Exciting Update on our Partnership with NYC DOE CTE

Our work with the NYC Department of Education’s High School Career Technical Education continues and has now been merged into the CTE Academic Integration Blueprint.  This document aims to bridge the gap between graduation rate and low college readiness by facilitating the integration of CTE and academic coursework, training teachers to develop integrated curriculum and promoting high quality project-based learning (PBL) practices in academic classes.  One of the plan’s five objectives is to “Infuse sustainability principles throughout CTE and academic content curricula”.  

“I am very proud of the work we are doing with the NYC CTE Program,” states Jaimie Cloud.  “35% of our NYC high schools offer a CTE program.  It has always been my goal to make Education for Sustainability synonymous with excellent education.  No system of education can be considered excellent if it is unintentionally educating for an unsustainable future.  The seasoned NYC educators in Curriculum and Instruction with whom I have had the privilege of working for many years have been in agreement with me on that since the beginning of our work together.”

The Cloud Institute’s work with the NY BOE is not new. In the 80’s and 90’s, we worked with faculty and administrators to develop humanities and global education curricula for 9th and 10th grades to support the students taking the Regents Exams in Global Studies. In the early 2000’s, the Cloud team “sustainablized”  the 12th grade Participation in Government core course (emphasis on Participation) and the 9th grade Entrepreneurship course, offered as the first of a three year CTE certification.  For the past few years,  we’ve worked with the NYC Career Technical Education (CTE) Program to document, map, align to industry standards, and “sustainablize” curriculum for the 16 career pathways NYC high schools offer our young people.  With the shift toward sustainability, green jobs on the rise, the support of the Mayor’s Office and now the Governor’s decision to divest from fossil fuels,  the integration of academic vigor, practical career training and education for a sustainable future is pivotal for our students’ success.

For more information about the Cloud Institute’s work with this program, please visit our blog, NYC DOE CTE | Cloud Partnership & EfS Programming from April 2015.