Improving high school students’ environmental literacy, or their understanding of the relationship between human systems and environmental systems, is one strategy that may help prepare them for careers in growing industries. With this goal in mind, the Delaware Department of Education (DDOE) and Advance CTE partnered to embed environmental literacy into Delaware’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathways. The initiative, known as the Delaware Career and Technical Education Pathways Environmental Literacy Initiative (Delaware EL Initiative), was funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

As part of the EL initiative, the DDOE, Advance CTE, and a group of stakeholders including employers and students from across the state designed a set of environmental literacy (EL) competencies aligned with Delaware’s CTE pathways. In spring 2025, these EL competencies and associated resources for teachers were pilot tested in three pre-existing CTE pathways at two schools. MDRC partnered with Advance CTE and the DDOE to carry out an implementation study of the pilot test. This research resulted in several noteworthy findings and implications for states and districts seeking to embed EL content into their CTE pathways.