Students preparing for college and careers need access to career-focused programs of study that combine challenging academic content and intellectually demanding career/technical (CT) studies. Schools wanting to raise student achievement can create career-focused programs of study that connect a solid academic core with a sequence of CT courses. Middle-grades schools can provide a range of exploratory experiences to help students understand the importance of academic courses in careers and further study. Technology centers and high schools can work together to design programs of study that advance students' academic and technical achievement. This newsletter describes a variety of strategies that high schools, middle grades schools and technology centers can use to join academic and technical studies in ways that engage students in learning.