From September 2025 through May 2026, Techniques followed educators, program leaders and advocates as they worked through some of CTE’s most enduring questions: What does it take to build pathways that reach every learner? How do learning spaces and experiences shape what students believe is possible? As ACTE marks 100 years of service, these questions feel more relevant than ever.
Techniques: Our CTE Year in Review
The best CTE stories are never only about programs. They’re about the people inside them — what they built, what they believed, and what they refused to give up on. These eight articles are a record of that.
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Skills Over Stigma
High-quality CTE is a promise. For justice-impacted learners, the stakes of that promise are especially high and the barriers especially real. The author of this article in Techniques writes from experience: As someone who has been justice-impacted and now focuses on education and reentry, they know firsthand what is at stake. It’s a compelling case for building pathways that recognize skills over stigma.
Leading the Change
The narrative around CTE is changing, and the NextLevel Postsecondary CTE Fellowship alumni are leading that transformation. They come from all over the country and from institutions of all sizes. And their students, they say, have been their greatest teachers. This annual feature in Techniques celebrates the education leaders who are challenging outdated perceptions and building dynamic pathways.
Student-Centered Work
Work-based learning is most effective when it encourages learners to explore their interests. Meaningful career exploration often depends on the freedom to question, refine and redirect — and that may look different for different students. This article in Techniques looks at what it takes to design experiences that meet students where they are and help them move toward what’s possible.
High-Quality CTE By Design
Wraparound supports are often treated as supplemental. The truth is, they are central to keeping students engaged and on the path to program completion. When those supports are embedded into program design from the start, something changes. For students, for programs and for the communities counting on both. This article in Techniques looks at what it takes to make that shift and why it matters.
Meaningful Student Experiences
The strongest CTE programs begin with a curricular vision, and the spaces that house them should reflect it. This article in Techniques offers a practical roadmap for facilities design that rarely requires new construction, starting instead with a fresh look at what’s already available. The goal, as the author writes, is to help students see themselves in future careers. The right environment can make that possible from the moment they walk in.
A Century of Storytelling
Data helps make the case for CTE. Stories help people remember why it matters. As ACTE marks its 100th anniversary, this article in Techniques explores how the Association is harnessing storytelling as advocacy through the human touch of documentary film. The result is a portrait of CTE that makes its impact visible, relatable and personal, connecting a century of educational leadership to the students, educators and communities still writing the story.
Challenges & Opportunities
Rural CTE programs face serious headwinds. As workforce numbers dwindle and services grow even more limited, communities have learned to brace for closure. This article in Techniques offers a practical framework for turning program impact into data administrators can use. The result is a story that goes far beyond graduation day — one that connects student success to workforce development and long-term community investment.
No More Revolving Door
She left her career in insurance to become a CTE teacher. Two days into the school year, she resigned. This article in Techniques uses that story as a window into a pattern that is far more common than it should be. Drawing on original research, the author offers CTE leaders a blueprint for keeping industry experts in the classroom, built on the finding that when induction is treated as an experience rather than a checklist, they stay. And when they stay, students and programs thrive.
Lia Milgram is managing editor for ACTE.
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