Middle School Career and Technical Education (CTE) provides an opportunity for Maine middle school students to experience hands on learning, workplace skills, and career exploration. CTE empowers them to explore interests and discover activities that are inspiring. It allows students to experience potential career pathways, and gives them an awareness of the many options that are available.
In June of 2017, the legislature enacted law to expand CTE opportunities by requiring Maine schools to provide access to developmentally appropriate CTE for middle school students (grades 6-8). Along with this legislation, there was an opportunity for CTE schools to apply for grant funding to pilot a Middle School CTE experience. In the fall, the DOE opened the first round(Pilot A) of grants; 14 CTE schools applied and received funding to pilot a Middle School CTE experience. The second round(pilot B) application is now available for CTE centers and regions to apply.
The MS-CTE Pilot B Grants application must be submitted to the Maine Department Of Education by February 28, 2020. The grant must be expended or encumbered by June 30, 2020. Funds may be used in the summer and during the 2020-2021 school year, with proper obligation. (Obligation – Amount representing orders placed, contracts awarded, services received, and similar transactions during an accounting period that will require payment during the same, or a future, period).
Through the current pilots, middle school students are discovering the many opportunities that are available to them in CTE! These pilots have included CTE camps, in-school MS-CTE experiences, professional development opportunities for Middle School and CTE teachers, hands on CTE tours, as well as after school CTE programming.
The Middle School CTE programs rely on collaboration between the CTE centers, regions and the middle schools. CTE centers and regions have oversight of the CTE programming, and can assist with resources. The middle schools and CTE centers and regions are working together to design programs that meet the needs of the students, and provide an engaging learning experience. Alignment with the middle school CTE standards is required for all programs. These standards are in draft form, and are being reviewed and revised through the implementation of the current pilot programs. The current draft standards can be found here.
For additional information please visit our new web site at https://www.maine.gov/doe/learning/cte/schools/middleschool or contact Margaret Harvey at margaret.harvey@maine.gov