Business and Marketing FAQ

This document is intended to provide answers to some frequently asked questions regarding business and marketing education. Additional questions or requests for clarification on any of this content should be directed to the Office of CTE.

Business and marketing education is the teaching of general business and professional skills to allow all students to be ready to be successful in the 21st century workplace. This includes, but is not limited to, instruction in the career clusters of business management and administration, finance, and marketing. Students who take business and marketing education courses are prepared for success in the world of work, higher education, and as adult consumers.

Business and marketing education teaches the skills and competencies that prepare all students for future success in college, careers, and civic activities regardless of their chosen profession. Business courses teach important skills such as personal management, career development, financial literacy, consumer skills, entrepreneurship, and professional communication skills. Nearly one in five college students major in business. In all jobs, there is a business function, and understanding that business function is essential to career mobility and flexibility.

Please view the standards page for business education.

Curriculum decisions are made at the local level. As such, there is no set curriculum for business and marketing education in New York. It is a local decision as to which resources and/or curricula are used to deliver various business education courses. Please contact the Office of CTE with any questions or for additional guidance.

Yes. Career and technical education is defined in section 100.1 of Commissioner’s Regulations as agricultural education, business and marketing education, computer science education, family and consumer science education, health sciences education, technical education, technology education, and trade/industrial education.

Yes. The professional association for business teachers in New York is the Business Teachers’ Association of New York State (BTANYS). There are several regional business teacher organizations as well.

Meeting Graduation Requirements

Certain career and technical education courses (referred to as interdisciplinary specialized courses) can, with local approval, be used to count for academic credit as long as the Regents requirement has been met. In the case of a math course, an interdisciplinary specialized course (such as accounting or business math) can only count as a third or fourth unit of math. Section 100.5(b)(7)(iv) of Commissioner's Regulations allows for this.

It is a local decision as to whether a course can count for math credit with the above regulations. In order to justify that a course meets “commencement-level standards as established by the commissioner”, you must be able to demonstrate that at least one unit’s worth of commencement-level standards in mathematics is met in the course.

There is a course code for business economics which can be used, at local discretion, to count for the high school half-unit of economics requirement. This is allowed by Part 100.5(a)(6)(ii) of Commissioner’s Regulations. In development of courses to be equivalent to the economics requirement for graduation, schools should utilize the New York State Social Studies Standards and the New York State Social Studies Framework in course development.

This would be a local decision made using the flexibility in Part 100.5(a)(6)(ii) of Commissioner’s Regulations. In development of courses to be equivalent to the participation in government requirement for graduation, schools should utilize the New York State Social Studies Standards and the New York State Social Studies Framework in course development.

What courses count towards a 5-unit sequence in business to replace the World Language requirement for an Advanced Regents Diploma?

New York no longer has specified course sequences that must be used to meet this requirement (100.5(b)(7)(v)(c )). Five units of any CTE course in any CTE area taught by a certified teacher in any of the CTE content areas (agriculture, business, computer science, FACS, health science, technology, and trade/technical education) may be used. Most business courses will count, but courses taught out of primary certification may not count. Please contact the Office of CTE with any school-specific questions.

No. Schools must provide opportunities to allow students to pursue a CTE program and/or sequence, but this may be done in any CTE area.

Can business and marketing education be used to meet requirements for the CDOS graduation pathway or credential?

Yes. Option 1 requires that 216 hours (equivalent to two high school units) of career and technical education is required to taught by a certified CTE teacher. At least 54 of those hours must be work-based learning. Since business and marketing education is a CTE content area, coursework may be used to meet the CTE instruction in Option 1. Business teachers may also oversee unregistered experiences used to meet work-based learning hours. If a business teacher holds the work-based learning extension, they may also oversee registered experiences. For Option 2, schools could consider using business and marketing education coursework to prepare students for one of the Option 2 assessments .

There are many opportunities for business education coursework to address requirements for the Seal of Civic Readiness , particularly in the area of civic participation. Local Seal of Civic Readiness committees should strongly consider the ability for business course work to meet requirements in order to maximize the number of students who earn the seal.

Certain career and technical education courses (referred to as interdisciplinary specialized courses) can, with local approval, be used to count for academic credit as long as the Regents requirement has been met. In the case of English, an interdisciplinary specialized course (such as Business Communications) can only count as a fourth unit of English. Section 100.5(b)(7)(iv) of Commissioner's Regulations allows for this.

It is a local decision as to whether a course can count for English credit with the above regulations. To justify that a course meets “commencement-level standards as established by the commissioner”, at least one unit's worth of commencement-level standards in English must be met in the course.

Teacher Certification

A business teacher may only coordinate the three registered work-based learning programs (CEIP, CO-OP, and GEWEP) if they hold a work-based learning extension. Certification in business education alone does not allow someone to coordinate registered work-based learning programs. Two courses must be taken to obtain the extension. They are offered through Oswego State, Buffalo State, CUNY City College of Technology, and Hofstra University, among other locations. Unregistered experiences such as job shadowing, school-based projects, community service/volunteering, and school-based enterprises do not need to be supervised by a certified coordinator, but it is recommended. More information can be found on the work-based learning home page.

No. They may be able to assist in understanding what some of the requirements mean, but the office does not review teacher certification applications or set policy for teacher certification. Teacher certification questions are best answered by the Office of Teaching Initiatives.

No. A business teacher may only teach business courses in the business content area (accounting/finance, business administration and management, marketing, and related business computer systems courses). A business teacher may not teach courses in family and consumer sciences, technology, or any other content area unless the teacher holds certification in those areas. For full details of what courses can be taught in certification by business teachers, please consult the SCED-certification crosswalk.

Yes. In 2017, section 100.4(c) of Commissioner’s Regulations were amended to allow greater flexibility as to who can teach the middle level CTE requirement. Prior to the 2018-19 school year, the middle level requirement had to be fulfilled by 40 weeks of technology education and 30 weeks of family and consumer sciences. Instruction may start as early as grade 5 provided that the CTE teacher has proper certification or extension to teach fifth and sixth grade students (100.4(c)(3)). Beginning with the 2018-19 school year 100.4(c)(xii) was added to allow for any CTE teacher (defined as agriculture, business, computer science, family and consumer sciences, health sciences, technology, and trade and technical subjects) to teach the 1 ¾ unit requirement. More information and resources on the new middle-level CTE framework can be found on NYSED’s Middle Level CTE page.

There are several colleges throughout New York State that offer teacher preparation programs in business and marketing education. Search the teacher certification requirements to determine which of the multiple pathways to teacher certification may be the best.

If a school district cannot find a certified business teacher to fill a position, it is able to hire a person for what is called a Transitional A certification. This is designed to assist individuals with business/industry experience to enter the teaching profession while working on requirements to become initially certified. The Transitional A certification lasts for three years at which point teachers must have met the requirements to apply for initial certification.

Please go to the teacher certification requirements lookup page and search for “Career and Technical Teacher” under area of interest. The subject will be “Business Management and Administration,” the grade will be adolescent 7-12, and a listing of multiple pathways that a prospective teacher can use in order to get Transitional A certification in CTE Business based on their educational background and experience will be provided.

CTE Program Approval

As of 2018, the processes for approving CTE programs and assessments have merged into one process. As such, there is no longer a state-approved list of technical assessments for business programs. Our office has compiled a list of exams that have been approved or are approvable for NYSED-approved CTE programs. If you are interested in using an exam that is not on the list, or have questions about any of the assessments, please contact the Office of CTE.

Cut scores for NOCTI are posted on the NYSED CTE home page. For other exams, please contact the appropriate vendor directly.

The cut score can be found at this link.

To get started, please check out the information located on the Office of CTE's program approval page. Additional information specific to business and marketing education may be found on the Business and Marketing Education Program Approval page. If you have any questions, please contact the Office of CTE.

Having a NYSED-approved CTE program allows students to obtain a technical endorsement on their diploma which recognizes achievement beyond attainment of a Regents diploma. A NYSED-approved CTE program also offers students a 4+1 pathway option graduation. Students who complete a NYSED-approved CTE program also help their school earn a higher score in the ESSA college, career, and civic readiness index.

A NYSED-approved CTE program needs to have at least one-half unit of Career and Financial Management content, and three units of business content arranged in a sequence that increases in specificity. It is recommended that students have the option to take up to five units so that the requirements for a Regents diploma with advanced designation (replacing the World Language requirement) can be met (100.5(7)(v)(c )).

New York does not have set sequences of courses that must be used for an approved CTE program of study. Schools are allowed to customize their programs as long as there are no fewer than three content units in business (excluding Career and Financial Management). A program should contain no fewer than two units of courses clearly focused in the appropriate content area (example: a marketing program needs to have at least two units of marketing). Some suggested (non-regulatory) guidance can be found on the business and marketing education program approval page. Please contact the Office of CTE with specific questions.

There are no specific parameters as to how many hours that would count as that is decided by the school. For NYSED-approved programs, our office highly recommends that students complete at least 54 hours of work-based learning experiences throughout their time enrolled. The Work-Based Learning Manual recommends that all unregistered WBL experiences, such as job shadowing, community service/volunteering, industry-based projects, career-focused research project, school-based enterprise, entrepreneurship, and community-based work program, include the following components:

• Certified teacher or guidance counselor with the proper WBL extension
• Advisory committee
• Appropriate worksite placement
• Supervised on-the-job training
• Related in-school instruction
• Coordination of in-school and worksite components
• Student training plan
• Emergency medical form
• Employer evaluation
• Copy of student working papers where appropriate
• Memorandum of agreement where appropriate

Records of hours worked and tasks performed should also be kept as part of both the work-based learning component of the program as well as the local portfolio component of the technical assessment. More information can be found in the Work-Based Learning Manual.