Pathways
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.
Programs of Study
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.”
Programs of study are identified and approved by the Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, with input from stakeholders. Tech Prep Directors facilitate the identification of programs 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.)
Additional Resources:
Go to our Non-Traditional pages to see non-trad programs offered through Washington’s community and technical colleges that crosswalk with CIP codes
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.