community colleges « Advance CTE Blog

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

New Skills ready network Highlight Blog: Leveraging Learner Voice to Strengthen Career Pathways

Wednesday, July 26th, 2023

The New Skills ready network (NSrn) is part of JPMorgan Chase’s substantial portfolio in support of an inclusive economy and workforce. This five-year commitment is part of the New Skills at Work initiative to prepare people for the future of work and their $30 billion commitment to advance racial equity. With a dedication to building equitable career pathways, the New Skills ready network connects six sites — Boston, Massachusetts; Columbus, Ohio; Dallas, Texas; Denver, Colorado; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Nashville, Tennessee — with local partners with the intentionality necessary to build a strong workforce ecosystem for all learners.

Denver, Colorado’s vision for the NSrn initiative, aims to “dramatically increase the number and diversity of students who complete selected high-quality career pathways that start in high school, continue into and through higher education, and lead to good jobs in Denver’s labor market.”

Over the past three years, the project team has achieved significant milestones in the development of high-quality, equitable career pathways including building a shared data framework, aligning work-based learning opportunities within high-quality career pathways and enhancing the learner experience when transitioning from secondary to postsecondary institutions. Under the leadership of the site lead, The Attainment Network, the project team leverages strategic cross-sector partnerships while centering equity and learner voice to enhance and improve their career pathways work.

A critical component of the Denver, Colorado, site work includes centering and leveraging the voices of learners to understand their experiences, barriers and opportunities and shaping career pathways aligned with their needs.In April 2023, The Attainment Network held their second annual Learner Voice Symposium which brought together an audience of educators, employers and policymakers to hear directly from Colorado learners what they seek in career-connected pathways and how they define success.

Haley Wing, Senior Policy Associate, Advance CTE, interviewed Rana Tarkenton, Chief Operating Officer, The Attainment Network to discuss the importance of leveraging learner voice in career pathways and how others might replicate their efforts to meaningfully engage learners in the design and implementation of career pathways.

Overview of the Learner Voice Symposium Event

The purpose of the Learner Voice Symposium is to elevate highlights from learners’ diverse perspectives and backgrounds and provide actionable insights to improve and expand pathways for all learners. The Symposium serves as a reminder to partners of the reason why they engage in this work and elevates the voices of learners who are not always invited to the table when developing and implementing career pathways. Learners, who are not simply the receivers of the work of career pathways, but rather the experts in their experiences, provide critical feedback to leaders.

The Symposium fills a gap in the career preparation ecosystem in Colorado; leaders developing career-connected pathways are continuously striving to improve the system and learners are disconnected from the leaders who need to hear their voices most. The Attainment Network identified this gap and provides career pathway partners the space to listen to and reflect learner voices in their work in the form of The Symposium.

The Symposium held virtually on Zoom, included a keynote speaker who is a practitioner that engages with learners frequently and specializes in community engagement, and breakout sessions that are co-led by learners who are compensated for their time and expertise. The Symposium is attended by a wide audience including practitioners in secondary and postsecondary education, college and career advisors, state agency providers, policymakers and employer partners.

Participants have the opportunity to attend breakout sessions of their choosing covering topics like authentic youth engagement in career pathways, immigrant and undocumented learner experiences, non-traditional learners and pathways and more. Presenting organizations that support the sessions include Ednium, The San Luis Valley Boys & Girls Clubs, Emily Griffith Technical College, MSU Denver and more.

All of the information shared during The Learner Voice Symposium is centered on elevating the experiences of learners and incorporating their voices in the development of career-connected pathways. At the close of The Symposium, The Attainment Network announced their Learner Voice Grants that organizations and institutions can apply for to support and enhance their meaningful learner engagement efforts.

Impact of The Learner Voice Symposium on the New Skills ready network

The learner engagement in The Learner Voice Symposium supports the Denver, Colorado, New Skills ready network team in their communications strategies as they develop materials and messaging to better connect learners and families to career-connected pathway opportunities. Additionally, Denver Public Schools (DPS), a secondary partner for the New Skills ready network site, and the Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDHE) are two of the grantees for the Learner Voice Grant. DPS and CDHE leverage the grant funding to support their learner engagement work in the development of local and state-level career pathways.

With more than 175 attendees of The Symposium, The Attainment Network models meaningful learner engagement for its system-wide network. The Network, being a statewide intermediary, supports strengthening the career pathway ecosystem and strengthens relationships with system partnerships that impact learners.

Further, the Denver, Colorado, project team also elevates the voices and feedback from learners in state-level policy. The Attainment Network, alongside the Colorado Department of Education and the Colorado Community College System, led an effort to design, collect, and report on community input to inform the HB22-1215 Secondary, Postsecondary and Work-Based Learning Integration Task Force (Study of Expanding High School Programs).

Recommendations delivered to the Task Force focus on equitable access to and successful expansion of high school programs across all regions of Colorado with a focus on traditionally underserved populations and those who have not accessed relevant programming in their educational experience. The discovery process of community feedback collection leveraged community organizations, educational organizations, and local partnerships.

Replicating Meaningful Learner Engagement

Leveraging learners’ input and feedback in the development of career pathways, CTE programs and policies is a valuable component of program improvement. Leaders who are interested in replicating The Learner Voice Symposium should prioritize including learners whose voices are historically underrepresented, leveraging partners who can support recruiting learners to bring them to the table and co-creating the event with partners and learners to ensure the content fills the needs for the ecosystem.

The Attainment Network engages in the planning and execution of The Symposium with an equity lens to ensure a diverse representation of learners, speakers and attendees. The Network also backward plans by prioritizing the outcomes they want the event to achieve from the start of the planning process to ensure there are sessions with meaningful outcomes and takeaways for attendees.

The planning and execution of an event of this size includes a lot of logistics and leaders should consider adequate staffing, preparation that helps to keep audiences engaged and ensuring the videos and notes from the event are accessible once the event is over. The addition of a visual scribe enhances the experience for attendees throughout the session, as well as providing engaging artifacts to further share learnings after the event and marketing for future events.

Looking Ahead

As The Attainment Network enters year four of the New Skills ready network, the project team is working towards holding more learner and community engagement events to continue the work of leveraging learner voices, input and feedback in the design and delivery of career pathways. The Network team is currently working on analyzing themes from The Learner Voice Symposium to inform the design of their Colorado Pathways Conference on September 19 – 20. The two-day conference will focus on pathways-focused education-to-workforce systems across the state and country.

Haley Wing, Senior Policy Associate

By Jodi Langellotti in CTE Without Limits
Tags: Access and Equity, career pathways, Colorado, Colorado Community College System, community colleges, Learner Engagement, learner voice, New Skills ready network, pathways, The Attainment Network

ECMCF Fellow Feature: Nancy Ligus

Thursday, June 29th, 2023

In September 2022, Advance CTE and ECMC Foundation announced the second cohort of The Postsecondary State Career Technical Education (CTE) Leaders Fellowship at Advance CTE—Sponsored by ECMC Foundation. The Advance CTE — ECMCF Fellows include representation across multiple demographic categories reflecting the Fellowship’s goal of intentionally building a postsecondary leadership pipeline for underserved populations in Career Technical Education (CTE) that closes racial representation gaps and removes equity barriers to postsecondary leadership advancement. This month, we’re excited to highlight two members of Advance-CTE’s second cohort of Postsecondary State CTE Leaders Fellows. ECMCF Fellow Nancy Ligus (WV) is passionate about finding proactive and equity-focused solutions to reverse the current education and workforce trends in the state.

Tell me more about your journey to the Fellowship.

I learned of the Advance CTE Fellowship through a colleague at the West Virginia Community & Technical College System last summer. We’d both previously attended one of Dr. Johnson’s information sessions to learn more about the content of the Fellowship and how participating would give us insight and the tools needed to address the diversity and equity challenges we face in post-secondary education in WV. In my role as Director of Workforce and Economic Development for the WV CTCS, I was connected to all nine WV Community Colleges and their efforts in developing training and meeting the workforce needs in their regions. Although I recognized there were gaps in access and inclusion to Career and Technical Education throughout the state, I hadn’t been involved in any initiatives to address the deeper racial inequities and barriers to career pathways. When I transitioned to my current leadership role at Pierpont Community College in north central WV, I realized that I needed the right tools to address these challenges. I saw the Fellowship as a way that I could gain those skills, knowledge, and significantly greater understanding that I could put into action.

What skills or areas have you experienced the most growth in the program?

Through my experience in the Fellowship, I’ve grown my understanding of how systemic policies play a huge role in creating and perpetuating barriers of access to high-quality CTE programs for marginalized populations. Our state has the lowest labor participation rate, low education attainment, and generally a perception of poor educational performance and outcomes, but my new knowledge has allowed me to feel more confident sharing my ideas with other workforce development leaders and collaborating on proactive approaches to reverse these trends.

As I oversee the workforce programs at my college and collaborate on career pathways, I look at each one with a new lens. I feel empowered to anticipate some of the challenges and understand how to overcome them to create more possibilities for people. I’m also bringing what I’ve learned to my staff and other leaders in my college as we are moving out of a transitional period since the pandemic. It seems so timely; we’re sort of starting over to recapture our community’s awareness of what the college’s role is within our region, and it’s a good time to incorporate policies to reflect our commitment to equity.

Have you been tapped for new or more advanced roles within your organization as a result of your experience in the Fellowship?

While I currently only represent one region in WV, I’ve been invited to participate in several state-wide initiatives which will be very important to the state’s future workforce and economic development. When I’ve had the opportunity, I connect relevant learnings and resources from Advance CTE and the Fellowship to inform my work. I feel like these insights are appreciated and I feel proud to be the person introducing others to innovative ideas from our workshop speakers and discussions.

One of my objectives for participating in the Fellowship was to pass on my knowledge to future potential leaders and mentor others to continue this important work. That’s certainly been the case at Pierpont Community & Technical College, where I am currently working with the academic leadership to develop more career pathways and create strategies for addressing equity gaps. I serve on several grant committees, and having this experience has given me more appreciation for incorporating my Fellowship-based understanding of racial equity into the planning and implementation of funding.

How has your experience in the fellowship helped you explore new spaces or positions in postsecondary state CTE leadership?

I’ve always been the type of person to seek out opportunities to take my experience and knowledge to a new level. Since participating in the Fellowship, I feel I’m gaining a whole new skill set to add to my range of knowledge in the workforce development space. In my previous position at the WV CTCS, my team and I worked hard to advocate for high-quality CTE programs. While I wasn’t always able to see this labor come to fruition, I feel more confident that I could bring both my post-secondary leadership roles together; knowing what it takes for a community college to put an effective training program together at ground level, with the big-picture knowledge and experience driving and supporting the effort. If I could create my own position, it would be something like Director of Workforce Projects or a role that allows me to serve in a DEI advisory capacity to develop equity-minded practices and policies across the college system and lead a council with representation from each college to share ideas and challenges that may be unique to their area of service.

How has the Fellowship expanded your network?

As a member and Fellow, I am grateful for the wide breadth of the Advance CTE network and resource access. Not only are the resources provided to us through the workshops and speakers, etc. incredibly informative, but the Fellows themselves are exceptional leaders and resources in their own right! This exposure has revealed where there are still many opportunities for growth in postsecondary education. Seeing and hearing what other colleges are doing to address these challenges through this network, especially through the lens of racial equity, reinforces to me that changes need to be implemented now.

To connect with Nancy, email nancyl.ligus@gmail.com.

By Layla Alagic in Achieving Equitable and Inclusive CTE
Tags: community colleges, ECMCF Fellows, Equity and Access, postsecondary, West Virginia, workforce development

TAACCCT Legacy for Healthcare Programs

Monday, May 4th, 2020

The Trade Associated Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant program, originally created in 2010, was at the time the largest-ever federal investment in community colleges. TAACCCT awarded grants for community college programs that enhance job-driven skills through innovative workforce development programs, with a focus on creating or updating programs of study to improve the ability of community colleges to provide workers with the education and skills to succeed in high-wage, high-skill occupations.

Between 2011 and 2018, The U.S. Department of Labor made 256 awards through four rounds of competitive grants. Of the 729 postsecondary institutions funded, 630 (85 percent) were community colleges. Of all community colleges in the U.S., approximately two-thirds secured TAACCCT funding to engage in reforms to build capacity to deliver integrated education and workforce training.

Although the grants have run their course, the legacy remains. The programmatic infrastructure created through the TAACCCT program continues today in addressing the education and workforce needs of these local programs. Additionally, new legislation introduced builds on the success of this program for future economic recovery. The Relaunching America’s Workforce Act was introduced in the House of Representatives last Friday and includes proposing $2 billion to restart the TAACCCT grant program.

As communities nationwide are responding to COVID-19 (Coronavirus), the need for training a robust health care workforce has become even more urgent, and healthcare industry programs created as part of TAACCCT can help to offer guidance for future programs.

On April 16, New America hosted a webinar that explored the role and legacy of TAACCCT created programs and the impact these programs have in continuing to innovate and support building a strong healthcare workforce.

One of the highlighted TAACCCT grantees includes a consortium program in Missouri called MoHealthWINs. MoHealthWINs created programs that included creating scalable, online and virtual learning platforms to expand access to learners that weren’t previously available. Additionally, enhanced advising helped to ensure learners remained on-track along their career pathway to achieve their goals. One of the most successful components of MoHealthWINs focused on the creation and maintenance of strong relationships with local employers, which helped learners to be prepared with the skills needed in their local community. The success of the program included over 88 percent of attempted credit hours completed, and 75 percent of completers who started as unemployed were able to find employment upon completion.

As the national focus shifts from immediate pandemic response to economic recovery, our nation needs a program like TAACCCT to help to ensure that postsecondary institutions have the resources to create nimble programs that can respond to changing labor needs and equip learners with the skills they need to succeed.

Advance CTE promotes including a TAACCCT-like program as a priority in any next round of stimulus legislation and in our recommendations for the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.

Samuel Dunietz, Senior Associate for Federal Policy

By admin in COVID-19 and CTE, Public Policy, Uncategorized
Tags: community colleges, COVID-19, Job training, TAACCCT

This Week in CTE

Friday, April 24th, 2020

We have compiled a list of highlights in Career Technical Education (CTE) from this week to share with you.

Legislative Update of the Week

Advance CTE and 52 other national organizations have signed the letter supporting H.R. 6563, the Emergency Educational Connections Act of 2020, that Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY) introduced on April 21. The homework gap affects millions of low-income, minority and rural households. COVID-19 (Coronavirus) brings forth this existing inequality that prevents students from completing schoolwork. This bill directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to receive $2 million and disburse the funds through the E-Rate program, prioritizing support to students, staff or library patrons that lack access to such equipment and/or internet.

Earth Day 2020

This week we celebrated the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. View the facts that attest to the impact CTE has on preserving the life of our environment.

April is Community College Month!
Follow ACCT (@CCTrustees) on Twitter and tweet with the hashtag #CCMonth.

A letter to the President of the United States and other government leaders urges them to consider community colleges and their students in future legislation- leading to a more fair and equitable America.

Career Pathway of the Week

Family & Consumer Sciences (FCS) in North Carolina have hosted a virtual spirit week to keep the spirit. View #NCFCSEd on Twitter for participants throughout the week.

Join us for a virtual spirit week starting Monday to #SayYestoFCS! Post your pictures each day using #NCFCSEd and #ctefornc to be entered into a drawing for prizes! Let’s show our FCS spirit! pic.twitter.com/0m3TcFNbbd

— NC FCS Education (@NCFCSEd) April 15, 2020

Research of the Week

The Institution of Education Services (IES) has released new data that compares labor market outcomes and unemployment rates post-graduation (and more) for students who have completed three or more CTE credits in high school against graduates who did not complete three or more CTE credits.

April is Second Chance Month. View the proclamation here.

Twitter Chat of the Week

A Twitter chat on second chances brought forth resources and solutions to offer inmates and those released from prison support as they begin their paths forward. The Twitter chat was hosted by FHI 360. View #SecondChance2020 on Twitter to review the conversation.

A6: Pell Grants are a great way for the national, state, and local leaders to collectively support young adults in and out of prison. @CTEWorks advocates for reinstating Pell Grant eligibility in prisons. View our HEA recommendations: https://t.co/kU1SzCYNXz #SecondChance2020 https://t.co/gzq0rlN2ot

— Advance CTE (@CTEWorks) April 22, 2020

Video of the Week

Flavors For Life Next-gen competition program awards culinary teams for healthy meal alternatives to address the nation’s obesity concerns. Congratulations to the high school teams representing the state of Nevada and their culinary programs.

Brittany Cannady, Digital Media Associate

By admin in Uncategorized
Tags: community colleges

New Survey Highlights a Persistent Skills Gap; What Can States Do to Strengthen the Talent Pool?

Tuesday, February 18th, 2020

As the economy continues to change with digitalization and automation, the needs of the labor market will continue to change too. In 2019 the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation commissioned a study surveying 500 human resource (HR) professionals with hiring decision authority in their organizations. An overwhelming 74 percent of respondents said that a “skills gap” persists in the current U.S. labor and hiring economy.

These employers cite three major challenges they face when hiring: candidates lacking the appropriate or necessary skills, candidates lacking previous relevant work experience and not having enough applicants. According to these HR professionals, addressing the skills gap and truly transforming the talent marketplace would require:

1) Greater upskilling initiatives within companies for existing employees.

2) More educational/Career Technical Education (CTE) programs to build talent pipelines.

3) Improving alignment between skills and competencies taught in educational/CTE programs and in-demand skills and competencies needed in the workforce.

A study by JFF further highlights the skills gap and the challenges to solving the problem. The report, Making College Work for Students and the Economy, follows JFF’s comprehensive policy agenda for addressing states’ skilled workforce and talent development needs. The report examines a representative sample of 15 states to determine their progress toward adopting 15 policy recommendations. Of the recommendations made in their initial report, states have made the most progress on the following:

1) Establishing expectations that community college programs align to labor market demand.

2) Developing longitudinal data systems that provide the ability to track over time the educational and employment outcomes of students.

3) Addressing barriers to college readiness.

Conversely, JFF finds that states have the most work to do in the following areas:

1) Providing community colleges with sufficient resources and appropriate incentives.

2) Addressing the holistic needs of students to strengthen their financial stability.

3) Digging into labor market outcomes of students and postsecondary programs.

Both the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and the JFF studies highlight a need for state governments, the education sector and the labor sector to work collaboratively and do more to prepare the 21st century workforce to meet the needs of an ever-changing labor market.

With implementation of the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) underway, states are poised to make transformational changes to improve the quality of CTE programs and ensure equitable access and success. Opportunities like the comprehensive local needs assessment and the Perkins V reserve fund give state leaders leverage to ensure programs are meeting the needs of learners and employers.

Research Roundup

The University of Michigan Youth Policy Lab released a report last month finding disparities in access to CTE programs for economically disadvantaged learners and learners of color throughout the state. However, the report found that when CTE is offered in a single high school, there is very little disparity. This suggests that there is broad interest in CTE programs when offered and that states should do more to expand access for low-income and Black and Hispanic learners.
A report from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce finds that students enrolled in certificate and associate degree programs make up 50 percent of the postsecondary student population. Students graduating with certificates in fields such as engineering and drafting can earn a median income up to $150,000. Black, Hispanic and low-income students were most likely to enroll in a certificate program. These findings suggest that certificate and associate degree programs can have great potential in closing earnings and opportunity gaps.

Brian Robinson, Policy Associate

By admin in Research
Tags: Access and Equity, college and career readiness, community colleges, future, Job training, Opportunity Gap, skills gap, workforce

Education Not Working For All

Monday, July 29th, 2019

The national postsecondary attainment rate across all groups of students has steadily increased over the past decade. Despite this positive trend, a recent research paper by the Center for American Progress found persisting gaps in students’ access to higher education.

Using nationally representative data to investigate how degree attainment rates for adults compare in the U.S., the report looked at how geography and socioeconomic factors continue to impact students’ access to the postsecondary level. In the report, researchers found that despite an overall 20 percent increase in attainment in the last decade, the distribution of growth is uneven across the country. National patterns reflect lower attainment rates in rural areas and highly stratified rates – with the largest attainment gaps between racial and ethnic groups – in urban areas. This pattern highlights two significant insights:

Students in rural counties and low-income students in urban ones are being left behind when it comes to accessing postsecondary education and a pathway to the middle-class.
Though community and regional colleges serve the majority of rural residents and low-income students, funding for these institutions has historically lagged and only 50 percent of pre-recession funding have been recovered. This is just one of the challenges that limit the ability of these institutions to continue being an effective route to a good paying job.

Earlier this year, researchers at Brookings explored the landscape of the millions of young adults who are out of work. In their study, researchers used cluster analysis to segment out-of-work young adults into five groups, including:

18-21 year olds with a high school diploma or less;
22-24 year olds with a high school diploma or less;
18-21 year olds with at least some education beyond high school;
22-24 year olds with at least some education beyond high school; and
22-24 year olds with Bachelor’s degrees

Clusters were categorized based on similarities in students’ work history, educational attainment, school enrollment, English language proficiency and family status. Specific policy recommendations were provided for each group, such as utilizing re-engagement centers with those who have a high school diploma or less. Work-based learning and certification attainment were the only recommendations consistent across all five clusters.

Meeting the Needs of Those Left Behind

Community colleges have traditionally worked to meet the needs of underserved students and dislocated workers. With skills-training and work-based learning gaining popularity, these institutions are also increasingly strained for resources, especially since they are in the midst of a historic funding disadvantage. The Community College Research Center (CCRC) highlights this challenge in their report on The Evolving Mission of Workforce Development in the Community College.

Today, over two-thirds of states’ accountability and funding measures are tied to completed degrees or certificates. This has led to many community colleges integrating guided pathway programs into their systems as a means to improve attainment rates.

The CCRC research points out that noncredit programs are also increasing in popularity, as they are often shorter, more flexible and responsive to industry needs. While for-credit programs may take up to two years to launch a new program in response to student and local market needs, noncredit programs can do so in a matter of weeks or months. Because they are also shorter and tend to target specific skills needed in an industry, students often see them as a more affordable investment in their time, education and career development.

However, according to a recent report by Opportunity America, these programs can come with disadvantages, namely, they do not provide college credit or financial aid to their students.

Given that the majority of students who are enrolling in these programs are out-of-work and/or low-income, many advocates are calling for legislation like the Jumpstart Our Businesses by Supporting Students (JOBS Act), which would extend eligibility for Pell Grant funding to short term credit and noncredit programs that meet several key criteria. Proponents also argue that federal education policies need to keep pace with the changing dynamics of the workforce and postsecondary systems, to support life-long learners by aligning credited and non-credited programs.

Jade Richards, Policy Fellow

By admin in News, Public Policy, Research, Resources
Tags: certification attainment, closing the gap, community colleges, skills training

Free College: A Brief Policy History

Monday, September 24th, 2018

Advance CTE will be writing a series of blog posts profiling the policies and practices of free college in the United States. This post will explore the history of the movement toward free college. Check back for blogs on the challenges, successful practices and future of free college.

College affordability, or lack of affordability, is one of the most pressing problem in the world of higher education. Free postsecondary education has long been a topic of conversation, and various models have been piloted at the state and local levels. The Atlantic’s “Debt Free” article explains that this idea was given renewed national attention when former President Barack Obama addressed the topic in his 2015 State of the Union speech. In particular, President Obama advocated that the place to start implementing such policies was in community colleges. Afterward, with the upcoming presidential election campaigns underway, the conversation of free college remained part of many candidates dialogue. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), for example, was a vocal advocate.

Some state higher education institutions previously held free college policies, but found that model unsustainable over time. TIME’s piece, “What Happened When American States Tried Providing Tuition-Free College,” profiled some such examples:

For decades, the University of Florida was free for in-state students to attend. Around 1959, “registration and instructional fees” began to be instated and in 1969 full tuition was imposed;
The City University of New York system did not have tuition fees for students until 1976; and
When the University of California (UC) system was started in 1868, free admission and tuition for in-state students was ensured. The California State and community-college systems decided the same. However, in 1960, California’s Master Plan for Higher Education allowed for students to be charged certain fees. In 1970, students were charged an “educational fee,” which has increased over time.. From that point on, California continuously decreased the amount of funding towards high education. In 2004-2005, UC allocated only 16 percent of funding to higher education compared to 32 percent in 1974.

A main driver behind institutions pulling back on free college practices has to do with the significant increase in enrollment, as reported by the National Bureau of Economic Research. Whereas in the 1909-1910 school year only 355,000 of Americans 19-24 years old (2.9 percent of those in that age bracket) enrolled in higher education, by 2012 that number increased to 31.4 million (41 percent). At the same time, state and local funding for public colleges and universities decreased. Just from 2008-2016, overall state dollar allocation across the country to institutions of higher education has declined by 16 percent. If free college policies were put in place at the founding of an institution, the combination of increased enrollment and decreased state and local funding made the model unsustainable.

Meredith Hills, Policy Associate

By admin in Research, Uncategorized
Tags: community colleges, higher education, postsecondary

DC, Texas Improve Data Systems; Colorado, Ohio’s Community Colleges Offer Bachelor’s Degrees

Tuesday, April 17th, 2018

As the legislative session moves forward, many states have passed bills that will help to improve data systems and expand opportunities for learners.

Data System Improvements

Recently, data system improvements have been a focus of policy efforts in order to better support and hold accountable districts, institutions and programs, as well as allow learners, employers and policymakers to stay informed.

In the District of Columbia, the Council of the District of Columbia passed the Workforce Development Systems Transparency Act, which requires the District’s Workforce Investment Council to detail the District’s spending on adult education programs and workforce development education programs, as well as the performance outcomes of those programs, in a public report. The performance outcomes information will include employment rates, median earnings, credential attainment, and completion rates. The first version of the report will include information about programs managed by seven DC entities, such as the Department of Employment Resources, and by 2020 programs administered by an additional 14 entities will be included in the report.

In Texas, the University of Texas System launched an updated version of the database Seek UT to include University of Texas graduates’ earnings in the hopes of showing the benefits of higher education. The database utilizes Census Bureau data and provides information on student’s median incomes for every program offered after one, five, and ten years after graduating, the percentage of students who went on to continue their education and the median loan debt for different programs. The database is viewed as a “work-around” of the current ban on a federal database that would link student-level education data to national employment data.

Community Colleges Offer Bachelor’s Degrees

Elsewhere, states are passing laws to expand community college offerings and to address the shortage of skilled employees.

In Colorado, a bill that allows Colorado’s community colleges to offer bachelor’s degrees in nursing recently became law. The bill was passed without the governor’s signature or veto. In a letter explaining this decision, Governor Hickenlooper cited concerns over limited stakeholder engagement by the bill’s proponents and potential conflicts between the various agencies that oversee higher education in the state.

In response to these concerns, the letter directs the Colorado Commission on Higher Education (CCHE) to convene stakeholders to determine how to best align programs with industry trends. This law was allowed to pass in response to a severe shortage of nurses in Colorado and after reports that more nursing disciplines require a masters or doctoral degree than in previous years.

Similarly, in Ohio, three community colleges received state approval to offer bachelor’s degrees in microelectronic manufacturing, aviation, unmanned aerial systems, land surveying and culinary and food science. These programs still need to receive accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission before the community colleges can offer the degrees.

Once accredited, these programs will help to achieve Ohio Governor Kasich’s goal to have 65 percent of the state’s workforce earn an industry recognized credential or degree by 2025. Governor Kasich has already showcased his support for community colleges to offer baccalaureates through the introduction and passage of legislation that supports this.

Brianna McCain, Policy Associate

By admin in Public Policy, Uncategorized
Tags: Colorado, community colleges, Data and Accountability, District of Columbia, Ohio, texas

Analysis Suggests Metrics for Measuring Impact of Community Colleges

Thursday, March 9th, 2017

March 9, 2017

The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center released a report in partnership with the Association of Community College Trustees examining which metrics best tell the story of the services community colleges provide and the supports they require. They determined that the three important indicators of community college progress are:

College Persistence
Transfer and Mobility
Certificate and Degree Completion

The report makes a distinction between measuring college retention and college persistence, as retention only measures how many students return for the following Fall semester at the same institution. Using persistence as a measure for community colleges captures the large number of students who transfer either to other community colleges or to four-year institutions. This requires a more systematic approach to tracking enrollment across different institutions and across state lines. When enrollment was tracked this way using Student Clearinghouse data, they found that almost half of all bachelor’s degree recipients were enrolled in a community college at one point before transferring to a four-year institution, a fact that demonstrates the clear role community colleges play in student success.

Study Finds Girls Turn Away from STEM Subjects Early

A new report published in Science found that girls tend to turn away from STEM subjects as early as first grade. The report attributes this partly to their findings that girls begin to associate boys as being smarter and therefore tend to shy away from subjects intended for more intelligent people. Boys around that age seem to also believe themselves to be inherently smarter. The findings in this study echo previous studies that correlated boys’ and girls’ performance in math and science with their self-reported levels of confidence and anxiety with the subjects.

The authors of the report suggest that schools must begin working to break down gender stereotypes far earlier than many might expect. They also recommend that families work to foster girls’ interest in STEM subjects as early as possible.

Odds and Ends

As you know, last month was CTE Month. To celebrate, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) launched a newly redesigned CTE statistics website, which provides national-level information on CTE at the secondary and postsecondary education levels, as well as information on occupational certification and licensure.

Several pieces related to equity have been released lately. CCSSO and the Aspen Institute released a report on the role SEA chiefs can and should play in defining and promoting equity in schools. Chiefs For Change also released a report on equity, with a focus on using ESSA and financial transparency to improve equity.

The U.S. Departments of Labor and Education recently released a technical assistance document to support communities working with in-school youth in accordance with WIOA. Additionally, the National Conference of State Legislatures launched a database that tracks state legislation related to WIOA implementation.

Ashleigh McFadden, State Policy Manager

By admin in Research
Tags: Access and Equity, Career Technical Education, community colleges, Data and Accountability, ESSA, STEM, WIOA

Posts Tagged ‘community colleges’