New: pathway guides, toolkits and state profiles for seven states. Parts are still being confirmed with agencies and reviewers, and we update them as answers arrive. Learn more

Career Connected Schools, home

Library

The guides, profiles and toolkits

Everything here is free to read. Each page lists its sources and the date we last checked them, and labels each rule as Confirmed, Confirm with the agency or Changing. How we keep this current

Shelf 1

Pathway guides

All 20 pathway guides are published. Browse them by career strand and pick your state.

Browse the pathways

Shelf 2

State profiles

How each of the seven states organizes, approves and funds CTE pathways.

Shelf 3

Implementation toolkits

The how-to for staffing, partnerships, approvals, facilities, curriculum and scheduling.

  • Approvals and Applications for a CTE Pathway: Toolkit

    This toolkit covers the paperwork you file before students sit in a new CTE program: what you submit, to whom, and how long each office takes.

    In review Last checked October 2, 2026

  • Clinical and Work-Based Learning Partnerships: Toolkit

    Any pathway that puts students in a hospital, nursing home or job site needs a written agreement with that host, and the host's own requirements often decide which students can go.

    In review Last checked October 2, 2026

  • Curriculum for a CTE Pathway: Toolkit

    This toolkit helps you choose and build the curriculum for a new CTE pathway.

    In review Last checked October 2, 2026

  • Facilities and Equipment for a CTE Pathway: Toolkit

    This toolkit helps you plan the room and the equipment for a new CTE pathway: what the state requires, what is only recommended, how the space will be inspected, and which funds can pay for it.

    In review Last checked October 2, 2026

  • Scheduling and Student Timing for a CTE Pathway: Toolkit

    This toolkit helps you fit a CTE pathway into students' days and years: which schedule model to use, when in high school each course belongs, when students are old enough for the credential, and how they get to clinical and worksite placeme

    In review Last checked October 2, 2026

  • Staffing a CTE Pathway: Toolkit

    You cannot open a CTE pathway without a qualified lead instructor, and in fields like nursing the best candidates earn far more in industry than on a teacher salary schedule.

    In review Last checked October 2, 2026

Shelf 4

Cross-cutting guides

Rules and timelines that apply to every pathway.

Shelf 5

Research

Verified profiles, policy scans and evidence reviews behind the guides. Each one lists its sources and the date we last checked them. See the research by group

Shelf 6

Leadership courses

Full course experiences for leadership teams doing this work. Enrollment details publish as courses go live on our learning platform.

  • CTE Program Design: A Leadership Incubator for Integrated CTE

    The model taxonomy, US and international archetypes, and a capstone implementation blueprint.

    Publishing soon

  • The K-12 Apprenticeship Blueprint

    From exposure to registered apprenticeship: the dual-customer framework, intermediaries, and a 90-day action plan.

    Publishing soon

  • Entrepreneurship in K-12

    Program classification, comparative models, design principles, and a readiness assessment.

    Publishing soon

  • Portrait of a Graduate: From Vision to Action

    The community-visioning course — the buy-in engine for everything else on this site.

    Publishing soon

Shelf 7

Fact sheets & shareables

Designed for board packets and community meetings — short, sourced, printable.

  • The “10 Facts” series

    Skilled trades, healthcare jobs, AI & labor, auto repair — one page each.

    Publishing soon

  • Sample Schools case-study pack

    Paired “what is / what could be” district stories.

    Publishing soon

  • Screening Debrief Guide

    The 90-minute leadership protocol for the week after a Multiple Choice screening.

    Publishing soon

  • Host’s Companion

    One page for screening hosts: what to set up before and after the lights come up.

    Publishing soon

Stay in the loop

Want to know when new resources land?

Tell us who you are and what you're working on, and we'll let you know when the pieces that fit your work publish.

Schedule a conversation