H I G H - Q U A L I T Y P A T H W A Y S
STRENGTHENING THE ALIGNMENT AND RIGOR OF CAREER PATHWAYS
HIGHLIGHTS
Partner Institutions Receive GIVE Grants
Congratulations to both Nashville State Community College and TCAT Nashville for receiving a GIVE (Governor's Investment in Vocational Education) Grant from the state! Both grants are collaborative partnerships between a postsecondary institution, MNPS, employers, and the Chamber.
Nashville State's $2 million grant will create an opportunity for students at Maplewood and Pearl-Cohn high schools to earn a Central Sterile Processing certificate and launch healthcare careers through dual enrollment courses. Interested students can then apply credits from that program toward an A.A.S. in Surgical Technology.
TCAT Nashville will use the $1.8 million in funding to implement dual enrollment programs in Industrial Electricity and Build Construction Technology at both McGavock High School and Glencliff High School.
MTSU Cybersecurity Management Degrees
In the spring semester of 2024, MTSU started offering a Bachelor's of Science in Cybersecurity Management, a high-wage, high-skill, and high-demand field in Middle Tennessee. This summer, they also started offering a master's degree in cybersecurity management. Project team member Nita Brooks was featured in an article and video on MTSU's website discussing the new programs - click below to read more!
Summer Youth Employment Resource
Members of the New Skills Ready Nashville team contributed to a resource developed by AdvanceCTE on summer youth employment programs. The resource spotlights best practices for creating explicit links between career pathways and summer youth employment programs by state agencies, intermediaries, and local school districts.
Family Engagement Pilots Spotlighted
Advance CTE highlighted the work of New Skills Ready Nashville in a publication on family engagement in career pathways. The publication highlighted two 2022-23 pilot projects:
Work-Based Learning Family Career Launch: this pilot will identify students with aptitude and interest in high-wage, high-demand career sectors based on their YouScience assessment. Students and parents will participate in lunch and learns and workshops to learn more about work-based learning opportunities in these sectors.
You Choose/Tú Escoges: this project will provide a series of multilingual family workshops on the postsecondary transition process. Information will be provided in multiple languages and dinner and child care will also be offered as part of this workshop series offered by community partners. Partner organizations will provide ongoing support to families after the workshop series concludes.
Students Learn from Healthcare Mentors
An innovative new partnership between Metro Nashville Public Schools and Vanderbilt University Medical Center links high school students with mentors to explore health careers. The partnership with Pearl-Cohn High School is partially supported through the Healthcare Futures pilot project from New Skills Ready in the 2022-2023 school year.
Five Pathways Certified in 2021-2022
We had five pathways undergo a rigorous, voluntary certification process in the 2021-2022 school year. Each pathway was certified as a Tennessee Pathway, which includes evidence of high-quality advising, alignment to labor market data, and links to postsecondary programs.
Our certified pathways are:
Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing Systems at John Overton
STEM Engineering at John Overton
Automotive Maintenance and Light Repair at Maplewood
Therapeutic Services at Pearl-Cohn
Criminal Justice and Corrections Services at Whites Creek
HIGH-WAGE, HIGH-DEMAND SECTORS FOR NASHVILLE
At the outset of New Skills Ready, our team conducted labor market analysis to identify local high-wage, high-demand sectors. Our pathways work for New Skills Ready is focused on expanding access to and success in pathways in these sectors across our educational partners in K-12 and postsecondary.
High wage: median salary above $52,320 for the Northern Middle TN workforce region or above $54,840 for Davidson County
High-skill: requires some formal training after high school (apprenticeship, certificate, degree, etc.)
High-demand: meets one or more of the following criteria
Positive growth rate in Northern Middle TN region;
Individual occupations have positive growth rates;
Ratio of program completers to the number of annual average openings for the occupation is no more than 1.5;
Average annual number of openings is equal to or greater than the average number of openings for all regional employment.
Advanced Manufacturing
Information Technology (IT)
