Career education includes exploratory courses at the elementary and secondary levels designed to give students initial exposure to a broad range of occupations to assist them in preparing their academic and occupational plans, as well as practical arts courses that provide generic skills that may apply to many occupations but are not designed to prepare students for entry into a specific occupation.

At the secondary school level, career education includes job-preparatory instruction in the competencies that prepare students for effective entry into postsecondary education or an occupation, including diversified cooperative education, work experience, and job-entry programs that coordinate directed study and on-the-job training. The Department of Education maintains standard curriculum frameworks for career courses and programs, organized into 17 career clusters.

• Career and professional academies are research-based programs that integrate a rigorous academic curriculum with an industry-specific curriculum aligned directly to priority workforce needs. Students completing career and professional academies must receive a standard high school diploma, the highest available industry certification, and opportunities to earn postsecondary credit if the academy partners with a postsecondary institution approved to operate in the state. In 2021-22, there were 1,608 high school and 237 middle school academies representing 51 districts.
• Career-themed courses are courses, or a course in a series of courses, that lead to an industry certification. Career-themed courses have industry-specific curricula aligned directly to priority workforce needs. Students completing a career-themed course must be provided opportunities to earn postsecondary credit if the credit for the career-themed course can be articulated to a postsecondary institution approved to operate in the state. In 2021-22 Florida school districts offered a total of 988 unique registered career-themed courses.

 The Department of Education maintains a list of all registered academies and career-themed courses on its website.

To provide opportunities for industry certification, secondary schools offering career-themed courses and career and professional academies coordinate with relevant and appropriate industries to prepare students for further education or for employment in that industry. An independent, third-party certifying entity evaluates student assessment results using predetermined standards for knowledge, skills, and competencies, resulting in an award of a credential that is included as part of the state's Master Credentials List (per s. 445.004(4), Florida Statutes).

Section 1011.62(1)(o), Florida Statutes, outlines the industry certification process and provides that when a high school student in a registered career-themed course earns a department-approved industry certification, the district is awarded additional full-time equivalent membership funding and teachers providing instruction are awarded incentive funds. In 2020-21, students earned 108,879 certifications with a passing rate of 69.1%.

The Florida Department of Education's Division of Career and Adult Education maintains a database on all approved industry certifications.

In 2023, the Legislature enacted Ch. 2023-81, Laws of Florida, which

• adds continuity through controlled open enrollment for middle school students to continue their Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs in high school;
• enhances career and academic plans by requiring them to be updated and requiring parents to be provided information about CTE opportunities and benefits for students;
• expands options for students to earn credit through extracurricular participation in career and technical student organizations;
• establishes regional education and industry consortia to meet and report to local workforce development boards the most effective ways to grow, retain, and attract talent;
• requires each district school board to provide all students enrolled in grades 9 through 12 with at least one work-based learning opportunity;
• provides discretion to district school boards to certify instructors to teach CTE programs;
• requires school boards to give teachers credit toward continuing education requirements for supporting students in extracurricular CTE activities;
• provides flexibility to CTE programs to choose the courses in which students may earn industry certifications identified in the CAPE Funding List; and
• requires the State Board of Education to adopt three funding tiers for postsecondary certifications on the Funding List according to anticipated wages.

Other Reports
Career and Professional Education Act Enrollment and Performance Report, Florida Department of Education
Florida Career and Professional Education Act (CAPE) Technical Assistance Paper, Florida Department of Education, updated April 2021

Websites of Interest
National Research Center for Career and Technical Education
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education
U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook
Perkins V Resources
Career and Professional Education Act Resources

Performance Information

Chancellor Kevin O'Farrell, Career and Adult Education, 850-245-9004, email: careerandadulted@fldoe.org
Website