Our objective is to empower students with marketable academic and technical skills needed to strengthen the social and economic foundation of Houston and beyond.

Career and Technology Education, sometimes referred to as CATE or CTE, is an elective program that provides high school learners with training in a particular career. The careers require varying levels of education, with some students gaining enough training to enter the workforce immediately following high school, while others may require a technical, two year or four-year college degree.
CATE offers students an opportunity to learn skills they may use in high school, in a career after graduation, and /or as a financial means to help pursue higher education. In addition, Career and Technology Education is designed to provide students the opportunity to make informed occupational choices, determine educational needs and options, develop employability traits, and acquire marketable skills.

In a broad sense, Career and technical education is about helping students, workers and lifelong learners of all ages fulfill their working potential. First and foremost it’s about high school and college education that provides students with:
• Academic subject matter taught with relevance to the real world, often called contextual learning.
• Employability skills, from job-related skills to workplace ethics.
• Education pathways that help students explore interests and careers in the process of progressing through school.
• Career and technical education prepares both youth and adults for a wide range of careers. These careers may require varying levels of education – from high school and postsecondary certificates to two- and four-year college degrees. Career and technical education is offered in middle school, high schools, two-year community and technical colleges and other postsecondary schools.


The areas of concentration most frequently offered by vocational education programs focus on business, trade and industry, health, agriculture, family and consumer sciences, marketing, and technology.
The goals of the programs are to promote career awareness, career exploration, and work-site learning. Programs encourage students to take rigorous academic and technical courses and to develop flexible, individualized plans of study for high school students.

Houston Independent School District Career and Technology Education Department supports the state premise:
• that a rigorous academic foundation contributes to success in school and in life
• that all students should be provided equal opportunities to succeed, and
• that career and technology education should complement and enhance academic preparation by enabling students to apply academic principles and technology skills to a variety of community and career situations

What is a Career Pathway?
A Career Pathway is a coherent, articulated sequence of rigorous academic and career courses, commencing in the ninth grade and leading to an associate degree, and/or a baccalaureate degree and beyond.

A Career Pathway is developed, implemented, and maintained in partnership among secondary and post-secondary education, business, and employers. Career Pathways are available to all students and are designed to lead to rewarding careers.

In high school, the CATE program is organized into a set of pathways that are designed to prepare students for careers and postsecondary education and training. Each pathway comprises a series of three related classes. Pathways are developed base on guidance from TEA to prepare students, for jobs in specific career fields.

Career Pathways offered at Austin include:
    • Agricultural Science and Technology
    • Business/Office Education
    • Family and Consumer Science (Home Economics)
    • Industrial Technology
    • Marketing Education
    • Trade and Industrial Education
         o Construction Trade
         o Computer Aided Drafting
         o Computer Maintenance