The CTE Administrative Planning Guide is designed to assist school counselors, teachers, and administrators who schedule student enrollment in elective CTE courses. This guide presents course descriptions, course sequences, applicable certifications/licenses, and career clusters and pathways by CTE program area.

When using this guide, it is helpful to be familiar with the following terms and key concepts:

Two Sequential Electives
Students who are pursuing the Standard Diploma or the Modified Standard Diploma must complete two sequential electives. Two sequential electives comprise a concentration of courses from a variety of options, including Career and Technical Education. Completing any CTE concentration, including prerequisites, if applicable, will meet the requirement.

Concentration Sequences
A concentration is a coherent sequence of courses as identified in the course listings within this document (Administrative Planning Guide).

Completer
A career and technical education completer is a student who has met the requirements for a career and technical concentration and all requirements for high school graduation, or an approved alternative education program. Students may take additional career and technical education courses that will enhance their career pathway goals.

Specialization
A specialization is a choice by a student to specialize in an occupational field by taking additional courses in a specific career area as appropriate to his/her career pathway.

Certifications/Licenses/Assessments
Completion of certain courses enables students to apply for industry certification, a state license, and/or a national certification. These credentials are beneficial (and sometimes essential) to students seeking employment in a career field or occupational specialty. In addition, students who obtain these credentials earn verified credits toward graduation.

Types of Credit
A standard credit is based on a minimum of 140 clock hours of instruction and successful completion of the requirements of the course.

A verified credit is based on a standard credit plus a passing score on the end-of-course SOL test (or other test as described in the Standards of Accreditation 8 VAC 20-131-110). A standard credit may not be verified more than once.

A student-selected verified credit is a course credit that includes a test approved by the Virginia Board of Education. (According to SOA 8 VAC 20-131-110.B, footnote 5: A student may utilize additional tests for earning verified credit in computer science, technology, or other areas as prescribed by the Board in 8 VAC 20-131-110.B.)

Student-Selected Verified Credit
Student-selected verified credit will be awarded for certification or licensure examinations that meet all of the following criteria:

1. Industry certification or licensure examinations that are approved to satisfy the requirements for the Board of Education’s Career and Technical Education Seal and the Board of Education’s Seal of Advanced Mathematics and Technology will satisfy requirements for student-selected verified credits.
2. Occupational competency assessments from the National Occupational Competency Testing Institute (NOCTI) are approved for verified credit only.
3. For students to be eligible to receive student-selected verified credits, their teacher must be certified by the issuing organization relative to the industry certification or licensure. In the case of a CTE program area where there are potentially multiple certifications, the teacher must be certified in at least one industry certification that is related to the course and/or course sequence. Exception: No teacher certification requirement exists for the award of verified credits to students passing a selected NOCTI assessment related to their CTE program.
4. A standard credit may not be verified more than once.
5. One student-selected verified credit will be awarded for passing each certification or licensure examination or occupational competency assessment that meets all of the above criteria, provided that the student earns one standard unit of credit in the career and technical education concentration.
6. Two student-selected verified credits will be awarded for passing each certification or licensure examination or occupational competency assessment that meets all of the above criteria, provided the student
   • meets the CTE concentration or specialization course requirements for program completer, and
   • earns at least two standard units of credit in the CTE concentration.

Diploma Seals
In September 2000, the Virginia Board of Education approved criteria for selecting and approving certifications and licenses to satisfy the requirements for the Career and Technical Education Seal and the Advanced Mathematics and Technology Seal.

The examination must be in a CTE field that confers a certification from a recognized industry, trade, or professional association. For the technology requirements of the Board’s Seal of Advanced Mathematics and Technology, students may elect to pass a Board-approved exam that confers college-level credit in a technology or computer science area.

1. The examination must be standardized and graded independently of the school or school division in which the student is enrolled.
2. The examination must be knowledge-based.
3. The examination must be administered on a multistate or international basis.
4. The course of study for which the student receives a certification must be designed to prepare the student for an occupation or occupational area, or for the college-level credit in an occupation or occupational area that is technology-driven.

To earn a Career and Technical Education Seal, a student must:

1. fulfill the requirements for either a standard or advanced studies diploma, and
2. complete a prescribed sequence of courses in a CTE concentration, and
3. maintain a B or better average in CTE courses, or
4. pass an exam that confers certification from a recognized industry, trade, or professional association or
5. acquire a professional license in a career and technical field.

To earn an Advanced Mathematics and Technology Seal, a student must:

1. fulfill the requirements for either a standard or advanced studies diploma, and
2. satisfy all mathematics requirements for the Advanced Studies Diploma with a B average or better, and
3. pass an exam that confers certification from a recognized industry, trade, or professional association, or
4. pass an exam approved by the Board of Education that confers college-level credit in a technology or computer science area.

Additional information on VDOE requirements for Standard and Advanced Studies diplomas can be found starting on page 9 of the Regulations Establishing Standards for Accrediting (SOA) Public Schools in Virginia.

Highlights of proposed revisions to the SOA, with regard to the new Standard Technical and the Advanced Standard Technical diplomas, can be found at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/Accountability/soa.html.

Career Clusters and Career Pathways
To help students investigate careers and design their courses of study to advance their career goals, Virginia’s Office of Career and Technical Education Services has adopted the nationally accepted structure of 16 career clusters and their accompanying career pathways and sample career specialties or occupations.

To simplify federal reporting, the Career and Technical Education Reporting System (CTERS) User’s Manual assigns one or more career clusters to each course. Those cluster and pathway options are identified with each course listing. Teachers with more than one cluster option should select the most appropriate cluster for their federal report, based on the student’s career pathway.

Detailed information about Career Clusters in Virginia is available at www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/Instruction/CTE/careerclusters, including applications that may be used locally.

Model templates in each of the 16 clusters are available to assist local school divisions in developing career pathways. Each school division is being asked to develop sample plans of study, based on the courses offered within their schools, the employment needs of the area, and the post-high school educational opportunities needed for these careers. Once these sample plans are developed, they can be customized to the needs of individual students so that all students have the opportunity to have an individualized plan of study. Additionally, the National Directors of Career and Technical Education association has developed an informative Web site on Career Clusters and Plans of Study (www.careerclusters.org).

CTE Career Cluster Codes
The following codes are to be used for Cluster reporting purposes.