State board official outlines growth, industry ties and student outcomes in career technical education

Joshua Whitworth, executive director for the State Board of Education and interim administrator for the Division of Career & Technical Education (CTE), briefed the House Education Committee on the state’s career technical education system, student outcomes and employer connections.

"I'm excited to share about some of the great things that are going on in our educational realm around the career technical side," Whitworth told the committee, describing CTE as a system that connects secondary, technical colleges and workforce training into stackable credentials.

Whitworth said Idaho has roughly "a little over 300,000 students in the secondary system" and that about 72,000 students are enrolled in CTE programs — which he said represents roughly 71% of high school students taking CTE courses. He described notable growth in recent years, saying enrollment in CTE programming grew about 49% over four years and listing 14 career-technical schools and six technical colleges within…