CURRICULUM AND ASSESSMENTS
STRANDS AND STANDARDS
CTE teacher instruction should be based on Utah CTE course strands and standards. Standards for each course are organized by a career cluster on the USBE CTE website.
In CTE courses where concurrent enrollment is offered, teachers incorporate both the strands and standards provided by the state and curriculum required by the university.
To help teachers know what concepts should be focused on during the course, skills test points by strand are listed at the bottom of each course strands and standards document.
PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES/SKILLS
CTE strands and standards include “performance objectives.” Performance Objectives must be passed with 80% or better throughout the course in order for a student to obtain a Skills Certificate. Performance objectives vary by course and are found in the strands and standards. Scroll through the strands and standards document to locate your performance objectives. These objectives are listed in the Encore Gradebook and should be tied to any assessment related to each specific objective.
CTE SKILLS CERTIFICATIONS
To acquire a CTE Skills Certification, students must pass both the Online Skills Test at the end of the course AND the Performance Objective Assessments given throughout the course.
Most CTE courses have an associated USBE Skills Certification Test. CTE teachers are required to administer the skills test either at the end of each semester for semester courses or at the end of the year for year-long courses.
CTE teachers will need to have an account with YouScience Brightpath to administer the tests. For instructions on how to set up an account and administer the tests, see the table below and use active links for specific instructions.
Students will need to login to YouScience Brightpath to take the tests.
Following administration of the test, various reports can be generated to evaluate the test results.
Use the data! The results of the tests can be broken down by standard/strand and used to improve instruction for coming years.
ACADEMIC GRADES AND STATEWIDE ASSESSMENTS
Utah law states that an “LEA may not provide a nonacademic reward to a student for a student's participation in or performance on a statewide assessment.” However, Utah law does “allow an educator to provide an academic incentive for a student's performance on a statewide assessment in accordance with Subsections 53E-4- 303(4)(b), 304(3), and 305(4).” Utah law states that “a teacher may use a student's score…to improve the student's academic grade for or demonstrate the student's competency within a relevant course.”
Do not provide nonacademic rewards for students who take or pass a state test.
The law allows teachers to provide an “academic incentive” for students who take a state test.
The “academic incentive" is limited to improving a student's academic grade.
R277-404, Requirements for Assessments of Student Achievement
Opting Out of State Skills Certification Tests
Parents can also opt students out of a statewide assessment. Your school should have a list of students who have opted out of a CTE Skills Certification test. For your information, the following Website contains a link to the Parent Exclusion from State Assessments form. https://www.schools.utah.gov/assessment/
SKILLS AND INDUSTRY TESTING RESOURCES
The resources listed in the table below will help you administer CTE Skills Exams and report Third-Party Industry Certification Exam results through the YouScience Brightpath Website.
Training documents can all be found through the Help tab on the YouScience Brightpath landing page, or you can click on individual topics below.
LINKS AND TIPS | |
Before proctoring any exam, please read the proctor agreement found through this link. All test proctors, whether a teacher or other individual, need to be aware of and strictly abide by the terms of the agreement. We want you and the certification candidates/students to have the best experience possible. | |
New Users: You should have received an email invitation to Sign Up in YouScience. Check with your school CTE Coordinator to make sure they have sent that invitation to your school email if you have not received one. Visit SignIn.YouScience.com to login or sign up. First time access requires you to Create an Account which will ask you for your school email and a password of your choice. Once you have created your account, you will use that username and password to login to the Brightpath landing page. | |
This link takes you to the Youscience Help page on how to create an Exam Code and walks you through the process step-by-step. If you would like a quick one page guide on how to create an exam code and proctor a test, click on the following link. Exam Instructions TIP: Create a system for naming exams to help distinguish between years, semesters, and periods. | |
Youscience provides a few options for giving students accommodations during skills testing. This link takes you to the Youscience Help page where it explains what accommodations are available and who to contact to set up a student for an accommodation. TIP: Please notice that pausing an exam is not an available accommodation. | |
This link takes you to the Youscience Help page on how to Proctor an Exam and walks you through the process step-by-step. If you would like a quick one page guide on how to create an exam code and proctor a test, click on the following link. Exam Instructions TIP: The students cannot start the exam until you authorize it. | |
This link takes you to the Youscience Help page on how to mark the performance requirements as complete at an 80% level of competency. Please refer to the Performance Objectives/Skills section above for clarification on whether to mark a student as complete or not. TIP: Keep track of student performance objects throughout the semester. An easy way to know if your students have met the performance requirements is to tie the objectives in Encore to your assessments. | |
This link takes you to the Youscience Help page on how to record third-party Industry Exam scores and walks you through the process step-by-step. | |
This link takes students to the Youscience Help page which gives them instructions on how to login to Youscience and how to take an Exam. However, students in our district should be able to use the Clever link at the bottom of the login page and use their normal Clever login. Some students may already have been using a login username or password which they have used to take the Aptitude and Career Discovery tests. Either way of logging in will work to give them access to their account. The following link is a pdf with the student login and exam taking instruction. Student Exam Instructions TIP: Students should access the Preview Exam Navigation practice exam before taking their first official certification exam. This will help them understand how to navigate the different types of exam questions. | |
If a student met or exceeded the passing percentage (cut score), and met the performance objectives given throughout the course with 80% or better, they can download their earned certificate by clicking Certificate in their Results and Exam History screen. Instructors can download and then print student certificates in bulk by following the link to the left. | |
Access your exam reports from the Insights and Analytics tile. | |
COURSE RESOURCES
Always refer to this USBE Website for current strands and standards
Canvas Commons
Many teachers have shared course content ranging from entire courses to individual assignments and assessments within Canvas.
Lesson plans, activities, etc.
Always refer to USBE for current strands and standards, not UEN.
USBE has email subscriptions for each content area. These are helpful for updates, questions, and guidance. lists.uen.org