Oregon students who took a career and technical education course had a graduation rate of 85.4% in the 2015-16 school year. CTE graduation rates were about 11% higher than the statewide average for all students, according to data from the Oregon Department of Education, which this year included CTE data for the first time.

A school in New Hampshire, where academics support career and technical courses, has adopted a competency-based system in which students work at their own pace. In this commentary, principal Karen Hannigan Machado shares the pros and cons of the approach.

A dual-credit Indiana high school is helping students, including English-language learners and refugees, succeed in school and navigate the American college system. Along with the option of earning an associate degree or up to 60 college credits, the high-schoolers receive college counseling and tutoring and are taught by educators with college teaching experience.

Valencia College's campus in Osceola, Fla., is recruiting high-school students for its Future Teachers Academy, which aims to train teachers who will remain in the county after graduation. The program, being funded in part by a local credit union, will start enrolling new students in the fall.

Terra State Community College, Northwest State Community College and the University of Toledo in Ohio have collaborated on a manufacturing and IT education program that includes grants for the unemployed or formerly incarcerated.

The Southern Virginia Center of Manufacturing Excellence, which offers a mechatronics program, has been asked by Siemens to offer a noncredit Level 3 training program. The center is asking two state universities to consider including mechatronics certification in their engineering degree programs.

Iowa this week launched a new online portal for job seekers to explore education and career options. The website is part of the state's campaign to ensure 70% of the workforce has some form of postsecondary education by the year 2025.

Supply-chain managers may be inadvertently disengaging workers and hurting their competitive advantage by not implementing proper workforce management tools, Malysa O'Connor writes. O'Connor offers four practical ways to boost engagement with the right technology that addresses employee needs.

Your cover letter shouldn't be about how badly you want a job, but should focus on the ways in which you can benefit the company, writes Arnie Fertig. Show how you've mastered the requirements listed in the job description and make sure your resume is tailored to back up your claims.

Amazon, DeepMind, Facebook, Google, IBM, Microsoft -- and now possibly Apple -- are part of a consortium studying how artificial intelligence could be used in education and other industries. A White House report released last year found that AI could have a major effect on education.

Help us create content for ACTE's CareerTech VISION 2017, taking place this Dec. 6-9 at the Gaylord Opryland Convention Center in Nashville, by submitting a presentation proposal. We're looking for a variety of formats, including lectures, hands-on labs, panels and interactive discussions. Submit proposals by Feb. 28!

ACTE's Student Trophy Design Contest is back! CAD and 3D modelling students are encouraged to enter our contest to design ACTE's 3D printed trophies for the 2017 awards. Learn more.