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This Week in CTE: It’s All About Apprenticeships

November 6th, 2015

TWEET OF THE WEEK

ARTICLE OF THE WEEK

How Apprenticeship Will Save the American Economy
Tomorrow marks the end of National Apprenticeship Week where employers, educators and policy makers across the country have promoted the value of apprenticeships in filling the skills gap in certain fields, while also helping people of all ages get the training they need for a successful career at a low cost. “During National Apprenticeship Week, we recognize the ways apprenticeships foster innovation and prosperity, and we recommit to encouraging and supporting those who offer and partake in them,” said President Obama.
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RESOURCE OF THE WEEK

The U.S. Department of Labor is the place to go for all resources Apprenticeship Week related. Find fact sheets, funding opportunities, videos and stories about how apprenticeships are making a meaningful impact across the country.
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ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE WEEK

NASDCTEc is working with the U.S. Department of Education Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education (OCTAE) on an effort to identify model CTE programs of study that align with or articulate to apprenticeship programs. The Potential Role of Secondary Career and Technical Education Programs in Preparing Students for Apprenticeship Programs includes partners, RTI International, Jobs for the Future, Vivayic and Quality Information Partners along with NASDCTEc who will develop a variety of resources for state and local leaders looking to replicate model apprenticeship programs.
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Katie Fitzgerald, Communications Associate 

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Inside International CTE: Netherlands Part II

June 4th, 2015

This interview with Martin van Os an educational advisor, explores the CTE/VET system in the Netherlands. Van Os began his career as a physics teacher, became a school principal, coordinated the national in-service courses for science and technology, was the senior organizational advisor for the National Center for Urban School Improvement, worked for government on secondary vocational education and was founding director of the Vakcollege support company. This interview was conducted by Katie Fitzgerald of NASDCTEc in part of our ongoing series examining international education systems in partnership with Asia Society’s Global Learning blog on EdWeek.

What are some the steps the Netherlands has or is taking to strengthen CTE?

The urgency of the situation has become clearer and better supported in the last ten years. The economic crisis reminded us that only innovation and creativity would maintain our wealth as a nation, and that we need a high number of excellent, technically educated employers and employees. In response to this sense of urgency, successful Dutch companies and public figures have become involved and are providing inspiration and innovation to the field.

A numbers of actions are being taken to help young people to fulfill their talents with the possibilities the Dutch economy has to offer. Among them are very powerful bottom-up initiatives started by schools and often supported with the help of local companies. Others are powered by government and applied in schools, such as the implementation of career education and guidance and curriculum updates.

Building a chain: Developing career education and guidance

Despite the success with the high quality of individual schools, we are still struggling to provide all students with a successful transition from secondary to tertiary education. About 80 percent of students are successful in their chosen area of study after they finish secondary education. The remaining 20 percent drop out or don’t pursue post-secondary education.

The Dutch government hopes to increase the success of students in their first career choice, both for pedagogical and financial reasons. Currently, secondary schools are monitored and rated based on exams. This reliance on results has led to students taking subjects in which they are comfortable and confident for the test, rather than the subject that will help them in their chosen field of study. Furthermore, exams can easily miss some essential skills, like discipline, motivation and collaboration.

In addition, when students are preparing for post-secondary level of education, there are an abundance of choices without much guidance, so students often turn to their parents for advice – but they are also unclear about CTE fields of study. To address these challenges, the government has made career guidance a requirement of secondary education, and schools are experimenting with how to accomplish this new task. This includes teacher trainings on career guidance to help them understand what skills their students need, and site visits to organizations and colleges.

What are some of the Netherlands’ successful initiatives in Career Technical Education?

A broader curriculum

In 2002, an initiative was launched with schools to develop a broader technical curriculum. In partnership with 10 schools, we developed concepts and practices to make the curriculum attractive to students with various career and educational desires, including students interested in pure technical fields, those who want to apply technical solutions in human services and those who prefer to go into the business sector. Participating schools had to agree to deliver this curriculum successfully with a small number of students to start.

The schools were provided the opportunity to experiment and pilot the curriculum, and after a year of preparation and two years of practice, we followed the first group of students moving into tertiary, or postsecondary, education. We found that these students did as well or better than the traditional groups of students.

With these results, we developed a global curriculum and instruction for student exams. With the support of our stakeholders, the Government accepted the results and put it into legislation. The 10 original schools formed a platform, helping other schools implement this approach and guiding further development.

Currently, over 100 schools have adopted this curriculum and are fully supported by legislation with the support of the platform and stakeholders.

In 2007, a group of entrepreneurs had several observations. First, that a group of students were interested in high-quality and attractive CTE, but the number of schools providing that kind of education were closing or forced to decrease the number of their departments. Second, the perception of CTE was very poor.

After getting support from schools and businesses, I was asked to lead an initiative, Vakcollege, which focused on career knowledge early on for students, and would aim to change the perception surrounding CTE.

We developed three promises for stakeholders. For the students we aimed to develop, “attractive education towards an occupation, diploma and job;” for the companies involved, “a new generation of technicians and craftsmen;” and for the schools our goal is that, “together we make a difference.”

We started a company, and in 2008 partnered with 13 schools, each with its own assemblage of business partners. We pushed boundaries of what legislation allowed but found out that –to our own surprise- the Dutch system allows schools to change their vision and mission towards more CTE as long as they stay within the boundaries of the various streams.

The initiative has been widely accepted. This summer the company will be replaced by a foundation with 50 schools as members dedicated to furthering the development of Vakcollege.

Technasium

Another successful program we have is Technasium, which began as an elective choice for students offered in the school gymnasium. In this free space, schools offered a new subject they called Research & Development for the more scientific and technical interested students.

This idea was crucial because it offered CTE to students in higher streams, something that these students were not typically exposed to. The most academically gifted pupils were given a chance to explore their talents and interests in CTE fields.

Furthermore, the goal of this initiative was not to develop a standard curriculum, but to work on interesting and innovative questions posed by local companies and businesses in eight-week projects, and present the student solutions to professionals from the companies. Instead of a typical test, student assessment is on their research, solution, creativity, presentation and collaboration.

A foundation has been created that helps schools develop a Technasium program and works closely with the government to set the standards on which schools can join and are allowed to offer exams in Research & Development.

Though these initiatives may have different outcomes, they share the same ambition of developing education, meeting the needs of the students involved, contributing to lasting careers, and helping to provide a pipeline of students with the skills industry needs.

Katie Fitzgerald, Communications Associate 

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Inside International CTE: Netherlands

June 2nd, 2015

This interview with Martin van Os an educational advisor, explores the CTE/VET system in the Netherlands. Van Os began his career as a physics teacher, became a school principal, coordinated the national in-service courses for science and technology, was the senior organizational advisor for the National Center for Urban School Improvement, worked for government on secondary vocational education and was founding director of the Vakcollege support company. This interview was conducted by Katie Fitzgerald of NASDCTEc in part of our ongoing series examining international education systems in partnership with Asia Society’s Global Learning blog on EdWeek. Check out part two on Thursday! NeterlandsMap

 PART 1: Exploring Career Technical Education (CTE) in the Netherlands 

What does CTE/VET look like in the Netherlands?

For some background context, the Netherlands has one of the densest populations, our economy is rated eighth in the world, and our PISA scores are in the top ten, with national goals to move ourselves into the top five.  According to UNICEF, our children are the happiest in the world.

Recently, consensus was reached on the nine “Top Sectors,” or the categories in which we excel and want to maintain our excellence.  Among them are: water-management, food technology, energy, creative industry, high tech, and life and health. To continue to excel in these areas, Netherlands will need 30,000 people with the proper educational skills each year to account for job replacement and industry growth.

Currently, the educational system is categorized by “streams” where students are tagged as low, intermediate, or high performing. The big challenge is that not enough students choose a technical area of study in post-secondary education. Research shows that the perception among students is that technical courses are difficult and a career in a technical field is dull.

After primary education, a student can participate in secondary education within seven different streams, although many secondary schools combine them. Still, this many options for pupils at the age of 12 is a unique feature of our system.

Regardless of a student’s categorization as belonging to a certain stream, our system is focused on providing pupils with the education that meets their needs, which has resulted in a very low dropout rate. Despite the low dropout rate, we have little upwards mobility in the school system in a time where we need everyone to reach their highest potential. In addition, secondary CTE is typically taken by students with lower academic achievement, while the academic track is taken by students who perform at a higher level. This has resulted in a very negative perception, and has made promoting CTE difficult.

Another cause of this negative perception is the improvement in primary education and the ambition and pressure from parents, resulting in fewer students enrolling in the CTE streams and more in the academic paths. Also, academic pathways include little focus on Career Technical Education. While the traditional pathways through secondary schools for vocational education are decreasing in participation, we had hoped CTE in the academic route would develop. As this has not happened, it has left us with a skills gap and a sense of urgency.

Please describe the current landscape of Career Technical Education/VET in the Netherlands.

Overall, there has been a decline in CTE participation and in particular, a strong drop in the traditional courses for technicians and craftsmanship.  However, there is some growing interest in newer courses, which combine technical education with entrepreneurship skills.

The two trends combined means CTE enrollment in the upper grades has stayed somewhat consistent over time. A little over a third of third-year secondary students engage in CTE, out of about 200,000 students in total.

Another opportunity is that more of our students are eligible for technical or science programs in higher education, particularly in the higher streams, even if they are not choosing CTE programs at this time. In fact the economic crisis was a big boost for students actually choosing technical and scientific careers. This is all to say there is potential for more students to choose CTE at the secondary and postsecondary levels.

Every system has its challenges – what are yours? What are some solutions you are looking to implement?

Our first challenge is changing the perception of CTE  in the country. We need to spread CTE throughout all schools for all students of all abilities.  We need to eliminate the stigma that only low ability students should participate in CTE in our school culture, and instead make CTE available to all students on all levels, especially in the intermediate streams where there is a vast potential of talents and young people who wish for more attractive curricula and CTE.

In addition to making CTE available for all students, we need to convince students and parents that there are attractive careers in CTE fields. Though increasing the number of CTE students is admirable, we need to convince students to go into CTE careers.

Along with changing the perception of CTE, we need to nourish successful initiatives by schools and support them through legislation, intelligent governance and smarter systems of funding.

There also needs to be clearer links between education systems. The three steps in a student’s education are primary, secondary and tertiary education, which all have their own systems and rewards.  Essential skills for students to be successful in the next step of education are not sufficiently included in the reward system.

Katie Fitzgerald, Communications Associate 

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CTE: The Choice for All Students

May 7th, 2015

HeadshotFriends of CTE guest blogger is Dr. Vince Bertram is president and CEO of Project Lead The Way and the New York Times bestselling author of “One Nation Under-Taught: Solving America’s Science, Technology, Engineering & Math Crisis.”

In three and a half years as CEO of Project Lead The Way (PLTW), I’ve visited all 50 states and Washington, D.C., been in hundreds of schools, and talked with thousands of teachers and students. People often ask me whether PLTW is or should be considered a CTE program. My response is simple—all education should be Career and Technical Education (CTE).

I recently participated in a gathering of our nation’s education leaders focused on college and career readiness. By the conclusion of the meeting, we realized the real focus should be on career readiness. After all, students take many different pathways en route to their careers, but a successful career is the end goal. As a result, we must focus on career readiness for all students.

It makes sense, then, that CTE should be at the center of career preparation—not a separate program for some students, but an education for all students. CTE programs help students explore careers and develop valuable skills—skills that are relevant, in high demand, and lead to high-wage careers.

Staying relevant

With career and technical education, we must ensure that the programs we offer are relevant to the job market and teach applicable skills across all sectors. Career readiness is not necessarily about a specific career, but rather a skillset that leads to opportunities. Through hands-on, activity-, project-, and problem-based learning, students—as early as elementary school—will develop critical thinking, problem solving, and collaboration skills. As students progress through grades K-12, they can explore career paths, be mentored, and develop strong technical skills.

It’s about skills

CTE programs and educators are doing some of most important work in our economy. There is a growing realization across the United States— from governors to federal policymakers, and from local educators to the business community—that CTE is essential for our students, states, and nation. It is also becoming clear that education is not just about earning four-year college degrees, many that lead to underemployment and massive student loan debt. Rather, education must be about developing skills—skills that lead to the greatest career opportunities.

Moving forward, we must impress upon decision-makers the critical nature of this work. In the last several decades, CTE has suffered from a stigma that it is “the other choice.” Today, we find ourselves with 4 million unfilled jobs, over 8 million people who are unemployed, and millions more underemployed because they lack appropriate skills. To solve this crisis, and to ensure the United States remains a strong and prosperous nation, we must rethink the way we view education. Career and Technical Education is not just for some students, it’s for all students.

The Friends of CTE Guest Blog Series provides advocates an opportunity to articulate their support for Career Technical Education. Want to provide your perspective on and experience with CTE as it relates to policy, the economy and education? Contact kfitzgerald@careertech.org 

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Inside International CTE: Australia’s Challenges and Advice

May 1st, 2015

This interview with Dr. Phillip Rutherford, one of the world’s leading experts on VET/CTE training and education systems, explores the CTE/VET system in Australia. He has been central in the introduction of such systems in many countries, including the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, South East Asia, and the Middle East. The interview was conducted by Katie Fitzgerald of NASDCTEc and is part of our ongoing series examining international education systems in partnership with Asia Society’s Global Learning blog on Ed Week.

  1. Every system has its challenges – what are yours? What are some solutions you are looking to implement?

What was once one of the best CTE/VET systems in the world is now considered to be slipping by those who work within it. In the 1990s, the purpose of CTE was to prepare people for careers or lifelong learning. The system was based singularly around the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in the workplace and the successes it achieved were measured by how well individuals and teams improved and, by extension, the economy grew.

But that has changed. Today we have a system that is very similar to that which existed in the 1980s when the notion of workplace competence was centered only on what could be taught for the a specific workplace, not what was needed of a competent worker. There is reliance on the qualification as the indicator of competence, and as a result, supervisors and managers have to work hard to identify the gaps new employees have in their skills and knowledge, and provide additional resources to bring their competence to a level acceptable to the employer.

All VET systems have this objective: To help students get a job, get a better job, get better at their job, or when all else fails, to create a job. But there is not a great deal of evidence in Australia that this is happening. There are numbers that tell us how many students have undertaken VET courses, or the total of vacancies being filled having increased or decreased, but these statistics don’t tell us how well our economy is growing as a result of the VET system.

As a result, many private training providers have become disillusioned with the way the Australian system is structured and managed. They don’t like being monitored by the federal government and having to reframe the programs they offer to meet the quality criteria of external auditors. This is especially true of those training providers whose main focus is on the skills needs of their students and their current or future employers.

From what I’ve seen, the best VET/CTE systems around the world have a very complex system that is made up of many moving parts, all working in tandem, to provide a whole system that begins with a vision for the national economy and finishes with an evaluation of whether or not this vision is being achieved. Our system has become very linear – beginning with the development of curriculum (with little or no needs analysis), progressing to the hands of training organizations that conduct the course, and finishing with students who are expected to apply their new skills and knowledge in the workplace. The implication of this is that being “qualified” is the same as being “competent.” More needs to be done in the Australian system to turn this belief into reality.

The real challenge is this: If the VET system in Australia is to survive, will it be better to start all over again, or cut it right back to the basics and begin to rebuild? There are many who are calling for the former as they don’t believe it can get better, but there are also many who, like me, know how well it can work and can see that within the current system there are many good elements that can be saved.

  1. What advice do you have for other systems attempting to reform their VET/CTE systems? What are some of the policies in Australia that could assist others in overcoming the challenges they face in VET/CTE?

Right now there are over 150 different VET systems in the world. Some are very linear and concentrate only on low-level training and others are highly complex and aimed at national and international competitiveness. Very few give as their prime focus the needs of the workplaces in which graduates of CTE/VET programs expect to be employed. As a result, after more than 25 years’ experience pursuing the promise of an integrated and workplace-centered education and training system, few countries can point to their CTE/VET system as being the prime reason for economic success. This, after all, should be the purpose of every CTE/VET system but there is little evidence of this either driving the systems found around the world or achieving what such a system should achieve.

I have either designed or been involved in the creation of VET systems adopted by several countries, and in each case I have strongly encouraged the key decision makers to focus on one thing – the purpose of the system. Once the purpose is defined, and everything put in place to ensure that both the purpose and the system continually adjust to meet evolving economic and individual needs, then what will emerge is the type of system that the country requires. It will do more than just train people; it will ensure that people are given the support (including training) to achieve objectives important to themselves, their employers, their communities and their country.

A national system has to be aligned against national interests which, by extension, should also be those of the states. In Australia we have a fair way to go before this ideal is achieved but we continue to look to the U.S., Japan, Switzerland and other countries for solutions to our shared challenges.

 Katie Fitzgerald, Communications Associate

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Inside International CTE: Switzerland Part Two

March 26th, 2015
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A Swiss manufacturing apprentice demonstrates his work. Photo courtesy of Heather Singmaster.

Today Heather Singmaster continues her interview with Ursula Renold, head of the Education Systems field of research in the KOF Swiss Economic Institute on the Swiss vocational education and training system (VET or career and technical education system as we call it here in the U.S.). This is presented in partnership with Asia Society’s Global Learning blog on Ed Week .

Many consider the Swiss system one of the best in the world. But every system has its challenges – what are yours? What are some solutions you are looking to implement?

There are specific areas we have identified as challenges and solutions we are pursuing:

Demographic changes: We have an aging workforce and not enough students to replace them in the VET system. Therefore, we are looking at ways to “re-tool” all employees and raise their productivity with further education.

Potential perception issues: We continue to fear that too many parents will insist their children pursue a university pathway instead of the VET pathway, thereby weakening the economy (something experienced by Denmark, which also had a strong apprenticeship program). An international dialog and exchange of knowledge on the importance of VET competences to close the 21st century middle skills gap is one of the solutions to this problem. Another route is to connect the worldwide community of scholars and experts, which could provide the evidence and the rationale for well-balanced educational diversity.

Globalization: The increase of international companies working in Switzerland threatens the VET system. These companies do not have a tradition of VET and are therefore less supportive of the system. It is very important to launch an information campaign for multi-national companies and newcomers to Switzerland who are not familiar with the VET system so that they can understand the comparatively outstanding outcomes of our VET system.

What do you think the future of VET/CTE in your country looks like?

I am confident our VET system will evolve in line with the changes in the world of work because of the role industry associations play in defining curriculum content and educational standards. These partners will continue to adapt those frameworks to meet the future needs of their industries every three to five years. Due to the fact that technology-forward companies often advance such revisions, small to medium size companies will continue to profit from spillover effects because they too will have to apply the best available technology if they would like to offer an apprenticeship. We also anticipate apprenticeships forming in new and additional industries if there is a need due to the high flexibility of our system.

What advice do you have for other systems attempting to reform their VET/CTE systems? What are some of the policies in Switzerland that could assist others in overcoming the challenges they face in VET/CTE?

That’s maybe the most difficult question. There is no simple solution for other countries. One has to take into consideration the context and ecosystem of a country. But there is one crucial aspect, which should be carefully analyzed: What is the link between education and employment systems – e.g. governance, curriculum design and curriculum application? According to my experience, most countries that are trying to reform their CTE/VET system are struggling with this issue and do not know how to bridge education and employment systems in an effective way. Therefore, our Swiss Economic Institute (ETHZ) is launching a policy development program for education policy leaders that includes a summer policy seminar to help participants to tackle these problems and to assist them in building capacity in their own region. For more information please contact me: ursula.renold@kof.ethz.ch

Follow NASDCTEc, Heather, and Asia Society on Twitter.

Katie Fitzgerald, Communications Associate

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This Week in CTE: CTE Month Edition

February 13th, 2015

TWEET OF THE WEEK
SkillsUSA  Mike Rowe talks about SkillsUSA and CTE: http://youtu.be/yihG89SB00g @mikeroweworks blog-thumbnail-thiswek#CTEMonth #SkillsUSAWeek
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VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Congressman Jim Langevin (D-RI), co-chair of the Career and Technical Education Caucus, showed his support for Career Technical Education.  “It is long past time to re-authorize the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, and I look forward to working with all my colleagues on this important legislation,” said Langevin.
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ARTICLE OF THE WEEK
Tony Evers, superintendent of the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, discusses the value of Career Technical Education (CTE) in Wisconsin. “Did you know that students who participate in CTE courses graduate at a notably higher rate than students who do not take CTE courses? Additionally, students who take a series of related CTE courses do even better. In part, it’s because CTE helps students grasp why they need to know and excel in academic coursework,” said Evers
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RESOURCE OF THE WEEK
Learn how to use the CTE: Learning that Works for America campaign resources to help you raise awareness, improve understanding and communicate the vital role of Career Technical Education in the nation’s future. The Learning that Works campaign provides you with a variety of materials to help you advocate for CTE in your community including fact-sheets, talking points, videos and even state-specific logos. Get a quick overview of the campaign with this one pager.

ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE WEEK
A variety of states proclaimed February CTE Month, including Virginia, Alaska, North Dakota and Wisconsin.

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NASDCTEc Webinar – CTE: Keeping Adult Learners Competitive for High-Demand Jobs

October 24th, 2011

In today’s turbulent economy, how can adult workers best position themselves to succeed in rewarding careers in high-demand fields? Further, how can employers aid in up-skilling current employees to meet increasingly complex job demands?

Join us for our next webinar, “CTE: Keeping Adult Learners Competitive for High-Demand Jobs,” on Thursday, December 8th from 3:00 – 4:00 pm, when experts from the field will help us answer these questions by describing how their programs directly and indirectly keep adult learners competitive for high-demand jobs.

Dr. Ron Duggins, Director of the Center for Business Development at Oklahoma’s Meridian Technology Center, will discuss Meridian’s Business Incubator program and how it helps adult entrepreneurs to launch successful businesses. Mr. Harry Snyder, Adult Workforce Development Supervisor at Great Oaks Institute of Technology and Career Development in Ohio, will describe how Great Oaks’ Aviation Maintenance – Power Plant Technician class is preparing adults for high-demand jobs and meeting the needs of area businesses.

Date: Thursday, December 8, 2011
Time: 3:00 – 4:00 pm ET
Click here to register for “CTE: Keeping Adult Learners Competitive for High-Demand Jobs.”

Kara Herbertson, Education Policy Analyst

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Webinar Recording Now Available for CTE: Up to the Challenge

November 17th, 2010

Did you miss the November 16 NASDCTEc webinar CTE: Up to the Challenge, Preparing Students to be College and Career Ready?  The recording is now available. The National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium (NASDCTEc), Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE), and P21 highlight the demand for skills in the global economy and the ways in which educators can meet this demand by drawing on both career technical education (CTE) and 21st century skills. The groups recently released a joint report, Up to the Challenge, which describes how fusing the four Cs (critical thinking and problem solving, collaboration, communication and creativity and innovation) and CTE can make college- and career-readiness a reality for every student.

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The Summit on Future Directions for CTE: Getting to Where We Want To Go

November 19th, 2009

future directions

The Summit on Future Directions for CTE: Getting to Where We Want To Go
4th and last in the series

A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go but ought to be. – Rosalyn Carter

 

report out #2In the last post on the Fall Summit I shared that states ended day two by voting on the 24 principles that were crafted during the small group work. I can’t emphasize how grateful I am to all the Summit attendees. Everyone took the charge of defining the Future Directions for CTE very seriously. Attendees brainstormed, crafted, drafted, worked and reworked words until they became statements and statements until they became principles. This is really hard work. And attendees gave it their all!

 

Here is a sampling of the principles. This will give you a sense of the tone and spirit of the principles that were crafted:

• CTE is an educational engine geared toward a high skills, high wage, high performance workforce for the global innovation economy.

• CTE is a collaboration between business/industry and education (K-12 through adult) that must be flexible and collaborative in its delivery of education.

• Education is deliberate, relevant and authentic for every student, and is accessible without limitations of time and place.

** Note: We have made the decision not to share the 24 principles on the blog. These 24 principles are really raw material that taken out of context might be misinterpreted. We do have a plan for gathering additional input and sharing the next steps in this process. See below.

Voting Results: Much like Election Day, we all were waiting anxiously for the results to come in. The goal of the “straw poll” was to determine how close to consensus we were. Were we a divided community? Did we need to go back to the drawing board? Did the principles go far enough? Did the principles go too far?

voting

Of the 24 principles, seven had the support of more than 90% of the voting states. The voting states comprised all but five states. One could say that consensus achieved among these top seven principles was a slam dunk. Wow! These top seven principles clearly represented the major themes/priorities that CTE must focus on during the next ten years.

rigorChoosing Our Words Carefully: With the principles now drafted, we chose to tackle a question that was raised by an attendee on day one – “when we say a term like ‘program of study’ do we all agree on the same definition of what this is and what it looks like to implement this well?” Attendees nodded their heads “yes, but of course we agree and understand these terms. We are all CTE leaders.” However, it became evident during the small group work that even among the selected group at the Summit, terms like programs of study, rigor, seamless and articulation have very different meanings, interpretations and implementation. Attendees spent some time on day three crafting common definitions for 14 terms but this work is far from complete. A charge for us in the future!

who am iSo Where Do We Go From Here?: Our Board of Directors met on November 9 to review the Summit work/outcomes and to approve a ‘go forward’ plan that includes a webinar for Summit attendees and a series of regional calls with the state directors in December, as well as a Board of Directors’ retreat in January where the Board will finalize the vision and principles. On February 17, 2010 at 2 pm eastern we will host a webinar to unveil the new vision and corresponding principles. And at the NASDCTEc spring meeting in Washington, D.C. we will once again roll up our sleeves and work together to craft the action steps to achieve our new vision.

guidepostLooking Ahead: Our organization’s efforts to define a new vision for CTE is not about dismantling what we have in place or discrediting the success we have achieved so far. Instead, it is about looking back on what we have achieved and learning from both our successes and failures. It is about ensuring that the opportunities before CTE are maximized. It is about staying relevant in an ever-changing educational and economic environment. We can’t be what we always have been. In 2009, we don’t look like what we did in 1999; and we shouldn’t look today like we will look like in 2019. We can build on what we have accomplished. With a new vision guiding our work and the right leadership in place, we can get to where we ought to be!

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