Over the past six years, the Cherokee County School District has planned, developed and implemented unprecedented efforts to restructure, strengthen and improve educational programs and student performance outcomes. One such effort is the Career Pathways model, first conceptualized in 2001. Career Pathways are intended to provide a rational means of organizing and sequencing high school course offerings and providing every student a personalized and relevant course of study within a chosen career focus.
Development of Career Pathways is now a national trend. The concept has its roots in the overall education and career planning process for ALL students. It is an effort to maximize opportunities for students to be better prepared for the next step in their education and career planning process - the workforce or post-secondary education.
The Georgia Department of Education's division of Career, Technical and Agricultural Education is undergoing a three-year curriculum revision process. This process involves developing Georgia Performance Standards for each CTAE course as well as the development of career pathways, career concentrations and end-of-pathway assessments.
Cherokee County has developed a handbook that identifies the Career Concentrations, the Career Pathways and course descriptions of CTAE courses as they are being revised and approved by the Georgia Department of Education. On this site you will find links that may be helpful to teachers, parents and students in navigating through the career planning process. Please remember that there are two sets of graduation requirements currently in place. Those students entering the ninth grade in 2008 will be governed by the new graduation rule. (Local school districts may not offer all the courses or pathways listed and may have additional local graduation requirements such as Cherokee County's additional Social Studies requirement.)