Evolution of Career Technical Education Courses Meeting University of California Admission Requirements

The genesis of CTE courses meeting UC admission requirements started with the passage of Senate Bill 813 (The Educational Reform Act of 1983). This educational legislation ignited a flurry of reform within the high school educational community by mandating specific graduation requirements in English, history, science, mathematics, fine arts/or foreign language, and physical education. Unfortunately, CTE courses were not part of the high school graduation requirement reform movement. However, the Legislature provided a provision within the California Education Code (EC) that stipulated that LEAs were to provide alternative methods for students to meet mandated graduation requirements. EC Section 51225.3(b) states:

"The governing board, with the active involvement of parents, administrators, teachers, and pupils, shall adopt alternative means for students to complete the prescribed course of study which may include practical demonstration of skills and competencies, supervised work experience or other outside school experience, interdisciplinary study, independent study, and credit earned at a postsecondary institution. Requirements for graduation and specified alternative modes for completing the prescribed course of study shall be made available to pupils, parents, and the public."

The passage of this EC Section allowed CTE educators to design integrated courses that could meet graduation requirements in many of these mandated academic areas. During the same timeframe, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Bill Honig called on all educators to "raise academic expectations" within their curriculum. This clarion call to action by Superintendent Honig solidified the notion within the vocational educational community that CTE teachers should infuse and reinforce academics within their respective courses. In 1990, with the reauthorization of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, academic integration of CTE courses would become a cornerstone of this federal initiative.

While the record is not entirely clear, the first known CTE courses to meet UC admission requirements came from two agriculture programs located in the San Joaquin Valley. Exeter High School submitted a Plant & Animal Physiology course that was approved to meet the "d" or laboratory science requirement in 1983. Chowchilla Union High School submitted three courses in Agriculture & Physical Science, Plant Botany, and Animal Physiology, which were approved to meet the "f" or elective admission requirement in 1985.

In 2003, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell became the first state official to openly urge CTE educators to develop rigorous, standards-based CTE courses that could meet UC admission requirements. Superintendent O'Connell's encouragement has led to the dramatic increases of CTE courses meeting UC "a-g" admission requirements that we have witnessed at this time.