programs of study « NASDCTEc Blog

OVAE Announces Goals for 2011-12

Monday, January 3rd, 2011

Last month the Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE) at the U.S. Department of Education announced that in 2011 they will be focused on the several key areas in an effort to link education and economic opportunity. First, OVAE will work to support rigorous programs of study, funded by the Carl D. Perkins Act, that prepare young people for college and careers through postsecondary credentials completion. Second, they will serve 93 million adults in the U.S. whose basic or below-basic literacy levels limit their career opportunities, through funding from WIA Title II and the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act. And finally, OVAE will improve the capacity of community colleges to meet today’s education and labor market demands.

To achieve these ends, OVAE has developed three goals for 2011–12:

1. All youths and adults are ready for, have access to, and complete college and career pathways.

2. All youths and adult students have effective teachers and leaders.

3. All youths and adult students have equitable access to high-quality learning opportunities on demand.

“Enhancing our approach to career and technical education to prepare students for high-growth careers, we are particularly supportive of rigorous, relevant programs of study that span the secondary and postsecondary systems and that apply classroom-based instruction and work-based learning to meet academic, employability, and technical industry standards. This systemic approach relies on partnerships among K–12 schools, institutions of higher education, and employers.”

By Nancy in Public Policy
Tags: career pathways, college and career readiness, community colleges, federal legislation, OVAE, Perkins, programs of study, WIA

NASDCTEc Fall Meeting: OVAE Holds Perkins Listening Session

Friday, November 5th, 2010

The concluding session at last week’s Fall Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland was a listening session on Perkins reauthorization, moderated by Assistant Secretary for Vocational and Adult Education, Brenda Dann-Messier, and Sharon Miller, the director of the Division of Academic and Technical Education. Assistant Secretary Dann-Messier told the attendees that this listening session was going to be the start of a national conversation about Perkins reauthorization. She and her staff plan to host a series of listening sessions that will conclude at NASDCTEc’s Spring meeting in April 2011. She also said OVAE is soliciting feedback and comments from the public about Perkins reauthorization at cteconversations@ed.gov.

The session was structured around four topic areas: Programs of Study, secondary to postsecondary transitions, performance measures, and whether there should be more specific or common measures and definitions, including regulations.

Programs of Study

States questioned how the OVAE 10 component framework would affect the work states have already done in developing and implementing POS
It is appropriate for the federal legislation to encourage transition between learner levels
Many states felt they have been successful in implementing POS, but there have been some obstacles:

o Need to better engage postsecondary, but Perkins does not mandate secondary and postsecondary collaboration

o Need a clear definition of POS

o Not all community colleges offer all POS, so it can be limiting for students

o It is also limiting for students that many four-year colleges do not accept credit from two-year institutions

Secondary to Postsecondary Transitions

There was agreement from many states that articulation agreements help students transition from secondary to postsecondary, but there remain problems that states must overcome:

o Two-year schools are struggling to get four-year schools to accept credit

o Not all states have statewide articulation agreements

o As more and mores students flood into community colleges, there is less of a priority in serving high school students through articulation agreements and dual enrollment

There was some concern about the ability of federal legislation to mandate secondary to postsecondary transitions in some states because of their governance structures, especially if the State Director only has authority over one system (secondary or postsecondary)
Guidance and counseling would help with transitions

Performance Measures

There was some concern from states about several of the current performance measures:

o Academic attainment at secondary level – because students are often tested before 11^th grade (when most students begin CTE), it is tough to the impact of CTE on academic attainment

o Certificate completion at postsecondary level – the results go to the students, and it is hard for states to track this information

o Technical skill attainment at secondary level – this is tough to measure, and is not always appropriate at the secondary level

o Placement at the secondary level – tough to track because of FERPA restrictions on collecting data

Common measures/definitions and regulations

While a handful of states said they would want to head in this direction, it seems unlikely to happen because it would be too tough to accomplish
Other states argued that the drive to make states too similar is the wrong direction to go in

By Nancy in Legislation, Meetings and Events
Tags: accountability, community colleges, Data, dual enrollment, Fall Meeting, federal legislation, OVAE, Perkins, postsecondary, programs of study, Public Policy, School counseling, Secondary, Spring Meeting

Department of Education Announces RPOS Winners

Tuesday, October 5th, 2010

The U.S. Department of Education today announced the six winning states of the Promoting Rigorous Career and Technical Education Programs of Study grants. The grants are aimed at improving state and local development and implementation of rigorous programs of study.Each winning state will develop and implement a program of study in a specific discipline or set of disciplines:

Arizona – education
Kansas – science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)
Maryland – automotive technology
Montana – construction
Utah – health science
Wisconsin – manufacturing

The grants will be awarded for up to four years. Approximately $1.5 million is available for the first year, while funding for years 2 through 4 is subject to the availability of funds and to a grantee meeting the requirements of its grant award. For more information and grant amounts for the first year, please read: http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-department-education-awards-six-state-grants-promote-rigorous-career-and-tech.

By Nancy in Public Policy
Tags: federal grants, funding, OVAE, Perkins, postsecondary, programs of study, Secondary

National Center for Biotechnology Workforce Leads Way to Align Career Pathways in Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Production

Thursday, September 23rd, 2010

The National Center for Biotechnology Workforce (NCBW) at Forsyth Technical Community College, North Carolina and the National Association of Manufacturers have announced plans to jointly develop a highly-skilled and educated 21st century biotechnology and pharmaceutical production workforce.

NCBW educates and enhances the biotech workforce through advocacy, outreach and strategic partnerships with workforce development organizations, community colleges, and the private sector at both the state and national level.

The partners plan to support advancements in career technical education, such as developing community college programs in biotechnology, pharmaceutical production, and medical device manufacturing aligned to industry standards. Press Release

By Ramona in News
Tags: community colleges, programs of study

Health Information Technology Education Grants Awarded

Friday, July 9th, 2010

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded $36 million in grants to five regional community college consortia to develop or improve non-degree health IT training programs that students can complete in six months or less. The grants were funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. These grants will be used to establish or expand programs with the goal of training more than 10,500 new health IT professionals annually by 2012. This goal is in response to President Obama’s healthcare reform initiatives, specifically transitioning to electronic health records by 2014.

The grants will also fund the development of model curriculum materials and technical skill assessments based on validated industry standards. These new HIT careers will provide opportunities for students participating in programs of study in both health science and information technology career clusters.

For a listing of the consortia as well as all the individual participating community colleges and funding levels, please visit HHS’s health IT webpage.

By Nancy in News
Tags: ARRA, community colleges, federal grants, funding, Job training, postsecondary, president, programs of study, Public Policy, technical skills assessments

Dunbar High School Gives Students Competitive Edge

Thursday, July 8th, 2010

Dunbar High School is a magnet school in Fort Myers, Florida which, up until a few years ago, suffered from many of the challenges impacting schools nationwide: decreasing student enrollment, low interest in school, and a risk of minority group isolation. But, new initiatives created a rigorous school curriculum, brought up-to-date equipment to classrooms, galvanized the local business community, and energized students, making learning meaningful, evidenced by performance on statewide assessments. These achievements underscore why Dunbar recently was spotlighted in a report series sponsored by Microsoft Corporation National Career Technical Education Foundation and NCTEF.

Redesigning the High School Experience for College and Career Readiness highlights Dunbar High School’s special feature: Inviting Students to Excellence through Information Technology. Dunbar High School offers 9^th-12^th grade students an immersive clusters-based curriculum, training them with the skills necessary to achieve multiple industry standard technical certifications for careers such as Technical Specialist, Network Engineering, Web Site Designer and more. Dual enrollment credit and AP courses are also offered for students.

Initiatives such as – the Academy for Technology Excellence Program and the Academy for Digital Excellence — have created a new vision for the school: providing a rigorous curriculum that leads to a variety of IT industry certifications, equipping students to compete in our fast-paced, technically sophisticated economy.

The student response has been amazing–students are learning and practicing 21^st century skills in internship experiences with local business and industry partners, and earning industry-recognized credentials through curriculum completion. Partnership with professional associations has proven to be integral to the school’s success. The academy is a certified Microsoft IT Academy; additionally, the CompTIA Education Foundation, Adobe Education, SW Florida Regional Technology Partnership, Association of Information Technology Professionals, SW Florida PC Users Group, and other school districts with IT programs also offer support to the school and are key partners. Testing fees for students are paid for by the School District of Lee County through the Florida Department of Education Perkin’s grant funds.

The Dunbar High School report is fourth in a series produced in collaboration with the NCTEF and Microsoft Corporation’s U.S. Partners in Learning program. The series showcase success stories of high schools that are creating a different kind of learning experience. In these series, Microsoft’s goal is to stimulate positive change in education, and is investing resources to create new 21^st century learning communities, help existing schools such as Dunbar High School transform into 21^st century learning communities, develop skilled and innovative leaders, and increase adoption of innovative learning solutions through scale.

Take a virtual tour of the Dunbar experience through a video: Real Life Heroes: Dunbar High School Academy for Technology Excellence

By Ramona in Publications
Tags: Career Clusters®, college and career readiness, future, programs of study

Institute Report Out: Taking on the Necessary Challenges of Developing a Model Program of Study

Friday, June 25th, 2010

Team representatives from Illinois, New Jersey, Georgia, Oregon and Ohio came together at the Career Clusters Institute last week to share how they met challenges to developing a green-focused program of study. As winners of the Green-Focused Program of Study Technical Assistance Academy, they are pioneers in this endeavor and offer a unique learning opportunity to all who work within an established program of study or are in the process of developing one. Through the challenges they have faced so far, the challenges they anticipate in the future and what they might have done differently, you can find insights into how to take on what is most difficult in developing a model program of study.

Faced Challenges:

Each state had to put together a team of secondary, postsecondary, and business and industry members. While all states were impressed by the enthusiasm they were met with, it was challenging to develop a team this diverse with full participation and collaboration. To meet this challenge, many initially began working to establish a shared language and understanding. For example, a community college understood “program of study” to mean “major”. Working together, the team had to lay a foundation of common meaning.
Understanding what a program of study is in practice, not just on paper. Illinois is developing a tool that will specify evidence necessary for a program of study.
Establishing a strong industry connection. While several states already have strong connections between business and industry and community colleges, they are continuously working to extend these connections to the secondary level. By bringing all respective stakeholders to the table to contribute to the development of the program of study, they are developing a shared language and increasing opportunities to work together.

Anticipated Challenges:

Some states lack statewide articulation agreement policies. For now, work with individual colleges will keep progress moving forward and provide examples to inform a potential statewide agreement.
Implementation of teaching and learning. Where professional development is not centralized, work needs to be done to leverage it for these programs of study.
In some cases with “green”, there is enthusiasm, but no programs. Program development has begun, but in many cases control is at the secondary level. The postsecondary institutions have to adopt the content to continue that program.

What would you have done differently?

Three states indicated they tried to address too many areas and that a narrower focus might have helped move along their progress. However, one state did say that the trying to address so many areas served a purpose. While they do not have green-focused programs of study developed in three different cluster areas, they have broadened their audience, which will potentially help them in the future.
Two states said they would have broadened the initial team participation. Eight to ten people was not enough for the kind of diverse participation and buy-in they needed.

By Emma in Career Clusters®, News
Tags: Career Clusters®, green jobs, programs of study

Institute Report Out: Listening Session with OVAE

Monday, June 21st, 2010

At last week’s Career Clusters Institute representatives from the Office of Vocational and Adult Education held a listening session to hear from stakeholders about the upcoming Perkins reauthorization, scheduled for 2012. The session was centered around three topics: programs of study, Tech Prep and the legislation generally.

Programs of Study

When asked how reauthorized legislation could better connect secondary and postsecondary levels, attendees responded in a variety of ways:

There should be a sequence of courses at the cluster level so that students would have more options when they are in postsecondary. While Perkins is implemented in this way in many places, attendees said that it should be spelled out better in the law.
There should be a better opportunity for students to blend clusters (e.g., healthcare and IT), and POS should be individualized for students to be able to do this.
Students need better access to school counseling.
Dual enrollment should continue to be an option, not a requirement.

Tech Prep

In his budget the President proposed consolidating Tech Prep and the Basic State Grant, and reaction from the attendees was mixed:

Some were afraid that consolidation would lead to Perkins money being used for things other than Tech Prep in the Basic State Grant.
A merged state reported that in their state funding goes to POS, so articulation and collaboration between secondary and postsecondary still occurs.

Perkins Legislation

Finally, OVAE asked what the new Perkins should look like and attendees brought up several areas of focus:

Focus on business and industry
Teacher education programs should focus on CTE
Professional development for teachers and counselors
Emphasis on career academies and small learning communities
Funding to develop a leadership base

By Nancy in Legislation
Tags: career academies, Career Clusters®, dual enrollment, federal legislation, funding, Perkins, programs of study, School counseling

A Tool for Program of Study Improvement: Illinois’ Pathways to Results Initiative

Friday, May 28th, 2010

As the new vision states, CTE is delivered through comprehensive programs of study aligned to the National Career Clusters framework. Because of our commitment to programs of study through Career Clusters, we are always looking for state and local examples. What are states doing with programs of study? Are they using them to address on particular challenges? PTRs Primary Goals

Last week, we heard about one state who asked: what tools can we use to improve programs of study to better prepare our students for college and career?

The State of Illinois responded to this question with Pathways to Results (PTR), an initiative the Office of Community College Research and Leadership presented at a webinar last week. PTR is a tool that can be used in schools to continuously improve programs by identifying areas like inequity and implementing outcomes assessments that encourage the use of data to inform decisions.

PTRs Six Phases The PTR process is structured around six phases, described in this brochure, which also illustrates PTR when applied to programs of study.

The webinar included three panelists who are implementing PTR in at least one program of study at their schools.

PTR impact on Manufacturing (two examples):

With a focus on program improvement and access, the PTR tool allowed schools to determine the necessary changes in curriculum and resources. For example, identifying trends or changes in student demographics can determine how a school would best serve the needs of the students in their program. In one Illinois school, data collection confirmed that women were underrepresented in manufacturing courses, but it also revealed that there was a significantly higher enrollment of special populations who may need specific resources.

With a focus on improving the image and understanding of three programs of study in manufacturing, the PTR tool was used to help focus on relationship building with high schools and production of new materials to increase awareness of available careers in manufacturing.

PTR impact on Health Science:

With a focus on recruitment, the PTR tool helped the school work on application guidelines. Illinois discovered that these guidelines for potential students were confusing, which resulted in misunderstandings and students being delayed a full year. They are in the process of improving the application guideline materials and work with students to prevent any future misunderstandings and delays. They are also using data to compare the numbers of students applying and those who are accepted, information they previously did not have.

Overall, panelists encouraged others to clearly define their improvement goals, to work with others already in the process and to begin by going to www.careerclusters.org for more information.

Click here for more information on Illinois’ PTR initiative and other projects by OCCRL.

By Emma in News
Tags: programs of study, Webinars

ACTE Conference: Career Clusters and Counseling

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

Last week I attended ACTE’s Annual Convention and Career Tech Expo in Nashville, TN. While I was there, I presented a session entitled “Using Career Clusters as a Framework for Successful Counseling.” I was happy to have a turnout of about 25 people, mostly school counselors.

I first addressed some of the challenges facing education today and suggested that career and guidance counseling could offer potential solutions to these problems. Next I turned to the cluster model and talked about how counselors could use cluster interest inventories to help students identify their career interests and then use the pathways models and plans of study to help students figure out which classes to take to reach their goals. Finally, I gave examples of work that schools in Colorado, Nebraska and New Jersey are doing to integrate the clusters framework into their career guidance efforts. During my comments about Delsea Regional High School in New Jersey, I was pleasantly surprised when a woman in the back of the room raised her hand and said that she was from that high school and was working on implementing the very program I was talking about. She took a few minutes and gave the audience more detailed information on how the school is aligning their curriculum and counseling to clusters.

You can download a copy of my slides here.

By Nancy in Career Clusters®
Tags: Career Clusters®, programs of study, School counseling

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