Tennessee Specific Industry Certification

Background

The Tennessee Department of Education's goal for every student is to graduate high school prepared to be successful in the workforce or in aligned postsecondary programs. To accomplish this task, students with an elective focus in career and technical education (CTE) programs of study should culminate in the achievement of a state-recognized industry certification, a robust work-based learning experience, and/or attainment of postsecondary credit hours through early postsecondary opportunities.

The Division of College, Career and Technical Education (CCTE) established the Tennessee Specific Industry Certification (TSIC) Key Partners advisory council that includes industry, governmental, professional, and both secondary and higher education partners to serve as key leaders who are instrumental in driving industry advancement.

The TSIC program, content areas, learning outcomes or objectives, were approved by the department and the TSIC Key Partners with a pilot program starting with Animal Science for the 2016-17 academic school year and expanded the content area to include Dietetics and Nutrition, Horticulture Science, and Human and Social Sciences in the 2017-18 academic school year. The course content and certification exam are aligned to postsecondary standards and provide the opportunity to earn both industry credentialing and postsecondary credit. TSIC work group members representing Tennessee’s postsecondary, secondary, and industry organizations developed learning outcomes or objectives and a capstone certification exam.

Students who meet or exceed the established cut score set for the exam earn credits that may be applied to any public postsecondary institution in Tennessee and will be awarded a TSIC credential from Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation. Students are eligible to sit for the TSIC capstone certification exam once completing the aligned programs of study course work for Levels 1-4 in Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources and Levels 1-3 in Human Services.