Career and Technical Education (CTE) in Iowa includes organized educational programs offering a sequence of courses that are directly related to the preparation of individuals for employment in current or emerging occupations. These programs include competency-based applied learning, which contributes to an individual’s academic knowledge, higher-order reasoning and problem-solving skills, work attitudes, general employability skills, and occupational-specific skills.

At the secondary level, CTE programs are organized within six broad service areas. As defined in Iowa Code section 256.11, subsection 5, paragraph “h”: The service areas include agriculture, food, and natural resources; arts, communications, and information systems; applied sciences, technology, engineering, and manufacturing, including transportation, distribution, logistics, architecture, and construction; health sciences; human services; and business, finance, marketing, and management. Decorah High School offers four program areas: Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources; Applied Sciences; Technology, Engineering, and Manufacturing; Human Services; and Business, Finance, Marketing, and Management.

Programs within these service areas are further aligned with the National Career Clusters™ Framework. CTE programs at the postsecondary (community college) level are also organized by the Career Clusters™ framework.

CTE Curriculum

Detailed curriculum information by grade level is provided below. Click on each section to view the associated curriculum PDFs.