​Unless further legislative action is taken, beginning with the graduating class of 2021, CTE concentrators may take advantage of the graduation pathways set forth in Act 6.

​No. All states are required to administer statewide high school assessments in math, English language arts and science for the purposes of federal accountability. The Keystone Exams are Pennsylvania's statewide high school assessments, and Act 6 does not change assessment participation requirements for any students. All students, including students enrolled in CTE programs are required to take the Algebra I, Literature and Biology Keystone Exams. Act 6 decouples these exams from the statewide graduation requirement for CTE concentrators.

​Yes, although all students are required to take the Algebra I, Literature, and Biology Keystone Exams for purposes of federal accountability and reporting, CTE concentrators who successfully complete the graduation pathways set forth in Act 6 are deemed to have achieved statewide graduation requirements. However, all students must also satisfy the graduation requirements adopted by the Local Education Agency's (LEA) governing board in order to graduate.

Act 6 defines a CTE concentrator as a student who, by the end of a reporting year, will be reported as successfully completing at least 50 percent of the minimum technical instructional hours required under 22 Pa. Code Ch. 339 (relating to vocational education). The student must be enrolled in a PDE-approved CTE program to be considered a CTE concentrator.

For 1- and 2-year programs that provide a minimum total of 720 hours of vocational program instruction, a CTE student achieves concentrator status after completing 360 hours of vocational program instruction. Most students enrolled in a 1-year program should reach concentrator status during the middle of their senior year. Most students in a 2-year program should reach concentrator status at the end of their junior year.

For a 3-year program that provides a minimum of 1,080 hours of vocational program instruction, a CTE student achieves concentrator status after completing 540 hours of vocational program instruction. Most students enrolled in a 3-year program should reach concentrator status at the middle of their junior year.

For a 4-year program that provides a minimum of 1,320 hours of vocational program instruction, a CTE student achieves concentrator status after completing 660 hours of vocational program instruction. Most students enrolled in a 4-year program should reach concentrator status at the end of the sophomore year.

Often, it cannot be determined that a student is a CTE concentrator until late in high school. Given that context, do the supplemental instruction, retesting, & project-based assessment rqmts. found in Chapter 4 apply to students in CTE programs who may be on track to be a CTE concentrator but have not yet been identified as such?

It is required that vocational education be made available to all students in a high school program and students should not be denied enrollment in a CTE program based solely on reasons related to academic preparation. Accordingly, it is strongly recommended that students who are on a pathway to becoming a CTE concentrator should receive academic coursework and assessments consistent with the students' career goals. Students should not be removed from CTE programs for purposes of supplemental instruction as this may impede their ability to become a CTE concentrator.

All remediation efforts (e.g., supplemental instruction, retesting, participation in the project-based assessment support) required under 22 Pa. Code Chapter 4 remain applicable to all students. These requirements in no way mandate intrusion into CTE instructional time and LEA's are strongly encouraged to allow students every opportunity including all available instructional time to gain competence in their CTE concentration area and "demonstrate a high likelihood of success on an approved industry-based competency assessment." Therefore, the need for remediation should not serve as rational for denying access to a CTE program. Further, it is recommended that LEAs strongly consider waiting to administer the PBA to a student enrolled in a CTE program until the student is in 12^th grade, so the student has every opportunity to "demonstrate a high likelihood of success on an approved industry-based competency assessment." If the student is a CTE concentrator who can satisfy the graduation pathways, the PBA does not need to be administered to the student.

​Each LEA determines the minimum grade requirement for each course related to the academic content area.

​The Industry-Recognized Credentials for Career and Technical Education Programs includes a list of industry-based certifications.

​The industry-based competency assessments to which the law refers are NOCTI exams, NIMS assessments or other industry-based competency assessments that may be identified by the Secretary of Education and approved by the State Board of Education.

​LEAs, via a chief school administrator, in consultation with a CTC director or a principal of a comprehensive high school (whichever is applicable), must make individual determinations related to each student, by the end of 11^th grade or if the student is enrolled in a one-year program the determination should be made as soon as possible during the 12^th grade year. LEAs should consider a student's performance on benchmark assessments, course grades and other factors consistent with the student's goals and career plan.

​Each LEA determines whether its students, including CTE concentrators, have satisfied all graduation requirements; PDE plays no role in that determination. However, LEA records related to each student are subject to review by auditors, who may review whether LEAs are properly implementing the laws related to graduation requirements.

​No. Consistent with past practice, LEAs retain individual student records to determine which students will graduate and report in PIMS each student's graduation status.