Posts Tagged ‘CCTC’

Increasing FAFSA Completion Rates and Postsecondary Plans with Iowa’s College and Career Transition Counselor Initiative

Thursday, August 24th, 2023

Iowa’s College and Career Transition Counselors (CCTCs) are filling a need within school counseling and admission programs for learner-centered, one-on-one support for postsecondary planning and career exploration for Iowa’s learners. Providing learners with the skills to navigate their own career journey helps to ensure that each learner can have success in the career of their choice. The Iowa CCTC program is an example of how local-level innovation can lead to state-wide scale with positive impact on learner outcomes and success. This blog will present an overview of the structure and funding of the CCTC Initiative with considerations and recommendations for state leaders to take first steps towards implementation in their own state.

In 2015, David Ford, Future Ready Coordinator, Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency (MBAEA) and Director of the Area Education Agency Postsecondary Readiness and Equity Partnership (AEA PREP), was recruited to the Eastern Region of Iowa because of his research on secondary to postsecondary transitions. At the time, the region had the lowest postsecondary enrollments in the state and historically poor postsecondary outcomes. In partnership with Eastern Iowa Community College, Louisa-Muscatine and Columbus Community Schools and with support from the Future Ready division of MBAEA, the College and Career Transition Counselor (CCTC) position was created in 2017. Over the course of a few years, significant improvements were shown in Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) completion rates and college intention as well as overall positive postsecondary outcomes for the learners who were part of a CCTC’s roster.

Source: Partnerships that Work: College and Career Transition Counselors a Case Study from Eastern Iowa

Thanks to the success of the Eastern Iowa program, David was asked to present to college presidents statewide and when the demand for CCTCs across additional community colleges and high schools grew, David partnered with the Iowa Department of Education, Bureau of Career Technical Education to scale the CCTC program. Using the Eastern Iowa program as a model, the Department of Education launched its statewide CCTC Initiative in the 2021-2022 school year.

The time and effort required to establish a CCTC program is well worth it; Iowa has seen continued improvement in FAFSA completion rates and postsecondary intention. For the class of 2022, the overall FAFSA completion rate for the high schools served by a CCTC was 59.3%, up from 41.5% for the class of 2021. David Ford states that the CCTC Initiative is “one of the few strategies that I’ve come across that is directly improving outcomes for first-generation students.” 

Read on to learn more about how the Iowa CCTC Initiative is structured and funded as well as for considerations and recommendations for implementing a similar program.

The Eastern Iowa Model

While districts and community colleges have flexibility in how they structure their CCTC position(s), the majority of the current programs in Iowa follow the Eastern Iowa Model. Within this model, a community college forms a partnership with two high schools within their local area to share a CCTC. The CCTC is an employee of the community college, however, they work within the high schools as well as on the community college campus. It is important to note that the number of schools sharing a CCTC can vary based on the needs of each specific partnership. A community college may form multiple partnerships with local area high schools, employing multiple CCTCs, to best meet learner needs. For the 2023-2024 school year over 50 CCTCs will serve learners in over 100 high schools employed across all 15 community college regions in Iowa. 

The Role of the CCTC

The CCTCs serve as a liaison between the secondary and postsecondary partners while providing direct support to the learners on their roster; they complement the school counseling department and can go deeper into postsecondary options and opportunities than school counselors are able to. Danielle Sampson, a former school counselor and CCTC, now Community Engagement Specialist with Iowa College Aid, part of the Iowa Department of Education and a CCTC initiative partner, explains that “the CCTC does things that school counselors don’t have the time to do.” Additionally, while school counselors are tasked with serving the entire student body, the CCTC can target learners who need more support in developing and pursuing a postsecondary plan.

The CCTC’s roster (caseload) is capped at 300 learners and is often generated by targeting first-generation college students, learners who are economically challenged and English learners (ELs). Danielle believes that most families have a need for additional support, however, as admission processes and post-secondary options have changed drastically in the last 20 years. Learners generally begin working with a CCTC in their junior year (11th grade) and continue working with the CCTC through their first postsecondary year. 

A typical week for a CCTC could involve a wide variety of activities including career exploration field trips, coordinating career expo events, college campus visits, apprenticeship tours, working with military recruiters, a parent FAFSA night, individual student meetings, teaching a “How College Works” class, paperwork for concurrent enrollment, connecting with Iowa Intermediary Network or work-based learning coordinators, helping learners with test preparation, small group meetings, and meetings with families which could include helping them to complete FAFSA or other paperwork.

State Role in Striving for Consistency in Scale

In order to create consistency and alignment with the general role and responsibilities of CCTCs across the state, the Iowa Department of Education brought on Erica Wood-Schmitz, a former school counselor who has first-hand experience working alongside a CCTC, to oversee the CCTC program as Education Program Consultant: Academic and Career Planning.

To further increase consistency and alignment across the state, the CCTC Steering Committee, which Erica oversees, was formed and is comprised of community college supervisors, representatives from the Iowa Department of Education, school counselors, representatives from local districts, Iowa College Aid and AEA PREP. 

The CCTC Steering Committee created a standard job description of the CCTC including clearly defined roles and responsibilities. Additionally, the CCTC Steering Committee created competency statements that would guide the training of the CCTCs. Realizing the need for a greater voice from the CCTCs themselves, a CCTC Leadership Team, comprised of CCTCs from the field, was formed to help create the training plan and to inform the competencies, roles and responsibilities.

Qualifications and Training

At the inception of the state-level CCTC Initiative, a CCTC was required to have a master’s degree with a license or endorsement in school counseling. This is still the preferred education requirement, however, in order to better meet demand, those with a related master’s or a bachelor’s degree are now eligible. If a partnership will require the CCTC to teach a college success course, they must have a master’s degree.

To best train and meet the individual learning needs of the CCTCs, the CCTC Initiative uses a cohort model. Currently, there are three cohorts:

CCTCs create their own Individual Learning Plan (ILP) relative to their districts’ needs and receive support from the CCTC Leadership Team and Erica. They attend a two-day training held in August for cultural competency development, data and goal setting. Iowa College Aid plays a large role in providing training and resources for the CCTCs.

Funding

To incentivize and help districts and community colleges create a CCTC program, the Iowa Department of Education has used its Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act Reserve Funds (Perkins Reserve Funds) to create a three-year tiered grant for which CCTC partnership schools can apply. The districts split the cost of the shared CCTC with the community college, estimated to be $65,000-75,000 annually with benefits. The tiered grant is structured as follows:

School districts may also be able to access operational sharing dollars and federal grants to help fund the CCTC program. To continue to scale the initiative the 15 community colleges across Iowa received federal grant funding to add 15 new CCTCs for the 2023-2024 school year bringing the state total over 50.

Challenges

There are some challenges that the CCTCs have faced that create additional barriers to serving the learners on their roster. 

Considerations and Recommendations

For states that may be interested in trying to create their own CCTC initiative, Iowa State CTE Director Dennis Harden emphasized the importance of building relationships between local districts and community colleges. Dennis shared that it is Iowa’s strong dual and concurrent enrollment programs that laid the foundation for these relationships and the early success of the CCTC Initiative.

Dennis along with Erica Woods-Schmitz, David Ford and Danielle Sampson have the following recommendations for those considering starting a CCTC program:

For more information on Iowa’s College and Career Transition Counselor Initiative, please visit the following resources:

Jodi Langelotti, Communications Associate

By Layla Alagic in Public Policy
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NASDCTEc Launches Common Career Technical Core Alignment Study Across States

Thursday, January 24th, 2013

This week, the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium (NASDCTEc) launched an alignment study to compare the Common Career Technical Core (CCTC) against state Career Technical Education (CTE) standards. The goal of the study is to assist states and territories in their effort to improve the quality of CTE programs. NASDCTEc is partnering with Global Skills Exchange (GSX) and The Center on Education and Training for Employment (CETE) at The Ohio State University (OSU) to conduct the alignment study.

The CCTC is a state-led initiative to establish a set of rigorous, high-quality standards for CTE that states can adopt voluntarily. The CCTC, released in June 2012, was informed by state and industry standards and developed by a diverse group of teachers, business and industry experts, administrators and researchers.

The CCTC includes a set of standards for each of the 16 Career Clustersâ„¢ and supporting career pathways that encompass a comprehensive collection of industry-validated expectations of what students should know and be able to do after completing instruction in a program of study. The CCTC also includes an overarching set of Career Ready Practices that apply to all 16 Career Clustersâ„¢. The Career Ready Practices include 12 statements that address the knowledge, skills and dispositions that are important to becoming career ready.

NASDCTEc plans to publicly release the results of the alignment study in October 2013 during the fall membership meeting.

About NASDCTEc’s Partners

GSX was founded in 2003 to create a link between the world of work and the world of learning. Within education, GSX provides comprehensive solutions for educational institutions that strengthen the preparation of all students to meet the skills demand in the market economy. In collaboration with partners from industry and government, GSX develops solutions to drive the achievement of various student performance goals including college entry and completion, industry-based certification, gainful employment and career advancement. Using the context of regional labor market projections, GSX creates programmatic relevance for local K-16 education systems that prepares students to master skills in real time and for future demand. To learn more about GSX, visit <http://www.gskillsxchange.com>.

OSU CETE is one of the United States’ leading institutions for workforce and career technical education and training. Established in 1965, CETE is a full-service organization whose mission is to facilitate workforce improvement by providing leadership, curriculum, information, professional development, program evaluation, and learner assessment products and services for public and private clients throughout the world. To learn more about OSU CETE, visit <http://www.cete.org>.

 Erin Uy, Communications & Marketing Manager

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By admin in Uncategorized
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NASDCTEc Unveils Common Standards for Career Technical Education

Tuesday, June 19th, 2012

Career Technical Education (CTE) State Directors unveiled the Common Career Technical Core (CCTC), a shared set of high-quality CTE standards. The CCTC is a state-led initiative to ensure that CTE programs are consistent and high-quality across our nation.

“Career Technical Education State Directors have put to action their vision for all CTE programs to meet consistent and rigorous standards by coordinating the development of the Common Career Technical Core,” said Dr. Patrick Ainsworth, President of the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium and CTE State Director.

“The CCTC, which was developed with input from education and industry experts, will help to ensure that our nation’s students are poised to meet the education and workforce demands of the global economy.”

States may voluntarily adopt the CCTC, which will complement and support other comprehensive college and career ready standards, such as the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in English Language Arts and mathematics.

Over the course of the next year, NASDCTEc will launch an initiative to coordinate a comprehensive gap analysis to compare each state’s current course-level standards against the CCTC program-level standards to determine alignment. The gap analysis will be conducted by a team of third-party experts to ensure quality and consistency across the states.

DOWNLOAD the CCTC Standards here. 

Erin Uy, Communications & Marketing Manager

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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NASDCTEc Will Unveil the Common Standards for CTE at National Career Clustersâ„¢ Institute on June 19

Thursday, June 14th, 2012

The National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium (NASDCTEc) will release the Common Career Technical Core (CCTC) — a set of rigorous, high-quality CTE standards to be shared by states– at the National Career Clusters â„¢ Institute  on June 19, 2012.

Forty-two states, Washington, DC and Palau participated in the development of the CCTC. The development of the CCTC was a multi-step process that incorporated input at various stages from approximately 3,500 individuals representing K-12 education, business and industry and higher education from across the nation.

Who:  National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium

What: Common Career Technical Core Unveiling

Where:   National Career Clusters ™ Institute at the Omni Shore, located at 2500 Calvert Street NW,  Washington, DC 20008

When:  Tuesday, June 19, 8 a.m. – 9 a.m.

The Institute is an annual summer event that offers a range of seminars and workshops highlighting model CTE programs across the country that are aligned to the National Career Clusters Framework™.  More than 800 secondary and postsecondary educators and administrators, workforce development and industry partners, and counselors will attend. The NASDCTEc Spring Meeting, an event in which CTE State Directors from across the nation convene to discuss public policy issues, will run concurrently with the Institute.

Media interested in attending the Institute or scheduling an interview should contact Erin Uy at euy@careertech.org or 301-641-9358.

 

Erin Uy, Communications & Marketing Manager

By admin in Advance CTE Announcements, News
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NASDCTEc Collects More than 1,700 Reviews of Common CTE Standards, Moving Development Forward

Thursday, May 31st, 2012

More  than 1,700 reviews  of the Common Career Technical Core (CCTC), a shared set of rigorous, high-quality Career Technical Education (CTE) standards, were submitted during the recent public comment phase. Input on the CCTC was collected from a broad range of CTE stakeholders, including educators, administrators, and business and industry representatives.

“Career Technical Education (CTE) leaders believed it was critical to engage leading experts in the education, industry and technical fields to help develop and validate CTE standards that truly reflect the timely education and workforce needs of today’s global economy,“ Dr. Dean Folkers, Deputy Executive Director of the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium (NASDCTEc).

“The robust participation by a broad range of CTE stakeholders demonstrates the desire to develop standards that prepare our students for the future.”

NASDCTEc is coordinating the CCTC initiative. Forty-two states, Washington, DC and Palau participated in the development of the CCTC.

The development of the CCTC was a multi-step process that incorporated input at various stages from approximately 3,500 individuals representing K-12 education, business and industry and higher education from across the nation.  The public comment period ran from April 30 – May 11, 2012 and was an opportunity for CTE stakeholders to participate in the development of the CCTC.

The final standards are slated for public release at the National Career Clusters ™ Institute  on June 19, 2012. Click here and learn more about the CCTC online or visit www.careertech.org.

By admin in Uncategorized
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REMINDER: Final Week for Public Input on Common State Standards for CTE

Tuesday, May 8th, 2012

The National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium (NASDCTEc) is seeking public input on the Common Career Technical Core (CCTC), a set of shared state standards for Career Technical Education (CTE) designed to help ensure all CTE students have access to high-quality, rigorous, career-focused learning opportunities in every state, and every community across the nation.

The public comment period ends this Friday, May 11, 2012. All CTE stakeholders, including educators, administrators, and industry are urged to provide input by using the CCTC Public Comment webpage at: <http://www.careertech.org/career-technical-education/cctc/publiccomment.html>. More detailed guidelines about submitting feedback, as well as direct links to each set of standards can be found on the webpage.

Additional details about the CCTC can be found online at: <http://www.careertech.org/career-technical-education/cctc/> or by emailing Dean Folkers, Deputy Executive Director at: dfolkers@careertech.org.

Erin Uy, Communications & Marketing Manager

By admin in Uncategorized
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Forty-One States and DC Declare Support for Development of Shared Set of CTE Standards

Monday, March 26th, 2012

NASDCTEc announced today that state leaders from across the nation are uniting to spearhead an initiative to develop a Common Career Technical Core (CCTC), a set of shared state standards for Career Technical Education (CTE).

NASDCTEc  is coordinating the state-led effort, which will complement and support comprehensive college and career ready standards, such as the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSI) in English Language Arts and Mathematics. The CCTC will build a common connection among states to help prepare CTE students for high-skill, high-wage, and high-demand jobs. Forty-one states; Washington, DC and Palau have signed a declaration of support for the CCTC initiative, pledging their involvement in the development stage.

A range of stakeholders from business and industry to educators will be involved in the multi-step process to develop the CCTC. The development of the standards will be led by working groups made up of state-nominated experts from a variety of sectors. Their involvement will help ensure that the CCTC reflects the timely education and workforce needs of today’s global economy.

The working groups convened for the first time this week. Later in the spring, NASDCTEc will seek public comment on the draft standards. Final standards are scheduled for public release in June 2012, at which point states will move individually to adopt and implement the CCTC.

Erin Uy, Communications & Marketing Manager

By admin in Advance CTE Announcements, Advance CTE State Director, News
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