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Leveraging the Perkins State Plan to Maximize Systems Alignment and Impactful Relationships in Career Technical Education

Tuesday, January 23rd, 2024

The process conducted by state Career Technical Education (CTE) leaders to update their Perkins state plan provides numerous opportunities to reflect on processes, procedures and relationships that keep CTE at the forefront of our educational systems. The Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins V) has been a driving force for connecting systems of education and work across the country. An intentional reflection on systems alignment ensures that CTE remains front and center across state career preparation ecosystems.

When we discuss systems alignment, we typically think about how a learner moves through secondary education, postsecondary pursuits and then the workforce. There are several strategy areas within Perkins V to consider how your state systems connect and align, including state and local planning processes, program alignment with workforce needs, integration with other federal programs, data-driven decision-making and stakeholder engagement. Each of these strategies offer opportunities to strengthen and streamline your work, and are discussed below with probing questions that may help you think more strategically about alignment in your state.

State and Local Planning

States are required to develop a comprehensive state plan for CTE. This plan outlines how the state will align and coordinate its CTE programs with other education and workforce development initiatives. During your state planning process, reflect on the following questions:

How is your state leveraging the CLNA process to encourage alignment and coordination across education and workforce initiatives?
How is the state using information local entities share through their CLNA to inform state-provided supports?
How is the design and implementation of local applications supporting state goals and objectives for CTE?

Alignment with Workforce Needs

Perkins V emphasizes the importance of aligning CTE programs with the needs of the labor market. This requires reviewing local and state labor market data and collaboration with employers and industry stakeholders to identify current and future workforce demands. States and local agencies should use labor market information to design programs that lead to high-skill, high-wage, and in-demand occupations. During your state planning process, reflect on the following questions:

What strategies are you using to engage employers in your state? Are any especially effective?
How are you leveraging labor market information to inform program design, applications, and approvals?

Integration with Other Programs

Perkins V encourages the intentional coordination between CTE programs and other educational and workforce development initiatives. This includes coordination with programs such as apprenticeships, adult education, and workforce training. This coordination of efforts helps create seamless educational experiences for individuals, ensuring that they are prepared for both postsecondary education and the workforce. During your state planning process, reflect on the following questions:

Is your state connecting and coordinating with workforce leaders and those administering the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) in your state?
How can state plan strategies integrate with programs and agencies that support special populations as identified by Perkins V and other underrepresented learner populations?

Data-Driven Decision-Making

Systems alignment efforts should be informed by data to guide decision-making. States and local agencies should collect and analyze data related to learner access, persistence, outcomes, program effectiveness, and labor market trends. Data-driven decision-making helps foster continuous improvement and ensures that resources are allocated effectively. During your state planning process, reflect on the following questions:

How is your state data strategy encouraging or inhibiting cross-agency data sharing and use?
What are the major challenges around data collection and sharing?
How are you evaluating your efforts to collect, share, and use data to support high-quality implementation?

Stakeholder Collaboration

Perkins V encourages collaboration among various stakeholders, including educators, employers, workforce development agencies, and community organizations. Engaging stakeholders ensures that the education and training provided through CTE programs is relevant and responsive to the needs of the community. During your state planning process, reflect on the following questions:

How often is your state engaging stakeholders outside of the state planning process?
How is stakeholder feedback shared and acted on?
How are you engaging all stakeholder groups in your planning process?

Additional Support

By focusing on systems alignment, Perkins V aims to create a more cohesive and effective approach to CTE, ultimately preparing individuals for success in the workforce. States and local agencies play a crucial role in implementing and overseeing these alignment efforts. We are here to support you in this work and continue to drive forward that systems alignment is a critical need across the nation.

Advance CTE will continue a suite of supports designed to ensure your Perkins state plan serves as a powerful lever to achieve your state vision for career technical education, and more broadly CTE Without Limits. These supports include:

Monthly Perkins Planning Office Hours,
Opportunities for one-on-one discussion on Perkins data and State Determined Performance Levels (SDPLs) for members,
New mini-briefs on strategies to support special populations in CTE, and more.

Additional Resources can be found in the Perkins V section of the Learning that Works Resource Center.

As we move into the new year, it is the time to reflect on how we work with one another and if those relationships advance learners within the CTE ecosystem. We look forward to continuing conversations with you about the various levers that can be tapped to optimize Perkins V in your state.

Stephanie Perkins, Member Engagement & Professional Learning

By Layla Alagic in Advance CTE Resources, Public Policy
Tags: CLNA, Data, employer partnership, high-demand jobs, Integration, Labor Market Information, Perkins V, Stakeholder engagement, strategic planning, WIOA, workforce development

Achieving Inclusive CTE: Early Achievements and Upcoming Opportunities to Support Inclusive CTE

Wednesday, October 11th, 2023

In 2022, Advance CTE and Education Strategy Group, through the New Skills ready network initiative, released the Achieving Inclusive CTE Goal-Setting Tool (AICTE). This tool adds a new resource to the data toolbox for state and local CTE and career pathways leaders to assess learner group data. The goal-setting tool enables leaders to analyze CTE learner group data in comparison to the broader student population. The purpose of the tool is to support leaders with their efforts to recruit, engage and support underrepresented learner groups to increase access to high-quality Career Technical Education (CTE) programs and career pathways.

Over the past six months, four states, Alabama, Indiana, Louisiana and Utah, have participated in a technical assistance cohort to leverage the AICTE Goal-Setting Tool to evaluate the inclusivity of their system and establish goals to improve equitable access and outcomes for learner populations in their states. The cohort of technical assistance included two workshop sessions to review the tool and its analyses; ongoing support and coaching calls with each state team to guide the use of the tool in their states; and two Communities of Practice sessions to share promising solutions and discuss shared challenges. The two states that completed the pilot of the Goal-Setting Tool, Colorado and South Carolina, were also invited to attend the Communities of Practice sessions.

Lessons Learned

Over the course of the technical assistance cohort, key themes and lessons learned emerged from the states using the Achieving Inclusive CTE Goal-Setting Tool:

The Achieving Inclusive CTE Goal-Setting Tool Supports Perkins Performance Indicators;

The Achieving Inclusive CTE Goal-Setting Tool is a Strong Companion in the Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment Process; and

The Achieving Inclusive Goal-Setting Tool Supports Data Tools Alignment.

Continue reading for detailed information on the lessons learned and examples from the states who participated.

The Achieving Inclusive CTE Goal-Setting Tool Supports Perkins Performance Indicators: The AICTE Goal-Setting Tool analyzes data for 11 indicators across all learner populations. This level of analysis includes gender, race and ethnicity and special populations (English learners, Migrant learners, Economically Disadvantaged and Learners with disabilities). The disaggregated design of the Goal-Setting Tool supports users in drilling down specific areas for improvement and support. Utah is utilizing the tool to support one of its Perkins performance indicators: nontraditional participation. With the help of the AICTE Goal-Setting Tool, the team will leverage the data analysis to identify areas where their state and local leaders can make a greater impact to increase nontraditional participation and understand if the adjusted performance targets the state has set are reasonable to achieve.

As the team works towards achieving its Perkins performance goals, the Utah team will also conduct a state-level analysis of nontraditional participation for multiple years to compare the data and identify any changes in the groups over time. Additionally, the state team plans to conduct training to support local leaders with the use of the Goal-Setting Tool and allow them to enter their own data to identify opportunities for a more inclusive CTE system. The team will provide this training to local CTE leaders during the winter months of 2023 and will align the Goal-Setting Tool with their Opportunity Gap Analysis workbook and data.

With the assistance of the Goal-Setting Tool, the team shared that the greatest benefit is having more insightful data analysis in conjunction with their Opportunity Gap Analysis. According to the team, using the tools together offers a greater understanding of the CTE system and areas where learners need to be recruited, supported or engaged.

The Achieving Inclusive CTE Goal-Setting Tool is a Strong Companion in the Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment Process: One of the many use cases for the Goal-Setting Tool is the examination of equity and disaggregated learner performance data as part of the Perkins V Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment (CLNA). The Goal-Setting Tool takes a deeper dive into the CTE continuum to identify priority areas for Perkins plans. The team in Indiana is taking full advantage of the Goal-Setting Tool with their CLNA process by planning to include training on the use of the goal-setting tool in their next round of Equity Labs. Equity Labs are regional sessions held across the state to share the importance of equity and inclusivity in CTE programs and career pathways.

The Goal-Setting Tool will support Indiana’s CLNA process by providing a tool to facilitate a deep dive into each district’s data. The state team plans to supply regional and district CTE leaders with the Achieving Inclusive CTE Goal-Setting Tool to analyze data, set a goal to increase equity and inclusivity and implement a practical strategy to achieve the goal.

To use the Goal-Setting Tool to its full potential in Indiana’s CLNA process, the team plans to provide local CTE leaders with ongoing support and opportunities for follow-up to ensure locals are leveraging root-cause analysis to better understand data trends. The state plans to leverage the tool for continuous monitoring of the practical strategies and interventions deployed to create a more equitable and inclusive CTE system.

The Achieving Inclusive Goal-Setting Tool Supports Data Tools Alignment: Each state selected to participate in the pilot and technical assistance cohort previously completed the Opportunity Gap Analysis Train-the-Trainer workshop, a workshop that prepares CTE leaders to provide comprehensive training on the importance of equitable access to high-quality CTE, demonstrates how to conduct a percentage point gap analysis to identify gaps among learner groups including race and ethnicity, gender and special populations and conducting a root-cause analysis to understand the implications on the data.

The AICTE Goal-Setting Tool is the next phase of data analysis work to support inclusive and equitable CTE systems: analyzing the current representation of learners in CTE programs compared to the learners that could be engaged, recruited and/or supported in CTE and setting goals to achieve a more equitable system.

While these tools complement each other in their analyses and findings, participants using the tools identified the importance and value of ensuring the two tools work together and clearly communicating the alignment of the tools to their local-level CTE leaders and practitioners. Colorado is making progress leveraging both tools with their local-level CTE leaders and practitioners. To support the local-level use of the tools, the Colorado state agency provided the Opportunity Gap Analysis dashboard to their local-level teams. Then it provided guidance on using the AICTE Goal-Setting Tool. By leveraging the two tools together, locals were able to identify opportunity gaps in CTE enrollment and then further drill down on equitable access and inclusivity in every stage of the CTE continuum across specific CTE programs using CIP code-level data. Conducting analysis with CIP code-level data allows districts within a state an opportunity to identify where they have gaps. As districts continue to leverage both tools, they can work collaboratively with industry partners to expand access to CTE career pathway programs and work-based learning opportunities.

To ensure alignment between the tools, the Colorado team launched both tools to every district and consortia to review regional data to account for small n-sizes. The Colorado team has held several sessions on data quality and interpreting the data dashboards. These sessions include guidance and support to identify trends in the data. The state team continues to offer support sessions and office hours to discuss all data-related issues.

As the team looks ahead, they plan to leverage the two tools in their Perkins state plan revisions. The team will begin regional meetings for the Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment (CLNA) to gather input for the state plan to ensure it includes robust and diverse perspectives especially when setting state performance targets. The state team will set Perkins performance targets leveraging both the Opportunity Gap Analysis dashboard and the AICTE Goal-Setting Tool.

Looking Ahead

The Achieving Inclusive CTE Goal-Setting Tool is a strong data analysis tool for CTE leaders and Advance CTE is committed to supporting states with the use of the tool to achieve more inclusive and equitable CTE systems. In the coming months, Advance CTE will launch a second round of technical assistance to guide participants through the use of the tool, provide individualized coaching and support for states using the tool and elevate the promising approaches and successes from the use of the tool. To learn more about this cohort of technical assistance and apply, please visit this form.

If you have any questions about the Achieving Inclusive CTE Goal-Setting Tool or the upcoming technical assistance cohort, please contact Haley Wing, Senior Policy Associate, Advance CTE at hwing@careertech.org.

By Layla Alagic in Achieving Equitable and Inclusive CTE, Resources
Tags: Access and Equity, Alabama, CLNA, Colorado, Education Strategy Group, Indiana, Louisiana, New Skills ready network, Opportunity Gap, Perkins V, South Carolina, Utah

Implementing Equity-Centered Program of Study Reviews

Thursday, August 3rd, 2023

This blog explores an evaluation conducted by the Office of Community College Research and Leadership (OCCRL) into the strategies that the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) is leveraging as part of its internal program of study review process.

Overview

The ICCB is the governing body for Illinois’ 48 community colleges and works in concert with the Illinois State Board of Education to administer the federal Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education (Perkins V*) program. They have applied a hyper-local lens to the program review process to support learner-centered, equity-minded, and evidence-driven change across the Illinois community college system.

ICCB’s Program Review Manual lists the requirements for institutions completing a program review and instructions for how data should be used to inform program design if gaps are identified. Colleges are asked to evaluate the quality and cost-effectiveness of all student and academic support services, including Career Techincal Education (CTE) programs.

Some of the criteria outlined by the ICCB to complete this program of study review are:

At a minimum, systematically examine the need, cost and quality of individual programs and services, ensuring that programs continue to be responsive to local needs, cost-efficient, and integrate quality components into programming;
This data is provided by faculty and appropriate administrators who are directly responsible for the areas being reviewed as well as faculty, academic support professionals and administrators from across the campus;
Examine assessment results appropriate to the unit, as well as comparative data on enrollments, completions, and costs using the most recent audited state-level data;
Be responsive to identified areas of weakness by developing and implementing feasible and measurable action steps;
Include the use of disaggregated data to uncover and address equity gaps in programming, performance or service;
Assure that the process is well documented and use the results to inform campus planning initiatives, quality improvement efforts and budget allocation decisions;
Report results and actions resulting from reviews to local boards, advisory committees, and other stakeholders as appropriate;
Adhere to a minimum review cycle of once every five years for all programs listed in the Program Review Schedule.

With significant and recent changes taking place to ICCB’s Program Review Manual, the OCCRL’s study, Advancing Program Review Evaluating and Envisioning the Future of Program Review at Illinois Community Colleges, sought to provide feedback that can improve the efficacy of the manual and supporting practices. The OCCRL framed the study around the concept of program review process as a tool for institutions to support learner-centered, equity-guided and evidence-driven improvements. The intent of the review process is to support colleges in making campus-level planning and decision-making related to the quality, cost-effectiveness, assessment and improvement of programs. While these goals are similar to the process that local entities go through to complete their Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment (CLNA), this approach offers an opportunity to facilitate greater consistency and communication across institutions to improve outcomes for every learner.

Methods

Through the study, OCCRL attempted to answer three evaluation questions:

What institutional and environmental factors within the context of program review affect institutions’ culture of evidence (using data to inform program design) and how do these factors vary across institutions in the state?
What substantive challenges influence the design, implementation and impact of the program review in Illinois and how might these challenges be remedied?
What are critical design considerations for advancing the future of program review processes at community colleges in Illinois?

In order to complete their evaluation, OCCRL noted that their approach had to reflect the high level of variation that exists among Illinois community colleges and the programs nested within them. To meet this need, they focused on working closely with individuals within the field who were currently engaged in the work and who had developed expertise working within the system, allowing them to suggest improvements and envision its future. Evaluation data was collected through a series of focus groups composed of representatives from the 49 community colleges, including community college practitioners, faculty, institutional researchers and chief information officers. The topics of the focus groups covered environmental and institutional factors influencing program review, colleges’ procedures for managing and using evidence produced from program reviews, and finally, challenges related to program reviews.

Evaluation

In their report, OCCRL identified seven factors that affect an institution’s ability to successfully foster a culture of evidence and support equity-minded use of the resulting findings:

Leadership: A culture of evidence is championed throughout the college through informal and formal leadership.
Strategic investments: The college strategically invests resources in learner-centered improvements directed toward programs and pathways.
Equity-guided: A commitment is shared throughout the college to systemic and localized changes to improve equity for underserved learners.
Engagement: Diverse viewpoints and roles are encouraged and sought after and contribute to ongoing improvement processes.
Statewide guidance and governance: The state provides clear and supportive standards and policies that support both accountability and data-driven change.
Data literacy: Institutionally and individually, the college supports access to data and the data literacy necessary to frame inquiries and to effectively collect, operationalize, analyze, and interpret data.
Infrastructure and information technologies: Systems are available to support the collecting, storing, accessing, analyzing, and disseminating of data throughout the college.

Resulting Supports

As a result of requests from study participants, OCCRL developed an equity-centered rubric as a standardized tool that could be used to advance learning and support for institutions across Illinois in their CTE program review process. This self-assessment tool is intended to support practitioners in completing high-quality reviews and enables them to more closely examine the demographic groups within CTE programs.

In addition to the rubric, participants shared high-level reflections on the solutions to common program review challenges that were discussed during the third focus group:

Identify strategies to make the program review process user-friendly, as “Concise is Nice”.
Support the statewide solutions sharing.
Protect the necessary time for accurate, proactive planning.
Implement a peer review process to leverage the depth of available expertise.

Additionally, the authors of the study suggest strategies that state leaders might consider incorporating into their own CLNA processes.

Program review process should lead to action steps reflective of equity-guided continuous improvement models.
Program reviews should include learner input data to inform practice and stakeholder commitment to strategic planning and resource sharing.

Visit Advance CTE’s Learning that Works Resource Center to access additional resources for state leaders looking to integrate equity-guided and data-driven strategies into their state plans.

Lessons in Collaboration and Innovation: The Impact and Promise of the Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment

Learner Voice Toolkit

Making Good on the Promise: Improving Equity and Access to Quality CTE Programs for English Learners

Amy Hodge, Membership & Policy Associate

*As amended by the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act

By Layla Alagic in Achieving Equitable and Inclusive CTE
Tags: Access and Equity, Carl D. Perkins Act, CLNA, community colleges, Illinois, Perkins V, Program Quality, Research

Perkins Regional Meetings April and May 2023: Key Takeaways

Thursday, June 8th, 2023

Over April and May 2023, Advance CTE hosted three Perkins Regional Meetings across the country in Minneapolis, Baltimore and Phoenix, with over 200 leaders from across 40 states and territories which was made possible through support from the Gates Foundation. The agenda for the three meetings was designed for state leaders from secondary, postsecondary and workforce development to connect and collaborate on ways to enhance their current Career Technical Education (CTE) systems and programs.

States participated in keynote presentations, workshops, roundtables focused on supporting special populations and cross-state sharing sessions with the intent of building and strengthening the career preparation ecosystem for all learners across the nation. State leaders and our Advance CTE team were both energized by the engagement and inspired by the dedication of all those that attended the meetings and are working to create a high-quality and equitable system that supports all CTE learners.

While each state has its own unique challenges, accomplishments and opportunities, certain recurring themes emerged across multiple states. The national CTE landscape is one of great opportunity but will need support to provide access to high-quality experiences for all CTE learners.

Key Takeaways

Accomplishments

Strong partnerships and support between private industry, education and government leaders to support economic development
Implementation of needed improvements garnered from Comprehensive Local Needs Assessments (CLNA) at the state and local levels
Collaboration and cooperation among state workforce agencies and departments of education and higher education during the Perkins Regional Meetings
Work-based learning (WBL) program guidance on how to focus staffing and funding resources

Challenges

CTE instructor training, recruitment and retention
Staff turnover at both the local and state level
Data management, collection and utilization
Collaboration between secondary, postsecondary and workforce development
Capacity building to meet the demands of learners and region-specific needs

Using the information gained at these meetings, CTE leaders will be able to build upon the accomplishments and help provide resources, tools and support to address the challenges within the current system, with an eye towards how states will leverage the potential to revise or update their Perkins V state plans as their original four-year plans come to a close next spring. Advance CTE continues to be available as a resource to provide best practices, information on innovative policies on the horizon and technical assistance to states to achieve our shared vision of Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of Career Technical Education (CTE Without Limits).

As states work to address the challenges they face, Advance CTE has numerous resources available below and through the Learning that Works Resource Center to assist with goal set and challenges identified during the meeting:

Perkins V Supports Teacher Recruitment and Retention
This resource discusses the mechanisms in Perkins V that support teacher recruitment and retention, an overview of how this appears in Perkins V state plans and examples of how states are tackling the challenge of recruiting and retaining qualified and diverse CTE instructors.
Championing High-Quality Data
This brief addresses the importance of a unifying vision for education and workforce that draws upon and regularly uses postsecondary CTE data to measure progress and guide state policy and practice.
Beyond the Numbers: Design Principles for CTE Data Reporting and A Toolkit for Communicating CTE Data
This report, developed with input from a shared solutions workgroup of national and state experts, provides nine principles for developing effective and accessible CTE data reporting tools. A companion toolkit contains guidance, best practices and tools that CTE leaders can use to create communications to help stakeholders better understand and act on CTE data.
Coordinating Across Perkins V and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act
This guide looks at six opportunities to promote coordination across Perkins V and WIOA as states develop and implement plans under Perkins V.
Strengthening Career Pathways Through the Power of State and Local Partnerships
This resource is the third in a series of policy briefs centered on strengthening career pathways. It offers promising practices for leveraging the strengths of state and local leaders to cultivate sustainable, scalable partnerships and advance high-quality career pathways.

Save the Date for our next in-person opportunity to connect and receive support from Advance CTE! Our 2023 Fall Meeting: Elevating CTE’s Impact, will be held October 16-18 in Baltimore, Maryland.

Paul Mattingly, Senior Policy Associate

By Layla Alagic in Uncategorized
Tags: career pathways, CLNA, CTE instruction, CTE Without Limits, Data Collection, data quality, Industry Collaboration, Learning that Works Resource Center, Perkins, Perkins V, Postsecondary Education, Secondary, turnover, WIOA, work-based learning, workforce development

Pushing the Limits: South Carolina

Thursday, 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:

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).
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.
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

By Jodi Langellotti in CTE Without Limits
Tags: career preparation, CLNA, Perkins, South Carolina, systems alignment

Looking Back to Look Forward and the Implications for Career Technical Education

Thursday, May 11th, 2023

Earlier this year, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation hosted a webinar to release their new report, The Future of Data, Assessments, and Accountability in K-12 Education, which offers a comprehensive analysis of the landmark education policies of the past two decades, from No Child Left Behind (NCLB) to the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

The event featured a discussion among Maya Martin Cadogan (Founder & Executive Director, Parents Amplifying Voices in Education), Dr. Ivan Duran (Superintendent, Highline Public Schools), Dr. Dan Goldhaber (Director, CALDER American Institutes for Research) and Dr. Chris Steward (Chief Executive Officer, brightbeam), on the report’s findings and future implications for the role of federal policy in the K-12 education system. The panelists also reflected on the perspectives and data they felt were absent from the report and the opportunities to leverage lessons learned.

Key Takeaways

The reforms of this era were significant because they put in motion new data collection practices that shifted focus to considering the needs of individual student groups.
The report highlights a binary review of whether reforms have or have not worked over the last 20 years in education reform (i.e., from NCLB to ESSA). Unfortunately, this means that much of the nuance of how states/LEAs impact outcomes were not included in the analysis.
The federal government has a role in distributing data to states. States and LEAs are responsible for translating this data into information to inform practices that will address the identified gaps in a way that makes sense for their context and communities.
One lasting legacy of NCLB is that the last 20 years forced schools to disaggregate data and consider the needs of learners, including students of color, students from low-income backgrounds and students with special needs.
The U.S. educational system still relies on achievement tests to measure students’ and schools’ performance. However, there needs to be more information on other types of assessment to measure student learning and hold schools accountable despite the education community advocating for these changes.
The authors identified strategies that stakeholders find to have had the most significant impact on building public proficiency in and demand for quality educational opportunities. These include intentional stakeholder buy-in, a compelling and multi-faceted communications strategy and long-term leadership.

Next Steps for State CTE Leaders

As states are considering their next round of Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) State Determined Levels of Performance, or perhaps broader changes to Perkins V plans, consider the following actions:

Visit Careertech.org to subscribe to Advance CTE’s blog newsletter to learn more about our data initiatives and data tools for advancing equity and access in CTE!
Use Advance CTE’s Inclusive CTE Goal-Setting Tool to further explore equity gaps in data.
Mine the data collected through your comprehensive local needs assessments (CLNA). A CLNA must be completed by local recipients of Perkins V funds and updated every two years to ensure programs are aligned to workforce needs and economic priorities and serving learners equitably.
- Review the guide from Advance CTE or the recording from the Perkins Collaborative Resource Network to learn more about the CLNA.
- Read about state perspectives and approaches to the CLNA in Lessons in Collaboration and Innovation: The Impact and Promise of the Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment.
Evaluate what leading indicators your state can develop so data is more timely when making educational decisions.
- Use the Achieving Inclusive CTE Goal-Setting Tool to address and mitigate the opportunities uncovered through the CLNA process.

The full report, Looking Back to Look Forward: Quantitative and Qualitative Reviews of the Past 20 Years of K-12 Education Assessment and Accountability Policy can be found online and through Advance CTE’s Learning that Works Resource Center. You can also find the webinar recording on YouTube.

Dr. Laura Maldonado, Senior Research Associate and Amy Hodge, Policy Associate

By Jodi Langellotti in Achieving Equitable and Inclusive CTE
Tags: Access and Equity, CLNA, CTE Data, Data, ESSA, NCLB, NCLB/ESEA, Opportunity Gap, Public Policy, US Chamber of Commerce Foundation

Making Good on the Promise: Addressing Three Major Challenges for English Learners in CTE

Thursday, June 9th, 2022

Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of Career Technical Education (CTE Without Limits) calls on each level of leadership to create systems and structures that offer every learner access to high-quality Career Technical Education (CTE) opportunities that lead to career success. This requires dismantling systemic and institutional barriers that limit equitable access to and success in CTE for learners from special populations.

In support of the CTE Without Limits vision, Advance CTE recently released the Improving Equity and Access to Quality CTE Programs for English Learners brief. This resource explores English Learner (EL) enrollment in CTE and three major barriers that English Learners face in accessing and succeeding in CTE programs, concluding with recommendations on how state leaders can take the lead in addressing these barriers and expanding access to high-quality CTE opportunities.

1.Barrier: Irrelevant or Impersonal Curricula and Assessments

In both general education and CTE courses, English Learners are frequently exposed to one-size-fits-all curricula that are not personalized to their unique interests, career goals and learning needs. Additionally, ELs may need to take remedial classes that take time away from credit-bearing courses that lead to certificate or degree program completion or limit opportunities to enroll in CTE courses. Finally, many forms of assessments, including entrance and placement exams and state standardized tests, place ELs at a disadvantage by simultaneously testing both content knowledge and language skills. These assessments typically do not recognize the unique value that ELs offer as emergent bilinguals with a wealth of cultural and linguistic knowledge.

Addressing the Barrier: Providing adaptive instruction and relevant skill-building opportunities are critical for ELs. The state of Washington’s Integrated Basic Education Skills and Training (I-BEST) team-teaching instructional model supports these learners by teaching both basic language skills and career readiness skills. Studies from the Department of Health and Human Services have confirmed the effectiveness of I-BEST at improving educational outcomes. Additionally, states should make an effort to make assessments more accessible. Virginia created a catalog of industry credentials with testing accommodations for ELs, with direction on how districts and schools should notify ELs about these accommodations prior to taking tests.

Another avenue for addressing the educational needs of ELs is leveraging federal funding – a program provider in Ohio utilized funds from Title III of the Every Student Succeeds Act to expand culturally responsive career counseling and career exploration opportunities for ELs. Finally, professional development for CTE educators is necessary to ensure that instruction is culturally responsive and adaptive. Arizona’s Department of Education has initiated a collaborative interagency project to develop professional learning opportunities for instructors across the state, centered on identifying and deploying strategies to address barriers for special populations in the classroom.

2.Barrier: Competing Priorities and Time Demands

Many ELs have family and work demands that often result in class scheduling conflicts. ELs disproportionately experience low-income, and many work in jobs with demanding, unpredictable work schedules and low wages. Further, ELs may face additional barriers to accessing child care and transportation to get to class.

Addressing the Barrier: Wraparound services are essential for this population to access and succeed in CTE programs. States and local leaders can work together to braid different funding streams and leverage federal grants to coordinate community services and address barriers to accessing CTE. Local education agencies must also provide timely interventions and long-term supports. Georgia provides targeted guidance for ELs and other special populations at risk of dropping out of high school through the Coordinated Career Academic Education and Project Success support services. Additionally, Georgia’s technical colleges employ Special Populations Coordinators to support these learners.

3.Barrier: Few Avenues for Elevating Learner Voices and Outcomes

While K-12 schools are required to collect and report data on learners’ language proficiency, guidance for collecting and reporting these data at the postsecondary level is extremely limited. States typically do not provide any direction on how postsecondary institutions can best serve ELs. Additionally, there are few mechanisms for elevating the voices and lived experiences of ELs within decision-making processes, exacerbating the lack of knowledge on learners’ participation rates and outcomes in CTE programs. In order to truly understand the scope of institutional barriers and create meaningful solutions, state CTE leaders must find ways to access crucial data on this learner population.

Addressing the Barrier: The Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment (CLNA) process required under the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) can be a critical avenue for collecting and reporting data on ELs. Special populations are a required stakeholder to consult when developing CLNAs, and state plans must address learners’ access to CTE programs, as well as their performance levels. The Illinois Community College Board developed a CLNA template with specific fields for describing how the equity needs of each learner group are being met at every stage of the process.

This resource is part of the Making Good on the Promise series, which defines key challenges that different learners face and explores solutions that State CTE Directors can implement to help close equity and opportunity gaps in CTE. For more resources on supporting special populations in CTE, visit Advance CTE’s Learning that Works Resource Center.

Allie Pearce, Graduate Fellow

By Stacy Whitehouse in Publications
Tags: Arizona, CLNA, English language learners, Equity and Access, Georgia, Illinois, Making Good on the Promise, Ohio, Student Supports, Virginia, Washington State

GAO Report Highlights Strategies to Support CTE Programs and Ongoing Challenges

Tuesday, April 12th, 2022

On March 30th, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report reviewing Career Technical Education (CTE) programs funded by the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V). Following a congressional authorization of $1.3 billion for Perkins V in fiscal year 2021, GAO conducted a series of interviews with state education officials and representatives from CTE program providers in Delaware, Georgia, Ohio and Washington, as well as additional CTE stakeholders including business representatives, in order to study service and funding strategies and challenges.

According to the study, state officials, program providers and stakeholders reported a variety of strategies to support different learner populations in CTE:

Leveraging state, local and non-Perkins federal funding. To address learner needs in CTE programming, many respondents braided diverse funding sources, including state and local revenue streams, federal grants and philanthropic donations. Program providers at the secondary level were most likely to take advantage of Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants and Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants, while providers at the postsecondary level frequently reported using Adult Education State Grants.

Conducting needs assessments. States and providers also utilized the comprehensive local needs assessment (CLNA) process to identify learner needs and tailor CTE programs accordingly. Ohio created “equity labs” to provide resources for school districts to analyze CLNA data, which led to the discovery of English Learner underrepresentation in CTE and the subsequent hiring of an interpreter to make program information more accessible for this population.

Creating meaningful partnerships with business and industry. Both state officials and stakeholders illuminated the importance of engaging with industry in order to develop relevant career pathways and offer work-based learning opportunities.

Seeking support from state and local leadership. Stakeholders emphasized that buy-in from leaders such as governors and superintendents is often a key component for expanding and improving CTE programs. A program provider in Georgia reported that the district superintendent’s support ultimately allowed the county to transition from traditional public schools to career academies in order to promote higher graduation rates and greater student engagement.

Despite these successes, however, respondents highlighted challenges related to the delivery of CTE programs, the replication of effective models and program accessibility for learners.

Challenges for program delivery revolved around limited funding and capacity, troubles with attracting and retaining racially diverse CTE educators, and negative perceptions of CTE programs, largely due to a lack of shared knowledge on program purposes and outcomes. The report highlighted outreach activities such as reaching out to school counselors as beneficial for raising awareness of the benefits of CTE, as well as the creation of Grow-Your-Own (GYO) teacher programs to recruit underrepresented educators from the community.

State leaders and program providers also reported that it can be a struggle to replicate effective models due to insufficient data on long-term outcomes, as well as a lack of information on evidence-based strategies. These limitations, combined with funding constraints, make it hard to scale successful programs such as Washington’s I-BEST model, which provides additional support services and a team-teaching model that requires hiring two teachers per course. The state of Delaware is attempting to address data limitations by developing a postsecondary data system that connects different sources of information in order to develop a better understanding of learner needs and outcomes.

Additionally, learners experienced two major challenges in accessing high-quality CTE. First, many learners are unable to participate in work-based learning opportunities, often due to a lack of communication between schools and employers, as well as transportation barriers that make it difficult to travel to work sites. The GAO report suggests business and industry engagement as a key strategy to address these issues. Second, learners may lack support services they need to succeed, including language accommodations, child care, flexible scheduling and financial aid. Tests are a barrier to entry for many learners, and accessing financial assistance for postsecondary non-degree programs can also be difficult. The report emphasized efforts to hire translators and provide flexible online instruction as possible methods for making CTE more supportive and accessible for learner populations.

With the shared commitment to Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of Career Technical Education (CTE Without Limits) and a continual effort to meaningfully collaborate across workforce and education systems, state CTE leaders can create innovative approaches to program outreach to build support for CTE programs among diverse constituencies, as well as advocate for expanded investment in additional services and supports that allow each learner to reach career success.

Allie Pearce, Graduate Fellow

By admin in Research
Tags: CLNA, Delaware, Georgia, Ohio, Perkins V, Washington State

Recommendations for State CTE Leaders: The Impact and Promise of the Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment

Thursday, January 13th, 2022

Advance CTE was a fierce advocate for the inclusion of the Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment (CLNA) in the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V). By law, the CLNA is called to support data-driven decisionmaking and more closely align planning, spending and accountability activities under Perkins V. At that time, Advance CTE released a guide to help states identify the major decision points that would impact the design, development and implementation of their CLNA and related local needs application.

Now that we are nearing the end of the first two-years of the CLNA and as states begin to ramp up their second process, Advance CTE and the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) interviewed state and local Career Technical Education (CTE) leaders to identify exemplar states and their journey through implementation. Lessons in Collaboration and Innovation: The Impact and Promise of the Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment presents findings on state successes, challenges and recommended refinements.

In the months ahead Advance CTE will continue to provide states with technical assistance, state resources and other ongoing supports. Today, Advance CTE and ACTE released the below recommendations for state CTE leaders as they begin to update their CLNA processes.

Recommendation: Fully Commit to Putting Equity at the Center of the CLNA
One of the most powerful benefits of the CLNA is the ability to identify access and performance gaps across learner populations, enabling CTE programs to better serve special populations and historically marginalized learners and break down inequities. Advance CTE’s Making Good on the Promise series defines the key challenges these learners face today and provides promising solutions.
Recommendation: Continue to Invest in Data Capacity
High-quality data — and the ability to read and understand data — is the backbone of a robust CLNA process. Advance CTE’s Career Readiness Data Quality and Use Policy Benchmark Tool describes six core elements of a high-quality career readiness data ecosystem and highlights recommended actions state leaders can take to improve the quality and effective use of career readiness data across education levels.
Recommendation: Support Local Stakeholder Engagement
One area for improvement identified by state and local leaders is the depth and breadth of stakeholders engaged. Advance CTE and ACTE recently published tips on engaging learners in With Learners, Not for Learners: A Toolkit for Elevating Learner Voice in CTE and earlier released relevant resources to support the engagement of representatives of learners with special population status and industry partners.
Recommendation: Plan Ahead to Ease Capacity and Timing Burdens
State leaders can help local recipients with this lift by aligning the CLNA, as much as possible, across the secondary and postsecondary levels and with other required activities, while also building in opportunities to update the CLNA when needed.
Recommendation: Balance a Focus on Process with a Focus on Progress
As the process becomes more established in states and local areas over time, state leaders and local recipients should also be attentive to progress toward the goal of improved alignment to needs and improved programs and services for learners.
Recommendation: Frame the CLNA as an Opportunity
To encourage local recipients, state leaders should frame the CLNA as an opportunity, rather than merely a compliance exercise. This will require thoughtful communications, messaging and outreach efforts.

View the full resource and other CLNA state supports in our Learning that Works Resource Center.

Brittany Cannady, Senior Associate Digital Media

By admin in Advance CTE Resources
Tags: ACTE, CLNA, Equity and Access, Perkins V, Stakeholder engagement

Leveraging the Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment to Support Regional Collaboration

Thursday, August 22nd, 2019

One of the most significant and exciting changes introduced in the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) is the new comprehensive local needs assessment (CLNA). The purpose of the CLNA is to support data-driven decisionmaking and more closely align planning, spending and accountability activities under Perkins V. All local activities – and funding – must align to the findings of local needs assessment. This represents a major sea change in how most states and locals currently support and fund Career Technical Education (CTE), one that brings both opportunities and challenges.

To support states in this undertaking, Advance CTE convened a Shared Solutions Workgroup, with support from the Association of Career and Technical Education and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The Workgroup – comprised of state and national leaders – is charged with informing and contributing to the development of resources and tools for the benefit of all states, as they guide local recipients in conducting rigorous CLNA that drives program quality, equity and access.

Today, Advance CTE is releasing the second two deliverables from this Workgroup: Promoting a Regional Approach to the Perkins V Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment and Investing in Quality: Funding the Perkins V Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment.

Many states are looking to the CLNA – and Perkins V more broadly – as an opportunity to promote stronger collaboration and alignment across secondary and postsecondary systems and across CTE and workforce development. Promoting a Regional Approach provides a framework, self-assessment, guidance and key questions to help states considering leveraging the CLNA process to foster regional collaboration – covering the why, what and how of such an approach.

Regardless of what approach a state takes, a well-organized and data-driven CLNA process that leads to strategic decisions and program improvement will require significant capacity and resources. Investing in Quality identifies potential funding streams to support the CLNA to help make the case for such investments.

All of Advance CTE’s and partners’ Perkins V resources can be found here.

Kate Kreamer, Deputy Executive Director

By Kate Blosveren Kreamer in Advance CTE Resources, Resources
Tags: CLNA, Perkins V

Posts Tagged ‘CLNA’