How to build a full CTE career pathway, grades 6-14
A full CTE career pathway moves students from career exploration in middle school, to two or more technical courses in one field in high school, to a capstone and an industry credential by grade 12 or in community college. Build it around one of Advance CTE's Career Clusters, map each course to your state standards, and end every pathway with a credential employers recognize.
Six steps to a complete pathway
Pick the cluster and the jobs
Start from local labor-market demand and choose a cluster from the Advance CTE Career Clusters framework: 14 clusters and 72 sub-clusters, updated in 2024.
Name the credential at the end
Choose the industry-recognized credentials students should earn, and work backward from their exam objectives.
Map courses to your state standards
Check every course against your state's CTE standards so you know what's covered and what's missing before students start.
Sequence exploration, concentration and capstone
Plan at least two technical courses in one program so students reach concentrator status as Perkins V defines it (20 U.S.C. §2302(12)).
Plan labs for the equipment you have
Write hands-on work around your shop, kitchen or clinic, and use simulations where you don't have the equipment yet.
Track mastery and credential readiness
Measure mastery by standard and run a readiness diagnostic before students sit the certification exam.
Example programs of study for five Career Clusters
Each row is a pathway built from courses in the Core-LX catalog, using Advance CTE's 2024 cluster names. Courses are fitted to your state's course codes and standards when we build them.
| Career Cluster | Explore (grades 6-9) | Concentrate (grades 9-12) | Capstone (grades 11-14) | Credentials |
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| Construction |
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| Healthcare & Human Services |
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| Digital Technology |
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| Hospitality, Events & Tourism |
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| Agriculture |
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Sources: Advance CTE, Career Clusters framework; 20 U.S.C. §2302, Perkins V definitions; certifying bodies including NCCER, NHA, CompTIA, ISC2 and ServSafe.
How Core-LX builds a pathway with you
- We start with your state, your clusters and the credentials you want, and send a standards coverage report for every course.
- We fit each course to your standards, labs and teachers, and build lessons for anything that's missing. How it works
- Students learn with Lexi+Socrat, a Socratic AI tutor, and move on when they show mastery. AI & learning
- Certification test prep finishes the pathway: a readiness diagnostic, a study plan and proctors who guide students through test prep. Certification test prep
Questions and answers
What is a CTE career pathway?
A CTE career pathway, also called a program of study, is a sequence of courses that starts with career exploration, builds technical skills in one field, and ends with a capstone experience and an industry-recognized credential. Pathways are usually organized by career cluster, such as Construction or Healthcare & Human Services.
What are the Career Clusters?
The Career Clusters framework from Advance CTE groups careers into related fields. The modernized framework released in 2024 has 14 Career Clusters and 72 Sub-Clusters, including three cross-cutting clusters: Digital Technology, Management & Entrepreneurship, and Marketing & Sales.
What is a CTE concentrator?
Under Perkins V, a secondary CTE concentrator is a student who has completed at least two courses in a single CTE program or program of study. States report concentrator outcomes, so most pathways are designed so students reach concentrator status by grade 11.
Can a pathway start in middle school?
Yes. Core-LX serves grades 6 through 14, so a pathway can begin with exploration courses in middle school, continue through high school, and finish with dual enrollment or community college courses and a credential.
Do I have to use these exact courses?
No. The table shows example sequences built from the Core-LX catalog. We fit each course to your state's course codes and standards, your equipment and your teachers, and build lessons for any standard nothing in the catalog covers.
Which credentials can students earn?
Core-LX prepares students for 90+ certifications and exams, including NCCER, NHA, CompTIA, ISC2, ServSafe and Elanco credentials, plus ACT WorkKeys, the GED, TSIA2 and the ASVAB. The certifying organizations award the credentials.
Want to see this for your program?
Tell us your state, your pathways and the credentials you want students to earn. We'll show you the coverage and a course design.