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Governors Celebrate and Commit to Advancing CTE in 2020 State of the State Addresses

Monday, February 10th, 2020

Over 35 Governors have delivered their State of the State Addresses, presenting their policy agendas for 2020 to their state legislatures. Many of these governors used this opportunity to highlight successes related to Career Technical Education (CTE) and to make commitments that would help to advance the field.

Many governors leveraged their State of the State Addresses to address CTE funding. In Maine, Governor Janet Mill acknowledged that there has not been significant funding for CTE program equipment since 1998 and asked the Maine Legislature to fund equipment upgrades for CTE programs. In Iowa, Governor Kim Reynolds celebrated expanding high-school registered apprenticeships and proposed $1 million in funding for work-based learning coordinators. Governor Doug Ducey also called for more CTE related funding in Arizona, proposing funding for CTE trade programs aligned with high-demand careers.

Other governors celebrated their states’ work-based learning efforts. In Colorado, Governor Jared Polis celebrated his administration’s expansion of apprenticeships. Similarly, in Tennessee, Governor Bill Lee recognized the new investments in youth apprenticeships launched by the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development. In Virginia, Governor Ralph Northam noted the role apprenticeship programs play in helping Virginians develop skills needed for careers.

Governors also used the State of the State Addresses to announce and celebrate initiatives. In New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy proposed Jobs NJ, which aims to align the state’s education system to meet workforce needs and address racial equity gaps in the workforce. In Washington, Governor Jay Inslee celebrated the state’s Career Connect Learning initiative, which was launched in 2017 to connect Washington youth to career-connected learning opportunities aligned with in-demand, high-wage careers.

In total, more than 16 governors celebrated or made commitments to foster CTE in their states during their State of the State Addresses. Advance CTE will continue to monitor the State of the State Addresses as they happen for their relevance to CTE.

Brianna McCain, Policy Associate

By admin in Public Policy
Tags: Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Maine, New Jersey, State of the State Addresses, tennessee, Virginia, washington

Report Examines State Strategies to Increase Qualified High School Teachers for Dual Enrollment Programs

Tuesday, July 3rd, 2018

Dual enrollment programs can ease students’ transitions from high school to postsecondary institutions as they continue along their desired programs of study, while also decreasing the cost of postsecondary education by allowing students to earn college credits while in high school. For the college credit earned through dual enrollment programs to be recognized, high school teachers must be qualified to teach college-level courses. As the availability of dual enrollment programs continue to increase, so have concerns about the qualifications of high school dual enrollment program teachers.

To understand the current landscape of policies impacting the quality of dual enrollment instructors, the Midwestern Higher Education Compact and the Education Commission the States released a report that summarizes state policies for dual enrollment instructors, regional accreditation organizations’ faculty policies and state strategies to increase the supply of qualified high school teachers for dual enrollment programs.

The report found that criteria for qualifying Career Technical Education (CTE) instructors are mentioned in state-level policies in eight states (Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, Virginia). Dual enrollment teacher qualification policies are generally related to education attainment level, but exemptions are sometimes made for CTE dual enrollment instructors. In some of these cases, states allow exemption from qualification rules when instructors can demonstrate proficiency in the field they will teach and consider industry recognized credentials and years of experience working in the field when determining teacher qualifications.

These exemptions and considerations are necessary to provide a pipeline of quality CTE dual enrollment instructors that can provide real-world perspectives and industry expert knowledge to students to equip them with the skills to be successful in an ever evolving workforce. Flexible requirements that still ensure that teachers have the relevant qualifications are necessary to address the shortage of qualified CTE instructors.

The report outlined seven strategies, such as offering financial aid for high school instructors to complete graduate credits, states are using to increase the supply of high school instructors qualified to teach in dual enrollment programs. These strategies are meant to incentivise professional development, coordinate and promote credentialing efforts and increase awareness of graduate program options.

These strategies, partnered with those outlined in Advance CTE’s brief about strengthening the rural CTE teacher pipeline and report about increasing access to industry experts in high school, provide policymakers and stakeholders with actions to address the CTE dual enrollment teacher shortage while also ensuring quality instruction for learners.

Advance CTE will continue to monitor policies that impact the pipeline of quality CTE dual enrollment instructors.

Brianna McCain, Policy Associate

By admin in Uncategorized
Tags: Colorado, Illinois, kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Virginia

And They’re Off! Early ESSA Plans Signal Enthusiasm for Career Readiness

Thursday, April 6th, 2017

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), reauthorized in 2015 under President Obama, affords states great opportunity to promote career readiness by updating state accountability systems, providing supports for teachers and leaders, and ensuring students can access a “well-rounded education,” including opportunities such as Career Technical Education (CTE). With the first submission window for ESSA plans now officially open, several states have stepped up to the plate, signaling a new era of career readiness.

Amid Transitions in Washington, States Move Forward as Planned

This week’s submission window comes after recent changes to the ESSA plan submission process threatened to derail the timeline. After Congress exercised its rarely-used Congressional Review Act authority earlier this year to revoke certain ESSA regulations, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos urged states to stay the course and continue their implementation efforts as planned. Earlier in March, Sec. DeVos released an updated template reorganizing the structure of the state plan and eliminating a few requirements from the Obama administration’s version, providing additional flexibility to states. While this reduced the turnaround time for states to prepare their final plans, states are permitted to submit plans as late as May 3 to provide the governor 30 days to review the final version, as required by statute.

States took these changes in stride, though some are reconsidering their approach to public data reporting. The accountability regulations repealed by Congress earlier this year encouraged the use of a “summative rating” to differentiate school performance. Now that the rule no longer applies, many states are rolling back A-F school report cards in favor of multi-measure dashboards. These changes are largely a response to criticism from local superintendents and other stakeholders who claim that summative reporting is overly simplistic and fails to provide a nuanced picture of school quality.

At Least Ten of First Eighteen States to Count Career Readiness in their Accountability Systems

Eighteen states have signaled they will submit ESSA plans during the initial review window, which opened on April 3. Of those, nine have already submitted plans to the U.S. Department of Education. While Montana and Ohio originally opted to submit by the April 3 deadline, they have since delayed their plans to allow more time for stakeholder engagement. They, along with the remaining states, will submit in September.

A review of draft public-comment plans reveals some promising strategies to strengthen CTE and career preparation opportunities. Of the 18 states submitting plans this week, at least ten plan to use some form of career readiness indicator in their accountability systems. These include:

Connecticut, which plans to adopt three measures of college and career readiness, including preparation for coursework, preparation for exams and postsecondary entry. These measures examine preparation for two-and four-year colleges as well as participation and success in CTE courses and workforce experiences.

Michigan, where policymakers exceeded federal requirements and identified a total of seven different indicators (ESSA requires five). Under the state’s plan, the accountability system will measure “Advanced Coursework,” to include successful completion of dual enrollment, middle early college, CTE, Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate coursework. The Advanced Coursework indicator, along with other non-academic indicators, will together be weighted at 14 percent of the total score.

Nevada, which aims to adopt a “College and Career Readiness” indicator measuring ACT assessment scores, completion of college credit bearing coursework (AP, IB and dual enrollment) and industry-recognized credential attainment. That indicator will make up 25 percent of the state’s overall accountability score.

Other states such as Colorado plan to adopt additional indicators a later date once better systems have been developed to reliably collect and report data. Colorado plans to convene its accountability workgroup again this spring and will explore possible measures of career readiness, including completion of advanced coursework, students graduating with college credit or an industry credential, and post-graduation employment.

Additional career readiness strategies are present throughout state draft plans. In North Dakota, state policymakers singled out ESSA’s “well-rounded education” requirements to promote CTE, competency-based learning, personalized learning and Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math (STEAM) programs. The state plans to use ESSA’s Student Support and Academic Achievement Grants (authorized under Title IV Part A) to strengthen well-rounded education opportunities and prepare students for postsecondary success.

And in Maine, the Department of Education plans to continue its ongoing Intersections Workshops, which bring together academic and CTE teachers to identify intersections across different content standards. This work was originally started after the state adopted a competency-based education system in 2012.

The first round of state ESSA plans indicates enthusiasm and willingness to leverage federal policy to support career readiness. And even states that do not currently have the technical capacity to do so are taking steps to adopt such measures. With months remaining until the second submission deadline in September, we encourage states to examine ESSA’s increased flexibility and seize the opportunity to strengthen career readiness systems statewide.

Austin Estes, Policy Associate

By admin in Legislation, News, Public Policy
Tags: accountability, Betsy DeVos, Connecticut, ESSA, Every Student Succeeds Act, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, North Dakota, Well-rounded Education

Getting to Know … Maine

Monday, November 21st, 2016

Note: This is part of Advance CTEâ€™s blog series, â€œGetting to Know â€¦â€ We are using this series to help our readers learn more about specific states, State CTE Directors, partners and more.

State Name: MaineÂ maine dept of ed

State CTE Director: Margaret Harvey, Director of Career Technical Education, Maine Department of Education

About Maine: In Maine, the state Board of Education is the eligible agency that receives and distributes federal Carl D. Perkins dollars. These funds are split evenly between the secondary and postsecondary sectors. At the secondary level, state law requires all students to be able to access CTE programs, which they can do through one of 27 CTE instructional facilities. There are two types of facilities: CTE Centers, which are administered by local education agencies, and CTE Regions, which are governed by a cooperative board representing districts in the region. Since Maine does not have comprehensive high schools, students receive academic instruction through their sending high schools and CTE instruction through CTE Centers or Regions.

Additionally, Maine has a proficiency-based graduation system that enables students to receive a secondary diploma by demonstrating competencies aligned with the Maine Learning Results standards. Earlier this year, the legislature updated the policy to enable CTE classes to satisfy some of the proficiency-based graduation requirements, considerably increasing the opportunity for secondary students to pursue CTE courses. Maine is further working to integrate technical and academic standards through CTE Intersections Workshops, which convene CTE, math and English Language Arts teachers to discuss intersections in their curricula. By 2017, the state aims to have completed intersections for 11 program pathways.

Maine recently revamped their teacher certification requirements to enable more business and industry experts to enter the classroom. They also adopted a regional calendar law to ensure students could attain the industry recognized credentials available in their programs.

Postsecondary Counterpart: Maine secondary and postsecondary CTE institutions maintain a close partnership to enable students to have a smooth transition to postsecondary education. Maine secondary CTE also communicates with the Maine Department of Labor to create pre-apprenticeships and mentorships for Maine students.

Programs of Study (POS): Maine has adopted ten Career ClustersÂ® and 25 related pathways at the state level, and local schools and districts are able to develop their own programs based on these frameworks. Programs must be aligned to national- or state-certified industry standards and undergo an approval process by the state Department of Education, including review by an industry stakeholder group. Each program is reviewed by the Department of Education every six years, with an abbreviated review every three, though local CTE administrators conduct more routine program assessments through required Program Advisory Committees (PAC) and Center Advisory Committees (CAC). These committees review programs regularly to ensure they continue to meetÂ industry standards and local industry needs.

Notable in Maine: The state has made efforts in recent years to support the transition from secondary to postsecondary through statewide articulation agreements and the Bridge Year program. Four statewide articulation agreements â€” in culinary arts, electrical, machine tool and, soon, auto technology programs â€” enable students to apply credits earned in high school towards a postsecondary degree at one of Maineâ€™s public colleges and/or universities. Additionally, Maine encourages school districts to enter into their own articulation and dual enrollment agreements with corresponding community colleges, universities, and private postsecondary institutions to ensure students have a seamless pathway.

The Bridge Year program is a cohort-based early college program that starts during the junior year of high school. Bridge Year is designed to prepare students for college and careers through technical instruction, career assessments and advising, job shadowing experiences and dual credit coursework. In 2013, the state legislature passed a law to provide funding for dual enrollment CTE programs such as Bridge Year and enable students to earn high school diplomas and postsecondary credit through such programs. In the 2015-16 academic year, 224 students were enrolled in Bridge Year and were projected to earn 3,360 postsecondary credits.

Moving forward, Maine plans to take advantage of the stateâ€™s new proficiency-based graduation requirements to promote the benefits of CTE and encourage and allow more students to enroll.

Austin Estes, Policy Associate

By admin in Uncategorized
Tags: Bridge Year, Career ClustersÂ®, Maine, Proficiency-based Education, programs of study

CTE Research Review: Leveraging CTE within Competency-Based Education

Thursday, August 20th, 2015

A new brief from Achieve and NASDCTEc argues that states can and should leverage CTE when considering how to move K-12 education toward a system marked by mastery, not time. The paper, â€œBuilding a Strong Relationship between Competency-Based Pathways and Career Technical Education,â€ identifies the opportunities for collaboration and strengthened relationships as well the challenges of creating an integrated system.

Competency-based pathways (CBP) have the potential to open new opportunities for students to learn and demonstrate their learning in meaningful ways. To do this, students should be able to access engaging learning opportunities that are grounded in application and relevant to their career goals â€“ a central focus of CTE. This is why state leaders should consider how to ensure that CBP and CTE systems are aligned and mutually reinforcing.

In fact, states that intentionally include CTE in their vision for CBP can use its inherently competency-based elements to help break down the classroom walls that separate academics from CTE, and by doing so, can value learning where it happens and create opportunities for teachers to collaborate and innovate.

Leverage points can include:

Contextualized learning environments for all students
Self-directed pathways anchored in studentsâ€™ career interests and inclusive of the full breadth of college- and career-ready knowledge and skills
High quality experiential learning opportunities
Project-based learning as a platform for instruction
CTE as a component of assessments to authentically measure student learning

The brief also offers key points of consideration for states moving toward an integrated CBP system:

Incorporating CTE at the outset helps break down the historical silos that still exist within the education system
Ensuring equitable student access to high quality CBP across CTE areas
Building capacity for districts, schools and educators to transition to an integrated CBP system
Overcoming data and reporting challenges to capture student proficiency where it happens, especially when it happens beyond the traditional school walls
Recognizing that some elements of CTE programs are still beholden to time
Crafting a thorough, well-executed communications plan to build buy-in and understanding

The brief includesÂ state examples from Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Read more about how states are implementing CBP here.

Andrea Zimmermann, State Policy Associate

By admin in Research
Tags: Achieve, Colorado, competency-based education, Connecticut, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oregon, rhode island, Vermont

CTE Research Review

Wednesday, October 29th, 2014

As talk of data increasingly dominates education and employment conversations across the country, 37 states are working to track the employment outcomes of participants in education and workforce programs, according to a new report from the Workforce Data Quality Campaign (WDQC).

WDQC promotes a 13-point state blueprint for inclusive, aligned and market-relevant education and workforce data systems that identifies key features of high-quality data infrastructure to provide useful information for policymakers, educators, employers and more. NASDCTEc is a WDQC partner.

The report surveyed 40 states and the District of Columbia aboutÂ their progress implementing the 13 indicators including:

Expanding use of labor market information;
Assessing employment outcomes;
Counting industry-recognized credentials;
Including all students and pathways; and
Ensuring data access and appropriate use.

The results found a majority of states had achieved or were progressing toward establishing cross-agency councils to oversee statewide data collection, capturing employment outcomes such as graduatesâ€™ employment status and cross-state data sharing, and creating scorecards for students and workers. More than half of states, however, reported not having starting initiatives related to industry-recognized credentials such as increasing the range of credentials being counted or developing a process for industry validation of credentials.

WDQC highlighted several standout states such as Utah, Maryland, Florida, North Carolina and Maine. Be sure to check out the report for many more outstanding state examples.

WDQC will host a webinar on Thursday, Nov. 6, to discuss the report and highlight the work being done to connect and use workforce data in Utah and Indiana.

Catching Up With … State Legislatures (Part 3)

Thursday, June 26th, 2014

Editorâ€™s Note: This is part of a series that will highlight some of this yearâ€™s major state legislative activity as it relates to Career Technical Education (CTE). Further explanation of the series can be found here and the previous installments here and here. For a comprehensive look-back at the 2013 legislative sessions, check out the â€œ2013 CTE Year in Review,â€ which was published jointly by NASDCTEc and theÂ Association for Career and Technical EducationÂ in March.

Workforce development received a lot of attention from state legislatures this spring as lawmakers across the country created new apprenticeship programs, and called on state workforce boards, businesses and education entities to collaborate in order better address local labor market needs and skills gaps.

Apprenticeships, Career Pathways and Tax Credits

Several states created or expanded their apprenticeship programs in an effort to create a stronger pipeline of skilled talent in specific fields. Both Indiana and Connecticut seized on tax credits as a means to encourage businesses to offer qualified apprenticeships.

In Indiana, school districts and charter schools can now receive grants to support career pathways for high-wage, high-demand jobs that require an industry-recognized credential and includes a cooperative agreement with a business. Also, an employer that hires a student who has completed such program is eligible for a tax credit. Indiana also set aside an additional $5 million for its Pathways for Academic Career and Employment, a program first started in 2013 to provide partnerships between community colleges, industry and nonprofits.

Iowa Governor Terry Branstadâ€™s proposed apprenticeship program also passed the legislature, committing about $6 million for the Apprenticeship Training Program Fund and a job training program.

Sector Partnerships, Alignment and Coordination

Several state legislatures directed their workforce investment boards and other entities to determine local and regional workforce needs and to better align their work with counterparts in education and commerce.

In Alabama, the stateâ€™s workforce board was allocated $4.3 million for regions to determine local skill needs, develop seamless educational pathways and align funding with identified local workforce needs. The law also sets aside $600,000 for career coaches and an additional $200,000 for regional leadership planning efforts. In a separate bill, the state also created a workforce council to promote industry-focused coordination between businesses and its P-12 and higher education systems.

Kentucky lawmakers required the stateâ€™s Office of Education and Workforce Statistics to gather and disseminate employment and earnings data of public, postsecondary graduates. Meanwhile Oregonian lawmakers passed a bill to define â€œa robust and effective workforce systemâ€ by promoting coordination and collaboration of the stateâ€™s employment, economic development, job training services and education sectors â€“ in particular community colleges and public and private universities.

Connecticutâ€™s manufacturing industry received a boost from the state legislature through the new Manufacturing Innovation Fund, which can be used to support public and private education and training programs.

States also called upon their workforce boards, education systems and businesses to create sector partnerships in order to better provide industry-driven career pathways and address local and regional skills gaps.

Andrea Zimmermann, State Policy Associate

By admin in Legislation, Public Policy
Tags: Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Oregon

State CTE Policy Updates: July Edition Part Two

Wednesday, July 31st, 2013

This past month, a number of states have adopted or implemented policies related to Career Technical Education (CTE). Below is a part two of Julyâ€™s state policy updates, all of which focus on dual enrollment or postsecondary CTE. You can read part one here.

Educational Collaborative Partnership in Maine
Maine passed legislation creating a collaborative board â€“ with representatives from secondary and postsecondary CTE â€“ to implement a program by 2014-15 that will enable more CTE students to earn college credit through dual enrollment while still enrolled in high school. Specifically, the state defines â€œdual enrollment career and technical education programâ€ as a non-duplicative learning pathway that begins in junior year, extends over a three-year period, includes summer career academies and a college freshman seminar experiences, meets national concurrent enrollment standards, includes college-level coursework that supports an associateâ€™s degree, and concludes at the end of the summer following the studentâ€™s senior year. While the agreements are made between institutions, there are opportunities for credits to be accepted across the state.

Dual Enrollment in Rhode Island
Rhode Island passed the Dual Enrollment Equal Opportunity Act this month requiring the State Board of Education to create regulation establishing statewide dual enrollment. The regulation must allow students to enroll in courses at postsecondary institutions that satisfy academic credit requirements at both the secondary and postsecondary level (it is unclear at this time if CTE courses will fall under this distinction of â€œacademic creditâ€.) The State Board of Education is expected to convene a work group to help establish such a policy, including its impact on funding, and then school districts (including charter school and CTE schools) will have to adopt the policy by June 2015. Districts will then be required to report annually on the number of students engaging in dual enrollment and number of postsecondary credits earned. The bill is effective immediately.

Missouriâ€™s Innovation Education Campuses
Missouri passed SB 381 establishing the Innovation Education Campus Fund, supporting partnerships between high schools or K-12 districts, public or private four-year institutions of high education, public two-year institutions of higher education, and/or Missouri-based businesses. The campuses engaging in such partnerships are eligible to receive funds if they are actively working to lower the cost of degree and shorten the time to earning a degree, provide applied and project-based learning in consultation with the business and industry partners, graduate students with direct access to career opportunities, and engage in active partnerships in ongoing program development and outcome reviews.

Kate Blosveren, Associate Executive Director

By Kate Blosveren Kreamer in Public Policy, Uncategorized
Tags: dual enrollment, Maine, Missouri, rhode island, state CTE policy update

CTE in the News: Maine Governor Proposes Expansion of CTE, Education Reform

Friday, February 10th, 2012

As part of a string of education proposals intended to provide the broadest scope of opportunities for students, Maine Gov. Paul LePageâ€™s is pitching a plan to enhance Career Technical Education (CTE), according to a recent Morning Sentinel article.

The governorâ€™s proposed legislation calls for better articulation between CTE Centers, and high schools and community colleges, to ensure that students earn academic credits and workforce credentials that are transferable. His CTE proposal is outlined as follows:

An Act to Enhance Career and Technical Education

Requires school districts that share a common Career and Technical center to develop a common school calendar with no more than five dissimilar days.
Ensures that the academic credits students earn while attending classes at Career and Technical centers are recognized by their home high schools.
Establishes a process whereby the Maine Community College System will review state and nationally certified programs at the Career and Technical centers and determine the amount of transferrable college credit students can earn by successfully completing them.

The legislation suggests that the governor recognizes how CTE can serve as a pipeline for high school students as they enter college and for college students as they step into the workforce, which has heightened standards for higher education and nationally portable credential.

Erin Uy, Communications and Marketing Manager

By admin in News, Public Policy
Tags: community colleges, Maine, postsecondary, Secondary, workforce

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