Thank you for allowing me to submit testimony that focuses primarily on student achievement and teacher preparedness regarding career and technical education (CTE) and science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). I understand the Regents are considering creating two new "non-traditional" pathways to graduation: one in CTE, and the other in STEM. I strongly support both of these ideas. As Chair of the Legislative Commission on Science and Technology, I regularly confront the need for alternative pathways as I speak with students, educators and businesses. I am convinced that we are missing critical opportunities to prepare our school-aged youth for the current high-demand world of work especially in an environment that requires a solid preparation in the skills involved with emerging technologies. For example, in spite of the growing call for CTE, according to the latest published figures available from the State Education Department, statewide CTE enrollments have stayed the same. Given what we know about the importance of career and technical education, this should not be the case. I also recently learned about a school district on Long Island that no longer sends students to BOCES because of the expense, and the pressure they are under for students to pass standardized tests. This development should get everyone's attention. The focus of the recent past has been on accountability which is, of course, extremely important, but testing alone is not the answer. Testing often tells us of failure after the fact, when it is too late to get the classroom time back. The goal of CTE is to provide students with a unique pathway to postsecondary education and careers by exposing them to technical education and practical problem solving. The time has come to create a CTE pathway to develop and utilize the skills that will both keep students engaged and prepare them for their futures whether they are in the workforce immediately after graduation or after a two-year, four-year, or post-graduate degree In addition to being cognizant of and responsive to labor market demands, another crucial justification for alternative pathways to diplomas is engaging students who otherwise may be uninvolved in and uncommitted to classwork in a traditional pathway to their diplomas. Students cannot be educated if they don’t stay in school or if they are not engaged when they are in school. We lose too many students before graduation, whether or not they actually stay in school, and getting those students interested in learning who may not be engaged in traditional academic pedagogy is critical. I also hope it would elevate the status of these careers, removing what students often experience as a stigma associated with CTE and their involvement with BOCES for example. A widely recognized and cited 2011 study on this issue yielding extremely valuable findings and recommendations is Pathways to Prosperity: Meeting the Challenge of Preparing Young Americans for the 21st Century. The Report was prepared by the Pathways to Prosperity Project of the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Central to its thesis is the following statement:

[T]here are profoundly troubling signs that the U.S. is now failing to meet its obligation to prepare millions of young adults. In an era in which education has never been more important to economic success, the U.S. has fallen behind many other nations in educational attainment and achievement. Within the U.S. economy, there is also growing evidence of a “skills gap” in which many young adults lack the skills and work ethic needed for many jobs that pay a middle-class wage. Simultaneously, there has been a dramatic decline in the ability of adolescents and young adults to find work.

• Massachusetts has a statewide network of regional vocational technical high schools that has been very successful. Students in these schools spend half their time in career education with integrated academics. Far fewer students drop out of these schools than the traditional ones.
• California has over 500 career academies (“partnership academies”) which incorporate “rigorous academics with demanding technical education and work-based learning.”
• Florida has enacted legislation that “requires new CTE programs be designed to meet a real workforce need, and that CTE students should earn high-quality industry-recognized certifications, so they are more easily employable.”
• Washington State has integrated remedial English and math skills training into college-level CTE programs “in fields ranging from auto repair to nursing.”