CURRICULUM AND ASSESSMENTS

STRANDS AND STANDARDS

  • CTE teacher instruction should be based on Utah CTE course strands and standards. Standards for each course are organized by a career cluster on the USBE CTE website.
  • In CTE courses where concurrent enrollment is offered, teacher incorporate both the strands and standards provided by the state and curriculum required by the university.
  • To help teachers know what concepts should be focused on during the course, skills test points by strand are listed at the bottom of each course strands and standards document. Example:

 

PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES/SKILLS

CTE strands and standards include “performance objectives.” Performance Objectives must be passed with 80% or better throughout the course in order for a student to obtain a Skills Certificate. Performance objectives vary by course but are found in the strands and standards. Scroll through the strands and standards document to locate your performance objectives. These objectives are listed in the Encore Gradebook and should be tied to any assessment related to each specific objective. Example:

Example Performance Objective

 

CTE SKILLS CERTIFICATIONS

To acquire a CTE Skills Certification, students must pass both the Online Skills Test at the end of the course AND the Performance Objective Assessments given throughout the course.

  • Most CTE courses have an associated Utah State Skills Certification Test. CTE teachers are required to administer the skills test either at the end of each semester for semester courses or at the end of the year for year-long courses.
  • CTE teachers will need to have an account with YouScience Precision Exams to administer the tests. For instructions on how to set up an account and administer the tests, see the table below and use active links for specific instructions.
  • Students will need to login to YouScience Precision Exams to take the tests.
  • Following administration of the test, fill out the Required Performance Skills Verification Document, print the document and test results, then give both to your school CTE Coordinator.
  • Use the data! The results of the tests can be broken down by standard/strand and used to improve instruction for coming years.

SKILLS AND INDUSTRY TESTING

The following resources will help you administer CTE Skills Exams and report Third-Party Industry Certification Exam results. Use the YouScience Precision Exams Website:  https://www.youscience.com/utah

Training and Administering Exams

Training documents can all be found through the training tab on the YouScience.com/utah webpage, or you can click on individual topics below.
Link:
Tips:

Proctor Registration

New teachers, make sure you register well in advance of proctoring exams. It may take a couple of weeks to receive your login information

Create an Exam Code

Create a system for naming exams that you will use from year to year, e.g., period, semester, year, etc.

Proctor an Exam

The students cannot start the exam until you authorize it.

Performance Requirements

Keep track of student performance objects throughout the semester. An easy way to know if your students have met the performance requirements is to tie the objectives in Encore to your assessments.

Recording Industry Exams

Use these instructions to gather student demographics from Encore and then input their test results to upload into Precision Exams.

Student Login: Process and Common Errors

The most common error is not using the student's full legal name.

Utah Pausing Policy (USBE)

This will require communication with YouScience support.

YouScience Proctor Agreement

All testing proctors must have a signed proctor agreement on file.

Printing Student Score Reports and Certificates

Remember to only print certificates for those students who pass both the online skills test and the performance objectives given throughout the course with 80% or better.

Student Guide

 

 

COURSE RESOURCES

  • Course Strands and Standards
    • Always refer to this USBE Website for current strands and standards
  • Canvas Commons
    • Many teachers have shared course content ranging from entire courses to individual assignments and assessments within Canvas.
  • Utah Education Network (UEN)
    • Lesson plans, activities, etc.
    • Always refer to USBE for current strands and standards, not UEN.
  • Listserves
    • USBE has email subscriptions for each content area. These are helpful for updates, questions, and guidance. lists.uen.org