Courseware is a Key Part of CTE Pathway Access and Completion
In Baltimore City Public Schools, students used Courseware career courses heavily in both 9th grade to begin their CTE experience and in 12th grade to complete a capstone course.
What did we find?
We examined which students used Courseware for their CTE experience and which types of courses and sequences CTE most supported in Baltimore City Public Schools. This included almost 7,000 CTE students—nearly a third of all City Schools high school students—from the 2023-2024 school year.
Supporting access at critical CTE moments
CTE enrollment is increasing nationally, and for good reasons. As accountability systems and Portrait of a Graduate initiatives take hold, schools are prioritizing real-world skill development and durable competencies. But 3 out of 4 educators rate their school’s CTE programming a B or lower, naming the need for resources to add additional courses/pathways and CTE teachers as two of the top three areas for improvement.2
This study found that online CTE courses, like those offered by Courseware, can play a key role in expanding students’ access to CTE. And, just as importantly, Courseware helped students finish the job. Nearly half of all capstone CTE courses used Courseware.
Courseware thus helped Baltimore City Public Schools use its CTE resources strategically to maximize district access, while ensuring that the courses students needed to finish their CTE journey were available, rigorous, and accessible.
From first course to final completion
We found that hundreds of students began their CTE pathway using Courseware, greatly increasing the number of 9th-grade CTE participants over those restricted to traditional courses only. And Courseware was significantly more likely to be an end-of-sequence course while maintaining rigor.
The program behind the results
Learn more about our expanding college and career readiness solutions, inclusive of Courseware career digital curricula.