There’s no such thing as a risk-free investment.

Or is there?

As employers, schools, and students contemplate how to invest their dollars to yield the greatest return, they may want to consider recent studies on the benefits of earning professional industry certifications.

While it’s true that there’s no such thing as an entirely risk-free investment, the numbers don’t fib: earning professional software certifications yields a high return on investment (ROI) for the workforce, schools, and students.

ROI for the Workforce

The findings of a Burning Glass study drew the attention of The Wall Street Journal in an article titled, “The Key to a Good-Paying Job Is…Microsoft Excel?”

Study highlights show that it’s practically imperative for workers entering the workforce to possess Microsoft Office skills. “The most commonly required skills are also the most basic ones,” the report states. “Spreadsheet and word-processing software such as Microsoft Corp.’s Excel and Word.”

The Burning Glass study also found that:

• Spreadsheet and word processing proficiencies have become a baseline requirement for the majority of middle-skill opportunities (78%)
• Digitally intensive middle-skill occupations offer 18% higher wages on average
• Digitally intensive jobs have grown 2.5 times more rapidly than middle-skill jobs that do not require spreadsheets, word processing, or other digital skills (between 2003 and 2013, 4.7% growth for digitally intensive jobs compared to 1.9% growth for other positions)

Despite these benefits, workers entering workforce often come without the needed baseline digital skills. “Effectively, entire segments of the U.S. economy are off-limits to people who don’t have basic digital skills,” the report notes, suggesting that schools and other training sites should go back to the basics.

Supply and demand dictates that employers will seek and pay for those who have these proficiencies. Industry certifications, such as Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS), teach and test Microsoft software skills. Further, they provide recognized stamps of approval to those who earn their certification. For employers, the ROI on a digitally skilled employee will be greater than on one who enters the job at a remedial level.

ROI for the Education System

School systems have limited budget to invest in programs that will help prepare their students for higher learning and for pursuing a career.

As it turns out, the ROI is demonstrably high for school systems that invest in programs to train and certify students in Microsoft Office software.

The Florida Case

Florida schools have a CAPE program (Career & Professional Education Act). CAPE focuses on teaching professional-level skills that translate to workforce success. At Dunbar High School, for example, CAPE Academy students perform better than non-academy students. The school invested in a program to train CAPE students and help them earn industry-recognized certifications for Microsoft Office software.

CAPE Academy students who earned professional-level certifications—

• Outperformed their peers in average GPA (see chart 2)
• Showed lower dropout rates
• Showed higher rates of graduation
• Outperformed non-academy peers on Florida standardized testing (FCAT)

The conclusion? Industry-recognized certification works in academia to boost student performance and longevity. (Note: The study is not just for Microsoft certification, as CAPE Academy cuts across data for students studying in multiple industry segments and technology areas.)

CHART 2

ROI for the Student

The numbers show that student market value (salary) with industry certification is greater than without it (see chart 3).

CHART 3

What do industry certifications mean to me?

That’s the question asked by students, schools, and employers as they consider investing time and money into certification programs. While there’s no such thing as a risk-free investment, the numbers show that investing in such programs is about as close to a risk-free investment as one can get.

Would you like more discussion about this issue and how it affects you? If you happen to be attending the Advance CTE Fall Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, on Monday, October 17, stop by our hospitality suite from 8:00-10:00 p.m. We’ll be in Suite 1026 of the BWI Airport Marriott. We look forward to seeing you!

Contact: Mike Maddock
Director of Strategic Accounts
[email protected]
801-847-3172

This post was written by Certiport, a Pearson VUE Business, is the sole provider of industry certifications such as Microsoft Office Specialist, Adobe Certified Associate, Autodesk Certified User, IC3 Digital Literacy Certification, and others. Certiport is a sponsor of the 2016 Advance CTE Fall Meeting. Thank you Certiport! 

As a longstanding member—50 years to be precise—of the Career Technical Education (CTE) community, NOCTI has watched many changes in both perception and reality as it relates to CTE in popular media and public policy. Sometimes the changes are favorable and currently CTE is experiencing some significant support. Although it appears that federal legislation regarding CTE will be stalled until after the presidential election, the reauthorization did receive almost unanimous support in the House of Representatives for the “Strengthening CTE for the 21st Century” Act at 405-5. Yet, there is a looming issue that affects us all—an issue that has a significant impact on the success or failure of all CTE programs. That issue relates to finding quality CTE teachers and ensuring resources are available to support and retain them. Primarily, this applies to CTE teachers who enter the classrooms directly from industry—something typically referred to as an “alternative certification.”

Over the last few years, the CTE community has experienced increased interest which has fueled the need—or the demand—side of the equation. Yet, at the same time many states have struggled to keep supply channels open. NOCTI is aware of the issue because we are part of the certification process for CTE teacher candidates in approximately 25 states. An additional number of states use NOCTI resources to determine if candidates are competent in all aspects of their technical fields. In just the last three years, the number of assessments used for teacher credentialing has jumped an average of 40% in approximately ten states. In addition, five other states have requested to establish NOCTI teacher candidate testing centers in their states. Lastly, if one looks at the Advance CTE two-minute roundup report from 2015, the biggest struggle at that time was recruiting, retaining, and supporting quality CTE teachers.

It is common knowledge that CTE teachers are a “special breed” of teacher; they bring workforce experiences to the classroom, are passionate about what they do and why they are working in education, and have a “whatever-it-takes-to-accomplish-the-goal” attitude. These individuals make up 14% of our nation’s teaching force—it is critical that they have a strong and useful support system.

As a non-profit entity lead by a Board of Trustees elected by the 56 state directors of CTE across the country and in US territories, NOCTI is determined to stay ahead of the needs of the field it serves. Since NOCTI’s primary focus is in serving the CTE community, we’d like identify a few resources which may be helpful for your state.

1. Teacher Certification and Competence Resources: NOCTI’s initial goal was to help states secure competent CTE teachers and, as mentioned above, our resources are used in a number of state teacher certification systems. Remember, however, that even if your state does not have a formal process for alternatively-certified CTE teachers, NOCTI’s resources are available for you to provide an objective third-party assessment of a candidate’s competence. Learn more!
2. Awareness of Resources for New CTE teachers: NOCTI works in every state in the nation and because we have a strong focus on accountability, professional improvement, and credentialing, we have encountered numerous examples from several states. As a brief example, the work underway in California’s “CTE TEACH” program utilizes the development of a support structure for CTE teachers during their “formative” years. Learn more!
3. Partnerships: NOCTI’s focus on assisting CTE teachers in experiencing success has led to partnerships with like-minded associations like ACTE. There are currently two publications available that focus on new CTE teachers with a third installment on the way. NOCTI and ACTE also collaborated on a publication focused on instructional improvement. Learn more!

Since we’ve mentioned ACTE, it is important to note that they also offer resources through their online Core Community which focuses on different aspects of CTE teacher skills. NOCTI has collaborated with ACTE to provide individuals taking advantage of this resource with a digital badge.

We hope this blog serves two purposes: 1) that it highlights the importance of the CTE teacher shortage, and 2) that it identifies some helpful resources to use. If NOCTI can be of service, please contact us at [email protected] to see how we can help you. NOCTI is excited to be a GOLD sponsor of the Advance CTE fall meeting; be sure to seek us out and say hello!

This post was written by NOCTI, a sponsor of the Advance CTE 2016 Fall Meeting. Thank you NOCTI! 

How do we lead an effective Change effort? John Kotter, author of the renowned book called “Leading Change” explained eight steps for leading change. The first step is to create a sense of urgency. Without an understanding of the true challenges facing an organization, a business, or a community, it is difficult to garner the energy for sustained work around change.

Also of note is his third step: To “create a vision for change and key strategies.” One aspect of creating this vision is not only to articulate a positive future, but to convince people that change is possible and beneficial.

As leaders in Career Technical Education (CTE) and the broader Pathways Movement, these two ideas – Change is Necessary, and Change is Possible – go hand-in-hand.

In my new book, The Power and Promise of Pathways, I devote two chapters to organizing and communicating the most credible research and data available around these topics. The second chapter focuses on findings related to big economic and workforce trends of which everyone should be aware. I call these the Visible Challenges. They are:

1. The Skills Gap: There are Too Few Skilled Workers
2. There is an Entrepreneurship Gap
3. Too Many Are Opting Out of the Workforce
4. Too Many Youth Are Not Working and Not Going to School
5. Too Few Youth and Young Adults Are Completing Postsecondary Education
6. The U.S. Workforce is Slipping in Competitiveness
7. Too Many Young Adults are Facing Economic Set-Backs

Next, I identified a number of Root Causes that find their home in our education and workforce systems. These Root Causes start to point the way to a Pathways System initiative as the solution. They are:

1. Many Youth Don’t Experience Impactful Career Development
2. U.S. Culture is Dominated by “University-for-All” Message
3. Most Schools Don’t Embrace Employer Perspectives on Career Readiness
4. Too Many Youth Are Disengaged From Learning
5. Too Many Youth Have Weak Academic Skills and Lack College Readiness
6. Too Many Students Still Drop Out of High School
7. Very Few High School Graduates Have Well-Developed Career and Technical Knowledge
8. Our Student Population is Becoming More Diverse But Large Achievement Gaps Persist

In the next chapter, I organized research findings that suggest the effectiveness of Pathways System initiatives, as well as discreet education reform strategies that can be incorporated into a Pathways system. The positive evidence includes:

1. Pathways Initiatives Help Improve Academic Achievement
2. Pathways Initiatives Help Increase Rigorous Academic Course Taking
3. Pathways Initiatives Help Improve High School Graduation
4. Pathways Initiatives Help Develop Career Readiness Skills
5. Pathways Initiatives Help Increase Long-term Earnings

Specifically, Pathways-related reforms point to the following benefits:

1. Career Exploration

• Career Exploration Helps Students Make Better College Choices
• Career Exploration Leads to Better Postsecondary Achievement
• Career Exploration Helps Students Make More Intentional Choices
• Career Courses Help Improve Academic Achievement

2. Career and Technical Education

• CTE Strengthens Student Achievement
• CTE Credentials Boost Earnings
• CTE Course-taking Reduces High School Dropouts
• Career Technical Student Organizations Enhance Student Engagement
• CTE Students Develop Workplace-relevant Competencies
• Arkansas CTE Provides Achievement and Graduation Outcomes
• Massachusetts CTE Elevates Achievement

3. Employer and Community Engagement

• Employer Engagement Enhances the Student Learning Experience
• Employer Engagement Improves Student Motivation for School Achievement
• Employer Engagement Helps Students Makes Better Career Decisions
• Community Volunteerism Strengthens Student Motivation and Achievement

4. Structured Student Supports

• High School Support Strategies Help Prevent and Reduce Student Dropouts
• High School Supports (AVID) Strengthen College Retention and Persistence
• College Support (ASAP) Improves College Retention and Completion
• Supports and Guidance Help Improve College Completion

5. Structured Programming

• Structure Programs Improve College Enrollments and Completion (Early-College Initiative)
• Guided Pathways in Community Colleges Strengthen Student Retention and Completion

6. Dynamic Teaching and Learning

• Active Learning Strategies Help Improve Student Learning
• Integrated Math-in-CTE Improves Student Achievement
• Integrated Literacy-in-CTE Improve Student Achievement
• Integration of Academic and CTE Content Promotes Postsecondary Success
• Accelerated Developmental Education Increases Postsecondary Success

Of course, in this blog, we don’t have the space to explore the specifics behind each of these findings. But for those promoting Career Technical Education and Pathways Systems, rest assured that the data is compelling, and every day and every year, the body of knowledge is growing.

At the upcoming Advance CTE meeting, we are excited to offer a complimentary copy of The Power and Promise of Pathways to each meeting participant. I hope the way this information is organized will help you and your fellow leaders have more confidence in making the case for CTE and Pathways. Change is Necessary; Change is Possible!

This post was written by NC3T, a sponsor of the 2016 Advance CTE Fall Meeting. Thank you NC3T!

A lot has changed in Career Technical Education (CTE) this year. With renewed interest from policymakers, attention from the media, and major investments by the philanthropic and private sectors, it’s an exciting time for CTE. Join us October 17-19, in Baltimore, Maryland, to tackle some of today’s most important CTE issues through informative breakout sessions, facilitated small-group discussions and expert-led panels.

Session Highlight:

Leveraging Opportunities to Drive Change within Your State
With career readiness and CTE a top priority for many states and national organizations, there are many new and exciting opportunities to strengthen, support and better position CTE in our education and workforce landscape. As a result, states may need to coordinate multiple initiatives, take advantage of unexpected opportunities, and lay the foundation for future reforms. Learn about how states are leveraging national and state-driven policies and initiatives to drive and implement sustainable change to support learners at all levels.

We’ll also dive into additional topics including:

• Preview the State of CTE: Industry Experts in the Classroom
• Learn how states are implementing Putting Learner Success First: A Shared Vision for the Future of CTE

Register Today!

Katie Fitzgerald, Communications Associate