2026 CACTE CareerTech Summit

In today’s rapidly evolving environment, advocacy for career and technical education is more important than ever—it is an essential responsibility for educators, administrators and leaders in every area of CTE. This session will help you respond to current policy issues by equipping you with practical strategies to champion your programs at the local, state and national levels. Learn how to identify and reach critical audiences, utilize key communication strategies, tell your CTE story, leverage data and partnerships, and use national association resources to elevate your voice and impact. Attendees will leave with clear, actionable steps to integrate advocacy into their daily roles and a renewed understanding that advancing CTE requires the support of our entire community!

Through examination of the Alternative Cooperative Education (ACE) program in Colorado, this presentation will look at how CTE career development programs designed for special populations can serve as high-impact interventions within MTSS. Creating CTE pathways that include academic, behavioral, and social-emotional supports, schools can address disengagement, improve persistence, and reduce dropout rates among historically underserved learners.
Attendees will examine strategies, implementation, and data that show CTE not as an alternative track, but as an effective intervention for dropout prevention.