Initiative: Career and Technical Student Organizations (CTSOs) are career specific student organizations that are co-curricular with Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs provided for students in sixth grade through postsecondary education. CTSOs produce world class academic and technical achievement shaping students who outperform their counterparts in higher wages, higher education completions, career entry, and success.

Goals: The goals of the CTSOs initiative include the following:

• Increase student academic achievement and graduation rates through involvement in challenging academic and career curricula.
• Raise student aspiration and commitment to academics and career goals.
• Increase industry and community partner involvement in CTSOs.
• Increase high school student attainment of industry certifications and postsecondary acceleration mechanisms, such as dual enrollment and articulated credit.
• Promote student entry into high wage, high skill, high demand 21st century and beyond career opportunities.
• Expand classroom CTE program curriculum with challenging leadership, community service, competition, and career-oriented experiences.

Targeted Population: This initiative is designed for all students, sixth grade through adult, to have access to and participate in co-curricular CTSOs. During the 2006/2007 school year, 66,404 sixth through twelfth grade and 15,597 postsecondary students were served by our co-curricular CTE programs that are aligned to CTSOs. Over 82,000 students are served each year.

Timeline: The CTSO initiative has been implemented at all middle and high schools and adult technical centers. CTSO activities are provided annually. The CTE department continues to foster, expand, revise, improve, and support quality CTSO involvement as a co-curricular and extended extra curricular learning component of CTE programs.

Staff Development: CTSO staff are provided with professional development in the following areas: effective best practices in instructional delivery, core academic content integration and reinforcement strategies, reading integration, effective use and application of technology to improve instruction, updating in all aspects of their industry, effective best practices teaching skills, career academy design, Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO) chapter advisement, and instructional strategies for Exceptional Student Education.

Transferability: CTSOs provide leadership and career experiences for students from a wide spectrum of interests, reading levels, career aspirations, backgrounds, students with physical handicaps, and students in alternative and traditional school settings.

Involvement: Our CTSOs are enhanced by community and business partners, parents, students, teachers, graduates, guidance counselors, the Career Pathways Consortia (formerly Tech Prep), and higher education articulation partners.