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Booker T. Washington, Swiss Apprenticeships, and the Future of Equitable CTE By Dr. Christopher R. Nesmith When I earned my doctorate from Washington State University, I wasn’t just joining a proud Cougar tradition—I was entering the legacy of one of America’s original land-grant institutions. WSU, like other land-grant schools founded under the Morrill Act of 1862, was established on a revolutionary premise: that higher education could serve both academic and applied learnin

Across the country, communities are rethinking what it means to prepare students for the future. The conversation is shifting from graduation requirements to community readiness, from compliance to collaboration, and from isolated programs to aligned systems. Few districts model that shift better than Carson City Schools  in Nevada. During this fall’s AASA Redefining Ready Cohort   visit, school leaders from across the nation had the opportunity to see what happens when caree

Four years ago, I walked into a rural, underperforming district ranked in the bottom tier of our state for post-secndary achievement....

When we launched our first youth apprenticeship, we expected a familiar narrative: employers wanting high school students to sweep...

What If This Were the System? What if students didn’t have to choose between college readiness and career relevance?What if real work...

In 2016, while touring Germany’s renowned technical and vocational education system (TVET), our delegation came face to face with a...

If you’re a school leader or educator championing pre-apprenticeship programs, let me first say: I see you. You’re working hard to...

In education, trust is often treated like a soft skill—something that lives in the realm of personalities, relationships, and good...

This past week, Elma School District welcomed members of AASA’s Redefining Ready!  cohort for a three-day site visit. These are not your...

In my work across school districts and apprenticeship systems, I’ve learned something simple but often overlooked: The people who design...

My entire career, I’ve found myself in the most unlikely of places. In 2008, we launched a high school rugby team in Shelton,...

At Turbare Collaborative, we believe the most powerful education systems are not the ones that sort and silo students, but those that...

We’re living in the aftermath of a hard truth: the workforce isn’t just evolving—it’s outpacing the systems meant to prepare people for...

“We met once a quarter, shared some updates, and left with donuts. No one knew what happened after.” That’s how one employer described...

“We are no longer preparing students for jobs—we're preparing them for systems. And those systems are broken.” That line opens my book...