About CORD
The Center for Occupational Research and Development (CORD) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to leading change in education.
Since 1979, we've been creating educational tools and innovative programs designed to empower faculty and prepare students for greater success in careers and higher education. We invite you to learn more about how CORD assists educators across the country and around the globe through:
- Curriculum design
- Customized teacher training
- Publications and resources
What We Offer
Our initiatives include workforce analysis, career pathways design, curriculum development, leader and practitioner training, program delivery, technical assistance, and research and evaluation.
Professional Development Workshops
CORD's broad range of professional development workshops can be customized to meet local, state, and regional need.
Career Pathways Technical Assistance
CORD partners with state and local teams to provide both broad and targeted support services for Career Pathways initiatives.
Curriculum Development
CORD has over thirty-five years of experience creating standards-based curriculum in mathematics, science, and technical fields.
National Career Pathways Network Conference
Join NCPN for sessions, workshops, tours, and exhibits supporting Career Pathways, CTE, and workforce and economic development.
Resources
CORD offers a broad range of textbooks, leadership books, whitepapers, and online publications. Career Pathways Resources • Contextual Teaching Materials
International Projects
CORD is an acknowledged expert and trusted partner for educational systems across the globe and has assisted practitioners in countries such as Brazil, Dominican Republic, Chile, Mexico, Malaysia, Philippines, and Turkey.
Project Spotlight
CORD provides innovative programs that prepare individuals for greater success in careers and higher education. CORD’s work has been broad in scope, yet focused on three core tenets: contextual teaching, seamless transitions from secondary to postsecondary education, and training solutions to help America’s technicians remain globally competitive.
Preparing Technicians for the Future of Work
Technology advances are changing industries at an unprecedented pace, demanding an ever expanding array of knowledge, skills, and abilities from technicians in the STEM disciplines. In recognition of the challenges that lie just ahead, CORD is leading the NSF project Preparing Technicians for the Future of Work. The project is launching regional activities in which industry partners, two-year colleges, and ATE community leaders will work together in transforming technician education at the associate degree level. Learn how this CORD-led NSF ATE initiative is preparing technicians for the workplace of tomorrow.
Necessary Skills Now
The Necessary Skills Now (NSN) project, funded by the National Science Foundation’s Advanced Technological Education program (DUE #1501990), has supported integrated instruction around employability skills in two disciplines—Cybersecurity and Advanced Manufacturing. Community college faculty members were paired with employers to develop ten project-based learning modules embedding employability skills and technical course content within industry scenarios. To guide their work, the teams used a six-step process for creating integrated curriculum developed by CORD during the U.S. Department of Education-supported STEM Transitions project. Learn more.