DAY 10: OCCRL Blog Series: 1- Celebrating CTE and Black History Month
The Office of Community College Research and Leadership (OCCRL) is celebrating CTE Month through a four-part blog series. February is also Black History Month. To observe and recognize the importance of Black History Month, the first OCCRL blog segment touches upon the work of Carter G. Woodson, the complex historical parallels between Black Americans and CTE while also discussing current equity issues and identifiable gaps in today’s CTE programming.
“In order to cultivate a diverse pipeline of participants in CTE, we must look at the diversity pipeline of the educators standing before them. How can we promote equity and student success through Career Technical Education in a culturally pluralistic 21st century global knowledge economy in the absence of race and ethnicity? Today’s CTE training calls for high-quality curricula that present new opportunities to increasingly diverse cross sections of American learners. Critical to meeting the national completion agenda is broadening access to high-skill, high-demand, and high-wage employment opportunities across racially/ethnically diverse groups. Fostering on ramps to further education and articulated CTE pathways that provide an accelerated track to college degrees is very necessary for the U.S. to remain competitive globally.” – Eboni M. Zamani-Gallaher
Please read the full blog here. The Illinois Community College Board partners with OCCRL on research projects throughout the year, mainly focusing on equity issues concerning access and participation in the community college system. OCCRL also facilitates the well-known continuous quality improvement process, Pathways to Results. To learn more about OCCRL and their current research projects and publications, please visit their website.