Career and Technical Education in the two high schools in Macon County has seen a tremendous growth in the past few years. Previously known as Vocational Education, Career-Technical Education has placed a much greater emphasis on teaching students the same coherent and rigorous content aligned with challenging academic standards as taught to all other students. Students that are enrolled in Career-Technical courses have a state approved curriculum for each course and must master a minimum of 75% of the course competencies (standards).

Beginning with the 9th grade class in 2009, all students must choose a Program of Study that leads to a career path whether they plan to attend a four-year university, a two-year community college, a technology center or enter the world of work. Programs of Study have at least four sequential courses that students follow that build upon each other through their four years of high school. In addition to a Program of Study, all students must also meet the requirements for graduation as set forth by the Tennessee State Board of Education.

Career-Technical Education students in Macon County have Agriculture, Business Technology, Family and Consumer Sciences and Trades and Industry as program areas from which to choose. Within these program areas, there are 34 Programs of Study that students may pursue that lead to potential careers. All of the program areas have active student organizations that provide students with leadership skills and opportunities to enhance their technical skills. Each of the program areas also have an Advisory Committee made up of individuals representing the business community in the county. Each year, students from both high schools compete in area, regional, state and national competitions and have done exceedingly well at each level. Students interested in the Trades and Industry program attend the Tennessee Technology Center, Tri-County Campus and may choose from Business Systems Technology, Construction Technology, Cosmetology, Culinary Arts, Health Science, Manufacturing Machining or Welding, each having a SkillsUSA student organization. The Tri-County Center also has a computer lab which runs the “Key Train” system that enhances academic skills to compliment their technical skills. Students that are enrolled at the Technology Center also have the opportunity to earn dual enrollment credit that can be transferred into post-secondary studies. In addition, an HVAC program has opened for adults and high school students will have the opportunity to enroll as space permits.

The school system receives a report card each year that reports specifically on Career-Technical Education. The report card addresses core indicators of Academic Attainment in Reading/Language Arts, Academic Attainment in Mathematics, Student Graduation Rates, Technical Skill Attainment, Secondary School Completion, Secondary Placement, Nontraditional Participation and Nontraditional Completion. For each core indicator, the system must meet Federal requirements of the Carl Perkins Federal Legislation and the negotiated performance level of performance with the state’s division of Career-Technical Education. On the most recent report card received, the Macon County students met all performance indicators with the exception of Nontraditional Participation.

The report card shows that students who concentrate in a CTE program area, the graduation rate was 88.89%; academic attainment in Reading/Language Arts was 84.62% and academic attainment in math was 97.73%. A concentrator is defined as any student that has earned 3 or more credits in a program area. At Macon County High and Red Boiling Springs High Schools, 69.21% of the students are enrolled in at least one CTE course as compared to the state average of 58.79%. Enrollment in CTE programs is evenly split with 406(48.68%) male and 428(51.32%) female. Career-Technical Education students are exposed to state-of-the-art, industry standard equipment in their programs of study. By maintaining industry standard equipment and teachers doing an excellent job in their classrooms, CTE has seen a recent growth in enrollment. In the past three years, one Agriculture teacher, two Family and Consumer Science teachers and two Business Technology teachers have been employed by the school system.

Career-Technical Education is much more than the Agriculture, Home Economics and Shop that many are familiar with from their days in school. Programs have become much more technical and academic integration is now an integral part of CTE to better prepare students for post-secondary opportunities and career success.