CTAE/Electives
CTAE Course Descriptions
Introduction to Business & Technology
Course Description: Introduction to Business and Technology is the foundational course for Business and Technology, Entrepreneurship, and Human Resources Management pathways. Topics taught in this course include employability skill, technology, leadership management, marketing concepts, entrepreneurial qualities, business communications, money and risk management skills, the role of human resources in business, and basic word processing skills. IBT is the first course in the Entrepreneurship pathway.
Legal Environment of Business
Course Description: Legal Environment of Business addresses statutes and regulations affecting businesses, families, and individuals. Students will get an overview of business law while concentrating on the legal aspects of business ownership and management. Legal issues addressed include court procedures, contracts, torts, consumer law, employment law, environmental law, international law, ethics, and the role of the government in business. Legal Environment of Business is the second course in the Entrepreneurship pathway.
Entrepreneurship
Course Description: Entrepreneurship focuses on recognizing a business opportunity, starting a business, operating and maintaining a business. Integration of accounting, finance, marketing, business management, legal and economic environments will be developed throughout projects in this course. Working to develop a business plan that includes structuring the organization, financing the organization, and managing information, operations, marketing, and human resources will be a focus in the course. Entrepreneurship is the third course in the Entrepreneurship pathway. After mastery of the standards in this course, students should be prepared to take the end of pathway assessment in this career area.
Introduction to Career Competencies
Course Description: In this course students acquire employability skills that ease their transition to the workforce. Specific skills within the course provide additional opportunities for students to sharpen academic and employability skills, financial literacy, multiple forms of communication strategies, mastery of technology and specific-related tools, workplace safety, and self-advocacy approaches. ICC is the first course in the Workforce Ready pathway.
Career Competencies
Course Description: This course builds on the Introduction to Career Competencies course. In this course students acquire employability skills that ease their transition to the workforce. Specific skills within the course provide additional opportunities for students to sharpen academic and employability skills, financial literacy, multiple forms of communication strategies, mastery of technology and specific-related tools, workplace safety, and self-advocacy approaches. Career Competencies is the second course in the Workforce Ready pathway.
Advanced Career Competencies
Course Description: Specific skills within the course provide additional opportunities for students to sharpen academic and employability skills, financial literacy, multiple forms of communication strategies, leadership skills, mastery of technology and specific-related tools, workplace safety, and self-advocacy approaches. Advanced Career Competencies is the final course in the Workforce Ready pathway.
Financial Literacy
Course Description: This course is specifically designed to help students learn the importance of the financial world, including planning and managing money wisely. Areas of study taught through application in personal finance include sources of income, budgeting, banking, consumer credit, credit laws and rights, personal bankruptcy, insurance, spending, taxes, investment strategies, savings accounts, mutual funds and the stock market, buying a vehicle, and living independently. Financial Literacy is the second course in the Business Accounting and Financial Services pathways in the Finance Cluster. Students enrolled in this course should have successfully completed Introduction to Business and Technology.
Banking, Investing, and Insurance
Course Description: In this course, students explore the main areas of financial services, including banking, investing, and insurance. Topics include banking concepts, basics of investing in both the US and international markets, insurance and risk management, and ethics and fraud in the banking industry. Banking, Investing, and Insurance is the final course in the Financial Services pathway in the Finance Cluster. Students enrolled in this course should have successfully completed Introduction to Business and Technology and Financial Literacy. After mastery of the standards in this course, students should be prepared to earn an industry-recognized credential in this career area.
Early Childhood Education I
Course Description: The Early Childhood Education I course is the foundational course under the Early Childhood Care & Education pathway and prepares the student for employment in early childhood education and services. The course addresses the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors associated with supporting and promoting optimal growth and development of infants and children. This is a stand alone course for now. It does not lead to a pathway as the other two courses have not been created yet.
Early Childhood Education II
Course Description: Early Childhood Education II is the second course in the Early Childhood Care and Education pathway and further prepares the student for employment in early childhood care and education services. The course provides a history of education, licensing and accreditation requirements, and foundations of basic observation practices and applications. Early childhood care, education, and development issues are also addressed and include health, safety, and nutrition education; certification in CPR/First Aid/Fire Safety; information about child abuse and neglect; symptoms and prevention of major childhood illnesses and diseases; and prevention and control of communicable illnesses.
Early Childhood Education III
Course Description: Early Childhood Education III is the third course in the Early Childhood Care and Education pathway and one option for program completers who may not have the opportunity of participating in the Early Childhood Education Internship. The course provides in-depth study of early brain development and its implications for early learning, appropriate technology integration, and developmentally appropriate parenting and child guidance trends. Also addressed are collaborative parent/teacher/child relationships and guidance, child directed play, the changing dynamics of family culture and diversity, the causes and effects of stress on young children, and infant nutrition.
Introduction to Law, Public Safety, Corrections, and Security
Course Description: Introduction to Law, Public Safety, Corrections, and Security (LPSCS) is the pre-requisite for all other courses within the Career Cluster. This course provides students with career-focused educational opportunities in various LPSCS fields. It examines the basic concepts of law related to citizens’ rights and the responsibilities, and students will receive instruction in critical skill areas including: communicating with diverse groups, conflict resolution, ethics, CERT (Citizens Emergency Response Training, or similar program), basic firefighting, report writing, terrorism, civil and criminal law. Career planning and employability skills will be emphasized.
Criminal Justice Essentials
Course Description: Criminal Justice Essentials provides an overview of the criminal justice system. Starting with historical perspectives of the origin of the system, the course reviews the overall structure. Students will become immersed in criminal and constitutional law and will review basic law enforcement skills. The prerequisite for this course is Introduction to Law, Public Safety, Corrections and Security.
Work Based Learning
Work-Based Learning placements represent the pinnacle of the Career-Related Education experience. To qualify for a WBL placement, a student must be age 16, at least a 10th grader, and have reliable transportation. Students must also have a defined Career Pathway in order to participate in a Word-Based Learning placement. This is especially important for successful completion of a student's pathway in that their job placement is directly related to the curriculum of the pathway classes they have completed or in which they are concurrently enrolled. These courses consist of job site work hours, employability skills modules, supervisory visits by the WBL teacher, and supervision evaluations of the student. The student will also be required to get necessary permissions signed, turn in evidence of work, and meet with the WBL teacher on a regular basis. Students are encouraged to have at least one introductory CTAE course before taking a WBL course in order to establish a clear pathway aligned with the job placement.
ELECTIVE COURSE DESCRIPTION
Tools for College
In this web-based elective course worth .5 Carnegie Units, students will access modules from Job Ready Career Solutions. Module topics include: work habits, workplace readiness, communication skills, job searches, and writing effective resumes.
Find Your Grind
In this web-based elective course, students will be led through a series of activities to help them “figure out who they are and where they want to go.” Career planning is accomplished through a lifestyle-first approach. FYG addresses students’ uncertainty in planning their futures by focusing them on developing greater self-efficacy and transferable skills, identifying lifestyles and opportunities, and communicating the next steps before careers, colleges, and other costly commitments. Not every career pathway will satisfy a student’s lifestyle needs, but personalized FYG will inspire every student – the core ethos of FYG is “to dare to create the life you’ve always dreamed of.” The FYG series is sequential.
*Computer science courses are offered through GA Virtual on the student's campus.