State Profile For Texas

Data sources used in this profile (PDF,177Kb)

State Director

Ms. Vangie Stice-Israel, State Director
Career Technical Education, Texas Education Agency
1701 N. Congress Avenue, 3-121
Austin, TX 78701

CTE Web Site(s) as Applicable

Secondary: http://www.tea.state.tx.us/cte/index.html

Postsecondary: http://www.thecb.state.tx.us

Mission

Secondary: Texas CTE supports and enhances academic and technical educational opportunities for students, including rigorous and relevant career preparation. The vision is for the public education system to recognize the unique needs of a diverse student population, prepare students for college and career success, and provide students with a quality education that prepares them to be competitive within a global economy.
Postsecondary: The vision for higher education is to address the global economic demands by increasing student participation and success through rigorous postsecondary education programs.

CTE Statistics

Number of Public High Schools: 1,453
Number of Public High Schools Offering Solely (or primarily) CTE courses: 0
Number of Students in Public High Schools: 1,275,472
Number of Secondary Students Enrolled in CTE: 893,243
Number of Public Community Colleges: 64
Number of Students at Public Community Colleges: 543,491
Number of Postsecondary Students Enrolled in CTE: 344,024
Perkins Funds Received: $101,837,703

CTE Governance Structure

Perkins Eligible Agency: Texas Education Agency
Agency Administering Secondary CTE: Texas Education Agency
Agency Administering Postsecondary CTE: Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
Programmatic Control For Secondary CTE: State Board of Education
Programmatic Control For Postsecondary CTE: Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board

CTE Funding: Non-Perkins

Key: Increased Funding  Small_green_arrow_up    Decreased Funding   Small_red_arrow_down    Funding Maintained   Small_blue_arrow_both
State Secondary Funding: Small_green_arrow_up
State Postsecondary Funding: Small_red_arrow_down
Local Secondary Funding: N/A
Local Postsecondary Funding: N/A

State Director Roles and Responsibilities

The State Director has the title of State Director of Career and Technical Education. The Director is a career position and reports to the Director of the Enrichment Unit in the Curriculum Division of the Texas Education Agency. The Director’s primary areas of responsibility are all CTE programs, which are based on the 16 career clusters.

CTE Connections to Secondary Education and High School Reform

Career and technical education plays a critical role in high school reform efforts. In Texas, the new state Performance-Based Monitoring System includes academic performance accountability measures for CTE students used to evaluate and monitor program effectiveness. All Texas students are held to the same high NCLB academic standards, including CTE students. The State Director is providing support and taking part in conversations related to the state’s high school reforms efforts.

Implementation of Career Clusters

Texas believes that career clusters are the basis for high school reform and is in the process of transitioning from traditional programs to the 16 career clusters. The state sees career clusters as providing the infrastructure for a seamless educational transition between all learner levels. Career clusters are a tool for academic and career guidance and a way to organize coherent sequences of courses.
In order to effectively implement career clusters, Texas has adopted a state policy that supports career clusters and has integrated them into the state plan. Texas is using career clusters to support seamless transitions between secondary and postsecondary education. The state now requires local Perkins plans to incorporate career clusters and all accountability information is to be collected by career clusters. Texas is benchmarking existing program standards against career cluster knowledge and skill statements.
Districts use several delivery methods to implement and deliver career clusters, including small learning communities, career academies, career magnet schools, project Lead the Way, High Schools That Work and tech-prep.


Implementation levels of programs of study