Self-confidence wasn鈥檛 always natural for Ashton Hartnett, a senior at Smyrna High School, a large suburban public school in central Delaware. The 17-year-old remembers his middle school self as a 鈥渓ong-haired short boy who got bullied by his peers and didn鈥檛 have many friends.鈥�
He鈥檚 still not one of the tallest kids in his class, but Ashton now ranks high in confidence, thanks largely to his experience in Business, Finance, and Marketing鈥攐ne of six schools of career and technical education available at Smyrna. Other options include Agricultural and Natural Resources, Education, Leadership Studies, Performing and Visual Arts, and STEM and Professional Studies.
As part of his CTE education, Ashton enrolled in the Academy of Finance, a three-course program that introduces students to the financial services industry.
鈥淲e鈥檝e learned concepts like accounting with credits and debits, assets and liabilities, stock fluctuations, and different ways to invest,鈥� he said. He also earned first place in a statewide public speaking competition hosted by , a national career and technical student organization.
Ashton鈥檚 journey challenges outdated perceptions of CTE as solely trade-focused programs with limited career outcomes. Increasingly, forward-thinking school districts like Smyrna are redefining CTE to expose students to a broad range of potential careers without necessarily steering them to a specific post-high school pathway.
This shift comes at a critical moment in secondary education. Workplace experts emphasize the need for job seekers to acquire practical, often technical, skills. While most U.S. high school students continue to enroll immediately in a two- or four-year , more families are questioning the return on investment from a four-year college education.
At the same time, a growing number of traditional public high schools are shifting away from a near-exclusive focus on 鈥渃ollege preparedness鈥� and, instead, providing more space for students to explore various career pathways and acquire practical skills and experience.
鈥淲e recognize that solely encouraging higher education as a default option is outdated. That鈥檚 not what we do when we go about helping students,鈥� said Stephanie Nelson, a school counselor at Garner Magnet School in Garner, N.C., and a finalist for the 2025 School Counselor of the Year award. 鈥淚 emphasize career and college readiness versus college and career readiness.鈥�
A nationwide shift in perspective around CTE
Statistics indicate that most of the nation鈥檚 public high schools are primed for this shift in perspective. Sixty-six percent of high schools offer CTE pathways that lead to an industry-recognized credential, and 57 percent make work-based learning opportunities or internships available to students, according to a 2024 nationally representative EdWeek Research Center survey.
But most high schools have pushed primarily college readiness for decades, a movement that gained steam after the publication of the 1983 report 鈥�A Nation at Risk鈥� and its call for stronger academic preparation. Now, high schools鈥攅ven those well-equipped to offer a broader education that鈥檚 likely to include CTE鈥攎ust figure out how to guide students in a new and less linear direction.
Nelson, Garner鈥檚 school counselor, said she鈥檚 comfortable talking to students about their future, and how to prepare for it, in a new way.
鈥淚 like the shift in the mindset from college and career readiness to an emphasis on career-college readiness, because even when our students pursue college degrees, it鈥檚 still setting them up for a career,鈥� she said.
She also realizes that these conversations can鈥檛 wait too long.
鈥淲e need to recognize earlier than students鈥� senior year how we can help them take courses that align with potential career paths, even if they don鈥檛 end up pursuing that [path],鈥� she said. 鈥淲e know career development is not necessarily linear, but we want students to at least have exposure to different types of career tech ed. classes.鈥�
When providing students with guidance on curricula choices, CTE expert Alisha Hyslop advises counselors to keep the focus on what鈥檚 best for individual students鈥攏ot what broader societal norms suggest is best.
鈥淚t鈥檚 about what the students鈥� goals are, and aligning their goals to the educational opportunities that will help them meet those goals,鈥� said Hyslop, the chief policy, research, and content officer at the Association for Career and Technical Education.
It鈥檚 a nuanced approach that鈥檚 likely to represent a change for many 糖心动漫vlog.
鈥淭here certainly was a time where that message got lost in the rhetoric around post-secondary education, where it was more about, 鈥榃hat college do they need to go to, and what do they need to focus on to get there?,鈥欌�� Hyslop said.
Countless parents, having internalized this message, may require education, too.
鈥淲hen we talk to parents, we tell them that CTE in high school doesn鈥檛 prevent students from pursuing any opportunity. Instead, it鈥檚 the opposite,鈥� Hyslop said. 鈥淚t gives them additional skills to pursue whatever pathway they want to pursue.鈥�
Schools need to keep up with evolving CTE offerings
It鈥檚 not just students and parents who need to be educated on CTE. Teachers, school counselors, and other 糖心动漫vlog do, too.
鈥淭here are a lot of careers out there that we may not know about unless we are engaging in PD [professional development],鈥� Nelson said.
That鈥檚 especially true right now. In October, Advance CTE, an advocacy and technical assistance nonprofit, released the new National Career Clusters Framework, marking the first major update to recommended career pathways in more than 20 years. The updated framework supports new and emerging professions that prepare students for jobs, some of which didn鈥檛 exist a decade or two ago鈥攍ike those involving artificial intelligence, self-driving-car technology, and clean energy.
A CTE pathway like Business, Finance, and Marketing, which Smyrna high school senior Ashton chose to pursue, may not be considered cutting-edge. But it鈥檚 given him an edge nonetheless.
鈥淚 still have my shy moments, and I can fumble in some speaking opportunities, but where my confidence is at now is leagues better than any years prior,鈥� said Ashton.
He credits his growing public speaking skills with the opportunities he鈥檚 taken advantage of at school鈥攆rom CTE courses where he had to present before classmates, to the public speaking competitions hosted by Business Professionals of America, to his internship as a salesperson at Smyrna鈥檚 mobile school store.
鈥淢y goals in life would not be nearly as certain without the support I鈥檝e received from the AOF pathway,鈥� said Ashton, who plans to attend a four-year state college in the fall, where he鈥檚 considering a major in business and a minor in communications.
