The Agriculture and Natural Resources sector is designed to provide a foundation in agriculture for all agriculture students in California. Students engage in an instructional program that integrates academic and technical preparation and focuses on career awareness, career exploration, and skill preparation in seven pathways. The pathways emphasize real-world, occupationally relevant experiences of significant scope and depth in Agricultural Business, Agricultural Mechanics, Agriscience, Animal Science, Forestry and Natural Resources, Ornamental Horticulture, and Plant and Soil Science. Integral components of classroom and laboratory instruction, supervised agricultural experience projects, and leadership and interpersonal skills development prepare students for continued training, advanced educational opportunities, or entry to a career.

Of all the career industries, the Arts, Media, and Entertainment sector requires perhaps the greatest cross-disciplinary interaction because the work in this sector has a propensity to be largely project-based, requiring both independent work and interdependent management skills for career success. Successful career preparation involves both broad and in-depth academic and technical preparation as well as the cultivation of 21st century skill assets, such as flexibility, problem-solving abilities, and interpersonal skills. Careers in the Arts, Media, and Entertainment sector fall into four general pathways: Design, Visual, and Media Arts; Performing Arts; Production and Managerial Arts; and Game Design and Integration.

This pathway has wonderful growth and employment potential. The standards for the patient care pathway apply to occupations in the prevention, treatment, and management of illness. Coursework also includes the preservation of mental and physical well-being through the services offered by the medical and allied health professions. The standards in this sector represent the academic and technical skills and knowledge students need to pursue a full range of career opportunities in health science and medical technology, from entry level to management as well as technical and professional career specialties. The standards describe what workers need to know and be able to do to contribute to the delivery of safe and effective health care. The six career pathways are grouped into functions that have a common purpose and require similar attributes. The Standards for each career path build on and continue the anchor standards with more complexity, rigor, and career specificity.

The Hospitality, Tourism, and Recreation sector provides students with the academic and technical preparation necessary to pursue high-skill, high-demand careers in these related and growing industries. The sector encompasses three distinct, yet interrelated, career pathways: Food Science, Dietetics, and Nutrition; Food Service and Hospitality; and Hospitality, Tourism, and Recreation. The standards are designed to integrate academic and career technical concepts. The anchor standards include Consumer and Family Studies comprehensive technical knowledge and skills that prepare students for learning in the pathways.

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have expanded the need for employees who can understand, manage, and support all rapidly emerging, evolving, and converging computer, software, networking, telecommunications, Internet, programming, and information systems. Essential skills for careers in the ICT sector include understanding systems that support the management and flow of data, the ability to work well and communicate clearly with people, and the ability to manage projects efficiently. The ICT sector meets national criteria for high demand, high wages, and high skills and provides students with excel-lent opportunities for interesting work and good pay.