Ed Roundup for 8-10-12 - Year 2012 (CA Dept of Education)

Ed Roundup for 8-10-12 - Year 2012 (CA Dept of Education):

Education Roundup for the Week Ending August 10, 2012

SACRAMENTO—The California Department of Education (CDE) today issued this week's Education Roundup of education-related announcements of public interest.

More High School Career Technical Education
Courses Now Meet Rigorous UC Standards

More than 10,000 high school career technical education (CTE) courses now meet the rigorous college preparatory course standards, known as "a-g," that are used for admission at the University of California and California State University.

That's nearly one-fourth of the 37,867 CTE courses in the state, according to a joint annual report issued recently by the California Department of Education and the University of California Office of the President. By comparison, only 258 courses met that standard in 2000-01.

This upward trend demonstrates today's CTE courses do more than teach students a trade or specialized skill. They now blend in with a solid core of rigorous academic instruction to ensure students are ready for careers and college, if they choose, in preparation for the economy's increasingly complex high-tech jobs.

The annual report, California High School Career Technical Education Courses Meeting University of California "a-g" Admission Requirements for 2011–12 (DOC; 1MB)  , offers information on these CTE courses, which "a-g" requirement they meet, and where they are taught in California's public schools.

For more information about the "a-g" requirements, visit the University of California's "a-g" Guide  . For lists of approved CTE courses, visit the University of California Doorways  Web site.

California Student Named National
President of Prestigious Student Organization

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today congratulated Cupertino student Nikitas Kanellakopoulos for being elected and installed as the 2012-13 Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA)  National President.

Kanellakopoulos is a junior at Monta Vista High School in the Fremont Union High School District in the Santa Clara County city of Cupertino.

FBLA is a national education association designed to help prepare students for careers in business and business-related fields. There is also a California FBLA that helps secondary students build business career experience and learn about civic and personal responsibility. FBLA and California FBLA are part of a number of career technical student organizations recognized by the California Department of Education to provide students with increased leadership development, and industry-based competitions to demonstrate their career readiness.

This is part of Torlakson's California Career Readiness Initiative designed to lower the student dropout rate in California and provide high school graduates with the skills needed to pursue further education and training as they prepare to enter the workforce.

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Tom Torlakson — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100