Students are Clamoring for CTE

April 4, 2025

How to Create CTE Classrooms that Cultivate Career Success

Understandably, few teens can answer, "What do you want to do when you grow up?" Thankfully, today's Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs offer students hands-on opportunities to explore career pathways sooner across even more fields.

There's a glitch, though. CTE learning is its own animal, and many middle schools and high schools lack CTE-ready classrooms. This blog provides tips on how to create effective CTE learning environments designed for numerous career pathways.

Note: CTE programs offer measurable benefits-- students who participate are more likely to graduate on time and less likely to drop out.

188475 - Smith Systems - CTE - Aereo Space

CTE: What It Is - and Used to Be

Career and Technical Education is a dynamic educational program that appeals to many teen students. It doesn't prevent them from pursuing say, higher education, but it does give them additional skills more immediately. Let's define the pedagogy:

CTE merges traditional academic learning with hands-on, practical experiences in various career fields. It equips students with the real-world skills and competencies needed to thrive in key growing industries. CTE can lead to direct post-high-school employment and/or be a stepping stone to an advanced degree.
Vocational education (the precursor to CTE) singularly prepared students for entry into the world of work. It was in lieu of academics, with limited program areas, often the manual trades. In previous generations, voc-ed or vo-tec had a bad rap. It was considering the repository for teens who weren't perceived as "college material."
Conventional education refers to the traditional, structured approach to teaching and learning. It's often characterized by teacher-led instruction, core subjects and standardized assessments. Conventional education has a heavy focus on theoretical knowledge.

Woman Teacher With Female College Students Building Machine In Science Robotics Or Engineering Class

CTE Helps Students Learn Working-World Skills

In secondary education, CTE provides middle- and high-school students with the introductory knowledge and skills for their lives after graduation. The goal: prepare students for high-skill, high-wage, high-demand jobs. (Note the emphasis on skills)

Many of these jobs require workers to have experience in their field before starting a career. Likewise, the bulk of CTE is hands-on learning, practicing, and application tests, not textbook and memorization. CTE cam also include industry-recognized certifications. They give students a competitive edge in the post-graduation job market

Currently, CTE includes 16 career clusters. These are broad groups of careers and industries created by the U.S. Department of Education to organize career and technical education programs. Each represents a different sector, from health sciences and information technology to energy and hospitality.

The majority of the nation's public high schools offer CTE learning. A national representative EdWeek Research Center survey in 2024 showed 66% of high schools offered CTE pathways that lead to industry recognized credentials; 57% make work-based internships available to students.

Why So Many Students Clammer for CTE

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 85% of high school graduates earned at least one CTE credit, as of 2019. It's estimated about half of those students are CTE "concentrators," meaning, they take two or more related courses in a particular career area.

Education Week recently published "Not Your Parent's CTE: How Career and Technical Education is Evolving." It explained modern CTE and its growing popularity.

There's a shift occurring in secondary education. Workplace experts emphasize the need for job seekers to acquire practical, often technical, skills.
More families are questioning the return on investment from a four-year college education.
More public high schools are shifting away from "college preparedness" and, instead, providing more space for students to explore and acquire practical skills and experience.

Keeping Pace with a Changing Workplace

Without a doubt, the workplace is changing fast. A 2025 LinkedIn study reported that by 2030, 70% of the skills professionals use in most jobs will change, thanks in large part to AI. Furthermore, professionals entering the workforce today are on pace to hold twice as many jobs over their careers, compared to 15 years ago.

In addition to AI, it's impossible to know how other emerging technology, clean energy, world events, and even climate change might affect career options. Some experts say CTE programs have the ability to stay more curriculum nimble than universities.

CTE_Agriculture Classroom_Stainless - 03

Five Tips for Designing Effective CTE Classrooms

Consistently, research has shown how classroom design plays a fundamental role in student learning. The stakes are higher when designing CTE spaces.

Here are five considerations:

1. Select CTE Career Pathways

Start by choosing which career pathways to offer students. Maybe its auto repair, culinary arts or modern agriculture. The skills required within those pathways will help guide how to design, equip, and furnish your CTE spaces.

TIP: Consult with local businesses and industry experts to learn what current tools, hands-on skills and soft skills students need to succeed in that field.

2. Replicate a Professional Atmosphere for Hands-on Learning

Design your space to align with industry standards and practices. Replicate the professional environment and protocols; aim for immersive. Provide plenty of space for students to move around and experiment with real-world tasks and real-world models or tools.

3. Keep the Layout Flexible

Design flexible spaces that can easily adapt to the changing labor market, technology, and curriculum. Keep classroom furniture modular and mobile. Choose versatile tables, workstations and seating that students can quickly reconfigure for individual or group projects.

4. Integrate Technology

Include high-speed internet connections, specialized software, and easy access to electrical and data ports. Account for new, emerging technologies like AR and VR tools that can simulate real-life work scenarios. Include interactive white boards and space ton project how-to videos or virtual chat sessions with experts.

5. Prioritize Safety and Storage

CTE classrooms prioritize safety with proper furniture, equipment, training and protocols. This includes managing the physical classroom space, from adjustable ergonomic furniture to smart cord management. Versatile, scalable storage is great investment. It can keep the CTE environment organized and secure.

Furniture for CTE Classrooms and Environments

The design of the CTE environment should be intentional. So should CTE furniture selection. The task is beyond creating a fun makerspace. How a CTE space is outfitted can potentially make or break the effectiveness of student learning.

Smith System products can help create the spaces students need to succeed. These products are especially well-suited for teaching multiple CTE career pathways.

Planner® Studio Table - Stainless Steel Tabletop

Planner^® Studio Table with Stainless Steel Tabletop

This heavy-duty table is built to endure just about anything in the CTE realm. It offers maximum strength and stability, and a stainless-steel tabletop (30" x 48") option that's easier to sanitize (think culinary arts). The adjustable-height table with steel frame supports up to 400 pounds. Casters are optional.

Potential™ Stool

Students like to personalize their "perch." The Potential™ Stool is a cost-effective option for durable, inclusive seating in adjustable heights on glides or casters. The minimalist seat pan with a low ridge keeps sight lines open for all learners.

Groove® Fixed Height Stool

Groove^®Fixed Height Stool

Available in 24" and 30" heights, the stackable Groove^®Stool is a practical, comfortable crossover chair that can blend into many CTE environments. The ergonomic seat pan and shell contours support movement in both a working posture at a desk or table, and sitting sideways.

Silhouette^®Sit + Stand Desk

CTE skills curricula can vary greatly. One minute students are sitting. The next, they're standing. The Silhouette^®Sit + Stand Desk is available in three sizes, each with a 26"- 41" adjustable height. There's also a nest and fold desk option for quick storage.

Cascade® Mega-Case

Cascade^®Storage

Storage- correction, great storage- is essential to making CTE environments run smoothly. The mobile Cascade Storage line offers everything from a workhorse maker table, to cabinets, cases, and carts. Many offer a locking option.

CTE Model Classrooms

The Culinary Arts CTE Classroom

The culinary arts classroom replicates workstations in a commercial kitchen to learn safe food preparation, cooking and presentation skills.

The Aerospace CTE Classroom

The aerospace classroom lets students explore basic concepts and understand them by building gliders or model rockets. Students might also team-up for competitions.

The Mechanics CTE Classroom

The mechanics classroom helps students learn how to diagnose and repair a variety of vehicle problems using both modern diagnostic technology and manual tools.

The Hydroponics CTE Classroom

The hydroponics classroom engages students in a plant biology, sustainability, and STEM concepts. The curriculum can incorporate real-world applications like food production and local food systems.

Best Grade Levels to Start CTE Programs

Middle School Students: Fun and Exploration. Middle school is a perfect time for most students to start exploring various career paths and industries. The focus is helping them identify their interests and passions. CTE classes will remain at the introductory level, but it's a catalyst to get the process started sooner.

Guidance Counselor Stephanie Nelson believes CTE conversations with students can't wait too long.

"We need to recognize earlier than students' senior year how we can help them take courses that align with potential career paths, even if they don't end up pursuing that [path]," she said. "We know career development is not necessarily linear, but we want students to at least have exposure to different types of career tech ed. classes.

High School Students: Building Confidence. Enrolling in CTE courses at these grade levels is going to help students more deeply explore different career options through more complex skills and training. Courses will be specialized, with opportunities for externships and certifications.

CTE can also help older students prepare for higher education and give them a competitive edge over other applicants. Regardless of their career or college path, CTE is geared to build confidence in what's next after high school.

Start Planning Your CTE Classrooms

Today's Career and Technical Education programs are helping teen students explore career options sooner and more broadly. If your school district is clamoring to be CTE-ready, check out our CTE Learning resources. Then contact us.