Career Pathways and Program of Studies
Career Pathways are outlined in the Program of Studies, a key guidance document that schools use to select four (or more) courses for each Career Pathway offered. While this document is valuable for course planning, the LPS Courses Document and the Academic and Employability Standards documents should drive your classroom instruction for each course to ensure alignment with pathway outcomes and industry needs.

The best practice is to prioritize courses from the top half of the suggested list to maintain rigor and relevance.

To support quality instruction and improve student academic and technical achievement, educators should regularly reference essential CTE resources, including:

• CTE Program of Studies Directory

• LPS Courses Document

• CTE Academic and Employability Standards Document

• Valid Industry Certification Lists

  • See the Valid Industry Certification Tab of this site for additional information.

• ACTE 12 High-Quality CTE Indicators

These documents are updated annually. Please ensure you are reviewing the current school year to access the most up-to-date information.

The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) and the Office of Career and Technical Education (OCTE) do not mandate specific curricula for course content. Instead, we require that the standards be taught, allowing schools and districts the autonomy to select instructional materials that best meet their students' needs while ensuring alignment with those standards.