Course Descriptions

Introduction to Career and Technical Teacher Education [30 clock hours]
This is the introductory course to South Seattle College’s Career and Technical Teacher Education program. It is designed to help teacher-candidates from business and industry begin a plan and a professional portfolio based upon an inventory of their current or past work experience, skills, talent and competence. The plan may include certification or re-certification as a Career and Technical teacher in accordance with the Washington Administrative Code and the Revised State Skills Standards. An introduction to safety and health issues and the incorporation of safety practices into the CTE curriculum are also covered. 

Advanced CTE Strategies [30 clock hours]
This instructional course will provide an in-depth exploration of rigorous instructional methods and strategies, and their application for CTE teachers. Content may include the integration of career and academic education, action research, project-based learning, higher-order thinking skills and strategies for involving the community and parents. Occupational analysis and its use in program development will also be included.

Classroom Management [30 clock hours]
This dynamic instructional course will address a broad spectrum of instructional and assessment strategies, designing lessons to encourage appropriate outcomes and behaviors of all learners; in-depth study of learning styles and outcomes, along with developing a personal philosophy of teaching and classroom observation and instruction.

CTE Classroom Assessment and Evaluation [30 clock hours]
This course is designed to help teacher candidates understand what research has taught us about best practices in assessment, evaluation and grading. The course will challenge basic assumptions about past practices and will ask students to develop their own assessment and grading philosophies. Students will understand both formative and summative assessments, as well as explore multiple measures of student learning and begin to describe how they will use them in their teaching practice. Students will also explore how to build learning objectives that pace the way for their students to learn and demonstrate learning outcomes. Students will look at current research practices around grading and develop their own philosophy describing how they plan to use grading in their classroom. Prerequisite: Teaching Strategies or permission.

CTE History and Philosophy [30 clock hours]
This course is a study of the history and growth of American Career and Technical Education, including development from the early 1900’s when it was called “vocational education.”  It also is a study of the impact of educational reform on modern-day CTE and workforce development. The course will look at leaders in vocational education, societal influences on curriculum design, legislative initiatives, funding issues, organizations involved in and impacting Career and Technical and workforce development and other relevant trends and topics. 

CTE Organizational and Curriculum Design [30 clock hours]
This course includes an analysis of the teacher-candidate’s vocational field including skills, competencies, knowledge, attitudes, performance expectations and trends and the structuring and organizing of instructional materials including goals, objectives, benchmarks, outlines, syllabus and lesson plans along with curriculum design (sequence of learning topics and instructional units). 

CTE Student and Personal Leadership Development [25 clock hours]
This course focuses on leadership development, understanding what leadership is, how to integrate student leadership into the CTE classroom, and the advantages to student-learners of joining on-campus groups and related leadership opportunities.

Educational Technology for CTE [30 clock hours]
This dynamic course covers the integration of technologies into the classroom. There are three facets in this course that include the competencies of instructing with technology, using technology to facilitate the teaching process, and managing instructional goals and outcomes. Each teacher candidate will learn how to framework technology integration into the classroom; identify the latest technology standards, create a technology rich lesson/unit plan with integration of a CTE pathway. The final step is to develop authentic learning activities using the ISTE and Washington State Technology standards for students.

Legal Issues—Rights and Responsibilities & Issues of Abuse [30 clock hours]
This course introduces you to school law and educational policies including covering such subjects as: FERPA, curriculum, student free speech rights, student discipline, EEO, students with special needs, federal, state and local statutory rights of teachers, teacher employment, collective bargaining, and related educational policies (state, local, district). During the course we discuss and provide insights to and understanding of issues related to abuse including (but not limited to) identification of physical, emotional, sexual and substance abuse; bullying, including “cyberbullying.”  We will provide information on the impact of abuse on the behavior and learning abilities of students. There will be online discussions on the responsibilities of teachers to report abuse or provide assistance to students who are the victims of abuse and review methods for teaching students about abuse of all types and their prevention. 

Program Development: Implementing CTE Standards* [35 clock hours]
This course is to develop and refine the skills needed to implement an action plan for promoting, sustaining and keeping current your CTE course. Create dynamic partnerships with key community and business partners to enhance and increase work-based learning opportunities. Integrate academic standards and 21st Century Skills to prepare students to meet their education and career goals. 

*For experienced, certificated teachers as a replacement for Educational Technology for CTE and Assessment and Evaluation.*

Practicum/ Field Experiences: Demonstration of CTE Competencies [40 clock hours]
The Practicum is used to demonstrate and validate that the teacher-candidate is qualified for certification and well prepared to teach Career and Technical Education (CTE) classes in the State of Washington. The Practicum is arranged with the program administrator. The Practicum is required for all teacher-candidates in the CTE program.

Teaching Strategies [30 clock hours]
This instructional course addresses a broad spectrum of instructional and assessment strategies, designing lessons to encourage appropriate outcomes and behaviors of all learners; in-depth study of learning styles and outcomes, along with developing a personal philosophy of teaching and classroom observation and instruction.

Work-Based Learning Coordination Techniques [25 clock hours]
This intensive three-day interactive class will provide you the knowledge, management skills and the ability to develop, implement, manage and evaluate a diversified work-based learning program including coordinating instructional and cooperative worksite learning. Learn techniques for developing partnerships with the community and employers in order to improve basic and innovative curriculum and instructional practices. Gain understanding of the essential academic learning requirements and skills for the entry level worker, and look at a variety of methods to insure that student-learners master the essential academic learning requirements (linking classroom to the world of work).  Upon successful completion on this course students will meet the requirement for Work Based Learning certification to: "Successfully demonstrate competencies related to coordination techniques as verified by a state board of education approved program." as outlined in WAC 181-77-068.

*South Seattle College’s CTE program is nn-credit competency based. Student must demonstrate mastery of the required competencies. Upon successful completion of a course students will be awarded clock hours. Clock hours are awarded based on demonstration of the required competencies of the course. They are not “seat time.”