Number two, maybe removing the strict block scheduling that focused on academic remediation and interventions in the 9th grade and 10th grade. Allow students entering CTE programs as freshman and sophomores the opportunity to develop and create an innovation that originally led them to apply for the career and technical school in the first place… Lastly, I close with Pennsylvania Department of Education provides CTE subsidy as early as 9th grade, and now I learned as early as 5th grade. I have met with parents, students, and Dobbins roster chair and administrators in regard to this. There is no reason or explanation why the School District of Philadelphia does not allow 9th grade students at the CTE school to begin their CTE training as soon as they start high school. Benefits of this move far outweigh the costs. It is recommended that we explote [sic] this to generate additional revenue to the school budget as we begin to prepare the students for early college and career tech. Marie Patterson: Transcript pgs. 225-227.
Students in career and technical schools, who may be interested in learning a career, are instead forced onto a strict academic track. While students were previously required to be proficient in the Keystone Exam subjects of Algebra 1, Literature, and Biology in order to graduate, that requirement was eliminated four years ago. …[A]lthough all students are required to take the Algebra I, Literature, and Biology Keystone Exams for purposes of federal accountability and reporting, CTE concentrators who successfully complete the graduation pathways set forth in Act 6 are deemed to have achieved statewide graduation requirements. However, all students must also satisfy the graduation requirements adopted by the Local Education Agency's (LEA) governing board in order to graduate. Graduation Requirements for Career and Technical Education Act 6 of 2017. Pennsylvania Department of Education. Additionally, four-year career and technical education programs are also explicitly detailed by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
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