Case Study: Fresno Unified School District

The Fresno Unified School District is California’s third largest, enrolling just under 70,000 students, of whom 86% are socioeconomically disadvantaged. Across seven comprehensive high schools and seven specialty high schools, the district offers 81 different career pathways. Last year, 12,000 participating students earned 32,000 industry certifications.

Students who complete a Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathway (finishing 300 hours or more within the same sector and pathway) have a higher four-year graduation rate than other students. Close to 90% continue into post-secondary education or training or report that they are competitively employed within six months of high school graduation.

The Fresno Model

The individual schools are the heart of the Fresno program, with each developing its own pathways tailored to its location, demographics, and industry connections. A dedicated CTE coordinator at each school is responsible for developing new pathways and overseeing operation of existing ones. Those site-based coordinators are supported by a central office team that includes an assistant superintendent for college and career readiness, a CTE director, six program managers, a work-based learning coordinator, and a business engagement coordinator.

Development of a pathway begins with identification of a theme, for instance “biomedicine” or “residential construction technology.” That theme must then be validated against evidence of student interest, labor demand, and available industry partners. The pathway itself is defined by a sequence of courses that students must complete from 9th through 12th grade. Many of these will be standard offerings already available, others must be developed specifically to support the pathway. The district offers more than 250 different CTE courses and employs more than 150 teachers with CTE-specific credentials.

In addition to coursework, each pathway offers some form of work-based learning, which can include paid and unpaid internships, off-site industry visits and job shadowing, and guest speakers. Overall, the pathway must provide relevant experiences and learning to students in each year of high school across five dimensions, only one of which encompasses technical skills and certifications. Pathways must also provide a focus on career exploration, soft skills and employability, leadership skills, and social and emotional learning. Each pathway is affiliated at the state level with one of California’s 15 CTE industry sectors, which provide curriculum and pathway development, technical assistance, professional learning, advisory structures, and support to student organizations.

The district’s CTE department has an annual budget of $25 million, covered in part by general district funds and in part by 17 state and federal grants. Some programs have unique capital costs: for instance, a heavy-truck classroom that includes a fully functional repair bay requires more funding and space than a typical classroom. Some have unique operating costs: for instance, a construction or welding course will go through many more consumables than a computer science course. CTE teachers have their own pay scale, which acknowledges and rewards their industry experience, but most still take a pay cut to leave industry and pursue teaching. The scale is designed so that, over time, a CTE teacher’s salary aligns to those of their colleagues. 

Duncan Polytechnical

Duncan Polytechnical is one of Fresno’s seven specialty high schools and offers eight pathways within two broad tracks. The Innovative Design & Applied Technology Academy (IDATA) offers pathways in automotive technology, residential construction technology, medium/heavy trucking technology, manufacturing and product development, and welding fabrication. The Medical Academy of Science & Health (MASH) offers pathways in nursing services, pharmacy technician, and rehabilitation therapy.

Each student applies and is selected into one of these two academies at the start of 9th grade and spends two years in a typical high school curriculum supplemented with CTE courses that build general skills and expose them to opportunities in the various pathways. By the start of 11th grade, the student selects a specific career pathway. Over the next two years, along with typical high school coursework designed to prepare them for both college and career, focused CTE courses give them a head start toward the particular career. Throughout all four years, students gain hands-on industry experience and have the opportunity to earn more than 90 industry-specific and professional certifications.

For instance, on the manufacturing and product development pathway, students earn certifications in Safety and Pollution Prevention (S/P2), OSHA-10 for Machinists, and National Institute for Metalworking (NIMS) Certifications for CNC Operation. In 9th and 10th grade, students complete projects and tasks to expose them to industry expectations for safety and employability skills, and instructional units include basics of electricity, circuits, CAD, and industry-applied math and measurement. During their junior and senior years, students get hands-on training and internships at several local facilities that focus on CAD, machining, product development, fabrication, CNC operation, PLCs, and manufacturing shop equipment use and maintenance. Graduates are ready to work in an entry-level position in the manufacturing and machining industry and can also obtain local internships and apprenticeships.

The construction technology pathway focuses on residential construction trades and gives students real-life experience in all aspects of interior and exterior construction. Students can earn certifications in S/P2Safety and Pollution Prevention, OSHA-10 Construction Safety, National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) in various trades, and Multi-Craft Core Pre-Apprenticeship (MC3). Students gain experience in areas such as framing, electrical, plumbing, drywall installation, roofing, flooring, and more both in their CTE classroom as well as during offsite internships. 

Industry Partners

One distinguishing feature of the Fresno model is the deep integration and commitment of the city’s local businesses, which have participated in building the program from the beginning and take considerable pride in what the community has accomplished. “You have to have a community where people have a deep care for lifting it up at all levels,” says Mike Betts, CEO of the Betts Company, which manufactures industrial springs and relocated to Fresno in 2009. “Nothing is more important than education and, for education, career and technical education is the game changer for sure.”

Each pathway is supported locally by one of seven subcommittees, consisting of industry partners in related fields. Districts traditionally have industry advisory committees that must meet annually to fulfill the requirements for receiving federal Perkins Grant funding. But in Fresno, “they are actually driving the program,” says Betts, meeting regularly with teachers and students to share opportunities and ensure alignment. Employers provide the various forms of work-based learning as well as externship opportunities for teachers to spend time working in the fields they teach and then bringing up-to-date experience back to the classroom.

Key Lessons

• A strong CTE pathway combines traditional academic coursework, an emphasis on soft skills that benefit all students, sector-specific technical training, and workplace experience.
• High-quality CTE is often more expensive than traditional classroom learning, and launching programs often comes with high up-front costs. For local districts to expand their offerings quickly, they need support from federal or state funding.
• While districts can, and should, tailor career pathways to their specific needs and resources, they should not each be re-inventing the wheel. Federal, state, and industry guidance on curriculum frameworks, materials, standards, and credentials ease the process of launching pathways, improve their quality, and increase their value.
• Existing infrastructure for assessing school performance is biased overwhelmingly toward academic outcomes and districts have little ability on their own to “follow” students after graduation. State or federal systems are necessary to provide data on where students go next and whether they succeed.