High-quality CTE: Facilities, Equipment, Technology and Materials

Click the + sign next to each category below to explore resources that align with the Facilities, Equipment, Technology and Materials element of the ACTE Quality CTE Program of Study FrameworkTM.

This article provides an overview of the most pertinent health and safety issues from the literature and recent studies on laboratory overcrowding and occupancy load in P-12 STEM education and CTE programs.

This study examines the demographics of construction teachers, accident occurrences in construction courses compared to other secondary-level technology and engineering education courses, and safety factors and items associated with accident occurrences in construction courses.

This resource presents in-depth findings from a national P-12 CTE and STEM safety research study and provides practitioner-friendly safety recommendations to enhance safety in CTE and STEM instruction.

This paper from technology provider zSpace discusses how to employ augmented and virtual reality and how use of emerging technologies can help to close opportunity gaps.

Using survey responses from leaders at two- and four-year colleges, this report provides an overview of institutions’ priorities related to online learning and online course quality.

This research review examines practices and interventions in education technology that can be used to create inclusive learning experiences for postsecondary students from underrepresented racial and ethnic backgrounds.

This resource from Advance CTE provides strategies to use when teaching CTE remotely in rural communities.

This report by a working group of industry, association and academic experts discusses content, delivery and quality in distance CTE.

This research study examines the impact of technology on the success of traditional and non-traditional postsecondary students in nursing programs in Columbiana County, Ohio.

This series addresses how to use strategic partnerships and new technologies to reach economies of scale and offer a wider breadth of career pathways to rural learners.

This paper explores the potential benefits of three models of simulated learning in CTE: simulation tools to teach occupationally specific skills; simulated workplaces, intended to replicate jobsite conditions; and school-based enterprises.

This report assesses the current occupational safety and health practices within agricultural mechanics programs.

This article discusses the concept of liability and shares simple ways teachers can lessen their exposure to liability concerns.

This report from technology provider zSpace describes benefits from 3D, virtual reality and related learning environments.

This research study examines existing CTE health and safety practices and identifies the obstacles that may hinder implementing health and safety practices within CTE curriculum.

This research review provides an overview of studies that have compared simulation-based instruction to non-simulation-based instruction.

Minnesota has developed a series of briefs on safety in CTE courses on topics such as class sizes, modifying lab equipment safety tests for students with IEPs, machine guarding, shared spaces and more.

This module introduces students to the importance of safety in trade and technical careers. Students will examine the safety risks and hazards inherent in specific trade areas and learn about the ways workers can minimize risks and prevent hazards.

This publication provides in-depth guidelines on: 1) providing a safe CTE learning environment; 2) accident prevention; 3) modern safety and health programs; 4) preventable injuries; 5) attitude formation; 6) developing safety consciousness; 7) organizing an effective safety and health program; 8) instructional practices; 9) safety regulations and requirements; 10) laboratory safety concerns and hazards; 11) hazard identification and prevention; 12) occupational safety and health inspections; and 13) liability concerns.

The Safety Best Practice Guide for CTE is a collection of best practice resources used to assist school divisions in the development of a local school safety plan.

This toolkit addresses Michigan OSHA safety issues, child labor requirements and more.

This 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 facilities, equipment, technology and materials.

This guide outlines key CTE program elements that promote safety and health as well as action steps CTE programs can follow to strengthen safety protocols within their programs.

  • Young Workers – Occupational Safety and Health Administration Resources

This hub provides resources that support young worker safety and help teachers develop safety skills in students.

This audit tool can be used by employers and instructors to evaluate a workplace, classroom or laboratory’s health and safety program.

Skilled trades instructor and CTE leader Andrew Wermes has adapted OSHA’s Safety and Health Program Recommended Practices to focus on student learning within an authentic CTE program. This adaptation includes essential leadership, faculty, staff, employer and stakeholder roles and program operations.

This virtual program provides basic and advanced training about common safety and health hazards on the job. Students can receive an OSHA 10-hour or 30-hour course completion card at the end of training.

The NIOSH Safety Checklist Program is a comprehensive resource for information schools need to maintain safe classrooms, shops and labs for teachers and students in CTE.

This curriculum, maintained by the NIOSH Safe • Skilled • Ready Workforce Program, is the culmination of many years’ work by a consortium of partners dedicated to reducing occupational injuries and illnesses among youth. An accompanying video series guides instructors through key concepts and activities.

This manual aids teachers in developing and carrying out a safety program in the technology and engineering education classroom. It includes sample releases and other forms that teachers can duplicate for classroom use, as well as 18 printable safety posters and corresponding safety tests as well as PowerPoint presentations and videos that teachers can use to reinforce safer practices.

This book discusses designing and maintaining safer makerspaces, Fab Labs and STEM labs in both formal and informal educational and community settings, including liability/legal standards, better professional practices, safety controls, biological/chemical/physical hazards, first aid procedures, the facilities planning process, recommended designs and existing examples, and frequently asked safety questions.

This webinar discusses how CTE programs adopted new approaches to virtual and remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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 webinar describes a course about CTE safety developed by Dr. Richard Jones for new CTE administrators.

In this webinar, a panel of experts discusses adapting CTE facilities, equipment and technology for remote, blended and socially distanced learning.

In this webinar, Carrington Faulk, high school marketing teacher and Google for Education Certified Trainer, gives an overview of how to use Google Meet and when it can be used in a CTE classroom.

This webinar reviews how Grand Island Public Schools in Nebraska opened the Career Pathways Institute and how collaboration with industry led them to a renovated facility, all new industry-grade equipment and a revamped curriculum—ensuring career and college readiness for all students.

In this webinar, Michael Cabernia, Director of CTE at St. Lucie Public Schools, discusses how he used his Perkins funding to engage both students and teachers by implementing virtual reality in the classroom.

In this virtual discussion, Dawn Lindsley reviews a collection of free virtual resources educators can use to engage students and to lead effective, engaging instruction.

This course introduces CTE administrators and instructors to proper safety procedures, maintenance and emergency protocols.

This course covers the instructional techniques necessary for the non-traditional classroom, including strategies for teaching to each student’s individual learning style as well as safety guidelines and considerations for specific lab and shop environments.

In this course, users learn ways to engage health science students through visual and kinesthetic tools.

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

This course provides strategies and techniques for immersing students in interactive environment that incorporate gaming and simulations.

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

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

This series of courses addresses strategies for designing an online learning environment, including technology tools and virtual reality.

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