High-quality CTE: Engaging Instruction

Click the + sign next to each category below to explore resources that align with the Engaging Instruction element of the ACTE Quality CTE Program of Study FrameworkTM.

This report looks at the uses and advantages of gamification in the vocational education learning and teaching landscape.

This research report summarizes how community college educators pivoted to emergency online instruction at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This review of existing studies identifies six main factors that play a role in the effectiveness of the flipped classroom: student characteristics, teacher characteristics, implementation, task characteristics, out-of-class activities and in-class activities.

Using insights from postsecondary students and digital learning experts, this report describes how educators can create high-quality remote learning instruction by providing an organized class structure, clear learning objectives, regular feedback, a student community and accessible technology.

This brief shares results from a survey of community and technical colleges nationwide to explore how the pandemic has prompted these colleges to change the delivery of for-credit CTE programs.

This set of three studies examines what states and community colleges can do to address the needs of racially minoritized adult learners who are pursuing postsecondary education and training, including relevant instructional strategies.

This paper provides health professional students and early career health professionals involved in peer and near-peer teaching with an overview of approaches and key tips for teaching in the clinical setting.

This research study compares the behavioral, cognitive and emotional engagement of high school CTE students at career academies to those at comprehensive high schools to measure each model’s effectiveness in engaging students.

This research report provides an overview of the Universal Design for Learning framework and demonstrates how utilizing UDL in designing and instructing CTE programs can be an effective way to engage students and address different learning styles.

This report describes the implementation and early impacts of the Washington State Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST) program, which features team teaching by a basic skills instructor and an occupational instructor. The study found that I-BEST programs have increased participation in college level courses, number of credits earned and credential attainment.

This report discusses improving student’s educational success and workforce readiness by integrating CTE and project-based learning, highlighting the benefits of integration and examples across the state of Pennsylvania.

This case study describes how Columbia Area Career Center in Missouri implemented project-based learning schoolwide in less than a year.

This journal article reviews the body of research on teaching critical thinking and problem solving and identifies overarching themes, including student involvement, learning styles, student motivation and instructor perceptions and behaviors.

This research study investigated barriers, challenge and practical strategies of integrating Common Core State Standards into CTE curricula and instruction.

This article reviews best practices in classroom management strategies, including knowing the difference between rules and procedures, what to do before the class and on the first day of class, ways to build relationships with students, the art of questioning, the significance of staying calm and the importance of positive expectations.

Researchers describe how CTE teachers can reflect on their own learning strategy and integrate that knowledge into their teaching style.

This study examined the differences in persistence and grade attainment between students learning in an online environment and student learning in face-to-face courses.

This report describes the development, implementation and instructional strategies of a technical math course with nine units that led to math skill gains and satisfaction from teachers and students.

This article reviews the evidence for contextualization, an instructional approach that locates the teaching of basic skills in the context of disciplinary topic areas.

This brief describes a rigorous evaluation of the GED Bridge to Health and Business program, which builds skills that are tested on the GED exam through the use of content specific to health care or business.

This study examined how the relationship between personality type and learning style can help CTE teachers and teacher educators diversify curriculum and instruction to enhance the educational experience for learners.

Using qualitative data from California’s Concurrent Courses Initiative, this article explores how teaching in a dual enrollment program can foster new approaches to classroom pedagogy.

This report examines how high school agriculture educators differentiate instruction based on students’ learning needs and the curriculum.

This publication describes the process, findings and key principles of curriculum integration of two National Research Center for CTE projects: the Math-in-CTE model, in which CTE and math teachers partnered to develop math-enhanced CTE lessons, and the Authentic Literacy in CTE project. You can also access lesson plans, curriculum maps and other tools for implementing Math-in-CTE.

This framework outlines teacher behaviors, student behaviors and learning artifacts associated with six high-quality CTE instructional practices.

The guide was designed to help CTE leaders make difficult decisions as they offer remote, blended and socially distanced learning during COVID-19. It is organized around the elements of the ACTE Quality CTE Program of Study Framework, including guidance related to engaging instruction.

This framework offers examples of teacher and student behaviors and learning artifacts found in classrooms that demonstrate six high-quality project-based learning practices.

This publication includes a checklist for programs to use to ensure students are college and career ready and educators are integrating employability skills into their instruction. An example of a CTE program using these practices and checklists is also provided.

This guide is a free resource on game-based learning in the classroom created by STEM teacher Chris Aviles.

Informed by educator experience and research, this framework describes six criteria to assess if a project-based learning experience is high-quality, including intellectual challenge and accomplishment, authenticity, public product, collaboration, project management and reflection.

This trio of publications defines the skills and mindsets needed for a project-based world and explores how teachers and students can be prepared for this world. Preparing Students for a Project-based World includes recommendations and a project-based learning quick start guide.

The University of Central Florida’s Teaching Online Pedagogical Repository describes pedagogical practices related to online course contentinteraction and assessment.

The CTE Technical Assistance Center of New York studied academic integration practices in 13 school districts and BOCES to identify the level of integration of academics into CTE programming. The work resulted in a rubric for assessing academic integration in curriculum, instruction and other areas and additional related resources.

This toolkit can help adult education programs serving lower-skilled adults to integrate career-focused content into their basic skills courses and programs. Each of the toolkit’s seven units contain helpful resources such as action planning templates, sample agendas, checklists and more.

Approved by Common Core State Standards content experts and National Career Clusters Knowledge and Skills Statements content experts, this list provides classroom activities that integrate Common Core State Standards in mathematics and CTE.

The Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education Employability Skills Framework advances a unifying set of skills that cuts across the workforce development and education sectors based on an inventory of existing employability skills standards and assessments.

The NRCCTE has transitioned its scientifically based research study of Math-in-CTE into classroom practice with the Math-in-CTE curriculum integration professional development model. Resources include curriculum maps and lesson plans.

This guide assists individuals entering the CTE teaching profession by describing the responsibilities of the teacher, student learning styles, lesson preparation, methods of instruction, classroom management and student success measurement.

These handbooks, one targeted at elementary school and one at the secondary level, teach educators how to design high-quality project-based learning experiences and implement them effectively, including a project design rubric, project planner and strategies to support English learners.

This book describes key instructional strategies in business content areas.

CTE instructional coach Sandra Adams describes four attributes of successful labs and shows teachers how to bring those components into the classroom.

This book provides concrete ways to make CTE classroom learning as engaging as lab learning, including more than 60 lessons.

This publication provides strategies that educators can use to make their problem-based learning practices more equitable. It incorporates detailed professional learning community guides and a reflection tool to support evaluation.

Although there are many books focused on teaching strategies and tips for new teachers, there are few resources specifically for new CTE teachers. This book series fills that gap, particularly for individuals coming to the field from alternative teacher preparation programs.

This book advises how to teach English learners in today’s CTE programs. The authors’ teaching framework and case studies draw from common settings in which career and technical educators find themselves working with English learners—in the classroom, in the laboratory or workshop, and in work-based learning settings.

In this webinar, speakers from the CTE Research Network and the Urban Institute discuss research about alternative CTE delivery models, including virtual and remote CTE, as well as their benefits and limitations.

This webinar series provides insight into why academic integration is critical in all CTE Cluster areas and industry sectors. Educators, students and industry leaders discuss how integrating academics can enhance curricular materials and how to apply integration to CTE programs.

In this webinar from ACTE’s Postsecondary, Adult and Career Education Division, speakers share tips for creating memorable lessons and meaningful learning experiences.

In this webinar, CEO Greg Keele and his team at Virtual Startup Academy discuss how to design classroom environments to put students in charge of the classroom and gives them ownership of their learning experience.

The webinar examines how Yuma Union High School District in Arizona uses Canvas to enhance instruction in the CTE classroom. The YUHSD utilizes Canvas to create a high-functioning professional learning community that can constantly collaborate regardless of location. Districts that do not have Canvas can apply the same theories to other learning management systems or Google Classroom.

This virtual Educators in Action discussion covers how to embed engaging instructional techniques into your CTE programs of study.

In this webinar, Dr. Richard Jones covers the top eight soft skills employers are looking for in today’s workplace, how soft skills and emotional intelligence are linked to professional success, how to improve productivity and decrease turnover, and best practices and suggestions for evidence-based tools to assess and teach critical soft skills.

This webinar will feature some techniques, tools, resources and best practices CTE educators have successfully used to promote student engagement through online learning.

Morgan Ely, University of Central Missouri teacher, shares an array of literacy strategies and activities that could be used in any content-area classroom.

This webinar series provides guidance on how to engage students through project-based learning online, including useful tech tools, adapting in-person projects to meaningful work online, challenges and equity in project-based learning.

In this webinar, a panel of experts discusses how to engage learners, personalize instruction and provide hands-on, project-based learning through remote, blended and socially distanced methods.

These webinars and related resources address experiential learning in the HyFlex classroom, in which courses are delivered both in person and online at the same time by the same faculty member, as well as in the online classroom.

In this webinar, Carlie Harris and Jeffrey Crapper, health science CTE instructors from Beaverton, Oregon, share creative methods they have used to supplement their instruction and enhance real-life connections for students.

Hosted by the Virginia Department of Education, this webinar invited the Southern Regional Education Board to discuss an overview of project-based learning in CTE classrooms and how to plan a project-based learning unit of study.

In this webinar, Robert Marraccino draws from his experience building rigorous academic-infused health sciences programs in the state of New York to share tips on deciding the degree of academic content in your CTE curriculum, what criteria to use and where to get started.

This course series guides teachers through online learning techniques as well as management and organizational strategies for online instruction.

This eight-course series focuses on techniques to effectively engage and communicate with online learners, including active learning, gaming and simulation methods, and understanding personality traits of online learners.

This series of courses focuses on student motivation, empowerment and retention, including specific engaging instructional strategies such as flipping the classroom and gaming.

This course explores the field of gamification and the way that gaming and gaming elements can improve courses.

This series of courses addresses effective teaching strategies, enhancing student learning, active learning methods, flipping the classroom and student assessment options.

This series features eight courses that address instructional planning, lesson plans, essential teaching strategies, academic integration, and specific instructional models such as adaptive learning and universal design for learning.

This set of courses describes how students learn and how educators can apply learning theories for effective and engaging instruction.

This course addresses thoughtful lesson planning to increase student engagement and help students meet learning objectives.

This course describes the pedagogy, psychology and neuroscience involved with student engagement.

This course highlights lessons learned since CTE teaching transitioned to remote and hybrid models.

This series of coursework reviews effective and engaging instructional strategies for specific programs of study, including health, culinary and bodywork programs.

This series of courses addresses ways to integrate technology into your classroom to increase engagement, including specific tools such as tablets and online learning augmentations.