Too many requirements, a lack of time for exploration, and a shortage of resources and personnel were some of the impediments CEA Board of Directors members identified as preventing the implementation of career pathways programs in Connecticut.
The Connecticut Career Pathways Commission, which CEA President Kate Dias sits on, is working to improve how education, training, and careers connect across the state so more students can access high-quality pathways that lead to credentials and jobs. At an August meeting, Chris Rivers of Social Impact Partners collected feedback from CEA Board of Directors members to inform the Commission’s work.
Too many requirements
No matter the level they teach at, educators agreed that students and teachers have too much on their plates currently to be able to add in career pathways exploration.
“Graduation requirements really get in the way of elective courses that would help kids identify their future careers,” said Fairfield Education Association President and high school English teacher Mick McGarry.
“I have to teach five units of study that take 38 days each—that’s more days than there are in the school year,” said Stonington sixth grade science teacher Carrie Cassady. “The timing is stacked against us.”
“Our districts have purchased curriculum that exceeds the 180 days we’re in school,” said CEA Vice President Joslyn DeLancey. “We need to get rid of canned content—or at least only use it as a resource instead of forcing teachers to follow these curricula to the letter.”
“We need to trust our educators,” said Dias. “These canned processes communicate, ‘We don’t trust you to educate kids unless you do it this way.’ We need administrators to have mindsets that are thoughtful and creative.”
More time for exploration
Between the may requirements students must fulfill and the lack of opportunities at some schools to pursue interests outside of core classes, the educators agreed that students don’t have the opportunities and flexibility they need to explore their interests.
“Some of the pathways programs that exist at our high schools are very particular,” DeLancey said. “Students need to have some level of flexibility so that they know the choice they make freshman year isn’t necessarily the path they have to stay on for the rest of eternity.”
She added, “Starting as early as preschool and kindergarten, we’ve taken away field trips. Kids don’t go to the dump or the grocery store any more like they used to. They don’t have that exposure and imaginative play.”
Educators agreed that career exploration needs to start earlier than high school—in age appropriate ways. And students of all ages need exposure to many different types of opportunities.
Bridgeport teacher Mikeya Stovall said that her district no longer has many athletic or music opportunities for students, which decreases the possibilities they can imagine for themselves.
Lack of resources and personnel
Even in districts that strongly support career pathways programs, a lack of certified staff and equipment and other resources often prevent classes from being offered.
“The two biggest impediments in my high school are a lack of certified teachers and a lack of facility space,” says Stratford physics teacher and State Board of Education member Kristen Record. “If we want an engineer to teach the engineering pathway, someone earning more than $100,000 is not going to be willing to come in, and will also face certification impediments.”
She continued, “Our nursing career pathway program and culinary program are always overenrolled by hundreds of kids, but we don’t have the facilities to offer more classes. We have one room with five kitchens. If we had the certified teachers and the space, we could expand in a minute. The state’s bonding process doesn’t allow towns to expand schools for these career pathways facilities. If we need beds for a nursing class, we can’t take an English classroom and just convert it into a nursing space. Those classes have very specialized requirements, and there is no funding from the state to make changes.”
“If you’re paying educators $60,000—math and physics teachers can make three times that if they leave for careers in industry,” said Dias. “We need not just additional financial resources though, we also need to build in time. We cannot just add career pathways to districts’ plates and expect it to work out. We’re already in a stressed system—if we just add more to a stressed system, then it will break.”
Moving forward
Dias encouraged her fellow educators to think about what success would look like for a career pathways program. What would a program look like that they’d be excited to go out and advocate for, and what could come off the table to make room for such a program?
She asked, “Do all of the current graduation requirements really matter? What is a revolutionary approach (like a 4-day school week, where the fifth day is an experiential day)? What would it look like in an elementary school? In a self-contained special education classroom?”
Share your thoughts with the Commission by taking a three-minute survey.
