Realizing CTE Without Limits: An Interview with Colorado State CTE Director Dr. Sarah Heath

March 27th, 2024

This month, Advance CTE celebrates the 3 year anniversary of the release of Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of Career Technical Education (CTE Without Limits), supported by over 40 national organizations. As part of the celebration, Advance CTE is highlighting the initiatives, outcomes and lessons learned of current and former states who have participated in technical assistance opportunities to conduct the challenging but necessary work to fully realize the vision in their state. 

Senior Director of Policy Nithya Govindasamy interviewed Colorado State CTE Director Sarah Heath to revisit the impact of technical assistance on realizing a more cohesive, flexible, and responsive career preparation ecosystem. 

How has the CTE Without Limits influenced the mindset and priorities for CTE in your state? 

CTE Without Limits has influenced the mindset and priorities in Colorado in terms of alignment. Our team has examined our goals and determined how we can better serve learners and how we can get learners ready for things that are connected geographically. 

CTE Without Limits has also been central to goals and actions that can be taken to infuse the principles in the Perkins State Plan and strategic plan to ultimately support local leaders and educators. In Colorado, we are trying to connect the principles in the vision and the foundational commitments when evaluating our current goals and the gaps in our goals. We have used it to “check ourselves” and integrated it to support our stakeholder outreach and continue to use it as a bar and checkpoint.

What do you consider your state’s most impactful work in progress as a result of the CTE Without Limits vision? 

For Colorado, the most impactful work has occurred in our equity-centered work, specifically empowering locals through the Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment (CLNA) and tying it to CTE Without Limits through the Opportunity Gap Analysis (OGA). In particular, we’ve focused on sub-populations indicators and “checking ourselves” to ensure we were not being too generic in measuring success. Principle 2: Each learner feels welcome in, is supported by, and has the means to succeed in the career preparation ecosystem, pushed us to identify tangible tools to help locals; it also pushed our state team to view data differently and get comfortable with data. Tools like the heat map ease people into the work without the “equity stigma”. 

We are also using tools to analyze local performance and to inform local decision making. For example the OGA data was linked to school performance frameworks and school finance to show the intersections. We are training principals and need to train middle-management leaders in our schools to help them to make data-driven decisions to help all learners be successful. 

In Colorado, working directly with locals to be more impactful has been a priority. We held a session about this work at CACTA (Colorado Association for Career and Technical Administrators, the Admin Division of ACTE in Colorado), where the designated CTE Directors attend for each district and they are empowered to engage the principals. Rural school districts are supported by Boards of Cooperative Educational Services or BOCES (typically fiscal agents for Perkins) and each have a Superintendent Council, so our team has taken the opportunity to use their meeting structure and support to offer more CTE services. 

Additionally, Colorado has taken a “near-peer approach” and is leveraging the relationships with the BOCES and helping the state team connect with local leaders who are not always the designated CTE Director. The Colorado CTE Team is also reflecting on their experiences to ensure the best presenter or connector is available to support these cohorts. For example, the state Program Director for Agriculture, Natural Resources and Energy was a principal in a rural school district prior to being on the Colorado CTE Team so it makes perfect sense to connect her to projects where we are expanding the knowledge of our local principals in how to connect CTE data to their school performance data and goal setting.  

Colorado participated in the inaugural cohort to provide vision-related technical assistance to states. What is one part of that work (highlighted here) that you have been able to build upon over the past year, and how?

Of the work highlighted in last year’s blog, we focused on Goal 3: “Building Local Leader Data Literacy: Leverage Advance CTE’s Opportunity Gap Analysis (OGA) process to increase data literacy of local CTE administrators and educators and in doing so improve data-focused storytelling of learners’ outcome and identification of program participation and success gaps.” In order to increase the data literacy of locals and teachers, we are offering professional development with a panel of local CTE directors. We are using the CLNA and OGA for action planning, and conducted needs assessment in-person during a statewide CTE roadshow. 

In terms of what is next for us, we are intentionally incorporating learner voice into our work. We are focused on “how are we empowering local leaders and their data literacy” and helping them with storytelling. For example, our CTE concentrator graduation rate is 98% while our overall Colorado high school graduation rate is 83%. Elevating these data points and integrating into our storytelling on the local level will assist in destigmatizing CTE. CTE is being seen all over Colorado as a new strategic move in high school education. We are seeing Designed Career and Technical high schools being built in school districts who market their four-year college going culture.  We are seeing most districts “up” their CTE programs and want to better serve learners across the board by offering multiple off ramps from industry credentials, Apprenticeship, and college credit.

We’ve been able to engage with families by going to the PTA conference and enhancing their data literacy. We are working with the entire ecosystem to empower local leaders, administrators, principals, parents/guardians, family members and learners and “empower” local communities by equipping them with better information to make more informed decisions. We are also helping connect education to the overall ecosystem through regional level conversations about industry needs and alignment. 

What resources or support has been most helpful in moving this work and mindset forward? 

For the Colorado team, the technical assistance and the actual resources, such as the Pushing the Limits Roadmap, has been the most helpful. We have used this resource to develop goals, to conduct an assessment of our current system, and develop an action plan. The tools were helpful in identifying the areas that need to be improved and we were able to use the tool to help locals assess their own system. 

Another helpful resource was the With Learners, Not for Learners: A Toolkit for Elevating Learner Voice in CTE. We walked through the toolkit and tackled issues such as not “tokenizing” learners by just having them on advisory committees. 

Having the tools, resources and support was definitely helpful when determining how to use the various pieces to help locals. 

What principles and areas of work connected to the vision are you planning to focus on this year? 

Colorado is currently focused on Principle 4: Each learner’s skills are counted, valued, and portable. We are centering this mindset in our work by leaning into Credit for Prior Learning (CPL), portable credit and policy change and matrix, faculty qualifications, and counting all learning that happens. In 2020, Colorado passed HB 20-1002, which enables students and adults to earn postsecondary credit for prior work experience, including work-based learning. A landscape report on CPL was released in 2021 that guides our work:

Through our team that supports concurrent enrollment as well as our work on the Colorado “Student Bill of Rights”, we are working to ensure learners are receiving the correct credit for earned Industry Recognized Credentials when they matriculate to an institution of higher education as well as their  CTE high school experiences, even if it does not include concurrent enrollment, and assisting learners with understanding how to link these experiences to their college credits through articulation.

Colorado’s Governor has set a Skills-Based hiring expectation and as a team, we are using this expectation to help our employers who serve on our CTE advisory committees better understand how to post jobs to ensure they are attracting talent based on their skills. 

Additional Resources

To learn about how to begin implementing CTE Without Limits in your state or community, read Colorado, Nebraska, and South Carolina’s origin and impact journeys so far.. Resources to learn about and implement the vision can be found on our CTE Without Limits webpage

Nithya Govindasamy, Senior Director of Policy

Elevating Learner Voice Through Youth Participatory Action Research in Kentucky

March 26th, 2024

How prepared do learners feel to use the certification they have earned through their CTE program? Do learners feel their certification will increase their chances of employment after graduation? A group of learners in Kentucky are working with Advance CTE and the Kentucky Student Voice Team to find out. In this blog, Membership and Policy Associate, Amy Hodge introduces this new initiative.

In September 2023 , Advance CTE launched an exciting new pilot initiative to engage state Career Technical Education (CTE) leaders in the youth participatory action research space. This project centers the belief that CTE programs should be designed with learners, not simply for learners, as learners are too often left out of key conversations about what access, quality, and success look like. Youth participatory action research (YPAR) is an exciting approach for engaging learners in policy and practice decision-making.

The CTE Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) project is a collaboration between the Kentucky Student Voice Team (KSVT), the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE), the Kentucky Postsecondary Council on Education (CPE), and Fayette County Public Schools. This pilot is generously funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and aligns with Advance CTE’s vision for the future of CTE where learners have agency and feel empowered to advocate for high-quality CTE programs.

Advance CTE helped recruit a group of 15 high school-aged learners to receive training from the Kentucky Student Voice Team on designing their own YPAR project. Learners came from three career academies in Fayette County, KY, including Tates Creek High School, Bryan Station High School, and Frederick Douglass High School. These school teams receive bi-monthly training from the Kentucky Student Voice Team to learn about different youth research strategies, survey design, and how to use these findings to become more effective advocates for high-quality CTE programs in their state. 

After they’ve designed and collected responses from their school community, learners will have the opportunity to present their findings and recommendations to state-level leadership and inform future policies. Throughout this first phase of the work, Advance CTE will identify ways to scale this process in other states and communities in the future and make recommendations for state CTE leaders looking to incorporate more learner voices into how programs are designed and delivered.

The academy teams have completed sessions about the fundamentals of YPAR, reviewing different pathways for students to have a voice and seat at the table in education decision-making, research fundamentals, and survey question design, construction, and distribution. Themes have begun to emerge as these learners narrow in on the focus of their research questions. These themes include:

  • Certification effectiveness now and in the future
  • CTE’s preparation for learners’ career and life after graduation
  • Additional CTE programs that aren’t currently available to learners
  • Learners’ understanding of and comfort with CTE 
  • Learners’ perceptions of educator and school support in CTE [programs]

Questions that learners identified through their preliminary exploration include:

  • How prepared do learners feel to use the certification they have earned through their CTE program?
  • How connected do you feel with your teachers at school?
  • How much do you feel your certification increases your chances of employment after graduation?

Advance CTE Members will be able to learn more about this project when the school teams present at Advance CTE’s Fall Meeting in October. 

Learn more about KSVT!

The Kentucky Student Voice Team (KSVT) is an independent, youth-led nonprofit that works to co-create more just, democratic Kentucky schools and communities by partnering with research, policy, and advocacy partners across the state.

For more information and tools to design a learner-centered CTE program, visit Advance CTE’s Learning that Works Resource Center.

Amy Hodge, Member and Policy Associate

 

Preparing for CTE’s Next Era: Celebrations from Advance CTE’s 2023 Annual Report

March 25th, 2024

Director of Membership Engagement and Professional Learning Dr. Stephanie Perkins shares Advance CTE’s progress in fully supporting members and elevating CTE in policy and practice in state and federal and policy. 

Career Technical Education (CTE) continues to be a leading state and federal policy solution to both bridge and address transformations in learning and work. CTE’s next era requires maximizing its quality and innovation to remain a go-to experience that can reach and support every learner and community. As the oldest national association of State CTE Directors and related professionals, Advance CTE has continued to grow and adapt to meet the needs of our members and advance the work of CTE Without Limit for the CTE community. 

Our newly released 2023 Annual Report highlights that progress and preparation for CTE’s Next Era for both our organization and our members. 

Keep reading to see five ways Advance CTE continues to support our members while challenging the field by leading on equity, influencing federal policy, building community and knowledge, and providing impactful tools and resources.

Supporting CTE Leaders and Learners

As our members work to ensure that all learners have access to high-quality, equitable CTE, we strive to meet each state where they are in this journey. In 2023, our focus for supporting CTE leaders and learners focused on continuing our high-quality member experiences, building diverse CTE leadership and workforce pipelines, and elevating learner voice. Our members continue to see value in their membership and look for a variety of ways to engage.

 

Engaging and Connecting Members

Bringing together our members in person and virtually provides the opportunity to share best practices and lessons learned to address common challenges and improve outcomes for CTE learners. In Spring of 2023 we gathered over 200 CTE leaders to discuss opportunities, challenges, and shared solutions around various topics of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins V) in preparation for state plan revisions. Our members were very satisfied with the structure of these meetings, finding it a very useful space to work with their state teams on Perkins processes and gather ideas from their peers. In event evaluation, 100 percent of responding attendees reported that meetings were an “extremely valuable” or “valuable” use of their time. 

Additionally, we provided direct support and engagement to 44 states through our technical assistance efforts and workgroups. These spaces allowed for innovations and resources that benefit the entire CTE community. 

Leading National Conversations

In 2023, we continued to drive innovation in CTE policy and practice and position CTE as an essential strategy to meet education, workforce, and economic needs. Seventy-seven percent of Advance CTE’s recommendations for modernizing of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act reauthorization were reflected in a proposed reauthorization last fall. We also continued to build more CTE champions on Capitol Hill, where support for the CTE Month resolution has doubled since 2021.  

Additional Resources

Advance CTE’s Annual Report is just one of the ways for our members to understand the impact this work has on the CTE community. We encourage you to continue to engage with us in various ways by staying up to date with future events found on the membership portal. Additionally, we have several tools for members to find resources through: 

On behalf of the entire Advance CTE team, we look forward to engaging with you in the future!

Dr. Stephanie Perkins, Director of Membership Engagement and Professional Learning

Congress Unveils FY24 Funding Package

March 22nd, 2024

This week lawmakers released a long-anticipated full-year funding proposal for the remainder of the federal budget, including for the U.S. Departments of Education (ED) and Labor (DOL). Elsewhere the Senate confirmed new DOL leadership overseeing the implementation of workforce development activities. 

Lawmakers Propose Slight Increase in Perkins State Grant Funding

As Advance CTE has shared previously, Congress has been delayed for nearly six months in finalizing and passing full-year funding for the current 2024 federal fiscal year (FY24), including for the U.S. Departments of Education (ED) and Labor (DOL), ahead of a March 22 deadline later today. Early yesterday morning, Congressional leaders unveiled the text of this long-awaited full-year FY24 funding package, also known as a minibus. 

Notably for the CTE community, the package proposes a $10 million increase for the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act’s (Perkins V) basic state grant program––a key priority for Advance CTE throughout the FY24 process. The full-year FY24 funding package would provide $79.1 billion for ED’s budget and $13.7 billion for DOL’s budget, both of which are slightly below FY23 enacted levels. Due to tight budgetary constraints required by last year’s debt limit agreement, known as the Fiscal Responsibility Act, many education and workforce development programs are set to receive funding at roughly the same levels as FY23 or have slight reductions in funding support.

The FY24 package also includes a $20 million reduction in Perkins V’s national activities account––an area of the budget that ED has used previously to fund a newly created competitive grant program known as “Career Connected High Schools” (CCHS). Advance CTE and partners have previously shared concerns regarding this program and have called for greater resources to be dedicated to Perkins V’s state grant program to strengthen this foundational federal investment made in CTE. Beyond these aspects of the FY24 minibus, the funding package does provide significant new funding for childcare and early childhood education initiatives, as well as slight increases to Title I-A formula funding authorized by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). 

Congress must work quickly today to vote on this FY24 funding package ahead of the aforementioned March 22 deadline at midnight this evening. Lawmakers in the House cleared the minibus by a 286-134 margin and it now goes on to the Senate for consideration and approval. Depending on how expeditiously Senators are able to take up this legislation today, a short lapse in appropriations still remains possible. Advance CTE is monitoring this process closely and will provide more information to the CTE community as these efforts move forward.

ETA Assistant Secretary Confirmed

Yesterday, March 21, the full Senate voted to confirm Jose Javier Rodriguez to lead DOL’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) by a margin of 50-48. Rodriquez was first nominated by President Biden much earlier in the administration but his candidacy had been delayed in the Senate due to previous opposition from Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Bob Menedez (D-NJ). Yesterday’s confirmation vote marks the first time that ETA, DOL’s subagency which administers and oversees the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), will have a Senate-confirmed leader in this position during the Biden administration.  

Steve Voytek, Policy Advisor 

President Biden Publishes FY25 Budget Request

March 15th, 2024

This week President Biden formally released his annual budget request to Congress. Elsewhere lawmakers in the Senate explore youth apprenticeship programs. 

Biden Administration Sends FY25 Budget Request to Congress

On Monday, March 11, The Biden administration formally sent its fiscal year 2025 budget (FY25) request to Congress this week. The president asked for $82.4 billion for the U.S. Department of Education (ED)—roughly 4% over FY23 enacted funding levels or about $3.1 billion. Of note for the Career Technical Education (CTE) community, this request proposes a $40 million increase for the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act’s (Perkins V) basic state grant program. Advance CTE and the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) released a press statement after the publication of this budget applauding this aspect of the proposal, especially in light of the tight fiscal constraints. The budget is also seeking $32 million in additional funding to expand ED’s ongoing “Career Connected High School” competitive grant initiative– a component of the budget that Advance CTE has continued to raise concerns about. In addition, the ED portion of this FY25 budget is proposing greater investments in career-relevant dual and concurrent enrollment programs.

Elsewhere, the FY25 budget proposal includes a more modest request for the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), asking Congress for $13.9 billion overall, a roughly 2.3% increase over current funding levels. This part of the budget includes a new $8 billion “Career Training Fund” which would be funded on a mandatory basis over the next 10 years. Per the budget, this fund would provide “…up to $10,000 per worker to support the cost of high-quality, evidence-based training with additional funding for wrap-around supports.” More details regarding this aspect of the proposal are still forthcoming.

The release of the President’s FY25 budget request formally begins the wider federal budget and appropriations process. However, as Advance CTE has previously shared, Congress is still working to finalize full-year FY24 funding, including for Perkins V and other education and workforce development programs. Lawmakers must complete this process by March 22 or pass legislation extending appropriations on another short-term basis. Most recently this week, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) published a new analysis of the potential impact an across-the-board sequester cut (required by last year’s debt ceiling deal if full-year FY24 funding is not enacted by April 30 this year) would have on non-defense discretionary (NDD) programs like workforce development and education. The CBO is now estimating that this provision would have no impact on NDD programs, reducing a key point of leverage for some factions within Congress to oppose a full-year funding deal. 

As these efforts continue to take shape, Advance CTE and partners will continue to advocate for a strong investment in Perkins V as part of both FY24 and FY25 appropriations cycles. 

Senate Explores Youth Apprenticeship

On Tuesday, March 12, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee’s Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety held a hearing entitled, “Youth Apprenticeships: Building Partnerships, Strengthening Career Pathways.” The hearing featured testimony from several youth apprenticeship partners and examined how these programs are currently being implemented across the nation. Broadly, the hearing highlighted how youth apprenticeships and related pathways programs, including CTE, can provide learners with multiple options from K-12 education into postsecondary education and careers. Witnesses and Senators discussed strategies and approaches to expand these opportunities for more learners and ways to ensure program quality. In particular, Subcommittee Chairman John Hickenlooper (D-CO) and Subcommittee Ranking Member Mike Braun (R-IN) highlighted bipartisan legislation they recently co-sponsored that would broaden access to and funding for youth apprenticeship programs. A video webcast of the hearing and related testimony can be viewed on the Senate HELP webpage.

Steve Voytek, Policy Advisor 

President Biden Delivers State of the Union Address | Legislative Update

March 8th, 2024

This week President Biden delivered his annual State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress. Elsewhere, lawmakers continued to make progress on federal funding while the U.S. Department of Labor made new apprenticeship announcements. 

President’s State of the Union Address

This week both the House and Senate were in session ahead of a new funding deadline and the President’s annual State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress last night. The President’s address to Congress featured a range of topics, including how recent federal bipartisan legislation focused on infrastructure and the nation’s advanced manufacturing capacity have helped to spur greater demand for skilled workers. Notably, the President highlighted the importance of Career Technical Education (CTE) noting that his administration is working to connect “…businesses and high schools so students get hands-on experience and a path to a good-paying job whether or not they go to college.” 

The President also highlighted a number of other education and workforce priorities including increasing college affordability, broadening access to early learning opportunities, and increasing access to after-school and summer programs. President Biden also called for the creation of a climate corps, modeled off the Peace Corps or AmeriCorps programs, to provide opportunities for individuals, especially youth, to gain experience in clean energy fields. A full transcript of the address is available here

Congress Advances a New Appropriations Minibus

Earlier this week in the House, lawmakers formally advanced a package containing half of the dozen annual spending bills that compose the federal budget. The measure, known as a minibus, passed by a margin of 339-85. The legislation provides full-year funding for the remainder of the 2024 federal fiscal year (FY24) for several federal agencies including the Agriculture and Transportation Departments among others. The Senate is now in the process of considering this legislation ahead of a deadline later tonight when funding is set to expire for this slate of funding bills. While this measure is expected to clear the Senate and be signed into law by the President, the timing of passage remains uncertain at this time.

Once this effort is complete, lawmakers are expected to turn their attention to the remaining six funding bills that are still awaiting full-year FY24 funding. Among this tranche of funding bills is the House Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS-ED) funding measure, which provides funding for the U.S. Departments of Education (ED) and Labor (DOL), along with the programs that these agencies administer like the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins V) and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). Funding for this portion of the federal budget is currently set to expire on March 22. Agreement on this slate of funding bills is still forthcoming. 

Although the FY24 process is not yet complete, President Biden is expected to release his FY25 budget request to Congress this Monday, March 11. As the FY24 appropriations process begins to wind down and as FY25 formally begins, Advance CTE will continue to advocate for a strong investment in Perkins V’s basic state grant program and other funding streams that support high-quality CTE programs and related opportunities. 

Advance CTE Executive Director Appointed to Apprenticeship Advisory Committee

This week, DOL announced the appointment of a new cohort of leaders to serve on its Advisory Committee for Apprenticeship. Advance CTE’s Executive Director, Kate Kreamer, was among those formally appointed to this important advisory role for the Department which will provide guidance and recommendations to the agency on apprenticeship policy over the next two years. 

In addition to this announcement, President Biden issued an Executive Order (EO) this week aimed at expanding the use of apprenticeship programs within federal agencies and through federal grantmaking and contracting efforts. The EO includes the creation of an interagency task force to help formulate policies and strategies for the federal government to implement this directive, including prioritizing the hiring of individuals who complete registered apprenticeship programs (RAPs) and pre-apprenticeship programs. The order comes after the issuance of a new Training and Employment Notice (TEN No. 23-23) outlining new expectations for pre-apprenticeship programs. Advance CTE is encouraged by these recent efforts and looks forward to providing formal comment on DOL’s recent proposal to overhaul regulations pertaining to RAPs and other apprenticeship models later this month.

Steve Voytek, Policy Advisor 

Welcome Jessica (Jessi) Maddox to Advance CTE!

March 7th, 2024

Hello! My name is Jessica (Jessi) Maddox, and I am ecstatic to be a part of the Advance CTE team as a senior policy associate. In this role I will be working directly with the upcoming cohorts of the Opportunity Gap Analysis providing customized technical assistance and peer learning opportunities to participating states. I will also collaborate with team members to enhance Advance CTE’s state policy, equity, and data and research strategies by supporting state and local sites in designing and advancing high-quality and equitable career pathways.

A lifelong learner, I was born and raised in Florida, and my family and I recently relocated to Richmond, VA for a change of pace. I began my career in the classroom as a middle school social studies teacher. Part of my position included career exploration with my eighth graders and this is where some of my first interactions with Career Technical Education (CTE) began. After six years in the classroom, I wanted to expand my horizons into educational research and returned to school to obtain a master’s degree in Information. In 2017, I joined the Florida office of the Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant working as a grant manager. In this position I got to interact with a variety of organizations, from school districts to non-profits, working to provide academic and skills-based after-school experiences to students across Florida’s PreK-12 system. I had the opportunity to further explore CTE as part of a college and career readiness initiative and became interested in furthering my knowledge and experiences in this field.

After completing my master’s degree, I was offered a role as an educational policy analyst with the Division of Career and Adult Education within the Florida Department of Education. In this position I was immersed in all things career and adult education full time. From the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins V) and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), to apprenticeship, credentials of value and integrated education and training (IET), I worked closely with each coordinating unit to ensure required data and policy provisions were followed. I helped to build out the business rules or data collection processes for outcomes reporting and program improvement.

In 2023, I began a new position as a work-based learning analyst at the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) working directly with the Virginia Talent + Opportunity Partnership (V-TOP). In this position I created data collection processes and survey instruments to expand the view of the landscape of credit-bearing and paid work-based learning and internship opportunities across the Commonwealth. Outside of work I can be found spending time with my husband and two sons, playing roller derby, or exploring my new surroundings.

Amplifying Learner Voice: How WisCORE Champions Equity Through Learner-Led Conversations

March 6th, 2024

Five states, including Wisconsin, took part in the Leveraging Learner Voice to Strengthen CTE technical assistance cohort hosted by Advance CTE and ACTE. Inspired by CTE Without Limits: a Shared Vision for the Future of Career Technical Education, they’re using the With Learners, Not for Learners toolkit to involve learners in the design, delivery, and implementation of CTE programs and policies. This post focuses on Wisconsin’s “WisCORE” conference, where learners lead conversations and drive change in diversity, equity, and inclusion across the state’s technical colleges. For this post, Haley Wing, senior policy associate with Advance CTE, interviewed Colleen Larsen, education director for student success at Wisconsin Technical College System, a member of the Wisconsin state team for the Leveraging Learner Voice to Strengthen CTE technical assistance cohort and the coordinator for the state-wide WisCORE Conference planning and execution committee.

WisCORE: Where Learner Voices Spark Change in Race and Ethnicity Conversations

In October 2023, the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) convened learners, staff, and faculty from across the System for the Wisconsin Technical College System Conference on Race and Ethnicity (WisCORE), a transformative conference dedicated to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within the system’s colleges.

The WisCORE conference facilitates collaboration among WTCS colleges, enabling shared effective DEI strategies and building system-wide capacity for creating more inclusive campuses. By emphasizing the voices and experiences of learners, employees, and community members, the conference ensures that DEI efforts are informed by the perspectives of those most impacted, leading to more equitable and sustainable practices.

The WisCORE event and the Wisconsin state team’s work in the Leveraging Learner Voice to Strengthen CTE technical assistance cohort align seamlessly with the principles of CTE Without Limits, ensuring that every learner feels welcomed, supported, and empowered to succeed within the career preparation ecosystem. The conference and its outcomes elevate learners’ voices, prioritizing inclusion and equity, while establishing accountability and continuous improvement processes.

Student Caucus from WiSCORE

LEARNER TESTIMONIAL

“WisCORE 2023 was my first experience, and it was a pleasant experience. Being able to attend and be involved meant a lot for me as a student. I got to hear other students share their personal stories and experiences within the college setting, as well as within their community. It was reassuring to hear students share similar thoughts and possible solutions on how colleges can improve on how they can create a welcoming space of diversity, equity, inclusion, self-advocacy, and cultural competency to better serve their student population. It’s nice to know that I was not the only student who wanted to advocate in those DEI areas and that the attendees, both staff and student, have a similar inspiration, which is to hear student voices for a sense of direction on how colleges can improve and better serve their students.”

Building Bridges, Brick by Brick: The Collaborative Journey to WisCORE

The idea for the WisCORE conference was borne out of multiple leaders and learners in the Wisconsin Technical College system attending The National Conference on Race & Ethnicity in Higher Education (NCORE). Attendees of this conference reported rave reviews, and the requests for additional participants from each technical college quickly increased. During the NCORE 2018 conference in Portland, Colleen attended with others from her state and requested a Wisconsin-dedicated room for their state team. During their debriefing and unpacking the learning from the conference, she asked, “What would you like to do to  bring this learning back to our state?”

From that conference room, the team, which included learners, staff and faculty, insisted that Wisconsin needed a dedicated convening to center belonging, connections and solutions to challenges learners frequently face. Leveraging a grant from Jobs For the Future centered on equity, the planning committee, which included learners, created the first WisCORE conference. Leveraging the demand from learners and support from faculty members, the collective advocacy across the state resulted in all 16 technical college presidents agreeing to submit $1,000 from each college budget to support the development and execution of the WisCORE conference. After the second conference, more faculty and learners took an interest in the event and requested that the conference occur annually, which the presidents agreed to support. This sustainable funding ensures the event is possible each year.

Grit and Grace: Lessons from WisCORE’s Road to Success

Planning and successfully executing an event like WisCORE comes with several benefits: learners are in the driver’s seat to lead meaningful change; faculty are made aware of learners’ experiences and opportunities to improve their supports in programs; and learner feedback and input are actualized in changes to policies, practices and more. Understanding these benefits is helpful when navigating the challenges and barriers that may come up when replicating a similar event. Colleen shared the following tips to support this work in Wisconsin and beyond:

  • Support and develop a culture that values learners as partners: Colleen, other members of her team and learners across the technical college system have clearly articulated the need to center learners’ feedback and input on their educational experiences. Learners came up with the idea for WisCORE and System and college staff coordinated resources to support their vision. Learners facilitate the conference, lead break-out sessions, facilitate caucuses and serve as keynote speakers. Learners have been at the table at every stage of development for the WisCORE conference. The System created a video at the event highlighting the importance of learner voice.
    • This environment fosters greater learner engagement and learners are empowered to consult and offer feedback to leaders within the education system. Aligning everyone within your state agency, institution, or organization on the definition, meaning, and value of authentic learner engagement is a great way to ensure everyone is working towards the same goal and feels empowered to take action. Additional resources and recommendations are also in the With Learners, Not for Learners toolkit for beginning meaningful learner engagement work.
  • Structure opportunities that foster equitable learner engagement: The WisCORE conference is designed with each college in the System invited to attend with a team. The team is required to be at least 50% learner-led. Learners are crucial to the makeup of college teams to ensure they are seen as leaders and have space to facilitate conversations and solutions that impact learners’ experiences most. To create enough space for all learners attending to share their experiences during the conference, each team is limited to 10 members (160 total conference attendees). While the interest is high, the WisCORE Planning Committee considers the space constraints; each year, the WisCORE conference is hosted at a different technical college campus. Given the space available at the colleges, 160 participants for the conference is the max.
    • Another equity component of the WisCORE conference and similar learner engagements is the availability and accessibility of attending an in-person conference. If a learner cannot attend the conference in person, the team has previously leveraged hybrid options. This sufficed for the time, however, Colleen mentioned the difficulty of ensuring learners feel included and part of the team when joining sessions virtually. For the 2023 WisCORE conference, the team leveraged Encore Sessions: virtual sessions held after the conference that allows others to engage across the System. In these Encore Sessions, learners present and facilitate topics included in the in-person conference. This adaptability allows for equitable engagement if a learner cannot attend the conference in person.
  • Focus your efforts to ensure you’re meeting learners’ needs: Events like WisCORE, and similar learner engagement opportunities, emerge from the ground up to inform the collective of opportunities for improvement. When engaging in grassroots work, the swath of information and perspectives can make it challenging to focus efforts. When encountering this challenge with the WisCORE Planning Committee, Colleen elevates choosing a specific engagement theme. For example, for the WisCORE conference, each year, the Planning Committee determines a theme with the inclusion of learner feedback and input. Simply asking learners what they care about and what they would like to discuss when it comes to their CTE experiences is a great way to begin developing a theme and ensuring learners’ needs are met. During the planning process for WisCORE, Colleen mentioned mental health came up as an important theme, as did the representation of indigenous learners and learners with disabilities. This input from learners informed the design of the conference sessions and speakers.
    • When learners design programs and strategies alongside us, we create initiatives that genuinely resonate with their needs and break down barriers to their success. Leaders interested in meaningfully engaging learners can begin with a group of learners and ask them what they want to see, implement, develop, and more. If a group of learners is not easily accessible, meeting learners where they are and simply listening to their ideas and input can be a great place to start. While listening to learners, determine where to leverage your resources, capital and more to actualize learners’ ideas for increasing inclusion and closing gaps in access and success metrics.

LEARNER TESTIMONIAL

“I learned the value of advocating for yourself and for others and that there are many out there who are likely facing the issue like us. And how important it is for each individual to be responsible and respectful.”

Beyond Conversation, Beyond Collaboration: WisCORE’s Tangible Impact

As a result of the WisCORE conference, learners and faculty members across the state report the impact of the conference:

  • Learners across the state are more deeply and meaningfully engaged: The Wisconsin team has seen an increase in learners’ engagement on college campuses. This includes learners serving on committees and interacting with leaders within their college. Due to the high-impact nature of the WisCORE conference, direct action items are addressed and implemented, such as creating dedicated seats for learners on each of the technical college’s president executive committees or boards. Learners on these committees meet with their college’s president’s committee or board to discuss important issues affecting learners and provide input on solutions. Colleges in the state have also designated learner spaces on DEI committees.
  • Learners are actively shaping conversations about their educational experiences: During the inaugural WisCORE conference, the staff helping to plan the event held an assumption that learners would not be able to ‘handle’ seeing data across the state technical college system. Learners on the planning committee advocated, that in the first year, the conference engaged learners at the conference in a data dive for their college campus. This activity allowed learners to share their feedback and input on root-cause analysis. After this model, some colleges returned this practice to campus and included learners in data reviews. The Wisconsin state team has also seen learners included in regional Perkins needs assessments. Learners are great partners for discussing the root-cause analysis of various data points.
  • Learners drive diversity, equity, and inclusion on college campuses: The WisCORE conference empowers learners to be agents of change in their colleges’ DEI efforts. Through student panels, breakouts and keynote speeches, learners dive deep into DEI and brainstorm solutions. The highlight is “team time” where learners collaborate with their colleagues to create concrete action plans with at least three actionable steps to advance DEI on campus. This event challenges the traditional top-down approach, prioritizing learner voices and fostering meaningful collaborations for lasting impact.

Looking Ahead: Amplifying Learner Voices Beyond the Conference Walls

As the Wisconsin team looks forward, they continue to leverage learner voice to strengthen CTE. In addition to their work with the WisCORE conference, the team continues to share and elevate promising practices and approaches related to their learner engagement work in the Leveraging Learner Voice to Strengthen CTE technical assistance cohort. With all learner engagement work across secondary and postsecondary systems, the team continues to center learners and their experiences, support learners as they engage to improve their educational experiences and create sustainable structures to help shift mindsets and practices as it relates to learner engagement work. 

For additional information about leveraging learner voice, please visit the following pages on the Advance CTE website:

Haley Wing, Senior Policy Associate, Advance CTE

New Short-Term FY24 Funding Deal Announced | Legislative Update

March 1st, 2024

This week lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill following an extended recess period. With a critical funding deadline landing this week, Congress announced a new short-term extension of existing federal funding to provide more time for ongoing negotiations to continue. Elsewhere, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has announced that he is stepping down while new apprenticeship grants have been announced by federal agencies. 

Lawmakers Announce New Short-Term Funding Agreement

Two critical funding deadlines for federal fiscal year 2024 (FY24) have swiftly approached: today, March 1, and next week on March 8, when existing FY24 funding is set to expire. As Advance CTE has been sharing for the last several weeks, Congressional leaders have been struggling to find consensus on full-year FY24 appropriations legislation, including the measure that provides funding for the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins V). 

With time running short, Congressional leaders have been meeting throughout the week to chart a path forward. Late Wednesday evening, Congressional leaders announced a new bipartisan FY24 funding agreement extending these deadlines, at current FY23 funding levels, through March 8 and 22. The new continuing resolution (CR) agreement splits the dozen annual funding measures that compose the federal budget into two tranches. These two tranches now equally divide these measures with half now expiring next Friday, March 8, and the remainder on March 22. Of note for the Career Techincal Education (CTE) community, the House Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS-ED) funding measure, which provides funding for the U.S. Departments of Education (ED) and Labor (DOL) along with programs these agencies administer, lands on the latter of these dates.

This agreement is intended to provide lawmakers with additional time to resolve outstanding issues related to full-year FY24 funding. These issues reportedly continue to center on the inclusion of additional and controversial policies, known as “policy riders,” which some Republican lawmakers are seeking to attach to FY24 funding measures while Democrats have remained opposed. Yesterday, the House passed this additional short-term CR by a 320-99 margin. The Senate quickly took up this latest CR and passed it by a wide, bipartisan basis 77-13. The measure now heads to President Biden’s desk where it will be signed into law prior to the existing March 1 funding deadline. Advance CTE is continuing to advocate for a robust investment in CTE via Perkins V’s basic state grant program as part of this wider process and looks forward to its timely completion soon. 

Senate Minority Leader McConnell Announces Retirement

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced earlier this week that he plans to step down from his leadership role later this year and retire at the end of his current Senate term (lasting through 2026). McConnell has led the Senate Republican Conference since 2007. Multiple senators, including John Thune (R-SD), John Cornyn (R-TX), and John Barrasso (R-WY) are widely expected to vie to succeed McConnell later this year. A formal election for the next Senate Republican leader is expected to take place sometime after the upcoming November elections.

DOL Announces $200M in New Apprenticeship Funding  

Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced the availability of nearly $200 million in new discretionary funding to expand registered apprenticeship programs (RAPs). This latest round of apprenticeship funding includes roughly $100 million in funding for State Apprenticeship Expansion grant funding and $95 million for a second phase of its Apprenticeship Building America, Round 2 (ABA2) grant initiative. Of note for the CTE community, the ABA2 grants include a new priority for applications that emphasize RAP alignment with education systems. 

The funding announcement goes on to indicate that additional priority will be given to applications that include CTE and those that also promote postsecondary credit attainment that can articulate for a degree. These funding opportunities are intended to align with DOL’s wider efforts to update apprenticeship regulations, including broadening training opportunities into more non-traditional economic sectors and for underrepresented populations while emphasizing greater intentional alignment with education systems, including CTE. More information on the grant announcements can be found here and here.

HELP Committee Renominates Julie Su

Earlier this week the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee reconsidered Julie Su’s nomination to be the next U.S. Secretary of Labor. As a reminder, Su has been serving in an acting capacity as the head of DOL since her nomination stalled in the Senate last year following opposition from Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) and all Senate Republicans. The committee advanced Su’s nomination on a party line vote, 11-10, but it remains unclear if she will garner the necessary support within the full chamber to be formally confirmed. A time to further consider her nomination has not yet been scheduled. 

Steve Voytek, Policy Advisor

Championing Career Technical Education: Highlights from CTE Month 2024

February 29th, 2024

Each February, the Career Technical Education (CTE) community celebrates CTE Month to raise awareness of opportunities and impact achieved for every learner and leader through its programs.

This year’s CTE Month celebrations showcased the continued significance and success of CTE across the nation. Below, you’ll find highlights from this month, featuring events from states, partners, policymakers, and other champions of CTE!

Federal CTE Champions 

On February 8, Education and the Workforce Committee Chair Virginia Fox (R-NC) spoke on the House Floor to celebrate CTE Month, stating, “By equipping students with the competencies they need to be successful on the job, career and technical education programs give participants an invaluable head start.” Watch here

Representatives Glenn Thompson (R-PA) and Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) Recognize February as Career and Technical Education Month

Co-chairs of the Congressional Career and Technical Education Caucus Reps. Thompson and Bonamici spoke on the importance of career technical education on Capitol Hill.  Watch on C-SPAN Read the press release

 

 


State CTE Champions 

Arkansas CTE Day at the Capitol

Throughout the month of February, Arkansas held regional CTE showcases to highlight local programs that serve as a bridge between K-12 and higher education, with the first one taking place at the Capitol Rotunda alongside Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Read the full press release

 

Maine’s CTE Month Showcase

Maine kicked off Career and Technical Education (CTE) Month at the State House with a showcase featuring learners, instructors, and directors from 15 of the state’s 27 CTE centers. The showcase featured learners’ advanced skills in areas from biotechnology and hospitality to welding and graphic design. Notably, every instructor and director at the event reported an increase in “non-traditional students” participating in CTE programs. Read more about the kick-off

 


CTE Champions in Schools

Secretary of Education Cardona Joins President Biden’s Investing in America Tour

On February 21, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona visited the Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI) as part of President Biden’s Investing in America Tour. The visit featured a tour of CCRI’s advanced manufacturing lab, a roundtable discussion with educational leaders, and dialogues with learners. Additional discussions took place with CCRI’s President Rosemary Costigan, Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee, and U.S. Representative Gabe Amo. 

Cardona applauded CCRI’s intentional alignment of education with workforce needs, especially with the state’s Latine population as a Hispanic-Serving Instituion. The event demonstrated Rhode Island’s commitment to inclusive and high-quality CTE programs that serve both learner and industry – “I wanted a new career path, something where I could earn my diploma and show my kids it’s not too late to go back…I had my kids at a young age and was always focused on providing and making sure they had what they needed before I could go back to school. To finish will be a big accomplishment, not just for me but for them, too” said Fredy Vasquez, 38, a learner in the Advanced Manufacturing and Design degree program. Read more about Cardona’s visit and CCRI

 

DACCTE Celebrates Poster Contest Winner

Delaware Advisory Council on Career and Technical Education (DACCTE), along with partners from the Department of Labor and Department of Education hosted a poster contest to showcase the talent represented in CTE classrooms every day. The winning poster was used to celebrate CTE Month in Delaware. Read more on DACCTE’s CTE Month activities


CTE Champions on Social Media

#ThisisCTE Social Media Campaign


The Oregon CTE Youth Advisory Council launched a #ThisIsCTE social media campaign to highlight CTE programs and initiatives across the state and increase CTE awareness. 
View on Facebook | View on X (Twitter)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MSDE CTE Month Myth Busting

The Maryland State Department of Education (MDSE) conducted a social media campaign dispelling common myths about CTE.

 


To continue to advocate for CTE year-round, explore our resources to reach learners, families, employers, and policymakers:

…and follow us on LinkedIn for the latest on CTE information, resources, research and more!

 

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