How should we determine which advanced courses will be part of the pathway?

All pathway courses (2 technical courses and 2 advanced courses) must be yearlong or the equivalent and should be aligned to the pathway sector content. Advanced courses that are part of the pathway should be skills-based and/or contextualized courses that deepen students’ exposure to the industry sector and also build college-level academic skills. Advanced course options include dual/concurrent enrollment, AP courses, Project Lead The Way, International Baccalaureate and articulated credit. 

For a list of courses that are considered “advanced” for the purposes of accountability reporting, see the District and School Accountability Reporting: List of Advanced Courses (downloads a Word doc).  While DESE does not prescribe which courses can “count” as a pathway course, we recommend that those being used to fulfill the college-level course requirement be academic, and not narrowly about the industry or a specific career.