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CTE Content Areas

Program Faculty

CR 100.5 (d)(6)(iv)(a)(2)(i) a technical and academic curriculum that achieves the commencement level of the appropriate New York State learning standards for all courses in the career and technical education program, including integrated and/or specialized English, mathematics, science, economics and government, and faculty with State certification in appropriate academic and/or technical subjects

Definitions:

  1. New York State certification—Teacher certification that has been issued by the New York State Education Department’s Office of Teaching Initiatives
  2. Academic subjects—English Language Arts, mathematics, science, economics, and participation in government
  3. Technical subjects—As defined in Section 100.1(l) of Commissioner’s Regulations: agricultural education, business and marketing education, family and consumer sciences education, health sciences education, technology education, and trade/technical education

 

Certificate Types

All career and technical education (CTE) coursework in the program must be taught by faculty with appropriate New York State certification in the program’s career cluster area. The two categories of certifications that teachers may have are classroom and CTE certification.  

  • Classroom certificates are available in the areas of agriculture, business and marketing, computer science, family and consumer sciences, and technology education. Individuals who hold a classroom certification other than these five titles are not qualified to teach CTE coursework. In order to obtain a classroom teaching title, an individual will generally complete an approved teacher preparation program in that subject area or its equivalent. Certifications identified as “classroom teacher” enable the certificate holder to teach the broad range of content that is identified within the certification area. For instance, an educator certified in technology education is appropriately certified to teach content in automotive, materials processing, manufacturing, STEM, etc.
  • CTE certificates are available in various content areas and are designed for individuals with significant industry experience in a specific career area. This title allows the individual to teach a specific career and technical education subject area in grades 7-12 in a New York State public school or BOCES, as opposed to a broad range of subjects as found in classroom certificates. For instance, an educator certified in vehicle mechanical repair is appropriately certified to teach content relating to the repair of vehicles. This educator is not appropriately certified to deliver instruction in courses other than vehicle repair. For a list of CTE teacher certificate titles and their descriptions, please visit the Office of Teaching Initiatives CTE Experience Requirements by Title webpage.
  • To find specific requirements to obtain either a classroom or CTE certification, please use the Office of Teaching Initiatives certification requirement search tool.

 

Additional Certification Requirements

Areas Requiring Professional Licensure

Faculty teaching CTE coursework in health sciences, appearance enhancement, barbering, drone technology, and aeronautics must maintain, in addition to their New York State teaching certificate, licensure in the area in which they are teaching. This is required in order to legally operate these programs. If questions exist about licensure requirements, please contact the Office of Career and Technical Education prior to submitting the program for approval/re-approval.

Health Sciences Operational Program Approval

Faculty seeking to teach CTE coursework in health science programs for which operational approval is required, in accordance with federal laws and New York State regulations, must demonstrate additional specific prior work experience, e.g., a CTE teacher certified in practical nursing 7-12 must have the required two-years work experience in long-term care (LTC) in order to be operationally approved to deliver instruction for a nurse aide training program. If questions exist about operational program requirements, please visit the NYSED CTE Health Sciences website or contact the Office of Career and Technical Education Health Sciences Associate.

Career and Financial Management

Career and Financial Management may be taught by any CTE teacher title as well as the four classroom titles of agriculture, business and marketing, family and consumer sciences, or technology education.

Work Based Learning

  • If CEIP or Co-op is part of the program content, a CTE teacher with the extension of Coordinator of Work-Based Learning Programs for Career Development must oversee that portion of the program. 
  • If GEWEP or WECEP is part of the program content, a teacher or school counselor who holds the extension of Coordinator of Work-Based Learning Programs for Career Development OR Coordinator of Work-Based Learning Programs for Career Awareness must oversee that portion of the program. 

Vendor Certifications

Certifications obtained through vendors are a great way to obtain professional development and additional credentials. However, certifications issued by vendors are not recognized as New York State teacher certification. Program faculty must hold the appropriate New York State classroom or CTE certificate title to teach CTE coursework.

Example:
Appropriate Certification—A program faculty member certified as a New York State technology education teacher who holds a Project Lead the Way (PLTW) engineering certification would be appropriately certified to teach CTE engineering coursework.

Inappropriate Certification—A program faculty member certified as a New York State physics teacher who holds a PLTW engineering certification would not be appropriately certified to teach CTE engineering coursework.

Inappropriate Certification—An individual who holds only a PLTW certification and is not a New York State certified teacher would not be appropriately certified to teach in a New York State public school or BOCES.

If questions exist about the appropriateness of faculty in NYSED-approved CTE programs, please contact the Office of Career and Technical Education prior to submitting the program for approval/re-approval.

Please note that the staff of the Office of Career and Technical Education are unable to assist with the actual process of teacher certification. This is handled by the Office of Teaching Initiatives. Inquiries regarding individual candidates or requirements to become certified need to be directed to the Office of Teaching Initiatives by e-mail at tcert@nysed.gov attention CTE.

 

Sample Questions to Guide Program Faculty Discussion

  • Are there new/additional faculty members since the program was last approved?
  • Are all faculty certifications/professional licensures up to date? (Certificate Holder Lookup)
  • Are all faculty registrations up to date? (Registration Requirements)
  • Are faculty appropriately certified to teach the courses they have been assigned?
  • If using a registered WBL experience, does the faculty member hold the appropriate WBL extension?

 

 

NYSED Certification Resources