Career Pathways, Programs of Study and Course Sequencing
Sometimes, the terms course sequence, career pathways, and programs of study are used interchangeably. This page explains how Washington Tech Prep defines and uses these terms in the development and maintenance of articulation agreements.
Career Pathways – What is it?
The word career is generally thought of as the pursuit of professional or public achievement. Hardly anyone walks into their dream career – most people must pursue the course of education and work experience that leads to the job they want.
Simply put, a career pathway points a student down the right road to travel to reach his or her professional goals. Career Pathways show students all their options in or across industries. They are organized as clusters of occupations/careers requiring different levels of education and training.
The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction - Career and Technical Education Division (OSPI) worked with employers, labor and educators to identify and set Washington’s Career Pathways. OSPI provides a variety of tools meant to help districts design the Career and Technical Education portion of a pathway.
Program of Study – What is it?
A program of study is the formal list of courses a student needs to complete to fulfill the requirements of a degree or certificate. The term “curricular framework” is interchangeable with “program of study.” The links below describe the programs of study/curricular frameworks identified by major pathways through OSPI.
Agriculture and Science
(Includes Agriculture, Horticulture, Aquaculture and Animal Husbandry)Business and Marketing
(Includes business management, economics, electronic commerce, office assistants, publishing and web design and more…)Health and Human Services
(Includes American Sign Language interpreters, careers in education, consumer and family resources, cosmetology, dental assistants, interior design, nutrition and wellness, and parks and recreation and more…)Technology and Industry
(Includes architecture, automotive, CADD, construction technologies, electrical, energy technologies, fire science, manufacturing, transportation and more…)
From the above links, you will find resources to plan a pathway, a program, a course, learning plans, student leadership, and other useful resources. The links below highlight new program of study products developed by OSPI:
OSPI program of study assurance checklist and process forms
(This pdf document explains how a program of study is set during an articulation process, and gives a checklist for educators to use to ensure their program of study developed through an articulation agreement meets the expected standards.)Program of study template
(This document can be used with other planning materials to design a program of study.)
Washington’s career and technical programs also align with the U.S. Department of Education’s States' Career Clusters Initiative. See their website for national resources.
Course Sequencing – What is it?
In certain subjects, courses (particularly at the introductory or intermediate
level) must be taken in sequence because the concepts introduced and skills
acquired at one level are needed for successful work at the next higher
level.
Tech Prep courses are sequenced in a progressive and logical order during
the articulation process. Course sequencing is usually started by
examining programs of study in a career pathway. The resulting order
of courses – the sequence – reduces duplication of course work at the secondary
and post-secondary levels, thus maximizing classroom time to help students
learn and retain skills.
How do they all fit together?
A career pathway maps out the many programs of study a student could pursue to reach the expectations and credentials needed for a specific job. Course sequencing is the progressive order of classes in a given program of study.