Michael Herrera

Michael Herrera

Location: perkasie pennsylvania

About me

I lead education systems that connect learning to real careers by aligning education, industry, and policy with workforce demand. As Executive Director of Upper Bucks County Technical School and ACTE Region I Vice President and Board Member, I work at the intersection of career-connected learning, workforce alignment, and education innovation to strengthen talent pipelines and expand opportunity.

 

My work spans local implementation and national governance, ensuring policy, practice, and outcomes remain aligned.

 

My leadership focuses on: – Designing career-connected education systems aligned to regional and national labor market needs – Expanding access to industry-recognized credentials and postsecondary pathways – Advancing workforce-aligned curriculum grounded in Universal Design for Learning – Building partnerships with employers, higher education, and policymakers to scale impact.

 

I have testified before legislative bodies, chaired regional and national convenings, and led initiatives recognized as best practices for preparing learners—across backgrounds—for meaningful careers and long-term economic mobility.

 

My goal is simple: ensuring every learner graduates with purpose, opportunity, and a clear connection between education and the world of work.

Activity

We utilize NOCTI DATA to ensure our students are continually improving.
Our OAC"s meet annually to discuss the curriculum and recommend equipment purchases.
We utilize outside organizations such as the PBA, NATEF, and other accreditation agencies.
Focus on industry-recognized credentials.

It is important to post our standards on the website and review them with current and prospective students and parents.  In addition, we should share the progression of tasks with students and parents after each marking period.

Our school not only prepares students for real-world work scenarios but provides them to students while in school.  A number of our programs are production programs where students have a student-run business.  Examples include Small Engines, Culinary, Baking, and Vet Assisting.  All programs mirror the workplace.  Student portfolios capture employability, technical, and academic growth and achievement.  

 

Moving forward, I will ensure all students can have a production or student-run work opportunity.  The supervised AG Experience model allows students the opportunity to achieve this on an individual level. 

Employability is a critical 21st-century skill that can be modeled and developed in each student. Student management systems in a CTE setting should mirror the workplace under the real of employability skills. Programs such as YouScience can help students better understand themselves and how they operate in a team setting. 

Employability can be taught just like technical and academic skills.  Rubrics are needed to help students see improvement. We must formalize our process and spend more time with our students and teachers, stressing this critical area's importance, especially since it's worth forty percent of a student's grade. 

This course has renewed my interest in academic integration, which I've strayed from since completing a multi-year Literacy Action Plan at another school. Academic integration is still critical in CTE.   

I particularly liked the following quote. "Bottoms (2006) stresses the importance of adding academic value in career major areas through the integration of academics with technical content (academic integration), professional development of staff, and motivating students to read and write within their content areas so that they can master technical content.  

Moving forward, I will prioritize academic integration back into my learning guides and lesson plans.  

CTE High-quality Framework: Standards-aligned and Integrated Curriculum --> Industry-Validated Technical Standards

  1. We must start with what we want our students to know or do at the end of this course and then at the end of this program.
  2. CTE is technical, employability, and academic skills. In the past, I've focused on our state's Programs of Study through a NOCTI continuous improvement plan without questioning what's being taught. Here is a link to my article Perkins_V_and_Continuous_Improvement.pdf (nocti.org)
  3. We must remember the importance of academic and employability skills in our program areas. Our portfolio requirement will help us improve in these areas. 
  4. My
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