AME Careers is the online face of the California Department of Education's (CDE) Arts, Media and Entertainment Career Technical Education Initiative. This effort started in 2004 with the development of the first AME standards and frameworks. These were adopted by the California Board of Education in XXXX and can be found here (insert link).

This initiative has been managed by the Department's lead AME consultant in partnership with Santa Monica College. Don Doyle, the original CDE staff member, retired in 2008. Jack Mitchell, a 30 year theater and english teacher, took over this responsibility a year later. The principal external consultant for the project since 2004 has been Kathleen Milnes, President and CEO of the Entertainment Economy Institute. (more about the project team can be found INSERT LINK).

The overall goal of this sector project is to expand and support the network of Arts, Media and Entertainment programs in California’s public high schools and colleges in order to connect and enhance the field of practitioners. The development and approval of the standards has engaged teachers, administrators, and the industry but our work is far from over.

As stated in the preface to the sector standards, “of all the career industries, the Arts, Media, and Entertainment sector requires perhaps the greatest cross-disciplinary interaction and development because the work in this sector has a propensity to be largely project-based, requiring uniquely independent work and self-management skills.” We believe these are the fundamental building blocks of 21st century skills.

We are using Dr. Melinda Fine’s description of a field as the focus of our continuing work. She defines a field as “an area of specialized practice encompassing specific activities carried out by trained practitioners in particular settings. Typically, a field’s practitioners require preparation in research and craft based knowledge, share a common language (including jargon) and have access to ongoing opportunities for professional education. They also acknowledge standards for practice, use vehicles for communication and information exchange, and enjoy credibility in the eyes of critical constituencies.”