds on work already underway by the Department of Education’s Division of CTAE curriculum revision project. During 2006, the curriculum revision effort was launched as a major component of the division’s redesign of career, technical and agricultural education.

The CTAE performance standards were condensed to reflect the most essential elements of the curricula. Each Peach State Pathway provides students with the necessary knowledge and skills to be successful at the next level of their educational careers. 

The Foundation Skills for CTAE are critical competencies that students pursuing any career pathway should exhibit to be successful. As core standards for all career pathways in all program concentrations, these skills link career, technical and agricultural education to the state’s academic performance standards.

Each CTE teacher also integrates the following Career Related Education strategies into his or her program:

• Career Awareness - Includes guest speakers, career days, field trips, career fairs, presentations, videos, and transition visitation to feeder schools. 
• Career Exploration - Includes career guidance and advisement, career interviews, job shadowing, student portfolios, internet searches/reports, research projects, use of internet based career planning tools, and CTSO projects/competitions.
• Instructional Related Activities - Includes entrepreneurship projects, competitions, school based enterprises, and assisting students with after school jobs.
• Connecting Activities - Includes arranging student placements, participating in mentor training, advisory committee participation, assisting students with Tech Prep articulations, assisting students in dual enrollment classes, and creating business partnerships.

Program Approval/Quality Control

Industry Certification is a formal process that strengthens all major CTE program components, including:

• Classrooms and labs which are equipped with state-of-the-art equipment and technology;
• Career, technical and academic performance standards that are aligned to national standards;
• In-depth, project-based instruction in all curriculum areas;
• Appropriate and varied work-based learning opportunities, including school-based enterprises and entrepreneurial ventures;
• Career and Technical Student Organizations (CTSOs) which offer co-curricular competitive events on the local, state and national level and provide leadership development skills for personal and professional growth; and
• Business, industry and community involvement in all aspects of the program.

The industry certification process is voluntary on behalf of the local education agency or school, but programs that are industry certified do receive a special grant, provided there is support from the Georgia legislature. In most recent years, the Georgia legislature has funded each program at $15,000 for the initial certification process and $15,000 per program when the program is re-certified. Programs must re-certify every five years. The program must submit an Annual Report at the end of each school year during the five years detailing major changes, problems, innovations, etc. This information is used by the committee during the re-certification process. Industry Certification standards are developed collaboratively by the Georgia Department of Education Program Specialists and about a dozen state-level business and industry associations.

Part 3: CTE Initiatives & Related Policies

State Education & Workforce Agenda

The Commission for a New Georgia identified six strategic cluster areas in the state to concentrate on growth, industry presences, and innovation potential. Those six cluster areas include aerospace, agribusiness, energy and environmental, healthcare and eldercare, life sciences, and logistics and transportation. The Georgia Centers of Innovation emerged from this initiative in 2003. These centers were placed strategically throughout Georgia in mid-sized cities, and were designed to enhance long-term economic opportunities for Georgians, nourish the state’s homegrown industries, and encourage new companies to invest and build in Georgia. The Georgia Department of Education’s Division of Career, Technical and Agricultural Education and the Department of Technical and Adult Education are collaborating with the Centers for Innovation to align program offerings with these economic and career opportunities for youths and adults.

High School Redesign

End-of-Course Testing: End-of-course tests are state-mandated achievement tests that measure how well students are performing in four core subject areas. Students take the tests at the conclusion of eight high school courses, two in each subject area. These include:

• English/Language Arts
  Ninth Grade Literature and Composition
  American Literature and Composition
• Mathematics
  Algebra I
  Geometry
• Science
  Physical Science
  Biology
• Social Studies
  United States History
  Economics/Business/Free Enterprise

Georgia’s statewide curriculum, known as the Georgia Performance Standards, sets specific academic standards or expectations for all students in Georgia’s public schools by defining what knowledge and skills a student should have mastered by the end of a course. The end-of-course tests measure the extent to which students have met the academic standards of eight core high school courses. The results help parents, teachers, schools, and other administrative officials identify strengths and weaknesses in individual student learning and monitor student progress throughout the high school career, giving students the opportunity for enrichment or remediation. The results of the tests will also be used to help make instruction more effective and to ensure that all Georgia students have access to a rigorous curriculum that meets high academic standards.

Any student enrolled in and/or receiving credit for one of the designated courses, regardless of grade level, is required to take the test upon completion of that course. The end-of-course tests are the final exams for these courses. The student’s final grade in the course will be calculated using the course grade as 85 percent and the test score as 15 percent. The student must have a final course grade of 70 or above to pass the course and to earn credit toward graduation.

The end-of-course test score reports are developed to provide individual students, parents, classroom teachers, administrators, and other community members reliable and valid test results.

High Schools That Work: High Schools That Work (HSTW) is a school improvement initiative sponsored by the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) that provides leadership for school improvement through career and technical education programs. HSTW provides leadership through implementation of its ten Key Practices. The Division of Career, Technical and Agricultural Education, in collaboration with the School Improvement Division of the Georgia Department of Education, supports the involvement of 168 high schools in the initiative, with 25 receiving enhanced support through either comprehensive school reform or the urban initiative.

The Georgia Department of Education sponsors collaboration between the state, local schools, and the SREB to provide students with challenging programs of study supported by student/parent/school-based advisement systems, extra help if needed, and community partnerships. High Schools That Work activities involve the high school in efforts that replace low-level performance expectations with course rigor and a curriculum with purpose.

In the summer of 2007, the Georgia Department of Education contracted with HSTW to provide two, two-day workshops for teams from local schools made up of administrators, CTE instructors, counselors, middle school administrators and CTE teachers, and CTE directors/supervisors. The workshops were designed to change the culture of CTE to a leadership role in school improvement and to use data to enhance change. 

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Career Academies

In April 2007, the Atlanta Public Schools announced plans to accelerate and expand its high school transformation initiative through a $10.5 million investment from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The school district is working to transform all of its large, traditional high schools into small schools or small learning communities over the next five years to ensure all students receive a high-quality education that prepares them for the challenges of today’s global economy. 

The first two schools to initiate their redesign through this new investment, South Atlanta High School and D.M. Therrell High School, opened in the fall of 2007. Each is comprised of four small theme-based schools that emphasize a personalized and academically-rigorous learning environment. The school district’s newly created Office of High School Redesign will work in close partnership with the Institute for Student Achievement. In 2005, the Institute for Student Achievement helped Atlanta convert George W. Carver Senior High School into The New Schools at Carver, which include five small schools housed on one campus with a college-prep focus.

Throughout Georgia, the Gates Foundation has invested more than $13 million in schools and districts to help raise graduation and college-readiness rates.

Role of Career Clusters

At the secondary level, Georgia has reorganized its CTE courses into “program concentrations.” This reengineering of Program Concentrations, curriculum, and Individual Career Pathways will unfold logically over three years. The goal is to create the following eight areas of concentration encompassing the 16 federal Career Clusters:

1. Agriculture
2. Architecture, Communication & Logistics
3. Business & Computer Science
4. Engineering & Technology
5. Family & Consumer Sciences
6. Government & Public Safety
7. Healthcare Science
8. Marketing, Sales & Service

Within each Program Concentration are Career Pathways that students can choose to follow. Part of the realignment process will include the development of Individual Career Plans (ICPs) showing the sequence of courses in each pathway, as well as the academic requirements and postsecondary options.

The structure will evolve through time and align educational, economic, and social entities that help students or workers obtain the skills needed in the workforce. Building Georgia’s Peach State Pathways system will be a process of adapting existing programs and services and the possibility of adding new ones that will enable all students to advance to higher levels of education and employment.

The CTAE Foundation Skills are aligned to the foundation of the States’ Career Clusters Initiative. The knowledge and skills provide learners a broad foundation for managing lifelong learning and career transitions in a rapidly changing economy.

Academic & CTE Integration

Georgia’s Department of Education is conducting a number of activities to strengthen the alignment of CTE content with challenging academic standards. These activities include:

• As part of the CTE Curriculum Revision Project, clarifying academic content and state academic standards that reside within each of the career pathways.
• During the dissemination phase of the CTE Curriculum Revisions Project, providing professional development workshops to teachers to ensure instructional emphasis on the integration and reinforcement of these basic academic competencies.
• Providing professional development programs that bring together academic and career and technical education teachers to more effectively integrate academic and career technical education objectives in instructional designs and in the modification of instructional strategies to address different learning styles.
• Working with academic teachers to design relevant contextual instruction throughout all academic areas.

Secondary/Postsecondary Linkages

In the coming years within the state of Georgia, career pathways will be much more than a sequence of related courses or a state-approved program. Career pathways in Georgia, named Peach State Pathways, will be an umbrella initiative that incorporates and aligns all the necessary educational and training components to align with the Governor’s Strategic Industries and to assure that Georgia’s current and future workforce can compete in a knowledge-based economy.   

For each of the Peach State Pathways, an Education and Career Plan will be created and distributed. These plans include the following information: program concentration, career pathway, student profile, recommended pathway-related core academic courses, sample postsecondary programs at technical colleges and Board of Regents institutions, other postsecondary opportunities, work-based learning opportunities, possible articulated credits aligned with local technical college courses and secondary courses, graduation rules, career-related information related to the pathway, and information regarding high-wage and high-demand concentration specific occupations. 

The partner agencies (with the Department of Education in the lead role) expect to develop approximately 50 career pathways over time, with eight pathways already approved by the Board of Education and another 20 under development in calendar year 2007. 

During the spring of 2007, the Department of Technical and Adult Education explained the new provisions and gathered input on the Peach State Pathways from the faculty and staff at its technical colleges via peer group meetings and electronic discussions. During the state FY 2008, the Department of Education and Department of Technical and Adult Education will request that eligible recipients begin implementation of the approximately 27 Peach State Pathways that will have been developed by the end of 2007. The first set of pathways covers most of the popular areas of study. As additional pathways are approved and implemented in future years, eligible recipients will be able to implement those pathways as well.

Tech Prep/Consortia: Georgia has merged its Tech Prep funding into the Basic State Grant program, but is replicating some of the coordination functions through a new structure. A key element to implement the Peach State Pathways will be the new Georgia Education and Career Partnerships, which include membership from secondary and postsecondary education as well as from business/industry, and community-based economic development and other community-based organizations. Each of the 37 partnerships, formerly called Tech Prep Consortia, will provide leadership for enhancing coordination for effective curriculum and instruction linkages between secondary and postsecondary education. Each partnership will promote articulation agreements and postsecondary credit opportunities to ensure that all partners develop, expand, and promote the Peach State Pathways. The Education and Career Partnerships will be carried out through required and permissive uses of Perkins Act funding.

Statewide articulation agreements will continue to be developed between secondary schools and postsecondary institutions to provide students with a non-duplicative sequence of instruction leading to diplomas, certificates and/or degrees in designated CTE programs. Beginning in state fiscal year 2008, the state will begin updating all previously existing state articulation agreements. The list of courses eligible for articulation will be updated based on the phases of the curriculum revision process, beginning with Phase I statewide articulation agreements being updated by August 2007. Subsequent course lists will be updated in sequential years based on the implementation of Phase II (August 2008) and Phase III (August 2009). The statewide articulation agreements will reflect the newly developed secondary curriculum. Local education agencies can use these to develop local articulation agreements with postsecondary institutions in their regions. 

College CTE Credit for High School Students: Currently the Georgia Department of Education (under the direction of Board Rule 160-4-2-.34 Dual and Joint Enrollment Programs) and in collaboration with other education agencies, offers multiple opportunities for students to earn postsecondary credit while still in high school. In FY 2006, there were 6,239 students who participated in dual enrollment and 953 students participating in joint enrollment. 

• Articulated Credit - Aprogram for students who take high school courses aligned with postsecondary courses that have been locally approved as having an acceptable level of matching course competencies. The student receives the postsecondary credit upon completion of high school, enrollment into a postsecondary college, and validation of the student’s attainment of the course competencies through one of three methods.
• Dual Enrollment - A process through which high school students take courses from a state public or private postsecondary institution while still enrolled as a high school student. The dual enrolled students receive credit both at the high school and at the postsecondary institution.
• Joint Enrollment – A process through which high school students take courses at a state public or private postsecondary institution while still enrolled as a high school student and receive credit only at the postsecondary institution.
• ACCEL Program – A lottery-funded dual enrollment program administered by the Georgia Student Finance Commission (GSFC) that under rules promulgated by the GSFC provides for eligible juniors and seniors to take certain courses (academic only, degree-level courses) from postsecondary institutions that count for high school graduation credit and postsecondary credit.
• DUAL Enrollment/HOPE Grant Programs – Provides for eligible juniors and seniors to take certain technical courses (certificate- or diploma-level courses) from a list chosen and approved by the Georgia Department of Education from courses proposed by the Georgia Department of Technical and Adult Education.
• Early College – A program jointly operated by the state Board of Education and the Board of Regents that allows identified students to participate in a dual enrollment program prior to the 11th grade. Early College represents a “new kind” of institution for students aged 14 to 20 that are not well-served through traditional high schools.
• Gateway to College – A program jointly operated by the state Board of Education and the Board of Regents that allows identified students to participate in a dual enrollment program prior to the 11th grade. Gateway to College, located exclusively on a college campus, is a form of early college for students aged 16 to 20 who have already dropped out of high school.

Technical Skills Assessments

GDOE plans to develop Secondary Pathway Assessments to be offered at the conclusion of the secondary education sequence of each pathway, depending on the availability of funds. Professional learning opportunities will be made available with each phase to support implementation of the adopted pathways. 

Career Guidance & Advisement

The High School Graduation Coach Initiative, championed by Governor Sonny Perdue during the 2006 legislative session, allows each of Georgia’s high schools to employ a graduation coach. This is the first program of its kind to be implemented statewide. The coach’s primary responsibility is to identify at-risk students and help them succeed in school by keeping them on track academically before they consider dropping out. The coaches identify, recruit and engage parents and concerned adults, organizations and government agencies to serve in a variety of ancillary roles. The Georgia Department of Education and Communities In Schools provides training, support, and technical assistance. The Approved FY 2006 funding for the Academic Coach initiative is $3,699,132.

The Department of Education is exploring the opportunity of providing local education agencies with a comprehensive, developmental and systematic career planning program. 

The Department of Education will:

• Expand the scope and depth of the current internet-based program, GACollege411;
• Create and implement an initiative called “Georgia Virtual Career Counselor,” carried out in collaboration with the existing Georgia Virtual School (an on-line, web-based high school experience) to include a career counselor available to on-line students who could answer questions via e-mail or telephone; and,
• Continue and enhance the collaborative effort between Student Support Services, Professional School Counselors and CTE to provide increasingly more professional learning for Georgia middle and high school counselors in the area of career, technical and agriculture education.               

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 12/12/07