CTE · workplace texts · problem solving
Disciplinary Literacy for Career Technical Education
A two-part professional-learning page for career technical educators on technical manuals, workplace documents, error analysis, interview language, vocabulary, and applied problem solving.
The CTE course has two videos. Keep the Ohio companion open across both: Part 1 frames the diversity of CTE literacy demands; Part 2 focuses on classroom strategies and adaptable tools.
Playable video and right-side resources
Support students across technical and professional texts.
The first video explains why CTE literacy varies across pathways. The second video shows how multiple documents, error analysis, discussion, sentence stems, and vocabulary routines can support applied learning.
Understanding Career Technical Education Literacy
Ohio Literacy Academy on Demand videoPart 1 frames CTE literacy through the Simple View of Reading and the wide range of CTE pathways. Students need to read technical and professional texts such as manuals, regulations, blueprints, safety guidelines, job-search documents, portfolios, correspondence, and field-specific data.
- CTE literacy varies by pathway, but the common thread is authentic problem solving and communication.
- Professional reading includes both technical texts and workplace documents such as resumes, portfolios, certifications, and client correspondence.
- Employers value problem solving, analytic and quantitative skills, communication, initiative, and technical knowledge.
Department reflection
- Which technical texts do students need to read accurately in your pathway?
- Where would a text-structure or vocabulary routine reduce confusion?
CTE Literacy in Practice
Ohio Literacy Academy on Demand videoPart 2 extends CTE literacy into technical explanation, error analysis, applied vocabulary, and communication in workplace-like tasks.
- Students need language for explaining technical decisions, comparing options, and justifying recommendations.
- Applied vocabulary work should connect terms to tools, materials, procedures, and evidence.
Department reflection
- Which routine best supports a current CTE task?
- How can students explain their technical reasoning more precisely?
Suggested use
Turn the video into one concrete classroom move.
Choose one technical text, task, or procedure and pair it with the resource that helps students read, explain, or revise their thinking.
Identify the reading, vocabulary, or explanation challenge in the task.
Open the aligned resource while watching or planning the lesson.
Ask students to explain how the routine improved their technical reasoning.
Source credit: Ohio Literacy Academy / ReadOhio / Ohio Department of Education and Workforce. This page links to public resource copies hosted at assets.joshualawrence.com and preserves source credit for the original Ohio Literacy Academy materials. Resource links are placed next to the relevant video so a content-area teacher can watch, reflect, and open the most useful tools from one place.