Career and technical education

Educational programs combining academic and technical skills for workforce preparation

Pittsville Career and Technical Education Center

Career and technical education (CTE) is an educational approach to teaching technical skills that lead to careers for middle, high, and post secondary students. Compared to vocational education which is only taught in post secondary scenarios and is very specific to one career track, CTE can be broad in range from medical, business, sales, finance, IT, STEM, manufacturing, logistics, computer-based mathematics, political science, government, law, agriculture, construction, trades, craftsman, culinary, creative arts, music, to audiovisual technology.[1] The Federal Government of the United States has invested $1.462 billion in 2023[2] and States have invested billions[3] to renovate classrooms, spaces, and build dedicated buildings for the equipment, supplies, tools, software, and hardware to accommodate CTE.[4][5]

## List of career and technical education skills

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### Trades

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See also: List of construction trades, Tradesperson, and Technician

* Carpentry – woodworking, framing, doors/windows, drywall, insulation, flooring, siding, renovation, cabinetry, furniture.
* Plumbing – plumbing fixtures, piping and plumbing fitting, water heater, steamfitter, GreenPlumbers, and drain cleaner.
* Electrician – wiring, light fixture/major appliance, solar power installation, electronics technician, electric motor/generator technician, lineworker.
* Welding – MIG, TIG, stick, list of welding types, welding joints, welding symbols, and metalworking.
* Masonry – concrete work, bricks/blocks/stones, troweling, and tiling.
* HVAC – heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and duct work.
* Painting – staining, wallpaper, paint mixing, plasterwork, and spackling paste.
* Roofing – shingles, standing seam metal roof, corrugated metal roof, solar roofs, rubber shingles, rain gutters.
* Mechanic – auto mechanic/restoration/scrapping, air conditioning, aircraft technician, boiler, millwright/industrial mechanic.
* Metal fabrication – machinist, lathes, milling, drilling, grinding, and CNC machining.[6]
* Sewing – machine sewing, hand stitching, embroidery, tailor, quilting, fashion design, costume design, 3D clothes modeling, upholstery, knitting, tapestry, crochet.[7]
* Culinary chef – baker, meat cutter\fishmonger, deli, cheesemonger, sushi itamae, and cook.
* Telecommunications technician – tower technician, directional boring, fiber-optic/coaxial, utility pole technician, satellite dish installer.
* Automation technician – PLCs, instrumentation calibration, assembly/production line, industrial installation and maintenance.
* Semiconductor technician
* Aviation – flight training, list of flight simulators, air traffic control, fixed-wing, rotary-wing, UAV, 107 pilots license.

### Computers

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See also: List of free and open-source software packages, Academic software bundles, GPU workstations, and Fab lab

* Computer languages \- markup languages, scripting languages, programming languages, libraries, and source code editors.[8]
* CAD/CAM/BIM – list of 3D modeling software, List of computer-aided manufacturing software, List of BIM software, CNC machining/3D printing/3D fabrication, and 3D rendering.[9]
* Video editing – list of video editing software, filmmaking, visual effects, CGI, and List of 3D animation software.[10]
* Graphic design – List of 2D graphics software, List of 2D animation software, UI/UX, graphics tablets, List of digital art software, vector/raster graphics, and logo design.[11]
* Digital photography/Videography – digital camera, aerial photography, digital photo editing software, list of video editing software.
* Information technology (IT)
* Spreadsheets \- CSV (file format),[12] graphs, charts, bookkeeping, list of spreadsheet software,[13] List of relational database management systems.
* Music studio – digital audio workstation, audio engineering, list of music software.[14]
* Digital media – radio/podcast, YouTuber, video production, visual effects/sound effects/sound design, digital audio editors, studio.

### Healthcare

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See also: List of open-source health care software, List of freeware health software, Medical equipment, and Outline of health sciences

* Medical imaging – Xray, CT scan, MRIs,[15] ECGs, nuclear medicine, and ultrasound.
* Medical laboratory tests[16]
* Health informatics
* Nursing
* Surgical stitches
* Biomedical sciences
* Biomedical equipment technician
* Emergency medical services – emergency medical technician (EMT), paramedic, first responder.
* Dental hygienist

### Science

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See also: Science software, Free science software, and Physics software

* Biotechnology \- list of open-source bioinformatics software, computational genomics, pharmaceutical sciences.
* Computational biology \- biosimulation, list of genetic engineering software, List of protein structure prediction software.
* Computational chemistry \- software for molecular mechanics modeling, nucleic acid simulation, molecular design software.
* Computational physics \- quantum chemistry and solid-state physics software, astrophysics software, Open Source Physics.
* Geoinformatics \- GIS software, surveying, remote sensing, photogrammetry, geovisualization, technical geography, geostatistics.
* Electronics \- comparison of EDA software and free simulators, avionics, robotics, OpenRISC, sensors, silicon devices.
* Aerospace \- aeronautics, astronautics, list of space flight simulation games, list of flight simulator video games.
* Computational materials science \- materials informatics, computational thermodynamics, molecular dynamics, molecule editing software,  molecular mechanics modeling software, list of software for nanostructures modeling, finite element analysis software.

### Engineering

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See also: List of engineering branches, List of open-source engineering software, and List of computer-aided engineering software

* Biomedical engineering – biomechanics, genetic engineering, pharmaceutical.
* Materials engineering – chemical, petroleum, biochemical, thermochemistry, nanoengineering.
* Biological engineering – synthetic biology, biological systems, biotechnology, agricultural, computational genomics, bioinformatics.
* Construction engineering – civil engineering, structural, transportation, surveying, architectural, construction estimating software.
* Computer engineering – software, data engineering, network engineering, processor / PCB design, cyber security, cryptography.
* Electrical engineering – electronics engineering, power systems / energy, telecommunications.
* Environmental engineering – water / wastewater treatment, recycling, ecological.
* Industrial engineering – manufacturing, operations, logistics and supply chain.
* Mechanical engineering – automotive, marine, aerospace, robotics, MEP engineers, CAD technician.[17]

### Computer-based mathematics

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See also: Computer-based mathematics education, Computational mathematics, List of open-source software for mathematics, Mathematical software, List of free and open-source software packages for math, Binary math, and Mathematics competitions

* Computer algebra \- computer algebra systems, list of computer algebra systems, free computer algebra software.
* Computational geometry \- list of interactive geometry software, list of information graphics software, free plotting software.
* Computational statistics \- list of statistical software, comparison of statistical packages, data mining software, analytics.
* Data science \- list of numerical-analysis software, machine learning software, list of open-source data science software.
* Computational science \- computational physics, chemistry, biology, economics, list of computer simulation software.
* Mathematical programming \- linear, nonlinear, integer, linear algebra libraries, list of numerical libraries and languages.
* Engineering mathematics \- computational engineering, Mathcad, list of computer-aided engineering software.
* Mathematical notation software \- TeX, LaTeX, KaTeX, AsciiMath, GNU TeXmacs, LibreOffice Math, MathJax, MathML.

### Business and finance

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See also: List of personal finance software, Comparison of project management software, and List of ERP software packages

* Accounting – bookkeeping, financial statements, tax preparation, auditing, forensic accounting, payroll, accounts payable / receivable, CPA, comparison of accounting software.
* Entrepreneurship – business plan, business law, business administration, startup accelerator / incubator, balance sheet, business analytics, crowdfunding, investors.
* Finance – financial forecasting, chart patterns, List of information graphics software, open-source finance software, financial literacy.
* Real estate – real estate investing, agent / broker, development, urban planning, landlord–tenant law, zoning laws, appraisals, contracts, renovation.

### Law

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See also: Law, Law school, Bar exam, Civics, Legal ethics, Latin legal terms, Legal writing, Paralegal, and List of Law schools

* Criminal law – criminal defense, prosecution, defamation, homicide, assault, theft, drug offenses, sentencing.
* Civil law – contract law, tort law, property law, family law, labor law, consumer protection, personal injury.
* Corporate law – corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property, business law, securities law.
* International law – human rights law, international trade law, international humanitarian law, diplomatic law, law of the sea.
* Family law – divorce, child custody, adoption, domestic violence, spousal support, paternity.
* Immigration law – visa, asylum, naturalization, deportation, immigrant rights.
* Intellectual property law – patent law, copyright law, trademark law, trade secrets, licensing.
* Tax law – income tax, corporate tax, estate tax, sales tax, tax evasion, tax compliance.
* Employment law – labor rights, workplace discrimination, unemployment insurance, employee benefits.
* Criminal procedure – arrest, search and seizure, forensic science, trial, plea bargaining, appeals.
* Constitutional law – constitutional rights, judicial review, due process, federalism, democratic-republic, constitutional amendments.

## See also

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* Academy
* Apprenticeship / Internship
* Aviation Career & Technical Education High School in New York
* Career and technical student organization
* Career Clusters
* Career Pathways
* Community school
* Dual enrollment
* Geographic information system software (GIS)
* List of school facilities / areas
* National Center for Construction Education and Research
* On-the-job training
* Police academy
* Professional certification and licensing
* School-to-work transition
* Smith–Hughes Act – National Vocational Education Act of 1917
* Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act
* Technology education
* Workforce development

## References

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1. ^ "What is Career & Technical Education (CTE)?".
2. ^ "What is Career and Technical Education?". Forbes.
3. ^ "State by State Table – State of CTE".
4. ^ https://www.mass.gov/news/healey-driscoll-administration-awards-17-million-for-career-and-technical-education-equipment-improvements
5. ^ "Lamar CISD breaks ground on career, technical education building".
6. ^ "72 Trades To Learn for a Successful Trade Career | Indeed.com".
7. ^ "Is Sewing a Trade? + Sewing Jobs & Titles". 15 August 2022.
8. ^ "Difference Between Programming, Scripting, and Markup Languages". GeeksforGeeks. August 26, 2019.
9. ^ "The Software Used by Architects and Builders". ThoughtCo.
10. ^ "Video Editing Course for High School Students".
11. ^ "What Is Graphic Design? A Beginner's Guide to This Creative Career". Rasmussen University.
12. ^ Johnson, Dave. "What is a CSV file? How to open and use the popular spreadsheet file". Business Insider.
13. ^ Zardetto, Sharon (October 14, 2021). "Charts in Apple's Numbers Spreadsheet: Which One When?". TidBITS.
14. ^ "How to build a school studio space on a budget". Music Teacher.
15. ^ Science, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and. "Curriculum - Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Program (Minnesota) - Mayo Clinic College of Medicine & Science". Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science.
16. ^ "How to Become a Medical Laboratory Technician". Western Governors University.
17. ^ https://www.euhsd.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=3725824&type=d&pREC_ID=2430712

## External links

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* Association for Career and Technical Education