Narrative: b. 2. B.

After consultation with eligible recipients, Minnesota will set the following parameters for developing and implementing a statewide career pathways/POS strategy. Programs of Study (POS) within Minnesota CTE must meet the following criteria:

• Career pathways/POS will either be developed locally or developed by the State with local input;
• Span at least grades 11–14 by identifying a non–duplicative sequence of both academic and technical courses within a program of study;
• Make high school graduation a minimum requirement;
• Lead to an industry–recognized certification or a certificate, diploma or an associate degree from a two–year college;
• Align with the program approval processes established by the Minnesota Department of Education and the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system; and,
• Incorporate articulation agreements, dual– or concurrent–enrollment opportunities, or postsecondary enrollment options so that students may earn college credit while in high school.

The State has encouraged local recipients to consider the following when developing and implementing POS:

• Existing programmatic career pathways in the colleges which can serve as a foundation for identifying POS that connect secondary and postsecondary levels through a sequence of non–duplicative courses.
• The development of new, or the modification of existing, pathways using the current Tech Prep articulation agreements between secondary education and postsecondary education institutions as initial points of discussion. For example, Perkins III recipients had already begun developing POS in Information Technology, Health, and Manufacturing under existing Tech Prep articulation agreements.
• Use already developed POS models from different U.S. states and national organizations as available and as appropriate to Minnesota and the local consortia.
• Incorporation of dual– or concurrent–enrollment opportunities, articulation agreements, or postsecondary enrollment options within each POS.
• Identifying, for students and their parents, the academic and technical courses needed for broad preparation in various career fields at the secondary level, and specialization at the postsecondary level.
• Developing resources for counselors in order to understand the role of career pathways/POS as a mechanism for moving towards a postsecondary education or employment.

Minnesota strongly feels that the development and implementation of career pathways/POS will be facilitated by having the new consortium structure in place. The State contends that the new consortium structure will support the Perkins IV requirement for building increasingly strong collaborative models, not only for CTE, but to pave the way for other linkages that connect the secondary and postsecondary systems.