Posts Tagged ‘21st Century Skills’

2023 Fall Meeting Keynote and Awards Dinner Celebrates CTE Leaders of Today and Tomorrow

Tuesday, October 24th, 2023

This year, we welcomed over 200 attendees for the Advance CTE Fall Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland to make meaningful connections and ignite innovation to Elevate Career Technical Education’s (CTE) Impact. Our general sessions featured leaders from across the CTE community who are going above and beyond to ensure each learner can achieve CTE without limits.  

Keynote: The Work Ahead – CTE and the Future of Work 

Our keynote speaker was Chike Aguh, an education and workforce development innovator who is a former Chief Innovation Officer at the U.S. Department of Labor and currently a Senior Advisor for the Project on Workforce Harvard. Chike set the tone for Fall Meeting early by sharing how his parents, first-generation immigrants to the U.S., had CTE-connected careers, which paved the way for his own success which included serving the President of the United States. Chike knows that more remarkable stories like this are made possible because of the work that CTE leaders do. His presentation explored the question:

What world are we preparing our learners for, and how does Career Technical Education prepare them for it?

Chike’s message was clear – the world of work is changing dramatically and CTE needs to meet the challenge. Some changes have already happened, such as automation and remote work from industries ranging from loan administration to transportation. Other changes are yet to come, and they continue to profoundly change and in some cases put at risk jobs that Americans rely on. 

The way CTE responds to these challenges, according to Chike, is by equipping learners with both “timeless” skills and “just in time” skills. These skills don’t just make learners prepared for the workforce, they make them economically indispensable. 

One resonating message from Chike is that “‘Career Technical Education’ is too small a term for what CTE leaders are doing and what they need to do”. He applauded CTE leaders and educators for the work that they do every day, yet stressed the hard work that lies ahead for CTE in empowering the workforce of the future. 

Star of Education Awards 

Fall Meeting also served as an opportunity to celebrate state CTE leaders who are making significant contributions to elevating CTE’s impact in their state. 

The State CTE Leadership Rising Star Award, awarded to Amy Miller, recognizes new CTE leaders who are actively engaged with and dedicated to advancing a vision for CTE that is committed to quality, equity and access within their state. Miller began her role as Assistant Director of CTE at the South Dakota Department of Education in 2020 following a career as a family and consumer science teacher, CTE director and high school principal.

The State CTE Distinguished Leadership Award, awarded to Dr. Sarah Heath, recognizes current and former state CTE leaders who have a distinguished and tenured history of service and have demonstrated the highest level of commitment to advancing a vision for high-quality and equitable CTE at the state and national levels. Dr. Heath, who served as President of the Advance CTE Board of Directors from 2020-2022, has held the title of Associate Vice Chancellor for CTE and State CTE Director in Colorado since 2015 following positions as a computer science and business educator, state program director and local system administrator.

In their acceptance remarks, both leaders emphasized the importance of their state and local partners’ shared commitment to innovation and the needs of learners as central to their success. Dr. Heath in particular elevated the unique community of the “CTE family” that connects leaders across the country. 

Preparations are already underway for the Advance CTE 2024 Spring Meeting in Arlington, Virginia from April 29-May 1, 2024! Visit the event page to mark your calendar and learn more.

Layla Alagic, Digital Communications Associate
Stacy Whitehouse, Associate Director, Communications

By Layla Alagic in Advance CTE Fall Meeting
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Advance CTE 2023 Fall Meeting Sponsor Blog: Diamond Sponsor, iCEV – 5 Steps Toward Building a Sustainable CTE Program

Friday, September 29th, 2023

As a State Career and Technical Education (CTE) leader, you know the value of CTE in preparing learners for a wide range of work opportunities. But to elevate CTE’s impact, it’s essential to use your expertise to build programs that grow and thrive.

Through our conversations with CTE champions, here are five top tips we’ve summarized that are crucial to building a sustainable CTE program.

After reviewing each strategy, you’ll be better able to pursue the Advance CTE vision of CTE Without Limits.

1. Articulate Your Purpose

Identify your purpose and goals for your state’s CTE programs from the beginning. Ensure your objectives are clearly defined so you can use them to make your decisions. Consistent focus on your core goals is essential to developing a viable program.

Once you’ve defined your goals clearly, share the program’s value with your stakeholders. Prospective learners will gain insight into how the program could benefit their future.

2. Choose Relevant Courses

A key benefit of CTE is developing skills directly applicable to real-world work. Offering the right pathways and courses to teach these skills is a huge piece of any successful program.

Stay in tune with in-demand skills across industries and which careers learners are interested in. By implementing diverse courses with transferable skills, you’ll go further in preparing the next generation of workers.

3. Pursue Professional Development

Implementing ongoing professional development opportunities keeps educators current on CTE objectives, industry knowledge, and teaching strategies.

Effective professional development can take many forms, but supporting CTE instructors with relevant and varied opportunities demonstrates your commitment to their success in the classroom.

4. Build Partnerships within the Community

Connecting with businesses in local communities can create many opportunities for learners, including internships or part-time employment.

Contact companies and express your interest in creating partnerships between their professionals and learners. Making business connections at the state level can boost opportunities for programs and learners throughout your state.

5. Evaluate Your Programs

Implementing CTE at the state level is a long-term commitment to a model that will grow and evolve in a changing world.

From the beginning, gather feedback from involved parties—educators, learners, families, and industry partners. Collecting feedback on the effectiveness of a program offers immense value to all of these stakeholders.

Utilize data to determine if your CTE program is meeting its objectives and to make informed decisions.

Finally, think about how to support learners through career and technical student organizations (CTSOs), expanded program offerings, and investments in technology. Making continual improvements statewide will lead to long-term success and sustainability.

Pursue CTE Without Limits in Your Program

When you use your expertise to build sustainable CTE programs, you can pursue the vision of CTE Without Limits and provide access to a diverse audience of learners.

But to provide a cohesive, flexible learning environment to better achieve these goals, many programs are relying on CTE data.

Visit the iCEV booth during the Advance CTE Fall Conference to learn more about how iCEV can support you in acquiring and using data to make decisions.

By Layla Alagic in Advance CTE Fall Meeting
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Advance CTE Fall Meeting Sponsor Blog: Gold Sponsor, MBA Research and Curriculum Center – Ethics in Action to Move Forward Together and Create Limitless Opportunity

Tuesday, October 11th, 2022

MBA Research partners with state Career Technical Education (CTE) Directors to provide resources for schools that help build high-quality business programs preparing learners with the skills and knowledge needed for success in the workplace. 

By nature, educators are deeply attuned to the needs of their learners—and often even the needs of their families. But these days, many educators are navigating how to respond to the often-increased needs and greater numbers of crises within (and sometimes outside of) their classroom ecosystems. Where is the game plan for—as we are frequently reminded—these unprecedented times?

Recently, I heard a story on NPR’s StoryCorps. Tesia Williams tells the story of being a first-generation college student intent on making her family proud of her work at the Pentagon. When the Pentagon was struck on 9/11, she ran outside with her colleagues. She described how several of her colleagues then reentered the Pentagon to help rescue others, but she did not. Tesia described feeling frozen and in shock, with her feet rooted firmly to the ground. She said that for years she felt ashamed of her lack of action. 

On the podcast, Tesia was sharing this personal story with her adopted daughter, Mikayla. Tesia explained that those events were what laid the foundation for her decision to adopt Mikayla and her younger sister. She said that when she got news that a good friend had passed away, leaving two girls orphaned, Tesia recognized that moment as her time to “step in”—to become unfrozen, to take action.

Educators don’t have time to freeze, or even slow down. They have to keep moving—and it’s our job to help them. It’s our moment to provide the tools educators need to make differences every day in the lives of their students. This, in turn, will help shape the next generation into well-rounded, productive citizens of the world.

One way that state CTE leaders can help educators respond in an ever-increasingly complicated world is to provide them with curriculum—a plan of action—that helps learners develop a framework for choosing between right and wrong, responsible and irresponsible, ethical and unethical. Developing an ethical framework, as well as ethical leadership skills, can help learners establish sound footing, refocus, and move forward in this increasingly complex world. These ethics-related skills cross all industry sectors and provide an opportunity for CTE to assume a leadership role in delivering ethics-based education. Over one million students world-wide have been exposed to these materials!

Take a look at MBA Research’s free ethics education materials at the middle school, high school, and community college levels. We have resources with ready-made, ready-to-teach lesson plans that allow teachers to spend less energy developing lessons and more energy guiding students to recognize their full potential and embrace a future of limitless opportunity.

Holly Atha, President/CEO, MBA Research & Curriculum Center

[email protected]

 

 

By Stacy Whitehouse in Advance CTE Fall Meeting
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New Campaign Calls for Greater Investment in Skills Training

Wednesday, June 26th, 2019

Last week the National Skills Coalition launched Voices for Skills, a campaign to raise the voices of working people to educate policymakers and candidates running for office in 2020
about how critical skills training is to 21st century jobs. The campaign collectively amplifies the voices of working
people, students, teachers and business leaders by calling for a national commitment to significantly increase the investment in skills training. During the launch, personal stories were shared by those who have completed a skills training program, including:

Voices for Skills also presented a discussion between representatives from both sides of the aisle in Michigan – a state that is expected to be highly contested in the 2020 election – on why they continue to be leading champions for skills policy in Congress. Representatives Andy Levin (D-MI) and Paul Mitchell (R-MI) reiterated their commitment to skills training to meet the needs of a 21st century economy, and called upon members of the community (such as businesses, advocacy groups and teachers) to further educate, collaborate and communicate the importance of skills education. Both members also stressed that talks around infrastructure development should increasingly highlight a workforce development component, with congressman Mitchell pointing to his BUILDS ACT — which Advance CTE supports — as a needed step in the right direction.

Jade Richards, Policy Fellow 

By admin in News, Public Policy
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Webinar: The Role of CTE in Preparing Students to Compete in the Twenty-First-Century Economy

Thursday, May 17th, 2012

Join NASDCTEc Executive Director Kimberly Green in a webinar hosted by the Coalition for a College- and Career-Ready America to discuss the role CTE will play in preparing students for the nation’s global economy.

The Coalition for a College- and Career-Ready America
Invites You to Attend a Webinar on

The Role of Career and Technical Education in Preparing Students to Compete in the
Twenty-First-Century Economy

Thursday, May 31, 2012
2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. (ET)

Panelists
Brenda Dann-Messier, EdD, Assistant Secretary, Office of Vocational and Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education
Kimberly Green, Executive Director, National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium
Sydney Rogers, Executive Director, Alignment Nashville
Bob Wise, President, Alliance for Excellent Education

Today’s global economy demands a better-educated and more highly-skilled workforce. In communities across the country, career and technical education (CTE) programs are making a difference in meeting that demand by engaging students in authentic learning with real-world application, preparing them for further study and a career, and helping to fill jobs. Yet too many CTE programs are not results driven and lack the relevance and rigor students need to prepare for lifelong learning and a successful career.

In April 2012, the Obama administration released a blueprint for reauthorizing the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act of 2006, which is the largest federal program targeted to high schools. The proposal calls for a transformation of CTE around four core principles: effective alignment between CTE programs and labor market needs; collaboration among secondary schools, institutions of higher education, employers, and industry partners to improve the quality of programming; accountability for improving academic outcomes; and systemic reform of state policy to support innovation at the local level.

Join the Coalition for a College- and Career-Ready America on Thursday, May 31, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. (ET) for a webinar featuring CTE and other education experts who will discuss the proposed blueprint, the appropriate role of federal policy in supporting high-quality CTE and what it takes—at the local level—to create programs that expand opportunity for students to be successful in college and a career while also strengthening the nation’s economy. Webinar panelists will also address questions submitted by viewers from across the country.

Register and submit questions for the webinar online at http://media.all4ed.org/registration-may-31-2012.

Please direct questions concerning the webinar to [email protected].

NOTE: If you are unable to watch the webinar live, an archived version will be available athttp://www.collegeandcareerreadyamerica.org/ usually one or two days after the event airs.

By admin in News, Webinars
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Toolkit Helps Integrate 21st Century Skills with Common Core Standards

Monday, July 18th, 2011

A toolkit was launched last week to guide state education leaders in aligning the common core standards with 21st Century Skills. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21), a coalition of education, non-profit and business leaders, presented the kit at their annual meeting.

Most states have chosen to adopt the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and are in the process of designing curricula. By developing frameworks that integrate core academic content with other skills needed in the workplace – namely critical thinking and problem solving, collaboration, communication, and creativity and innovation – P21 believes that states will provide a more comprehensive education that fully prepares college- and career-ready students.

Career Technical Education (CTE) programs provide an opportunity for students to attain relevant knowledge and 21st Century Skills through real-life experiences in high-demand fields.

For more information on the toolkit, click here.

Kara Herbertson, Education Policy Analyst, [email protected]

By admin in Resources
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