Alabama board highlights Career and Technical Education; proclaims February for counselors and CTE

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama State Board of Education on Jan. 2023 heard a presentation on Career and Technical Education (CTE) and adopted resolutions recognizing student art winners and proclaiming February as School Counselor Month and Career and Technical Education Month.

The presentation by Jimmy Hall, assistant state superintendent for career tech and workforce development, summarized statewide CTE participation, credentialing and outreach programs and said support from the governor—s office and the Legislature has helped grow those efforts. "One of the things that makes Alabama so unique in its relationship with Career and Technical Education is the incredible support that we get directly from the governor's office and the state legislator," Hall told the board.

Hall and state officials provided verified and preliminary figures showing broad participation in CTE. Using verified data through Feb. 2022, staff reported more than 160,000 unique high-school students (grades 9–12) took at least one CTE course; staff said that figure looked likely to approach 180,000 in 2022–23. Board materials and Hall's remarks listed roughly 586 distinct CTE courses offered statewide, nearly 80% of students enrolled in at least one CTE course, and an 83.77% positive placement rate (defined by the department as students who, two years after graduation, are enrolled in college, employed in the field, serving in the military or otherwise in a trackable positive outcome).

Hall also discussed dual enrollment and industry credentials: staff reported more than 39,000 students enrolled in dual-enrollment courses in 2022–23 (preliminary) and said the state earned 20,687 industry-recognized credentials in 2022 with an initial, unverified estimate of about 32,000 credentials for 2023 once verifications are complete. Hall said career-technical student organization membership appeared to be on track to exceed 100,000 for the first time. He added that the department will issue a fuller CTE impact report to the board in the near future.

The board viewed a short spotlight on local CTE programming filmed at Morgan County Schools Technology Park that included a segment on its preschool/early-childhood training program and the child-development associate (CDA) credential available to students who complete required work hours and testing. An instructor who appears in the video said, "We're a preschool program. My students are being trained to prepare preschoolers for kindergarten." The clip and Hall's comments were presented as examples of local programs intended to prepare students for multiple postsecondary pathways, including immediate workforce entry and teacher pipelines.

State Superintendent Dr. Eric Mackey (first reference: Dr. Eric Mackey, state superintendent) and other board members noted the department's coordination with the Alabama Workforce Council, local systems and institutions such as the University of Montevallo. Mackey also announced logistics for upcoming events, including a March 8 arts celebration where the board's student awardees will be recognized.

The board adopted several ceremonial resolutions. It recognized Maya Yang of Vestavia Hills Elementary School and Skyler Bush of Springville Middle School for statewide superintendent visual-arts awards. The board also adopted proclamations designating February 2023 as Alabama School Counselor Month and as Alabama Career and Technical Education Month.

In brief administrative business, the board moved to approve the minutes from its Jan. 12, 2023 meeting. The meeting record showed one abstention on that motion; the minutes motion carried.

Board members and staff observed a recent death of a department staff member identified in remarks as Mr. Dixon. Dr. Mackey thanked building nurses for their emergency response and said they "did yeoman's work" in assisting during the incident; the board encouraged prayers and planned a future recognition of the nurses.

Hall closed by stressing alignment between CTE and workforce development priorities, saying the agencies and the board were "singing from the same hymn book" and that the department will provide additional data and videos to promote local programs.

The board set its next elementary-secondary meeting for March 9, 2023, at 10 a.m. in the Gordon Persons Building. The board recessed to a work session at the end of the public meeting.