(a)

(1) The Department of Career Education shall work in collaboration with the Department of Education and the Department of Higher Education to develop college and career readiness standards for career and technical education courses.

(2) College and career readiness standards shall address the importance of rigorous academic standards and the role rigorous academic standards have in higher education.

(b) The college and career readiness standards for career and technical education courses shall incorporate current frameworks that promote sustainability of career and technical education programs of study that include:

(1) Legislation, local resources, and administrative policies that promote career and technical education development and implementation within a school district;

(2) Partnerships with educators, businesses, and other community stakeholders that support career and technical education design, implementation, and maintenance;

(3) Professional development opportunities for administrators and teachers who foster career and technical education, including design, implementation, and maintenance;

(4) Accountability and evaluation systems and strategies that gather quantitative and qualitative data on both career and technical education components and student outcomes to determine the effectiveness of each program of study;

(5) Clear content standards that:

(A) Define what a student is expected to know and what the student should be able to do to achieve success in college or in a career; and

(B) Align and integrate curriculum and instruction;

(6)

(A) Sequences of secondary and postsecondary career and technical education courses that help students transition to postsecondary education without requiring duplicate classes or remedial education.

(B) The Department of Career Education, in collaboration with the Department of Education and the Department of Higher Education, shall establish a common course numbering system that incorporates career and technical education courses at both the secondary and postsecondary level;

(7) Formal credit transfer agreements between secondary schools and postsecondary institutions of higher education;

(8) Comprehensive guidance counseling and academic advisory systems developed by the Department of Career Education in collaboration with the Department of Education and the Department of Higher Education that:

(A) Enable students to make informed decisions about which program of study to pursue;

(B) Are based on state or local guidance and counseling standards, for example, the National Career Development Guidelines;

(C) Ensure that guidance counselors and academic advisors have current information about career and technical education programs of study;

(D) Offer information and tools to help students learn about postsecondary education and career options, including prerequisites that may be required;

(E) Provide resources for students to identify career interests and aptitudes and to select an appropriate career and technical education program of study based on the results;

(F) Provide information for parents, including workshops on college financial aid and applications, preparing students for college and college applications, and preparing students for careers; and

(G) Provide web-based resources and tools for obtaining student financial assistance;

(9) Innovative and creative instructional approaches that enable teachers to integrate academic, career, and technical instruction; and

(10) Valid and reliable technical skills assessments.