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New NASDCTEc Officers Take Lead as CTE Adopts Common Standards, Prepare for Reauthorization

Friday, July 27th, 2012

NASDCTEc officers this month commenced their one-year term. The officers take the reins at a time when the Career Technical Education (CTE) community moves forward with implementing rigorous and common standards for CTE, advocating for fiscal support, building increased visibility, awareness and support and preparing for the reauthorization of the federal legislation that governs CTE.

“This is such an exciting time to be part of the Career Technical Education (CTE) community in this nation. Quality secondary and postsecondary CTE programs provide individuals with options and pathways to success in our global economy. I am honored to serve members of this association that is committed to enhancing access and opportunities to quality CTE programs,” said Marie Barry, NASDCTEc President and State Director of the Office of Career and Technical Education at the New Jersey Department of Education.

NASDCTEc officers include:

President, Marie Barry, New Jersey Director of the Office of Career and Technical Education
Vice President, John Fischer, Vermont Deputy Commissioner, Vermont Department of Education
Secretary/Treasurer, Scott Stump, Colorado’s Associate Provost for Career & Technical Education.
Past President, Dr. Patrick Ainsworth, Ed. D., California Assistant Superintendent and Director; Secondary, Career, and Adult Learning Division; Department of Education.

In June, NASDCTEc unveiled the Common Career Technical Core (CCTC), a state-led initiative to establish a set of rigorous, high-quality standards for CTE that states can adopt voluntarily. Forty-two states, Washington, DC, and Palau declared support for the development of the CCTC, which were informed by state and industry standards and developed by a diverse group of teachers, business and industry experts, administrators and researchers.

NASDCTEc’s advocacy work will focus on preparing for the reauthorization of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act and ensure that the legislation will support states in advancing high-quality CTE amid tough fiscal conditions, as well as continuing to build visibility and support for the CTE: Learning That Works for America campaign.

Learn more about the NASDCTEc officers by reading their biographies.

By Erin in NASDCTEc Announcements, NASDCTEc State Director
Tags: California, Colorado, New Jersey, officers, Vermont

CTE in the News: Push for Career Technical Education Meets Resistance

Wednesday, July 18th, 2012

A student at Oklahoma's Ardmore High School works on an assignment for a biotechnical program, which is designed to introduce students to careers in fields like chemistry and microbiology.

This spring, parents in the San Diego Unified School District in California rose in protest when the district proposed to add CTE courses as a graduation requirement. Parents signed a petition and argued that CTE would water down the educational experience of their college-bound students. Education officials, surprised by the backlash, said the proposal was simply intended to prepare students for both college and career, according to a recent article in U.S. News on NBCnews.com.

“Career and technical education has come a long way since the days when students could be steered from academics into hairstyling, auto repairs or carpentry. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy to sell the concept of having all students take courses in CTE, as it is known,” wrote Sarah Butrymowicz of The Hechinger Report in the article.

CTE leaders have been taking on the issue of CTE’s stigma for more than a decade, said Kimberly Green, NASDCTEc Executive Director. A turning point came about 10 years ago when the CTE community transitioned program names from vocational education to CTE as a way to shed images of outdated shop classes.

“Career and technical education meant something different than vocational education,” Green said. “It’s academics plus technical instruction.”

Just over a year ago, NASDCTEc launched a re-branding initiative called CTE: Learning that works for America™ to again change minds about CTE. The campaign continues and the work continues across states.

In California, CTE programs have been elevating their status. In recent years, a growing number of CTE courses have been approved towards the University of California and California State University systems’ “a-g” entry requirements – the list of courses that students may complete in high school to be eligible for admittance to the universities. Those courses include academic core classes and electives.

Gary Hoachlander, president of ConnectEd, a California group that works with districts to create career-oriented high school and college programs for students, said there are about 10,000 CTE courses across all the state’s districts qualify for the college requirement. However, most of those courses count as electives.

CTE science classes such as environmental science or agricultural s

ience have yet to be approved for academic credit. “That’s where I think there’s still a lot of work to do,” Hoachlander said.

Erin Uy, Communications & Marketing Manager

By Erin in News
Tags: California, college and career readiness, Hechinger Report, news, Oklahoma

CTE in the News: California Invests in CTE Programs to Train Students for Energy Industry

Friday, March 23rd, 2012

California is investing $3.2 million in a project that integrates academic and Career Technical Education, business partnerships and internships with the intent of grooming students to work in jobs in the clean technology and renewable energy industry, according to The Epoch Times.

The California Department of Education and the California Energy Commission has teamed up to offer Clean Energy and Technology Academies. The program, which is structured similarly to the state’s California Partnership Academies, is a three-year program for students grades 10 -12 in which students gain a balance of academics, real-world-learning and technical skills training so they can succeed in the energy industry specifically, the article said.

To date, 48,000 students are enrolled in the program, which reaches 21 schools across the state. Academies will be eligible for the new funding in installments, pending their ability to demonstrate that they offer courses and educational experiences that meet set academic and industry-specific requirements intended to ensure the academies are preparing students to truly succeed in the energy industry.

Erin Uy, Communications & Marketing Manager

By Erin in News
Tags: California, Energy, Secondary, technology

Frank Chong Named Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Colleges

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

chong This week, Dr. Frank Chong began serving as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Colleges at the United States Department of Education. This office is housed within the Office of Vocational and Adult Education.

Dr. Chong had served as president of Laney College in Oakland, California since July, 2006. Dr. Chong also served as President of Mission Community College in Santa Clara, California and was also Dean of Student Affairs at City College of San Francisco. Before getting into community college administration Dr. Chong was special assistant to the Speaker of the California State Assembly, Willie L. Brown, Jr. Adding to Dr. Chong’s understanding of education issues he also served as an elected member of the San Francisco Board of Education.

Dr. Chong received a B.A. in Social Welfare and Asian American Studies from the University of California, Berkeley. He earned a Masters Degree in Public Administration from Harvard University, and a Doctorate in Educational Administration, Leadership and Technology from Dowling College.

We look forward to working with Dr. Chong and the rest of the leadership team at OVAE to reinforce the important work CTE programs are doing across the country to provide students with the skills they need to be successful in their educational journey and in the workforce.

By admin in NASDCTEc Announcements, Public Policy
Tags: California, community colleges, OVAE

Facing the CTE Teacher Shortage webinar

Friday, September 18th, 2009

NASDCTEc hosted Facing the CTE Teacher Shortage, a webinar which highlighted state examples from Alabama, California and Oregon that are employing effective strategies for addressing the teacher shortage in CTE. Presenters included:

Gwen Crawford, Education Specialist for Career and Technical Education Teacher Certification, Teacher Mentoring, and New Teacher Institute at the Alabama Department of Education
Dr. Lloyd McCabe, Policy Consultant in the Office of the Director at the Secondary, Career, and Adult Learning Division of the California Department of Education
Susanne Daggett, Human Resource Systems Educational Specialist at the Oregon Department of Education

If you missed it, don’t worry! You can access an archived version of the webinar here. A PDF version of the Power Point slides is here.

By Nancy in NASDCTEc Resources
Tags: Alabama, California, Oregon, Teacher Shortage, Webinars

Teacher Shortage Undermines CTE

Monday, August 10th, 2009

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projected that the fastest growing careers in 2008 would be in CTE fields such as healthcare and trade and industrial occupations. However, in order to cultivate a workforce to fill these jobs, students will require training from quality secondary and postsecondary CTE teachers – resources that are lacking across the nation due to a teacher shortage. This crisis for CTE has been caused by student demand requiring more teachers, teachers leaving the profession and the limited opportunities to cultivate new educators as teacher programs are eliminated.

NASDCTEc has authored Teacher Shortage Undermines CTE, a brief that explores the reasons behind the shortage of teachers in CTE programs, and what can be done to curb the declining numbers and recruit more individuals into CTE classrooms. It also highlights examples from three states – Oregon, Alabama and California – that serve as models for increasing the number of CTE teachers in their state.

You can access a copy of the brief on our website at: www.careertech.org/show/publications under “Teacher Preparation”.

By Nancy in Publications
Tags: Alabama, Alternative Certification, California, Issue brief, Oregon, Public Policy, Teacher Shortage

Highly Qualifed & CTE: Tough Economic Times Creating New Options

Saturday, June 20th, 2009

As I have traveled the country, one of the most common questions I get is about how NCLB highly qualified teacher (HQT) requirements impact CTE. NCLB statute and regulations do not require CTE teachers to meet the same requirements as academic teachers, in large part because so many CTE teachers come from industry and through alternative routes. States some latitude to define what highly qualifed means for CTE. However, the HQT regulations related to academic teachers have had the unintendend consequence of limiting states’ ability to allow CTE courses to garner academic credit because if academic credit is awarded then the teacher teaching that class must meet academic HQT requirements. Several states have developed innovative approaches to this challenge. Idaho invested in funding to CTE teachers certified in academic areas. New York negotiated a waiver to allow academic and CTE team teaching (strictly regulated) to meet the requirements. California is the latest state to offer up another option given challenges districts are facing due to tough economic times.

Below is a recently published article that summarizes the California option quite nicely. This article was written by Allen Young of The Cabinet Report, a subscribers-only daily news source published by School Innovations & Advocacy .

“LEAs have options on tech instructors meeting NCLB qualifications
By Allen Young

With districts looking for creative ways to address staffing needs, the California Department of Education issued advice this week reminding local educational agencies that a career technical education instructor can qualify as a ‘highly qualified teacher’ with authorization from the school board.

The issue has been raised repeatedly by districts that are struggling under the current budget crisis to match diminishing instructional resources with ever growing student needs and still meet federal goals under the No Child Left Behind Act.

“Amid massive layoffs throughout the state, people are trying to save their jobs and find out what they are credentialed for,” said Lynda Nichols, NCLB coordinator at CDE. “When a district decides to have one of these classes and the board approves it as a graduation requirement, it throws the non-NCLB course into NCLB [requirements].” The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing said that if a school is granting graduation credit for a CTE class, then the instructor need only carry a CTE credential.

To qualify as a “highly qualified teacher,” the instructor must have a four-year college degree and hold a proper credential in their CTE subject area.

There are many examples of crossover classes that provide alternate forms of graduation credit. The CDE has clarified on their website the sections in law that describe the classes and credentials needed for career tech teachers to provide graduation credit and fulfill UC admission requirements.

Here is a summary.

To be NCLB compliant, a business education instructor that has a single subject or standard secondary credentialed in business education can satisfy the economics requirement and does not need a history-social science credential.

The same applies for an agriculture instructor majored in agriculture business or education and credentialed with a single subject or standard secondary in agriculture.

A home economics instructor who majored in nutrition, dietetics, or food science with a single subject or standard secondary credential in home economics education can satisfy biological science and does not need a biology science credential.

Biology science can also be taught by a health instructor that posses a single subject credentialed in health science education.

A home economics instructor with a major in apparel design and merchandising and appropriately credentialed in home economics can satisfy the visual and performing arts requirement.

Finally, industrial and technology education teachers majored in either manufacturing technology or industrial technology can satisfy the physical sciences with a single subject or standard secondary ITE credential and would not need one in chemistry or physics science.

The CDE guidance for CTE instructors satisfying NCLB is available here:

http://www.cde.ca.gov/nclb/sr/tq/documents/ctenclbhqtprvision.doc

The CTE Frequently Asked Questions are available here:

http://www.cde.ca.gov/nclb/sr/tq/faqctenclbhqt.asp.”

By Kimberly in Public Policy
Tags: California, highly qualified teachers, Idaho, New York

Posts Tagged ‘California’