Posts Tagged ‘Middle Grades CTE’

Welcome Emily Passias to Advance CTE!

Monday, September 18th, 2023

I could not be more delighted to join the team here at Advance CTE! A self-proclaimed “Career Technical Education (CTE) evangelist,” I’ve spent much of my career designing, implementing and supporting policies and practices that create the conditions for high-quality CTE to flourish, and have had the pleasure to learn from and work alongside the Advance CTE team and members over those years. As a former State CTE Director and Advance CTE member, it is an honor to be able to give back to an organization that has given so much to me and to the field at large.

I am a Buckeye through and through, having spent nearly two decades either learning or teaching at The Ohio State University. As a sociologist by training, the driver at the heart of my work has always been reducing inequality. After many years of conducting research and teaching research methods, statistics, and substantive sociology courses at The Ohio State University, I became enthralled with the promise that CTE holds to prepare learners to achieve their aspirations. 

That passion took me to the Ohio Department of Education where I spent seven years serving the learners of Ohio, designing state-level policy and practice solutions to strengthen and scale CTE in the state while simultaneously closing long-standing access and performance gaps across student groups. During my tenure at the Ohio Department of Education, I had the opportunity lead the development of the state’s CTE Report Card and CTE-focused pathways to high school graduation, as well as the state’s efforts to launch and scale middle-grade CTE and better align education and workforce by identifying and incentivizing credentials of value in CTE programs. 

Immediately prior to joining the Advance CTE team, I served as the Vice President for Policy at the Linked Learning Alliance where I worked with states and communities to design and implement policies that support college and career pathways that intentionally integrate high-quality CTE, rigorous academics, early postsecondary opportunities, and work-based learning experiences.  I also spent several years as the Director of Career Readiness at Education Strategy Group, where I led the firm’s work on credentials of value and worked with states and communities to plan, implement, and scale high-quality, industry-aligned pathways.

I am based in Columbus, Ohio where I live with my large blended family which includes four teenagers along with my 21-year old, five dogs, and my lovely husband Geoff. For the first time this school year, I get to play another role in the CTE system – that of a CTE parent. Outside of work, you can find me in the garden, cooking, or shuttling kids around to volleyball and basketball activities.

By Layla Alagic in Uncategorized
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State CTE Policy Update: Expansion and Growth in Idaho CTE

Tuesday, May 30th, 2023

Idaho is looking at innovative ways to support its career technical education (CTE) ecosystem by giving learners earlier access to CTE opportunities. However, they are also focused on matching program design with local workforce needs. One piece of legislation passed during the 2023 legislative session explores an innovative approach to both approving and funding local CTE programs. 

On March 31, 2023, Idaho’s governor signed into law House Bill 267 which established the Idaho Career Ready Students Program. This program creates additional opportunities for students in grades seven through twelve to experience CTE through the creation of an eleven-person governing council and a pool of grant funding to be given to new CTE programs proposed by local education agencies (LEAs). This is a supplemental, separate initiative from the state’s current CTE program of study approval process. 

The primary function of this council is to determine the eligibility of CTE programs at an individual or regional level. They will also be tasked with determining the costs associated with building these programs, including any initial costs of investing in industry partnerships and local school systems. Additionally, they will have access to $10 million in grant money to invest in the expansion and modernization of CTE programs which will be divided evenly between secondary and postsecondary opportunities.

This council will also oversee an ongoing $5 million in funding to invest in middle school CTE, including ensuring that students in grades seven and eight receive career exploration opportunities. Middle school learners will be expected to complete a learner plan as part of their “first step standards,” a plan to align their high school experiences with their choices in career exploration.

The eleven-member council is housed within the Department of Education that is led by the state superintendent of public instruction. Council membership consists of the CTE state director, two secondary-level CTE instructors, one postsecondary CTE instructor, three governor-appointed industry representatives, one representative from the Idaho workforce development council, one member of the state House of Representatives as appointed by the speaker, as well as one member of the state senate as appointed by the president pro tempore of the state senate.

Through this law, the goal is to create 180 new local CTE programs as well as provide financial literacy courses to all high school seniors. This works in conjunction with Idaho’s continuing investment in CTE, which is to facilitate an overall increase in funding to $34 million from 2020-2024. The council must also develop a long-term method to fund successful programs through the creation of an added-cost funding formula. The state superintendent, along with the state CTE director, is required to provide reports to the legislature on both program effectiveness and any added costs.

Appropriating funding for middle school CTE programming is an action many states are beginning to look into since the earlier learners have exposure to different career pathways, the more likely they are to embrace pathways outside of the ones they witness in their immediate environment. Allowing experts from the secondary and postsecondary CTE field, experts representing state workforce needs and the legislature to work together to disseminate the funding creates an interesting opportunity to collaboratively steer local CTE programs in the direction learners need to thrive in the workforce. This policy is an innovative way to leverage the expertise of those leading Idaho forward in workforce development and CTE through funding that states may be interested in adapting.

Connect to the 2022 Year in Review for additional ideas for innovative funding policies.

Brice Thomas, Policy Associate

By Jodi Langellotti in Public Policy
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Building Environmental Literacy in CTE: a New Partnership in Response to Current and Future Economic Needs

Thursday, March 16th, 2023

Developing environmental literacy in elementary, middle and high school is essential to prepare learners for an evolving economy and to equip them with the skills and experiences they need to tackle urgent environmental challenges, both globally and in their own communities. By 2030, it is estimated that 24 million green jobs will be created in industries ranging from energy to finance and transportation.1 Yet too few individuals enter the workforce with the necessary environmental competencies and dispositions.

A survey of college students published in 2018 identified misconceptions about the environment and the role of humans in environmental problems and scored students an average of 52 percent out of 100 percent on environmental literacy.2 Considering the role that Career Technical Education (CTE) has in career preparation for the current and future world of work, and the desire for programs to be responsive to the needs of the economy and community, the value of environmental literacy has never been more important for CTE learners.

The state of Delaware, in particular, is no stranger to the impacts climate change will bring to the jobs landscape. Because of Delaware’s geography, environmental changes threaten economic activity, well-being, and preservation of the state’s wetlands and waterways; accordingly, there is an urgent need to develop and cultivate environmental literacy among youth, not only to instill awareness and responsibility for the environment but also to prepare young people for the workplace of the future. To begin deeper conversations about the intersection of CTE and environmental literacy, Advance CTE partnered with the Delaware Department of Education to explore what environmental literacy competencies could look like within and across Delaware Pathways. 

Supported by a Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) grant through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the two-year project involves developing a cross-cutting environmental literacy framework, validated by Delaware educators, environmental literacy experts, industry stakeholders and other leaders. Once validated, the framework will be published on the Delaware Pathways website. In the second year of the grant, the project team will begin professional development activities supported by NOAA and other partners to implement the framework in CTE programs statewide. This commitment to environmental literacy is further evidenced through and builds upon the Delaware Climate Action Plan, which specifically lists “Increase the availability of climate change educational programming” as a core activity for improving outreach and education impacts.  

The objective for the project is to demonstrate how environmental literacy competencies can be integrated into middle and high school CTE programs in the state of Delaware, including career and academic advising, and to build the capacity of state and local leaders to ensure all students, in particular under-represented and historically marginalized learners, graduate environmentally literate. Delaware Director of Career and Technical Education and STEM Initiatives Dr. Jon Wickert echoes this sentiment: “The shifting geopolitical landscape has laid bare the fact that all jobs are green jobs, and economic, public, and community health is directly impacted by public policy, business decision-making, and the consumer choices available as a result.  The next generation has no choice but to address the environmental challenges previous generations have bequeathed and it is our responsibility to equip them with sufficient environmental literacy to do so successfully.  Their future depends on it.”   

This project will hopefully serve as a pilot to bring more awareness and understanding about the environment to CTE learners, build problem-solving and critical thinking skills that link academic and technical knowledge, and equip a new generation of learners to successfully participate in a greener economy. As a final deliverable, Advance CTE will be developing a case study at the conclusion of this grant to model how states can develop an environmental literacy framework of their own or integrate the framework developed with Delaware in their own state’s CTE delivery system. Stay tuned for more information about this project!

Dan Hinderliter, Senior Policy Associate

 

By Jodi Langellotti in Uncategorized
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2022 Advance Fall Meeting Recap – Forward Together: Supporting Every Learner

Friday, October 28th, 2022

Advance CTE’s 2022 Fall Meeting, held last week, included five breakout sessions that equipped state leaders to support every learner in CTE by tailoring support to meet unique and intersecting learner population needs. 

Keep reading for key takeaways and resources from each session shared by state CTE leaders and our Advance CTE-ECMC Fellows! 

Serving Middle Grades Learners through Career Supports

Career advising and development supports geared towards middle grades learners to improve access and achieve high-quality and equitable secondary CTE programs prove to be an early opportunity to develop an occupational identity and better build social capital. Ohio discussed the policy structures the state  has put into place to support learners in CTE programs before they enter high school, including funding mechanisms and alignment of middle grades programs of study. Michigan Advance CTE-ECMC Fellow Tony Warren shared how states and regions can broaden a middle schoolers mindset by focusing on the challenge they want to solve and helping develop a pathway to achieve a goal centered on their intrinsic motivations. Fellow Donald Walker provided local examples of carrying out state policy and practice at the Detroit School of the Arts showcased how one school is putting state policy into practice and action. 

Supporting CTE Learners in Rural Communities

Representatives from Montana and California shed light on the challenges and opportunities faced by CTE students who reside in rural areas of the United States. With a majority of Montana (46 out of 56 counties) being part of the frontier, the state has implemented the Hub & Spoke model for several programs. One such example is healthcare, which enabled a main campus to establish a healthcare program, complemented by satellite campuses through partnerships with local secondary and post-secondary institutions that offer limited services distributed across the other counties. 

Fellow Jean Claude Mbomeda shared California’s approach for reviewing disaggregated data to identify gaps in CTE programs in rural communities colleges in California, which was discussed as a necessary first step to unearth opportunities and develop supports for learners.  

Ensuring the Basic Needs of Postsecondary and Adult Learners are Met

An education consultant and a state leader from Wisconsin provided an overview of programs that support learners basic needs, while elevating that many programs still create barriers for learners to complete credentials. Immediate next steps that were shared included making integrated benefits applications for federal assistance programs available online and inviting benefits coordinators to provide services on campus. Wisconsin highlighted their steps to create  affinity groups with faculty and staff, with Dr. Colleen McCabe stating “To understand the effects of poverty, you have to explore learners’ multiple identities.”

Maximizing the CTE Experience for Learners with Disabilities

Maryland and Nebraska equipped attendees with state-level strategies to leverage Perkins state plans, the Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment (CLNA) and interagency partnerships to provide sustainable support to learners with disabilities. With one in four Americans identifying as having a disability, discussions centered on viewing disability as a spectrum, both visible and hidden, and centering learners as people rather than just a population. Maryland shared practices for empowering local leaders to identify and act on opportunity gaps for learners with disabilities through and the CLNA. Nebraska emphasized the importance of developing consistent cross-agency routines, and highlighted their recent achievement of a tri-agency conference across, CTE, vocational rehabilitation and special education.

Equitably Serving CTE Learners in Correctional Education

With more than 30,000 youth being incarcerated in the United States each year in the juvenile justice system, Texas joined by Advance CTE-ECMC Fellows Richard Crosby and Janelle Washington discussed the differences in secondary and postsecondary CTE programs, as well as some of the intricacies of carceral justice-connected program designs. Texas highlighted barriers for this learner populations, including unfair placement testing that occurs days after sentencing and the availability of CTE programs that will not incentivize recidivism. The panelists shared that establishing meaningful and collaborative partnerships with correctional agencies and state CTE departments are paramount to creating better and more equitable programming opportunities for carceral students.

Here are additional resources to support every learner in CTE: 

Nithya Govindasamy, Senior Advisor 

By Stacy Whitehouse in Resources
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Welcome Jon Wickert as the New State CTE Director in Delaware! 

Monday, September 19th, 2022

The Delaware Department of Education recently named Jon Wickert as its new Director, Career and Technical Education (CTE) and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics  (STEM) Initiatives. His path to state CTE leadership reflects the power of career exploration and social capital that will sustain ‘The First State’s’ strong record of innovation and transformation of CTE systems. 

Jon’s wide-ranging career began working with justice-connected youth in outdoor programs for the Maryland Forest Service. After a year in procurement in the nuclear power industry, he pursued his passion for ecotourism and water-based recreation by launching and operating a kayaking  business. However, Jon missed working with learners and returned to the classroom as a high school social studies teacher. This led to his introduction to CTE through his support of Career Technical Student Organization (CTSO) competitions, volunteerism with Junior Achievement of Delaware, and supporting professional learning communities that allowed him to reconnect with his knowledge of natural systems and entrepreneurship. 

Jon’s desire to expand his impact led him to the Delaware State Park System, where he led public and private programs, nature centers and exhibits, the visitor and customer experiences. strategy. During this time, he remained connected to CTE through curriculum review and STEM program development. He joined the Delaware CTE team three years ago where he led postsecondary system development, work-based learning, and registered apprenticeship initiatives. 

Jon has been a very active member of Advance CTE prior to his promotion to State Director, participating in the Postsecondary Data Initiative, contributing to Advance CTE’s research on area technical centers and developing an environmental literacy framework through the Bay Watershed Education Training (BWET) initiative. He emphasized the immense value of Advance CTE’s support in helping him to “connect the dots” in his work and connect to leaders in other states. 

Jon is most enthusiastic about continuing current work to equitably update the statewide programs of study, which will focus on centering program requirements with labor market information and wage data, identifying metrics for credential recognition and alignment course mapping with Advanced Placement, dual enrollment courses, and other early postsecondary opportunities. Not surprisingly, Jon’s list of other priorities was quite extensive – internal role realignment, middle grade CTE standard development and a statewide framework for Credit for Prior Learning, among others- , and his enthusiasm for all of them is apparent. Jon is committed to ensuring each Delawean has access to high quality education that centers individual identity within a recession-resistant career, is efficient and affordable, and results in a wealth-generating wage.

Jon encourages fellow new State Directors to be patient with themselves, especially with new work, and use it as an opportunity to facilitate collaboration: “You don’t need to have the answer right now. Start slowly so you can go faster later — this is an opportunity for more voices to be heard.” 

Jon earned a Doctorate of Education in curriculum, instruction and assessment from Walden University. He earned both a master’s degree in education and a bachelor’s degree in social science and secondary education from Frostburg University. Jon and his wife, Sinead, have a 10 year old son named Sean.  They love hiking, camping, kayaking, and enjoying the outdoors as much as possible.  Please join us in welcoming Jon to Advance CTE!

Stacy Whitehouse, Senior Associate Communications and State Engagement 

By Stacy Whitehouse in Advance CTE State Director
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This Week in CTE

Friday, October 30th, 2020

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

CAREERS IN CONSTRUCTION MONTH

Build Your Future is hosting a construction video contest, I BUILT THIS, and giving away more than $20,000 in prizes. Learn more and submit a video here.

Thank you for participating in Careers in Construction Month! Continue to share these resources to engage with students about the opportunities in the construction industry.

TWEET OF THE THE WEEK

Congratulations to Alabama welding instructor, Mark Pilotte, for being recognized by SkillsUSA as the instructor of the month! 

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE OF THE WEEK

Opportunity America has  launched a survey, with the support of the Lumina Foundation, aimed at learning about community colleges’ workforce education. The results will be essential information for state and federal policymakers by providing evidence to support an increased need for funding. Institutions that take part will be entered in a drawing, and three will receive donations of up to $10,000 to fund scholarships for noncredit workforce students. Participating institutions will also receive customized reports that allow them to compare their institutions to an aggregate of other colleges that take part – a tool for planning and innovation. The study can be found here and will be in the field through January 2021.

FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM OF THE WEEK

The School Ambassador Fellowship Program strives to fulfill the U.S. Department of Education’s mission to leverage the perspectives and expertise of outstanding educators to inform national education programs and initiatives. The Fellowship program is now accepting applications for the 2021-2022 cohort!

Selected Fellows become a liaison between their local schools and district and the department. Through local, state and national interactions with key stakeholders, fellows will help to elevate student voices and provide solutions to the challenges learners face today.  

Program information and applications can be viewed here. The application period remains open through Monday, January 11, 2021.

MIDDLE GRADES CTE PROGRAM OF THE WEEK

In a pilot program for middle grades CTE, Idaho has selected a career navigator tool for learners. Learners in the early stages of schooling will have the opportunity to embark upon career exploration and career counseling before entering into high school and postsecondary opportunities. Read more here

RESOURCE OF THE WEEK

Through an analysis of the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) state (and Washington D.C.) plans, Advance CTE identified common aspects that are indicative of a comprehensive and cohesive state plan, a number of which go beyond the law’s requirements and expectations.

The State of Career Technical Education: An Analysis of States’ Perkins V Priorities is the first of its kind to examine how states have leveraged the development of Perkins V state plans to advance the dual priorities of expanding quality and increasing equity within their CTE systems.

View The State of Career Technical Education: An Analysis of States’ Perkins V Priorities in our Learning that Works Resource Center.

Brittany Cannady, Digital Media Associate

By admin in Uncategorized
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