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Pushing the Limits: South Carolina

May 25th, 2023

Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of Career Technical Education (CTE Without Limits) was released in March 2020 with the support of over 40 national organizations. In October 2021, Advance CTE launched a technical assistance opportunity called Advancing CTE Without  Limits, which sought to support states in a project to coordinate systems, improve equity goals, strengthen policy or otherwise align with a CTE Without Limits principle. The year-long Advancing CTE Without Limits project ran from March 2022 to March 2023. This blog series shares the details, outcomes and lessons learned from projects across the three participating Pushing the Limits state teams – Colorado, Nebraska and South Carolina. 

Project Focus

South Carolina has made it a priority to build and create aligned state systems that can support all CTE learners to move seamlessly through their education and career journey. To accomplish this vision, South Carolina approached their Advancing CTE Without limits work through the lens of Principle 1: Each learner engages in a cohesive, flexible and responsive career preparation ecosystem.

South Carolina focused on three main objectives:

  1. Needs Assessment: Conduct a needs assessment to identify strengths and gaps within the state’s comprehensive local needs assessment (CLNA) process and outcomes (i.e., rural, middle school and students with disabilities). 
  2. Guidance and Support for Local Implementation of Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment (CLNA): Provide strategic collaboration, peer learning, training and support to implement a more strategic process around CLNA.
  3. Building State Leader Data Literacy: Participate in professional development through Advance CTE’s Opportunity Gap Analysis to learn the root cause analysis process and get technical assistance to increase data literacy to address learner opportunity gaps. 

 

Project Outcomes

Through monthly coaching and technical assistance provided by Advance CTE and Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) staff, South Carolina focused on evaluating its comprehensive local needs assessment process and outcomes with an emphasis on continuous improvement. Surveys were developed for state and local stakeholders to gather their input on both the implementation of the CLNA and the practical application of results of the CLNA process. Results of the survey showed that the CLNA process itself had been valuable, and it had served to strengthen connections across the career preparation ecosystem. However, at the state and local levels, stakeholders were not fully utilizing the information gleaned from the CLNA process. At the state level in particular, leaders from across agencies were not as engaged with each other around the CLNA results as the state desired.  

This led the state CTE agency to start a quarterly interagency meeting to increase cross-sector team collaboration and support a high-quality career preparation ecosystem. To ensure sustainability of this strategic collaboration among their state agencies, South Carolina has put into practice a shared-ownership structure, where a different agency takes the lead in developing the shared agenda and leads the conversations. The first meeting included sharing results from the CLNA and the survey. 

South Carolina also used the CLNA to inform the development of regional “snapshots” of data. The snapshots were published accompanied by a workshop and guidance to support the regional perspective being used in the state for the CLNA. 

South Carolina has also designed differentiated support for the regions based on the needs assessment and survey of regions. These efforts have helped increase knowledge and staff capacity in the strategic use of data for the CLNA process. 

The South Carolina team also participated in the Opportunity Gap Analysis workshop to learn to conduct root cause analysis, identify ways to address opportunity gaps for all learners and provide guidance to their local educators on how to build a comprehensive career preparation ecosystem.  

Lessons Learned

One of the primary lessons learned through this project for South Carolina was to focus on making sure that the results of the CLNA are being used and not treated as a compliance exercise. 

Recommendations

States are highly encouraged to look at CLNA results across all their eligible entities or regions and to identify common themes with a lens towards developing new policies, programs, technical assistance and professional development to help address the needs commonly identified across the state. In addition, states should make it common practice to provide technical assistance to local districts on how they can change their behaviors to better address needs.

Stay tuned for future updates about South Carolina’s continued efforts and for more information about other states’ Advancing CTE Without Limits projects. For more information about CTE Without Limits, visit https://careertech.org/without-limits.  

To learn more about planning and implementing the principles of CTE Without Limits in your state, check out Pushing the Limits: A Roadmap for Advancing CTE Without Limits.

For more information on better using the CLNA to drive quality and equity within CTE systems and programs of study, read Lessons in Collaboration and Innovation: The Impact and Promise of the Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment.

Nithya Govindasamy, Senior Advisor

Alisha Hyslop, Senior Director of Public Policy, ACTE

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Pushing the Limits: Colorado

May 10th, 2023

Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of Career Technical Education (CTE Without Limits) was released in March 2020 with the support of over 40 national organizations. In October 2021, Advance CTE launched a technical assistance opportunity called Advancing CTE Without  Limits, which sought to support states in a project to coordinate systems, improve equity goals, strengthen policy, or otherwise align with a CTE Without Limits principle. The year-long Advancing CTE Without Limits project ran from March 2022 to March 2023. This blog series shares the details, outcomes and lessons learned from projects across the three participating Pushing the Limits state teams – Colorado, Nebraska and South Carolina. 

Project Focus

Colorado has taken significant steps to improve equity in Career Technical Education (CTE), with a focus on ensuring that all students have access to high-quality CTE programs and opportunities. 

The Colorado State CTE team made a concerted effort to better align their CTE Strategic Plan with the CTE Without Limits vision principles by conducting a review of their strategic plan through the lens of Principle 2: Each learner feels welcome in, is supported by and has the means to be successful in the career preparation ecosystem. 

Colorado’s team focused on three key objectives:

  1. Needs Assessment: Conduct a needs assessment to identify strengths and gaps of the current CTE system and identify the CTE-specific actions that need to be taken to close gaps and remove barriers for learners. 
  2. Internal, Equity-Focused Professional Development: Elevate the commitment at the state level to ensure equity within CTE through convening an internal team to develop a plan and participate in professional development on equity utilizing the Brave Dialogues resources. 
  3. Building Local Leader Data Literacy: Leverage Advance CTE’s Opportunity Gap Analysis 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. 

 

Project Outcomes

Through technical assistance sessions with Advance CTE staff, Colorado developed an equity strategy to help bridge the current CTE strategic plan and work on their next State Plan for the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (expiring in 2024). Colorado has shared their equity plan and progress with local CTE Directors at a kickoff meeting where the Opportunity Gap Analysis process and Brave Dialogues training was conducted. Colorado will continue to create spaces to execute implementation of the plan grounded in Principle 2 at their CTE administrators’ convenings during this year. 

Colorado established internal team-level goals around each action step within Principle 2 and embedded them into individual performance goals. The Colorado team elevated their focus on CTE program equity, access, and inclusion by settling on an overall goal that is connected to the state CTE strategic plan’s foundational elements and “job-specific” goals to promote a culture of shared growth around competency in equity. 

Colorado launched the Opportunity Gap Analysis Workshop training and the Brave Dialogues equity training at The Colorado Association for Career & Technical Administrators (CACTA) conference. Colorado had an overwhelming response from the field about how much they appreciated being “called in” to the conversation and supported through professional development.

Colorado state CTE leaders continue to work towards advanced implementation of Principle 2 and were able to meet certain benchmarks over the course of the year:

  • The Colorado CTE team provided feedback about their increased comfortability and feeling of competency to lead conversations and conduct a gap analysis that leads to achieving Principle 2: “Each learner feels welcome in, is supported by and has the means to be successful in the career preparation ecosystem.”
  • Colorado achieved a more than 5 percent increase in work-based learning participation for learners who have identified as Black, American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian/Pacific Islander and Latinx.

Lessons Learned

To address the identified gaps in CTE enrollment, Colorado is working on targeted marketing materials and campaigns to increase awareness about CTE to bolster the pipeline of interested learners. They have made tremendous strides with some school districts and colleges to address barriers to increase enrollment. Colorado is building a team of champions who can advocate for the importance of expanded access and equity for all learners in CTE and articulate the numerous benefits both for the state’s economy as well as for Colorado’s future workforce. 

Colorado stressed that the sustainability of this work will be achieved through the continued utilization of the Opportunity Gap Analysis tools as part of Colorado’s Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment (CLNA) process and through building intentional linkages between Principle 2 work and the CTE strategic plan to further benchmark and establish goals tied to CTE data and local performance. Colorado’s team is also committed to work on their own language, implicit bias, personal and professional growth and development as equity-minded leaders. 

Stay tuned for future updates about Colorado’s continued efforts or for more information about other states’ Advancing CTE Without Limits projects. For more information about CTE Without Limits, visit https://careertech.org/without-limits.  

To learn more about planning and implementing the principles of CTE Without Limits in your state, check out Pushing the Limits: A Roadmap for Advancing CTE Without Limits.

Nithya Govindasamy, Senior Advisor

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Pushing the Limits: Nebraska

May 3rd, 2023

Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of Career Technical Education (CTE Without Limits) was released in March 2020 with the support of over 40 national organizations. In October 2021, Advance CTE launched a technical assistance opportunity called Advancing CTE Without Limits, which sought to support states in a project to coordinate systems, improve equity goals, strengthen policy, or otherwise align with a CTE Without Limits principle. The year-long Advancing CTE Without Limits project ran from March 2022 to March 2023. This blog series shares the details, outcomes and lessons learned from projects across the three Pushing the Limits state teams – Colorado, Nebraska, and South Carolina.

Project Description

Nebraska has long been a state built around collaboration for Career Technical Education (CTE), particularly in ensuring systems are working toward a common goal and limiting duplication. When reviewing the opportunity to apply for technical assistance for implementation of a CTE Without Limits principle, state leaders looked to specific special populations to help better understand where gaps existed or where collective conversation could lead to better alignment of initiatives. For this reason, Nebraska leaders focused on CTE Without Limits Principle 3: Each learner skillfully navigates their own career journey. Immediately, learners with disabilities jumped out as a population already benefiting from high-quality CTE that, with an interconnected system, could be better served by a combined focus on aligned resources, tools, trainings and supports to make their own career decisions. 

Nebraska built a highly collaborative team, composed of staff from the Nebraska Department of Education’s Departments of Career, Technical & Adult Education and Special Education, Nebraska Vocational Rehabilitation and local Educational Service Units, to ensure all state level groups impacting learners with disabilities in CTE were present at the table. Nebraska State CTE Director Dr. Katie Graham echoed the value of this collaboration and importance of this project: “CTE Without Limits has helped Nebraska create a north-star relative to supporting all students in high-quality CTE programs! We’ve strengthened partnerships already in place and, leveraging the Vision, moved from sharing updates to active collaboration to ensure every student has access to CTE Without Limits!”

With the support of Advance CTE coaches, Nebraska’s team focused on five key objectives:

  1. Develop a state-level, sustainable collaborative network that supports students with disabilities in career and technical education and future educational transitions.
  2. Identify related and overlapping state and local policies, practices and resources to create cohesive structures and supports. 
  3. Identify extant and needed data elements (including student, program, district and financial) and process to strengthen State Education Agency and Local Education Agency data-based decision making for students with disabilities participating in CTE. 
  4. Develop and implement a communication strategy through messaging and building local capacity via professional learning. 
  5. Develop policy and funding recommendations and aligned strategies to address gaps in access and outcomes for students with disabilities in CTE. 

 

Project Outcomes

Developing a coordinated goal: After an initial kickoff workshop, the Nebraska project team started in earnest, standing up multiple workgroups, including a data team, a policy team, and a communications team. All members of the team co-constructed a theory of action to serve as a “north star” for all project work moving forward: “All students deserve a high-quality education that prepares them for future success. To realize this vision, students with disabilities must have equitable access to the full rigor of grade-level instruction, access and enrollment in career technical education programs, and opportunity to receive pre-employment transition services in preparation for earning, learning and living.”

Determining the current state of assets: Throughout the year-long project, the Nebraska team identified an inventory of policies, initiatives, resources and tools used by all three departments to determine where awareness could be raised internally and externally about existing practice. This also helped inform where new and improved practices could be elevated to close gaps. The team examined data policy to better understand what data elements were collected across programs and to determine the feasibility of creating new CTE reports with data disaggregated by disability type or connected to Vocational Rehabilitation data to determine delivery areas most in need of attention. Because of the work of this project, these never-before-produced reports will help inform opportunity gaps and how to better support learners across the age and disability spectrums each year.

Promoting progress: The project team also focused heavily on communications efforts to ensure practice was communicated effectively statewide to both educators and families alike. Leveraging their policy and practice inventory, the team determined training and supports needed for inclusive practices and developed a repository of already existing resources that could be put in use immediately. The team is also updating promotional videos to better communicate the value of CTE to learners and families living with disability. 

Training for success: Finally, the project team developed a professional development plan to help support professional learning to include key functions of this project. Supporting learners with disabilities became a focus of Nebraska’s annual CTE conference, with keynotes and breakouts revolving around ensuring all students, including and especially those with disabilities, can skillfully navigate their own career journey. The team also created consistent messaging for including CTE conversations into Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) meetings and determined various funding opportunities or incentives for continuing to support learners with disabilities in CTE programs.  

Lessons Learned

After a year, the Nebraska Pushing the Limits team has both made abundant progress and learned valuable lessons that will impact the sustainability of this project long term. First, progress happened naturally; because leaders knew this project was happening, additional alignment opportunities naturally came to light, and group members were invited to other conversations in other agencies. Second, the formal collaboration helped groups take ownership of project components not normally under their purview, resulting in direct action and awareness that would have been much more difficult otherwise. 

Stay posted for future updates about Nebraska’s collaborative project or for more information about other states’ Pushing the Limits projects. For more information about CTE Without Limits, visit https://cte.careertech.org/sites/default/files/CTEWithoutLimits_Vision_2021.pdf

To learn more about planning and implementing the principles of CTE Without Limits in your state, check out Pushing the Limits: A Roadmap for Advancing CTE Without Limits.

For additional information on improving access and outcomes for learners with disabilities, we suggest the following resources:

Making Good on the Promise: Improving Equity and Access to Quality CTE Programs for Students with Disabilities

Advancing Employment for Secondary Learners with Disabilities through CTE Policy and Practice

Unlocking Potential: A State Policy Roadmap for Equity and Quality in College in High School Programs for Students With Disabilities

Dan Hinderliter, Senior Policy Associate

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Launch – A Shared Commitment to Advancing High-Quality & Equitable Pathways

February 16th, 2023

In Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of Career Technical Education (CTE Without Limits), Advance CTE and the 40-plus organizations who signed on to the vision, call for “a career preparation ecosystem that offers each learner access to and the means to succeed in any high-quality CTE program or experience that leads to success in their career of choice.” In the Call to Action, we go on to say “We recognize that this work cannot happen overnight but will require a shared commitment and shared ownership among our leaders and practitioners at the national, state and local levels and across education, workforce development, industry and philanthropy. Only together — through persistence, resilience, bravery, boldness and commitment — can we realize the possibility and aspiration of a new career preparation ecosystem that provides each learner with limitless opportunity.”

It is within this spirit that makes Advance CTE’s participation in the new initiative – Launch: Equitable & Accelerated Pathways for All – so exciting and critical. While Advance CTE is extremely proud of the work we do to support our members and the broader CTE field, we know if we want to change the trajectory of every learner in the nation, we cannot do this work alone.

Launch is a truly unique initiative in that it involves five national partners (Education Strategy Group, ExcelinEd, JFF and New America), six national funders (The Annie E. Casey Foundation Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Joyce Foundation and Walton Family Foundation), and cross-sector teams from across 11 states (Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas and Washington).

The partners, funders and state and local teams came together around a shared commitment to quality, equity and innovation – and ready to roll up our sleeves and do the hard work of confronting systemic barriers, particularly those faced by historically marginalized populations, activate the policy and practice levers that will drive scale and sustainability, and generate next-generation solutions to keep our field moving at the pace that our learners and industry demand. Between the Impact and Innovation Cohorts, at the end of the two-years, we will have incredibly strong proof points at the state and local level and new ways of designing pathways systems than we couldn’t have imagined today.

We are grateful and ecstatic to be on this journey with the partners, funders and state and local teams to build the career preparation ecosystem that is truly cohesive, flexible and responsive.

Kate Kreamer, Deputy Executive Director

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Vision Spotlight: Implementing CTE Without Limits at the Local Level

September 27th, 2022

In March 2021, Advance CTE released Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of Career Technical Education (CTE Without Limits) to empower “leadership at all levels to reflect on, refine and even rebuild many of the systems and structures that are limiting learner success.” Later that year, we subsequently released Pushing the Limits: A Roadmap for Advancing CTE Without Limits to help leaders assess, prioritize and implement strategies for one or more vision principles.

One school district – Utah’s Davis School District (DSD), just north of Salt Lake City – has taken both CTE Without Limits and Pushing the Limits to heart. DSD is recognized across the state for strong pathway programs. After their Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment (CLNA) process revealed achievement and enrollment gaps for special populations in CTE, DSD administrators sought bold solutions and turned to CTE Without Limits as a framework to close these gaps. Leveraging these resources, DSD supported professional district training and strategic school plan development with the express purpose of increasing equitable enrollment in CTE programs districtwide. 

Implementing CTE Without Limits

Once DSD administration began conversations with educators and staff, they recognized the need to create schoolwide “Without Limits Teams,” comprised of a school administrator, special education staff, school counselors, and the school’s CTE coordinator. Last spring, school staff from each of the 25 DSD schools were each brought together in full day district-wide workshops structured on the five CTE Without Limits principles and designed using Advance CTE’s CTE Without Limits implementation assets. After the training, the teams were asked to create a Without Limits plan to implement these principles in their building; 19 of the 25 have already submitted their plans as a result of the training.

The plans were created using a district-wide rubric to help sharpen and focus action areas. Learner voice was also incorporated into the conversation, with the district conducting twelve focus groups with 54 students, asking similar questions as the workshops for district staff. The district also conducted pre- and post-surveys to help develop priorities for these action plans and help administrators learn where schools need the most support. 

Collaboration is Key

In a recent interview with Advance CTE staff, Davis School District CTE Supervisor Tim Peters and Without Limits Project Lead Melanie Allen reiterated the value that the collaborative nature of these Without Limits Teams has for CTE district-wide and with state and community partners. Because of the composition of the Without Limits Teams, the cross-departmental work has become a key strength of this initiative. The Layton High School team gave high praises to the Without Limits initiatives and said, “The impact of everyone being on the same page can’t be overestimated for the teachers and the students. We are already seeing growth in course requests for welding tech, accounting and computer programming.”  Local CTE Coordinator Kristen Davidson noted, “We’re having conversations now that we’ve never had before, and it’s changing the way we serve students.” 

Utah State CTE Director Thalea Longhurst is a strong supporter of DSD’s model. “Davis School District is leading our state in focusing on truly embedding CTE Without Limits in their daily work,” she shared. “Their work is led by strong leaders who understand the importance of collaborative conversations and truly using data-driven decision making to improve programs. They have shown that even small changes can be incredibly impactful while still considering and implementing larger systemic changes. Their work is exactly what we hope others will follow as we all strive to implement this vision for the future of CTE.”

Lessons Learned

After their first iteration of workshops, DSD shared a few lessons learned that they hope other Utah school districts or other districts nationwide consider before starting this work in earnest. 

  • Plans don’t have to make world-changing shifts. Instead, these workshops and subsequent action planning helped the district see the small, most impactful changes that could happen first while working toward larger systemic changes. 
  • Workshops also revealed the necessity of reviewing data as a part of the process. Because the district considered their data and opportunity gaps in conjunction with action planning, they could focus their efforts on learner populations that require the most support. 
  • A shared framework and regular collaborative conversations served as a forcing event to share important, consistent information with school educators and staff, disseminate resources, and provide updates about CTE programs. This allowed for opportunities to address myths about CTE programs and initiatives.

Next Steps

As a result of the workshops, plan feedback, and learner focus groups, the district is working on a toolkit to support the school plan action steps. DSD administrators also hope to make this an iterative process, conducting ongoing training and coaching to help their Without Limits Teams revise and refocus their plans on a yearly basis. 

For more information about CTE Without Limits as well as communication and implementation resources, please visit the CTE Without Limits page on our website.

Learn more about Career Technical Education at Davis School District in Farmington, UT.

Dan Hinderliter, Senior Policy Associate 

 

 

 

 

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CTE Without Limits Spotlight: Panel Highlights Leadership Priorities for Vision Implementation

May 25th, 2022

On Friday, May 13, attendees at Advance CTE’s Spring State Leadership Retreat heard from three State CTE Directors participating in Advance CTE’s state cohort to begin implementation of Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of Career Technical Education (CTE Without Limits). Moderated by Advance CTE Senior Advisor Nithya Govindasamy, panelists shared how CTE Without Limits has inspired meaningful cross-sector conversations, and key leadership lessons to build trust, center learners and sustain partnerships. 

Background 

The panel consisted of three state directors: Sarah Heath of Colorado, Katie Graham of Nebraska and Maria Swygert of South Carolina. At the start of the panel, each leader provided a brief overview of the focus of their initial vision implementation work. 

Colorado’s focus is Principle 2: Each learner feels welcome in, is supported by, and has the means to succeed in the career preparation ecosystem to empower state and local leaders to have knowledgeable and meaningful conversations about equity gaps in data. Heath shared “we saw the work isn’t working,” that too many leaders could interpret the data but didn’t feel empowered to discuss and act on it. Through participation in the cohort, Colorado strives to build will and support for change through a statewide equity action plan with a focus on expanding equity-focused professional development opportunities for state and local CTE leaders. 

Nebraska’s focus is advancing Principle 3: Each learner skillfully navigates their own career journey with a focus on learners with disabilities. State CTE staff will partner with special education and vocational rehabilitation services agencies to scale strong existing state collaboration to the local level. This includes alignment of policy, communications and professional development initiatives.

South Carolina’s focus is Principle 1: Each learner engages in a cohesive, flexible, and responsive career preparation ecosystem to achieve ‘next-level collaboration’ through more uniform processes and local support for conducting the Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment (CLNA) process. This will be accomplished through an assessment survey to each of their twelve cross-sector regional teams consisting of secondary, postsecondary and workforce leaders, as well as a state-level meeting to create an action plan based on survey results. 

Building and Sustaining Meaningful Cross-Sector Partnerships 

Each leader shared strategies they found to be effective in building and sustaining meaningful cross-sector partnerships. State Director Katie Graham emphasized the importance of cultivating personal relationships with leaders before you need them for project work. She shared that her choice to focus on learners with disabilities was inspired in part by her strong personal relationships with state staff connected to special education and vocational rehabilitation that simply started with conversations about their work years ago, rather than a specific request to share funding or resources. 

State Director Sarah Heath elevated that building partnerships requires several steps, and should not begin with an ask for shared funding. Using a “gather, train, then share” approach, Colorado began their partnerships by finding shared goals and planning meetings and initiatives together. This was followed by providing mutual support on logistics and information, including conversations on common definitions, data collection and use, and data metrics to find common ground. 

The directors also highlighted the importance of establishing intentional strategies that build trust and provide information that reinforces shared goals. State Director Maria Swygert shared that each quarter her office compiles a two-page report connecting the latest employment, graduation, placement and other key data points. This tool is shared with more than 70 partners statewide to reinforce the shared goal of improving learner and workforce outcomes. Graham shared that the growth of her partnership with those serving learners with disabilities resulted in a meeting where 19 needs assessment plans, including the CLNA, were streamlined to reduce the burden on local leaders and make connections among the data being collected. 

Leadership Lessons Learned 

Each leader was asked to share leadership lessons learned as a result of this work to build and sustain meaningful, learner-centered partnerships. Acknowledging and addressing capacity issues rose to the forefront. For states that may view the vision as yet another item for their to-do list, Heath emphasized that CTE Without Limits should not be seen as a separate approach, but rather a ‘value-add’ that takes the intent and goals of existing strategic plans, state vision statements, and other planning document to the next level and keeps learner needs at the center of all conversations. 

Heath also shared that vision implementation work made her more comfortable with learning to let go of work, even though it may be important, that did not specifically advance learner needs or their state strategic plan. Swygert shared that the relationship-building conducted through this cohort allowed her to feel more comfortable not doing all the work alone and trusting the expertise and leadership of other state staff serving learners, including those not directly involved in CTE. 

Each leader emphasized the value of vulnerability, transparency and honesty, especially in the early stages of relationship building with other state leaders, so that no damaging assumptions are made. Heath shared her mindset of “we all have room to grow in the work, and we want to grow together.” Graham shared a conversation she had with a state leader where she was only seeking to learn more about their role, but the latter assumed they were seeking funding instead of a meaningful partnership. So additional time was needed to build the trust to share the desired information. 

Additional Resources 

The CTE Without Limits cohort will receive funding, individual coaching and intensive technical support from Advance CTE through October 2022. An additional CTE Without Limits Community of Practice is open for state leaders to participate in bimonthly cross-state calls to share challenges and solutions aligned to the five vision principles. Sixteen states are currently participating — those interested in joining can contact Senior Policy Associate Hinderliter at dhinderliter@careertech.org. 

For additional conversations with state and national leaders on advancing CTE Without Limits, visit Advance CTE’s webinars page for recordings of a spring virtual learning series aligned to each of the vision’s five principles. 

Visit Advance CTE’s vision page for awareness and implementation resources, including its step-by-step assessment and action planning guide, Pushing the Limits: A Roadmap for Advancing CTE Without Limits that will be the basis for Advance CTE’s state cohort work.

Stacy Whitehouse, Senior Associate Communications and State Engagement 

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Getting to Know Advance CTE’s Strategic Priorities: Equip, Empower, Elevate

May 5th, 2022

The “Getting to Know” blog series will feature the work of State CTE Directors, state and federal policies, innovative programs and new initiatives from the Advance CTE staff. Learn more about each one of these topics and the unique contributions to advancing Career Technical Education (CTE) that Advance CTE’s members work on every day.

Meet Kimberly Green! Kim is the Executive Director of Advance CTE. Kim’s role at Advance CTE is to provide strategic direction to all of the organization’s workstreams to ensure Advance CTE is boldly advancing toward the accomplishment of the strategic priorities and theory of action, both of which aspire to ensure equitable career success for each learner. 

Q: Given your history and tenure at Advance CTE and in the field, how have you seen the organization evolve into what is now the 2021-2024 strategic plan?

A: January 2023 will mark 30 years for me at Advance CTE; that is a lot of time and tenure to have seen things change. The name of our organization changed (NASDCTEc to Advance CTE). We expanded state memberships to cover a “team” rather than just one individual from each state. Internally, our staff has grown significantly, with our team members living and working literally across the entire country. The breadth and depth of our work shifted to reflect the evolving needs of our members and the CTE community. We deepened and expanded our federal policy work and added in robust state policy, communications, data/accountability, equity,  etc. research, professional development and technical assistance. We launched revolutionary and impactful streams of work like the National Career Clusters Framework ® and the CTE: Learning that Works for America campaign, etc.; these efforts have incubated and supported a significantly increased level of support and interest in CTE and career readiness among the public and state policymakers.

What hasn’t changed is our steadfast commitment to serving our members. For nearly every year of these 30 years, all states were members of Advance CTE. This is something I am extraordinarily proud of! We are steadfast in our commitment to supporting leaders, encouraging transformative leadership and “be(ing) the change we want to see in the world” (quote attributed to Mahatma Gandhi). Our efforts to coalesce our community and stakeholders toward a common, bold vision is a hallmark of who we are at Advance CTE.  We don’t shy away from taking on the important and difficult work, like efforts to address the legacy and currency of racial equity gaps in CTE, all the while remaining vigilant to hold the bar high in terms of quality expectations. 

Q: If you had to choose, which accomplishment from 2021 are you most excited about?

A: This is hard! There is much to choose from but I’d probably have to say releasing CTE Without Limits, which is a north star for our work and launching the Postsecondary State Career Technical Education Leadership Fellowship at Advance CTE – Sponsored by ECMC Foundation which will help to strengthen and diversify the pipeline of talent to fill state leadership positions in CTE. 

Q: What do you see as the major priority for the organization moving into the second quarter of 2022? 

A: We are getting ready to host our Spring State Leadership Retreat this month (May 2022). I am excited to see our members again – in person! I am also excited to re-connect and build new relationships, strengthen existing relationships, and to learn from and alongside our members. 

Q: CTE Without Limits states that the work ahead will require commitment and shared ownership from all stakeholders. Are there any upcoming opportunities that will equip, empower and elevate the field? 

A: Our Virtual June Meeting Series is going to be amazing! This three-event series will offer premier professional content to inspire attendees and arm them with replicable polices and practices to advance high-quality and equitable CTE, plus the opportunity to build their peer network across the country.

Every day, I am honored to serve our members in the CTE community. I am inspired by their commitment to be bold, lead change and to do the work that requires a deep and abiding persistence. In some ways their work is hidden; learners and other stakeholders often don’t know the important role that state leaders have in setting policies that close equity gaps or ensure their classrooms have qualified instructors and latest equipment. They don’t know the advocacy efforts state leaders lead to to build supportive environments in order to secure the investments needed so that more learners can have access to CTE. But I see the work our members do … and I am grateful.

Kimberly Green, Executive Director

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Resource Recap: 5 Steps to Get Started with the CTE Without Limits Roadmap Tool

March 31st, 2022

March 2022 marks one year since the release of Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of Career Technical Education (CTE Without Limits). CTE Without Limits positions CTE as the catalyst for achieving a cohesive ecosystem that is responsive to each learner’s needs for college and career success.

To celebrate this milestone, Advance CTE elevated the work of vision partners through a Twitter chat, announced three states participating in a state cohort for vision implementation, and held a vision-focused Ask an Expert session. The event delved into Advance CTE’s hallmark vision implementation resource released last fall, Pushing the Limits: A Roadmap for Advancing CTE Without Limits. 

This resource recap post breaks down the roadmap resource and provides first steps for state CTE leaders to prepare for and use this comprehensive tool. 

Resource Background 

Achieving CTE Without Limits is only possible through shared commitment and action among all CTE stakeholders The Pushing the Limits roadmap serves as the primary evaluation and planning tool for state and local CTE leaders to conduct a collaborative process that: a) provides an initial assessment of state policy and practice; b) identifies top areas for action; and c) develops implementation strategies for one or more vision principles.

The document is provided in both a combined format as well as separate by each of the five vision principles. The three to four action steps recommended for each vision principle can be evaluated by state leaders through five activities:

  • Data Review: Collect and analyze data to identify gaps in data availability as well as equity and opportunity gaps for learners that will impact roadmap planning.
  • State Assessment: Provides self-assessment questions to help state leaders reflect on the current alignment of policies and practice, capacity for change, and potential impact of moving the needle for each action. The completer assigns a score to each section. 
  • SWOT Analysis: Applies information from self-assessment questions to identify top-level Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats to advance each action step.
  • Models and Resources: Provides sample implementation steps, policies and resources to inspire action;
  • Heat Map: Scores reach assessment section in a heat map that identifies intersecting areas of high need and high capacity for change, to aid leaders in narrowing the focus of their work.
  • Action Planning: Offers an action planning tool to develop SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-Bound) goals and action steps in real-time, six months and a year to drive systemic change.

Getting Started 

Effective use of the roadmap requires intentional planning and collaboration. Here are five ways to get started: 

  1. Select your core state or local team that includes representatives with deep experience in K-12, postsecondary and workforce policy and practice through the lens of CTE. 
  2. Complete Advance CTE’s State Capacity Tool to determine which vision principle(s) to focus on. 
  3. Gather data and guiding documents to inform the self-assessment, including program participation and outcomes, statewide and regional agreements across system, statewide and department initiatives and goals, etc. 
  4. Complete the self-assessment as individual core team members and share answers prior to soliciting additional input. 
  5. Identify priority principles and action areas to address first based on conditions in your state.

Maximizing the Resource 

CTE leaders can take several steps to maximize this resource to realize systems change at all levels, including: 

  • Input: Receive input on the self-assessment questions beyond your core team, including learners, educators, administrators and support staff at the local, regional and state level. This can be accomplished by sharing the roadmap questions or creating a separate survey of selected questions from the roadmap in multiple choice format. 
  • Capacity: Align action planning to meet the capacity of state team members, partners and institutions.
  • Aim Higher: At the same time, revisit your ‘dream list’ of initiatives, supports and goals and leverage the roadmap to push your work to the next level.
  • Utilize Existing Collaborative Channels: Don’t reinvent the wheel; utilize board and commission meetings, workgroups, conferences and other state and local collaborative events for information gathering and roadmap completion. 

Advance CTE staff are available to support CTE leaders in this important work. Visit Advance CTE’s staff web page for contact information. Visit Advance CTE’s vision web page for additional vision education, assessment and implementation resources. 

Stacy Whitehouse, Senior Associate Communications and State Engagement 

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The Postsecondary State CTE Leaders Fellowship is Where You Belong

March 10th, 2022

The Postsecondary State CTE Leaders Fellowship at Advance CTE – Sponsored by ECMC Foundation is intended to build a talent pipeline of state-level postsecondary Career Technical Education (CTE) leaders fiercely committed to creating an accessible and racially just postsecondary state CTE system. Through the Fellowship, each Advance CTE – ECMCF Fellow will gain an understanding of effective policies and practices for improving postsecondary CTE outcomes and how to scale those policies and practices statewide. They will come to understand their strengths as a leader and how to leverage those strengths to influence their respective postsecondary state CTE systems to be more effective and equitable. Fellows will build confidence, visibility and a national network that they can rely on during and after the Fellowship. After completing the Fellowship, Fellows will be better positioned for postsecondary state CTE leadership roles such as State CTE Director, state-level leaders and institutional leaders. 

Does this sound like you? We hope so!

The application period for the 2022-2023 cohort is now open through 5 p.m. EDT on March 31, 2022. Before applying, read over our frequently asked questions (FAQs) and register to attend an information session to ask any questions in real-time. 

FAQs 

  1. How many Fellows will be selected for the 2022-2023 cohort? 

Fifteen Fellows will be selected for the 2022-2023 cohort. We have a goal for the majority of participating Fellows to be professionals of color.

  1. Do applicants need previous experience in postsecondary state CTE? 

No. Experience in postsecondary state CTE is not required. However, this Fellowship is not designed for those who are newly entering the CTE profession or exclusively seeking professional development to improve secondary dual enrollment programs. A strong background in delivering, supporting or designing CTE programs is required to be eligible to apply. This experience can cover a broad range of fields: 

  • State education, labor and workforce agencies; 
  • K-12 institutions, two-and four-year colleges, or area technical centers; 
  • Nonprofits and career technical student organizations (CTSOs); and
  • Industry. 
  1. Is previous leadership experience required to apply? 

Current and aspiring postsecondary state CTE leaders are encouraged to apply. However, the Fellowship is not designed for those who are new to CTE or have limited years of service in CTE.

  1. When does the Fellowship begin and end? 

The Fellowship will begin September 2022 and will end November 2023. 

  1. In what format will Fellowship events be held? 

Workshops and coaching will be conducted virtually. Participants will be offered the opportunity to meet in person in Spring 2023 at Advance CTE’s annual meeting and will be required to meet in-person at the ECMC Foundation convening of Fellows held annually. Partial or full compensation for travel will be provided for all in-person events. 

  1. How much time will the Fellowship take?

Advance CTE anticipates that Fellows will spend up to 10 hours per month working on Fellowship-related responsibilities. The Fellowship’s curriculum includes eight, half-day virtual workshops that include pre-and post-work for each workshop. Fellows will be expected to work on a real-world project throughout the duration of the Fellowship. Additionally, Fellows will schedule monthly coaching sessions with their assigned coach.

  1. Who is providing input on the curriculum? 

A National Advisory Committee consisting of national organizations, state-level institutions and eight CTE leaders of color provide input on Fellowship curriculum, promotion, and recruitment and evaluation of outcome. The Fellowship is designed and facilitated by Advance CTE with support from Education Strategy Group (ESG) and draws upon national partners to enhance and support the curriculum design, content and delivery. 

  1. How long are the workshops? 

Each workshop will be conducted virtually, from 1 – 5 p.m. ET during the business week. Applicants will need to receive approval from their supervisor to participate in this Fellowship during work hours. 

Dr. Kevin Johnson, Senior Advisor

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“Be a Network Facilitator”: Inspiring First Steps and Common Challenges Emerge in CTE Without Limits Community of Practice Kickoff

March 1st, 2022

“Go forth without limits!” was an apt parting chat message as over 70 state Career Technical Education (CTE) leaders from across 16 states convened virtually last month to launch the community of practice for Advancing CTE Without Limits, a cross-state implementation initiative that provides a dedicated space to foster collaboration and problem solving to advance vision principles. 

Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of Career Technical Education (CTE Without Limits) was developed with the input of nearly 200 contributors representing national, state and local CTE leaders and stakeholders and anchored in the belief that each learner must have access to and the means and succeed in the career of their choice, with CTE serving as the catalyst for that journey. Since its release a year ago this month, Advance CTE has conducted a robust awareness campaign that has gained the support of over 40 national partners, and is now transitioning to meaningful state assessment and implementation work. 

The kickoff served as an initial networking session for states and an inspirational launch point to prepare for the work ahead. Attendees had the pleasure of the hearing from JFF Vice President Joel Vargas, who shared how JFF is advancing the vision through its recent research and report The Big Blur: An Argument for Erasing the Boundaries Between High School, College, and Careers —and Creating One New System That Works for Everyone. 

Vargas highlighted promising first steps in Idaho (Financing Students Directly), Tennessee (Ready Graduate Indicator), Texas (P-TECH and and Early College High Schools) and Washington (Mandatory Acceleration) that are blurring the lines among secondary, postsecondary and career preparation systems. 

Vargas challenged attendees to dream big and be the new models for scalable solutions by being a “network facilitator,” by combining career pathway expansion with intentional investments in collaboration and sustained partnerships. He connected the vision to a world where policymakers “boldly reimagine public responsibility” where providing two years of higher education and training for careers is seen as a public responsibility that is not just affordable or free, but structured to provide full support for each learner on their career journey.  

“Partners have to focus not just on the technical work, but also on building relationships and trust. Systems change is also people change.” – Joel Vargas, Vice President of Programs, JFF 

Following the keynote, leaders participated in two breakout sessions within and across states to identify promising first steps and common challenges to realizing the action areas of Principle 1: Each Learner Engages in a Cohesive, Flexible and Responsive Career Preparation Ecosystem. States raised common challenges of designing and securing funding models that prioritize collaboration and learner-centered policies and sharing learner-specific data among state agencies and education institutions. However, they also shared initiatives that could be meaningful first steps towards systems change, including partnerships to improve connections to postsecondary career pathways for learners with disabilities; combining CTE and counseling in one department, and statewide articulation and transfer agreements to fully count all learning. 

Participating states will be engaged in bimonthly cross-state calls to share challenges and solutions aligned to the five vision principles. Three states, Colorado, Nebraska and South Carolina, applied for and were selected to participate in a state cohort and will receive additional resources including funding, individualized coaching and intensive technical support. 

Sixteen states are participating in the CTE Without Limits Community of Practice: Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. The community of practice is still open for additional state participation – state staff can email Senior Policy Associate Dan Hinderliter for additional information. 

Advance CTE’s vision page offers a variety of awareness and implementation resources, including its step-by-step assessment and action planning guide, Pushing the Limits: A Roadmap for Advancing CTE Without Limits that will be the basis for Advance CTE’s state cohort work. 

CTE leaders are also encouraged to participate in activities to commemorate the first anniversary of CTE Without Limits, including a Twitter chat on March 8 at 1:00 p.m. E.T on Advance CTE’s Twitter page, and webinars aligned to the vision principles throughout the spring.

Stacy Whitehouse, Senior Associate Communications and State Engagement 

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