Career Connections & Pathways

As the new school year ramps up, there’s no shortage of conversation about AI. But for CTE and career-connected learning educators, perhaps the more useful question is:

How do we prepare students to work with AI in the careers ahead?

Workforce expert Mark C. Perna points to a growing role in today’s workforce: the “AI Orchestrator”- someone who knows how to combine AI tools with human expertise, judgment, creativity, and problem-solving. Drawing on Upwork’s 2026 Future Workforce Index, Perna makes the case that the real opportunity isn’t simply learning AI - it’s learning how to use it effectively to get meaningful work done.

That’s a natural fit for CTE and career-connected learning. Here are three easy ways to bring that thinking into your classroom this fall:

1. Ask Industry: “How Is AI Changing Your Work?”

Add one question to your next guest speaker, industry panel, or site visit:

As the new school year gets underway, it's a great time to ask a simple question:

How well does your whole school community understand - and talk about - CTE?

Career and Technical Education is often most familiar to CTE teachers, counselors, and coordinators. But classroom teachers, administrators, support staff, and families all play an important role in helping students connect what they're learning today with the opportunities available after high school.

ACTE's free CTE 101 for Counselors Toolkit offers practical, ready-to-use resources that can help schools start the year with more consistent CTE and career messaging.

And despite the name, it's not just for counselors.

A Few Ways to Use It This Fall

As graduation season approaches, many educators are asking an important question: Are students truly prepared for what comes next - not just academically, but professionally and personally?

A recent Forbes article by Mark C. Perna, “How The Class of 2026 Can Launch Successful Careers,” offers timely insights for educators supporting students as they transition into college, careers, apprenticeships, military service, or training programs. Perna is widely known for his work connecting education, workforce development, and career readiness for younger generations.

One of the strongest themes from the article: technical knowledge alone is no longer enough. In an AI-influenced workforce, durable human skills matter more than ever. 

1. Prioritize Durable Skills Daily

Communication, critical thinking, adaptability, teamwork, and problem-solving consistently rise to the top of employer expectations.

(Simple shifts to build career readiness - without adding more to your plate.)

Career readiness doesn’t have to be one more thing - it can be how your classroom already operates!

A recent webinar EdWeb “Design for Career Readiness: Using the National Career Clusters Framework to Build Classrooms That Function Like Industry” - highlights a simple but powerful idea: any classroom (CTE, STEM, or core content) can function more like industry with a few intentional moves!

📊 A Quick Foundation: What’s the Career Clusters Framework? 

The Advance CTE National Career Clusters® Framework organizes careers into broad pathways and emphasizes:

• Real-world application of academic skills