Illinois currently operates two parallel programs of study models: the State of Illinois Model Programs of Study, led by the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) for secondary-to-postsecondary career pathways, and the CTE Model Programs of Study, led by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) for secondary Career and Technical Education programs. While the programs of study overlap, they are not intentionally coordinated, resulting in some statewide confusion. To better support students and educators, there is a critical need for a cohesive framework that integrates both systems while aligning with labor market demands.
Our Role
EdSystems is serving as the project manager, design lead, and technical partner. Working closely with ICCB and ISBE, EdSystems is coordinating the process and ensuring the resulting framework reflects policy requirements, practitioner input, and workforce priorities. The integrated framework will align secondary CTE course sequences, early college and dual credit opportunities, and postsecondary programs with industry needs and workforce demand.
Initial work, which launched in school year 2025–26, is focusing on three programs of study: education, information technology, and healthcare, serving as models for future programs of study sectors. Through structured crosswalks, design sessions, and stakeholder engagements, the project will identify areas of alignment and misalignment between the existing frameworks and produce a unified model that improves coherence across systems and strengthens connections to labor market outcomes. The resulting framework will support consistent implementation across high schools, community colleges, and postsecondary partners while reinforcing Illinois’s broader college and career readiness goals.
Through this role, EdSystems will help Illinois move from parallel systems to a unified, statewide approach to programs of study that improves clarity, equity, and student transitions from high school to postsecondary education and careers.
