Posts Tagged ‘transportation’

Alignment and Intentional Equity: Two Priorities for District of Columbia’s First Area Technical Center

Wednesday, November 9th, 2022

For this blog, Senior Policy Associate Dan Hinderliter and Communications Manager Stacy Whitehouse interviewed Washington DC’s State CTE Director Richard Kincaid. 

The 2022 school year heralded the start of another new initiative for the District of Columbia’s Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE)- the Advanced Technical Center (ATC), the first DC area technical center to serve secondary students from public and public charter schools across the District. This development was inspired by Advance CTE’s 2021 50 state report on structure and outcomes in the nation’s area technical centers 

The planning process began in July 2021 when OSSE received an influx of coronavirus relief funds after Mayor Muriel Bowser directed funds from the American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) to Career Technical Education (CTE)  and work-based learning plans. While OSSE is still working to secure long-term funding for the ATC, ARPA funds will keep the school open for at least five years. The ATC initially opened with three programs of study — General Nursing, Cybersecurity and Health Information Technology — on the campus of Trinity Washington University, but will move to a new building shortly after renovations are complete. During the design process, DC CTE Director Richard Kincaid noted two areas vital to the success of the ATC: systems alignment and partnership and an intentional focus on equity, both foundational commitments of Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of Career Technical Education.

Systems Alignment and Partnership

When planning the future of the ATC, systems alignment and partnership was a must-have, especially considering the vast and complicated educational landscape in the District of Columbia. Kincaid and his team convened four initial stakeholder meetings, involving partners from the Deputy Mayor for Education’s office, administrators from DC Public Schools (DCPS) and DC Public Charter Schools (DCPCS), and potential employer partners. These stakeholders helped to calibrate on what the core purpose of the ATC is, who it should serve and how to limit duplication with other area programs. Kincaid shared that working from a partnership perspective instead of from a compliance angle served initial work well, especially where there were already places area principals needed to coordinate services on, such as scheduling or transportation. Given the complex dynamic across agencies in DC, this stakeholder group was vital to ensuring buy-in from and alignment to sending institutions. The group also coordinated an initial list of potential programs, leveraging labor market information and opportunity gap analyses. After a series of community input sessions, the group ultimately narrowed the list to the three programs currently offered. 

This lens of partnership also contributed to early programmatic successes. Significant conversations with local postsecondary institutions led to memorandums of understanding (MOUs) allowing learners to receive dual credit for all courses (five credits for every semester a learner is enrolled at the ATC). These courses are applied to aligned credit in the learner’s program of study, not just general education requirements. Postsecondary institutions also share instructors with the ATC to teach advanced coursework. Employer partners also support the program through site visits and career exploration conversations with learners; proximity to federal agencies means federal partners like the White House’s National Cybersecurity Initiative have visited the ATC. Future years will see employers supporting on- and off-site work-based learning initiatives, and Kincaid hopes to one day see an employer co-located with the ATC to provide daily hands-on training.

Intentional Focus on Equity

Kincaid also stressed that the main intent behind the ATC was to close equity gaps, in particular for learners from wards historically underserved by DC’s educational programs. He and his team intentionally designed the ATC’s supporting infrastructure to limit barriers to access for learners. For example, OSSE contracted with a local cab company to provide transportation to learners to and from the ATC, to limit unsafe walks or undue travel burdens for learners. While he noted this was a logistical hurdle, Kincaid noted this was a permanent focus of the ATC to always ensure learners could access the ATC’s programs. Programming for the ATC is also open-access, limiting cost or grade barriers for learners. There are no entrance exams- to earn the aforementioned dual credit, learners must simply achieve a C or higher in each to receive college credit above a final grade. Finally, future plans will continue to center equity initiatives, including paid internship opportunities and the development of future programs that advance historically marginalized learners, particularly learners of color, in historically underrepresented fields.

What’s Next for DC’s ATC

Within the next two years, the Advanced Technical Center looks to make big strides by moving into a permanent home and expanding the student population served. In 2022, approximately 130 learners were enrolled; by 2025, Kincaid hopes to have 600 learners regularly attend. The hope is also for learners regardless of age and program to participate in school-time, paid year-round internships, including some with industry partners co-located with the ATC. Through the changes, equity and partnership will remain at the heart of the ATC’s focus. 

Dan Hinderliter, Senior Policy Associate

By Stacy Whitehouse in Public Policy
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This Week in CTE

Friday, December 4th, 2020

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

SCHOLARSHIP OF THE WEEK 

A new scholarship opportunity for learners seeking college funding, a mentorship and have an interest in transportation has been announced. The purpose of The Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE)’s Diversity Scholars Program is to grow underrepresented populations’ participation in the transportation profession by supporting increased diversity at the undergraduate level. Diversity in the transportation industry is critical as practitioners seek to fully understand the transportation needs of communities and develop equitable mobility improvements to many areas of our society. 

This program is open to any U.S. high school student of Black; Native American, Alaskan, and Hawaiian; or Latinx heritage with an interest in a career in transportation and who is seeking to study transportation engineering, planning, or in a related-field at a school with an established ITE Student Chapter. 

For more information and to apply, click here. Applications are due March 15, 2021.

CTE PROGRAM OF THE WEEK

One Nevada school has been responsive to industry changes in their area and adopted a new manufacturing program tying in curriculum from Project Lead the Way and Intelitek. Palo Verde High School will have a four-year program teaching learner 3D modeling, applied physics, computer-integrated manufacturing and engineering design. 

Stephen Turbie, Engineering Instructor, says, “Automation is an essential part of any manufacturing business. Learning about automation and manufacturing provides good training for many future technical careers.”

Learn more about the addition of this manufacturing program in this article published by SmartBrief. 

CTSO OF THE WEEK

Despite the challenges states have faced with offering work-based learning opportunities during the pandemic, students from King City High School’s (King City, California) agricultural pathway and members of the Future Farmers of America (FFA) have worked diligently to utilize social media to overcome barriers and continue to have their work-based learning opportunities, Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE), externships and virtual career fairs for the current school year.

Learn more in this article on how CTE teachers and students in California are working together despite the virtual learning challenges. King City High School FFA students are also ranked number one in the region and third in the state of California.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE OF THE WEEK

Following the retirement of House Appropriations Committee Chair Nita Lowey (D-NY), Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) was voted to be the new committee chair. DeLauro’s win came after her endorsement by the Democratic House Steering and Policy Committee earlier this week. Currently, DeLauro serves as the Chair of the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS-ED) Appropriations Subcommittee so she is well versed in Career Technical Education (CTE), education and workforce funding.

View more Legislative Updates from this week here

RESOURCE OF THE WEEK

Recent calculations suggested that 32-42 percent of job losses that have resulted from the COVID-19 (coronavirus) may be permanent. CTE can reskill and upskill learners and prepare them for reentry into the workforce by offering industry-recognized credentials of value. 

Credential Currency: How States Can Identify and Promote Credentials of Value is a roadmap for how states can identify which credentials have labor market value, and recommended strategies and opportunities to advance learner attainment. This roadmap is informed by national, state and local CTE leaders from K-12 education, postsecondary education and industry. 

View Credential Currency: How States Can Identify and Promote Credentials of Value in our Learning that Works Resource Center.

Brittany Cannady, Digital Media Associate

By admin in Uncategorized
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Upcoming Webinar: Innovative Teaching and Transportation Industry Partnerships

Thursday, November 5th, 2015

NESTWFC_LARGECross-posted from the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education blog: 

On Thursday, November 12 from 3:15-4:30 p.m. ET, a webinar entitled “Innovative Teaching and Transportation Industry Partnerships” will feature teachers, administrators and industry partners and their insights and examples of innovative programs and teaching models to deliver transportation-related curricula for high school students. The webinar is hosted and co-sponsored by the Northeast Center of the National Network for the Transportation Workforce and the National Association of State Directors for Career Technical Education Consortium.

You can register for the webinar here.

The Federal Highway Administration established a National Network for the Transportation Workforce that consists of five Regional Surface Transportation Workforce Centers. The Centers engage and facilitate partnerships with state Departments of Transportation and Education, industry, and other public and private stakeholders to support more efficient approaches to transportation workforce development. The centers address the range of workforce development activities from middle and high-schools to technical schools and community colleges. The centers are also useful resources for universities, postgraduate programs, and transportation workers.

In addition, the U.S. Departments of Education, Transportation and Labor have been working closely to project future employment, skills, skills gaps, and training needs within the transportation industry and its subsectors. The report, called “Strengthening Skills Training & Career Pathways Across the Transportation Industry,” is available on the Perkins Collaborative Resource Network.

By admin in Resources, Webinars
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