Twitter icon
Facebook icon
LinkedIn icon
YouTube icon



Getting to Know: Advance CTE’s work to build better career pathways

May 20th, 2021

The “Getting to Know” blog series will feature the work of State CTE Directors, state and federal policies, innovative programs and new initiatives from the Advance CTE staff. Learn more about each one of these topics and the unique contributions to advancing Career Technical Education (CTE) that Advance CTE’s members work on every day.

Meet Jeran Culina! Jeran serves in the role of Senior Policy Associate for Advance CTE, supporting state policy and technical assistance work. Jeran’s work has a focus on supporting states and communities to create, share, use and manage information about national efforts to expand high-quality and equitable career pathways. She also supports the development of policy tools and resources leveraged by state and local leaders, national partners and other key stakeholders to help ensure each learner has access to supports, resources and skills needed to be successful in the careers of their choice. 

Q: What is the New Skills ready network initiative and how does it inform your work at Advance CTE? 

A: New Skills ready network is a five-year initiative, part of JPMorgan Chase’s $350 million global New Skills at Work program, which aims to improve student completion of high-quality career pathways. The six New Skills ready network sites are: Boston, Massachusetts; Columbus, Ohio; Dallas, Texas; Denver, Colorado; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Nashville, Tennessee. 

A key feature of the New Skills ready network is the makeup of the leadership teams. Each site’s team brings together a cross-sector group of partners representing local school systems, two-year and four-year postsecondary institutions, intermediary organizations, industry, and state and workforce development agencies. These unique state-and-local, cross-sector leadership teams were developed to align systems; incubate innovative solutions; and ultimately, scale equitable career pathways for all learners. This piece of the New Skills ready network has been significant in informing the rest of my state policy work. It showcases the strengths and challenges that local and state partnerships bring to the table, but it also offers best practices from six local sites to better inform state policy work around engaging stakeholders, bridging secondary and postsecondary, aligning pathways, closing equity gaps, and many other areas that haven’t even been explored yet.   

Q: How would the New Skills ready network define high-quality career pathways?

A: High-quality career pathways are ones that successfully prepare learners for a variety of educational opportunities while supporting effective and meaningful collaboration between secondary schools, postsecondary institutions, and employers to provide students with experience in, and understanding of, all aspects of an industry, and ensure equal access to all learners. Within the New Skills ready network, all sites are developing or expanding their definition of what high-quality career pathways means to them. For example, the Indianapolis, IN team has aligned their definition of high-quality career pathways to match the state’s new next level programs of study (NLPS) model. The shift to NLPS provides learners with:

  1. An increase in the consistency of CTE course offerings to ensure all CTE students have the same opportunity to learn essential skills regardless of the location they are taking a course;
  2. Intentionality by directly aligning secondary courses to postsecondary competencies, providing students who have discovered their passion the opportunity to earn more postsecondary credentials and make progress towards postsecondary degrees while in high school; and
  3. Quality programs because new course standards will increase the rigor in many CTE courses and provide greater benefits to students.

Q: How can state CTE leaders leverage the work coming out of the New Skills ready network to ensure labor market information (LMI) is used to define high-skill, high-wage and in-demand career pathways?

A: States should follow the recommendations laid out in the recently released Advance CTE research brief on aligning labor market data which suggests:

  1. Continuing to make data-informed decisions about which career pathways to build and support and which ones to transform or phase out. In the face of major economic upheaval, while responding to real-time changes may be tempting, focusing on the longer-term trends and consulting multiple data sources and stakeholders are critical.
  2. Address equity within any LMI tools, supports and decisions. As states and institutions invest in their labor market systems and platforms, presenting the data with an equity lens is critical to better inform investments and arm learners with actionable information
  3. Take the opportunity to streamline existing labor market data to make it more usable and accessible for policymakers, local partners, instructors and learners themselves.
  4. Build capacity within the system to improve labor market data literacy. With the complexities of labor market data and increased frequency of the data being reviewed at the state, region and community levels, leaders at all levels — including counselors and advisers — need a better understanding of what they are looking at and how they should interpret the data to best support learners. 

Q: What can we expect next from the New Skills ready network?

A: The New Skills ready network has previously released three research briefs focused on work-based learning, aligning career pathways to labor market data and state strategies for scaling early postsecondary opportunities (EPSOs) in career pathways. In the next month, expect one additional research brief on strengthening state and local partnerships. In addition to the policy briefs, the New Skills ready network team will be releasing an annual report on the lessons learned during the first year of the grant as well as snapshots of each site and the work they have accomplished. As the work progresses, we will have innovations, best practices and lessons learned from each site to share that can be adopted and scaled across the nation.   

Brittany Cannady, Senior Associate Digital Media 

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Resources, Uncategorized | Comments Off on Getting to Know: Advance CTE’s work to build better career pathways

Using Data to Advance Youth Apprenticeship in Washington State

May 19th, 2021

This is the first blog in a series published in partnership with New America through the Partnership to Advance Youth Apprenticeship (PAYA). The blog series will highlight how PAYA network sites are using data to improve youth apprenticeship quality and equity. 

Youth apprenticeship programs provide high school learners with foundational skills and knowledge in various industries. As youth apprentices, learners become employees with a company where they can apply knowledge from their Career Technical Education (CTE) program in a real-world setting. Youth apprenticeship can also give young learners an advantage as the hours learners spend on the job and in related technical instruction lead to an industry-recognized credential or can be applied to an associate degree program. 

Given how invaluable youth apprenticeship programs are, it is important to have data to understand how programs are structured to ensure they are high quality and ensure equitable access and success. The Aerospace Joint Apprenticeship Committee (AJAC) youth apprenticeship program in Washington State is an example of a program that effectively leverages data to advance equity. 

AJAC’s Expansion into Youth Apprenticeship in Washington State

The Aerospace Joint Apprenticeship Committee supports Washington State’s aerospace and advanced manufacturing industries as an intermediary, providing training and connecting workers to career opportunities. AJAC was founded in 2008 as a public-private partnership between the state of Washington and the Machinists 751 union with an initial focus on developing the adult workforce through Registered Apprenticeship. Through partnerships with nearly 300 employers and the Washington State Community and Technical College system, AJAC provides 2,000 hours of instructional training leading apprentices to journey-level certification as a master tradesperson. Apprentices can take their certification directly into the workforce or build on their credentials and earn an associate or bachelor’s degree.

In 2017, AJAC expanded its apprenticeship program to include high school learners 16-18 years of age. This expansion was brought on for two reasons. First, high school CTE programs in Washington State expressed interest in apprenticeship opportunities for their students. Second, employer partners were interested in recruiting younger workers and creating a talent pipeline. With the support of Governor Jay Inslee and the Washington Department of Labor and Industries, AJAC received a federal state apprenticeship expansion grant to pilot a youth apprenticeship program.

AJAC’s program targets high school students at the end of their sophomore or beginning of their junior years and recruits them into one-year youth apprenticeships designed to provide an entry-level foundation into the machining and industrial maintenance industries. Depending on the school district, students can participate in the youth apprenticeship as an after-school program where they split their time between working at the employer site or attending instructional courses for 10-15 hours per week. Some school districts integrate the youth apprenticeship into the school day, leveraging Washington State’s area technical centers, known in the state as Regional Skills Centers. The learner attends their home school for part of the day and either reports to their employer site or their designated Regional Skills Center to complete their instructional courses for the other half of the day.

AJAC’s Use of Data to Advance Equity

Data is important to AJAC’s commitment to equity. AJAC tracks a number of youth apprenticeship metrics in an effort to diversify the aerospace industry, which is overwhelmingly White and male. Since its inception in 2017, AJAC has enrolled over 225 youth apprentices with roughly 10 percent identifying as female and 35 percent as learners of color. 

One strategy AJAC is using to diversify participating youth apprentices is to develop inclusive marketing materials and provide platforms for apprentices from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds to represent AJAC at conferences and other public events. Another strategy is to leverage partnerships with urban and rural school districts and community-based organizations who work with youth of color, opportunity youth and justice-involved youth.

Recognizing that recruitment alone is not enough, AJAC wants to ultimately leverage data to better understand outcomes of youth apprentices — whether they transition into a full-time Registered Apprenticeship program, pursue postsecondary education, or continue working in another field. Additionally, AJAC hopes to leverage data to better understand how to support youth apprentices through their apprenticeship and post-apprenticeship with career coaching, mentoring and other supports.

AJAC’s Strategy to Surviving the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic has presented significant challenges for youth apprenticeship programs, and work-based learning overall. For AJAC, the coronavirus pandemic exacerbated an already existing problem. Many of AJAC’s employer partners are part of the aerospace supply chain for major aerospace companies such as Boeing, which was in the midst of production issues resulting from several high-profile mechanical malfunctions of its 737 MAX aircraft. This disruption to the supply chain plus the coronavirus pandemic had a devastating impact on AJAC’s recruitment of employer partners and apprentices. Many youth apprentices were laid off.

To address shifting labor market demands, AJAC transitioned to engaging new employer partners in order to place youth apprentices in the food and beverage manufacturing industry, which was considered essential during the pandemic. AJAC also surveyed its youth apprentices and instructors to identify the best approaches to offering online learning and ensure that learners stayed on track to complete their programs. Based on feedback from instructors and subject matter experts, AJAC identified courses that could be converted to virtual learning platforms. Courses that could not be taught virtually or required a lab component were put on hold until learners could safely meet again in person. As part of its virtual learning strategy, AJAC mailed over 150 kits to youth apprentices that contained hand tools and other materials. Students could then follow along with the instructor through an online video platform.

Through survey data, AJAC found that many youth apprentices discovered several benefits to online learning such as reduced travel times and costs for transportation and parking, increased flexibility to learn at their own pace, increased on-time attendance, reduced test taking anxiety, greater opportunity for one-on-one meetings with instructors, and 24/7 access to PowerPoints and other course materials. 

AJAC’s Success Evidence of Demand for Youth Apprenticeships

Data can be important in demonstrating the value of high-quality youth apprenticeship programs leading to positive outcomes for employers and equitable outcomes for youth. Over three years time, AJAC reports a nearly 500% growth in the number of youth apprentices, demonstrating the demand from young learners for opportunities to connect classroom learning to hands-on, real-world work experiences. AJAC’s success to date also demonstrates that, despite some skepticism, young apprentices can be valuable additions to a company. 

For additional resources on data and accountability,  access and equity, work-based learning, or area technical centers please visit Advance CTE’s Learning that Works Resource Center.

Brian Robinson, Policy Associate

Tags:
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Using Data to Advance Youth Apprenticeship in Washington State

Improving CTE Data Quality: Information is Used Effectively to Promote Quality and Equity in Career Pathways

May 17th, 2021

A high-quality career readiness data ecosystem should not only collect, analyze and report data but also use the information to promote quality and equity. State leaders should integrate career readiness data into policymaking and decision-making processes to further a statewide career preparation system that is high quality and equitable. 

Ohio’s Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) Equity Labs guide key stakeholders through a process of identifying gaps in access to or success in Career Technical Education (CTE) programs, discussing root causes of those gaps, and creating actionable plans to address them. In 2019, for the first round of Equity Labs, each of Ohio’s 91 Career-Technical Planning Districts (CTPD) — local education agency configurations that consist of a number of school districts and deliver CTE programs — submitted their data to the Ohio Department of Education, which then developed a report with data in three main categories: meaningful access, engagement and enrollment, and student outcomes. The data in the report is disaggregated by race/ethnicity, gender, migrant status and special population status. Each CTPD was invited to bring five to 10 internal stakeholders to participate in the Equity Lab to analyze the data, identify the largest and most pressing gap, and conduct a root cause analysis on the identified gap. Lastly, participants developed a SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time bound) goal to address the gap and a plan to evaluate movement toward improvement.

The Ohio Department of Education showed districts how the exercise of analyzing data, identifying root causes, and creating actionable plans to address the identified gaps can be applied to a district’s Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment (CLNA). The CLNA is required by Perkins V and mandates that local districts evaluate their progress toward equitable outcomes for all students. By connecting the Equity Labs to the CLNA, districts can better understand which groups of students are gaining access to CTE programs of study that lead to high-wage, high-skill or in-demand careers; where the gaps exist; and what systems-level changes should be made so every learner can benefit from meaningful, high-quality CTE. 

Bringing together local leaders to analyze and reflect on career readiness data and acknowledge the areas that need improvement is critical to ensure that the statewide career preparation system is high quality and equitable for all learners. Read the Advance CTE case study, Ohio’s Perkins V Equity Labs, to learn more about how Ohio leverages data to improve the quality and equity of its CTE programs. For additional resources on improving the quality and use of career readiness data, check out the Career Readiness Data Quality microsite.  

This is the sixth and final edition in a series of Advance CTE data quality blogs to accompany Advance CTE’s latest releases, Career Readiness Data Quality and Use Policy Benchmark Tool and Data Quality Case Studies. For more resources on data and accountability or access and equity in CTE, please visit the Learning that Works Resource Center.

Brian Robinson, Policy Associate

Tags: , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Improving CTE Data Quality: Information is Used Effectively to Promote Quality and Equity in Career Pathways

Research Review: Promising Practices for Reducing Racial Disparities in Academic Outcomes

May 12th, 2021

Gaps in academic outcomes between learners of color and their White peers is a challenge that continues to perplex education leaders. Two new studies highlight promising practices for how states can begin to narrow racial disparities in academic outcomes and better prepare learners for the transition to postsecondary education through strong academic support and quality career and academic advising. 

Removing Barriers to Gateway Courses 

Academic and technical proficiency are both essential for career readiness. Career Technical Education (CTE) secondary learners who pursue postsecondary education are required to demonstrate academic proficiency while completing technical coursework. However, traditional postsecondary placement models can be a barrier to learners, extending both the time and costs of completing a program of study, and ultimately serve as a deterrent for learners pursuing a postsecondary degree. 

In a recent study, researchers at Florida State University examined how Florida reformed its introductory college-level course placement policies and the impact the reform had on learners of color. Prior to 2013, Florida postsecondary students scoring below college-ready on a statewide placement test were required to take at least one developmental education course. Nearly 70 percent of first-time-in-college learners were required to take these developmental education courses based on their placement test scores, with Black and Latinx learners being overrepresented compared to White learners. Learners had to pay tuition to enroll in these courses without  receiving credits, and the courses did not count towards degree requirements. Furthermore, learners were required to successfully complete developmental education courses before they were allowed to enroll in for-credit gateway courses such as English and math. 

After the Florida legislature passed Senate Bill 1720 (SB 1720) in 2013, learners who entered a Florida public high school in the 2003-2004 school year or later and graduated with a standard high school diploma were presumed to be college-ready, were exempt from college placement testing and developmental coursework, and could enroll directly into gateway English and math courses. The passage of SB 1720 also reformed developmental education courses overall by requiring colleges to design them in a way that better meets the needs of learners in the following ways:

  • Compressing courses so that classes would meet more frequently over fewer weeks;
  • Contextualizing courses so that material would be presented in an applied manner related to the learner’s intended major;
  • Modularizing courses so that learners would be pre-assessed on a mastery of course standards and then allowed to complete customized modules for only the standards in which they did not demonstrate mastery; and
  • Allowing learners to take developmental and college-level courses concurrently. 

These reforms allowed learners who choose to enroll in developmental courses the opportunity to complete them faster, only enroll in the courses they needed, and complete their education on-time. Additionally, under SB 1720 colleges were required to reform their advising services, which increased learner awareness of developmental course options along with other academic services such as tutoring.  

Comparing three cohorts of learners who had enrolled in a Florida postsecondary institution prior to SB 1720 (Fall 2011 – Fall 2013) and three cohorts of learners after SB 1720 (Fall 2014 – Fall 2016), researchers found that after the passage of SB 1720, the percentage of first-time college students enrolled in gateway math and English courses increased overall for learners; however, gains were most significant for learners of color and outpaced the growth of White enrollment by 15 percentage points. 

Similarly, the percentage of learners who passed the introductory college-level courses increased across the board; however, the gains were much more pronounced for learners of color when compared to their White peers. 

The findings from this study indicate that traditional postsecondary placement models may be underestimating the ability of learners to be successful in college-level courses, particularly learners of color who are overrepresented in developmental education.

STEM Dual Enrollment Leading to College Persistence

Another study by the Community College Research Center (CCRC) illustrates the importance of dual enrollment courses in reducing racial/ethnic gaps in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) program outcomes. About one-third of CTE high school concentrators pursue a program of study in the STEM Career ClusterⓇ, reaffirming that high-quality CTE programs can provide a strong foundation for and serve as a delivery system of STEM competencies for a broader range of learners. 

CCRC found that when Florida high school learners enrolled in college-level algebra courses through dual enrollment, they were more likely to pursue and persist in STEM programs in their first year of college compared to learners who did not participate in dual enrollment. When disaggregated by race/ethnicity, the study found that, even though dual enrollment algebra learners were much more likely to be White, Black and Latinx learners who enrolled in dual enrollment courses were much more likely than White learners to enroll and persist in STEM programs in college. 

Conclusion

Taken together, these studies suggest promising practices that can narrow racial/ethnic academic achievement and opportunity gaps and prepare learners for success along their career pathway. The research demonstrates how increased access to introductory college-level courses, strong academic supports, quality career and academic advising, and access to college in high school programs can have significant access and equity implications and begin reducing disparities in outcomes for Black and Latinx learners. 

For more information on advising and dual enrollment, please visit the Learning that Works Resource Center. 

Brian Robinson, Policy Associate

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Research Review: Promising Practices for Reducing Racial Disparities in Academic Outcomes

This Week in CTE

May 7th, 2021

Developed with input from nearly 200 national, state and local education and workforce development leaders and supported by 40 national organizations, Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of Career Technical Education lays out five inter-connected and equally critical principles.

Only through shared commitment and shared ownership among leaders and practitioners at all levels can we realize the possibility and aspiration of a new career preparation ecosystem that provides each learner with limitless opportunity. The This Week in CTE blog series will highlight state and local examples where CTE Without Limits has been made actionable. If you would like to highlight how your CTE program creates limitless opportunities for each learner in this blog series, please email Brittany Cannady, [email protected]. 

 

This Week in CTE: May 3-7, 2021

Each learner engages in a cohesive, flexible, and responsive career preparation ecosystem 

CTE programming in Phenix City, Alabama is anchored by credentials of value and includes opportunities for work-based learning leading to careers defined by high-skill, high-wage and in-demand. Congratulations Kiara and all other learners who are now certified! 

 

Each learner feels welcome in, is supported by, and has the means to succeed in the career preparation ecosystem

Pickaway-Ross Career & Technology Center’s (Ohio) SkillsUSA members will advance to the national competition this year with the help of local industry leaders! CTSO members were able to use skills gained from on-the-job training to compete, virtually, on the state level in leadership and skills-building activities. Through industry collaboration, learners were able to utilize industry machinery in their respective events.

“PRCTC, overall, was well represented by some amazing competitors and delegates,” said Jennifer Widdig, one of Pickaway Ross’ SKillsUSA advisors. “I loved seeing the excitement in the students and how proud they were to show off their skills and trades.”

Read more in this blog entry published on the Pickaway-Ross district blog. 

 

Each learner skillfully navigates their own career journey

As seen in CTE Without Limits, stakeholders across the CTE community must intentionally develop processes to allow labor market information (LMI) to reach learners in ways that are transparent, reliable and filled with real-time information on career opportunities, earnings, and how their educational decisions will impact their access to support services.

This week Advance CTE, in partnership with Education Strategy Group through JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s New Skills ready network, released Practical Guidance for Aligning Career Pathways to Labor Market Data in the Time of COVID-19. This policy brief is the first in a series designed to help build better pathways and offers promising practices for enhancing the career preparation ecosystem locally and state-wide by leveraging LMI to align programs to high-skill, high-wage and in-demand occupations. 

More LMI resources can be found in the Learning that Works Resource Center. 

 

Each learner’s skills are counted, valued, and portable

This week we celebrated National Skilled Trades Day! 

Each learner can access CTE without borders

Advance CTE released a new policy brief that provides recommendations for CTE leaders on how to address short-and long-term priorities with the new funding authorized through the American Rescue Plan (ARP). Now, there is an opportunity for states to put in place transformative and bold solutions to support each learner in the career preparation ecosystem without limitations. State CTE leaders have a strong foundation to build upon, having recently done the hard work of crafting their Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) state plans. These new federal investments present a one-time opportunity to accelerate change, incubate innovation, disrupt systems that perpetuate inequities, and redesign with intention. States must strategically approach how to operationalize these funds to create a career preparation ecosystem that ensures each learner can access limitless opportunity.

Read the full resource and other COVID-19 state resources here.

Brittany Cannady, Senior Associate Digital Media

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on This Week in CTE

Improving CTE Data Quality: Information is Relevant, Timely and Disaggregated

May 6th, 2021

Career Technical Education (CTE) stakeholders — including families, employers and local practitioners at the secondary and postsecondary levels — need access to relevant and timely data to make informed decisions when it matters. For all the data CTE leaders collect, processing, cleaning and sharing relevant information can take a year or more, making it far less useful for practitioners on the ground. State leaders should ensure that information is relevant, timely and disaggregated so that stakeholders can understand and act on the data. This requires states to provide a comprehensive view of their career readiness system; differentiate reports by user; make data available when it matters; and disaggregate data by population, program and institution.

To improve the relevance and timeliness of CTE data, North Dakota created a statewide longitudinal data system (SLDS) that feeds data into public and internal data dashboards on a daily basis through PowerSchool, a data management system that all public school districts use to collect data on attendance, grades and other metrics. North Dakota’s postsecondary institutions also upload their data to the state’s SLDS, allowing for linkages between the K-12 and postsecondary sectors. These data dashboards provide stakeholders with timely information that they can use to make important education, career and policy decisions. 

The SLDS currently includes data on K-12 student demographics, attendance and enrollment, assessment performance, CTE participation, graduation and dropout rates, historical grades, and college and career readiness. The SLDS also includes postsecondary data on student enrollment, courses, performance, demographics and graduation rates. Workforce data such as wage and employment information are fed into the SLDS by Job Service North Dakota, the state’s workforce development agency. North Dakota’s SLDS also collects data on CTE participation, concentration and completion rates along with credential attainment. Soon, the SLDS will include data on work-based learning completion.

Through a public dashboard tool called Insights, policymakers, agencies, researchers and the general public can access data on preparation and outcomes for education and workforce training programs and use that data to make informed decisions. The reports generated on Insights are user friendly and easily accessible to the general public. Examples of reports and data that users can explore on Insights include the demand for a particular occupation, the average salary of that occupation, the CTE program of study that could lead to a career in that occupation, and which institutions offer that program.

The SLDS also provides data to the North Dakota Education Portal, a set of dashboards available to public school teachers and administrators that provide information on metrics such as predicted learner outcomes, high school and college readiness and historical learner data. The North Dakota Department of Education and its public postsecondary institutions have access to internal data on the North Dakota Education Portal, with levels of access differentiated by user. Additionally, the portal provides learners and families direct services such as access to transcripts and the ability to send transcripts to any postsecondary institution in the state or participating in the National Student Clearinghouse, thereby making applying to those institutions easier. High school students are also able to apply to North Dakota postsecondary institutions for dual credit enrollment and complete some first-year applications online through the student portal.

North Dakota’s SLDS and data dashboards equip stakeholders, including local CTE practitioners, to make data-informed decisions when it matters by providing data in a way that is timely, relevant and actionable.

Read the Advance CTE Case Study North Dakota: Data Dashboards to learn more about how North Dakota’s data dashboards have helped to foster a data- and information-rich culture throughout the state. For additional resources on improving the quality and use of career readiness data, check out the Career Readiness Data Quality microsite. 

This is the fifth edition in a series of Advance CTE data quality blogs to accompany Advance CTE’s latest releases, Career Readiness Data Quality and Use Policy Benchmark Tool and Data Quality Case Studies. For more resources on data and accountability in CTE, please visit the Learning that Works Resource Center.

Brian Robinson, Policy Associate

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Improving CTE Data Quality: Information is Relevant, Timely and Disaggregated

Communicating CTE: New Communications Research Highlights Key Equity Considerations in Communicating CTE to Families and Learners

April 28th, 2021

 

Today, Advance CTE released a new report and updated resources on messages that resonate with families about the value and benefits of Career Technical Education (CTE), and how they should be communicated to each learner to achieve effective and equitable recruitment into secondary CTE programs.

Communicating Career Technical Education: Learner-centered Messages for Effective Program Recruitment  is an update to messaging research conducted in 2017 on families both participating in (current) and not participating in CTE (prospective). This new research  includes an intentional focus on revealing differences in education preferences, experiences, and message and messenger impact among Black and Latinx families and families experiencing low income to advance a shared vision of CTE programs where each learner feels welcome in, is supported by, and has the means to succeed.

Encouragingly, the topline findings showed that an overarching message about ‘Preparing for the Real World’ resonated with learners and parents/guardians across participation, race, ethnicity and income: 

Through CTE, learners gain real-world skills that prepare them to succeed in college and a career that they are passionate about. 

However, the research also revealed important equity considerations that states should consider when supporting local systems in evaluating and taking steps to improve equity in program quality in hands-on particularly in regards to program quality, the impact of social capital and messenger trust. 

1. Learners in CTE have more opportunities to prepare for postsecondary education and are more confident about completing a degree. 

The findings indicated that participation in CTE increased the likelihood that learners planned to complete a degree over completing ‘some college,’ particularly among Latinx  families and families with low income.

Additionally, 80 percent of families participating in CTE are satisfied with opportunities to jumpstart their postsecondary education in high school through opportunities to earn college credit and take advanced classes compared to just 60 percent of families not participating in CTE.

State Impact: These findings reinforce the importance of states designing seamless transfers from secondary to postsecondary education across all career pathways, removing barriers to accessing early postsecondary opportunities (EPSOs), and communicating these opportunities in digestible, intentional ways to families. 

2. Informed school-based messengers are key for CTE enrollment, but online sources and messenger trust are key considerations for historically marginalized families. 

While school counselors and teachers were the top two sources for both families in and  outside CTE to receive information about CTE programs, families from historically marginalized populations also consistently included online sources such as Google search and school websites in their top two sources. 

Significantly, historically marginalized learners not participating in CTE were less likely to choose school counselors as a top source than parents/guardians. While 84 percent of prospective Latinx parents/guardians would likely consult a school counselor about CTE, only 37 percent of prospective Latinx learners would. Among Black families, 74 percent of prospective Black parents/guardians would likely consult a school counselor about CTE while only 59 percent of prospective Black learners would. 

State Impact: These findings reinforce the importance of states designing communication campaigns through multiple avenues with reinforced messaging like those found in our updated messaging triangle (LINK), as well as examining systemic barriers and solutions to building more diverse school counselor and instructor talent pipelines. 

3. Families participating in CTE are more satisfied across all aspects of their education, but intentional focus is needed on achieving equitable access to hands-on experiences. 

The great news is across race, ethnicity and income, 88 percent of parents/guardians and learners participating in CTE are satisfied with their education experience compared to 75 percent of those considering CTE. This includes aspects such as quality of classes and teachers, opportunities for career exploration and skillbuilding, and even opportunities for advanced classes. 

However, equitable satisfaction by race and income was not achieved for work-based learning experiences such as opportunities to connect and network with employers and opportunities for internships. For both of the aforementioned categories, satisfaction among current Black learners dropped 1 and 2 percentage points respectively compared to prospective Black leaners.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

State Impact: As states continue to reimagine CTE programs and work-based learning experiences in this learning recovery, this finding reinforces the importance of designing programs on the margins and removing barriers to access to ensure each learner participates in high-quality programs across all career pathways, and to realize the full impact of these effective messages. 

Overall, CTE provides the education experiences and benefits that families are looking for, but program quality is critical to achieve full message impact and effective recruitment. To read the full report and to access resources to put this research into action including a message triangle with tailoring for historically marginalized populations, please visit our Engaging Families and Learners web page. For resources on advancing equity and access in CTE programs, visit the Equity and Access page in Advance CTE’s Resource Center.

Stacy Whitehouse, Senior Associate Communications and State Engagement 

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Communicating CTE: New Communications Research Highlights Key Equity Considerations in Communicating CTE to Families and Learners

Staff Reflections from 2021 Spring Meeting Part 2: Expanding CTE’s Potential to meet the needs learners and stakeholders

April 26th, 2021

This posts offers reflections from Advance CTE staff on key themes from Advance CTE’s 2021 Spring Meeting. Visit Advance CTE’s Resource Center for additional resources on elevating learner voice, strengthening career pathways and communicating with families and stakeholders.

Elevating Learner Voice in Shaping the Future of CTE 

The future of Career Technical Education (CTE) is only a success when learner voices are truly centered as state CTE leaders develop new innovative strategies and equitable policies while implementing their state Perkins V plans under the new vision: Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of Career Technical Education. 

Advance CTE’s 2021 Spring Meeting provided stakeholders of the CTE community the opportunity to hear directly from learners on their experiences navigating through the career preparation ecosystem and what they hope to see for the future of CTE. 

Learners are engaged in a career preparation ecosystem when, “CTE provides opportunities for networking skills and connections to speak with industry partners and business professionals,”  said Dianna Serrano, SkillsUSA National Region 4 Vice President.

Each learner has the supports and skills to succeed in the career preparation ecosystem when, “Work-based learning opportunities cultivate personal and professional networks,”  said Rafael Bitanga, Director of Bitanga Productions, Member of Family Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA). 

Each learner can access CTE without borders when, “Every school offers CTE pathways where learners are developing skills that continue to prepare them for future careers,” said Dhruv Agarwal, National Technology Student Association (TSA) Reporter.

Looking ahead, the future of CTE is bright, it is bold, it is equitable and it is learner-centered. Wherever learners are in their career journey, they feel welcomed and supported with the necessary tools to succeed.

Brittany Cannady, Senior Associate Digital Media 

Elevating CTE in Federal Economic and Learning Recovery Policy 

Just as the past year was unconventional in nearly every way, it was also an unconventional time for federal policy. For the better part of the year “business as usual” was put on hold and the Congressional and Administration focus was on COVID-19 (coronavirus) response and relief packages. During this year’s Spring Meeting it was evident that state CTE leaders had a greater connection than usual to federal actions because they are in the midst of implementation of pandemic stimulus bills, as well as implementation of the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V). This means there is a larger space for joint advocacy. 

During the panel on 2021 Congressional Priorities, featuring the Democratic and Republican staff on the House Committee on Education and Labor and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), each panelist encouraged meeting participants to contact their representatives in Congress to advocate for the CTE community. It was exciting to hear Congressional staff validate the power of each individual’s voice!

The presidential and Congressional elections in 2020 also provided a new opportunity to elevate CTE at the federal level. Not only was this brought up by the Congressional panelists, but also in the remarks provided by U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. Secretary Cardona shared that as a proud CTE graduate he understands the value of CTE for each learner, especially during this time of economic recovery.

I am looking forward to continuing to bring state CTE leaders together with federal leaders so that we can advocate for high-quality and equitable CTE! 

Meredith Hills, Senior Policy Associate 

Reimagining CTE Program Design through the National Career Clusters® Framework 

Without question, the 2021 Spring Meeting was very different from the first Advance CTE meeting I attended in the spring of 2008. What was not different was the valuable opportunity for state leaders of CTE to reconnect, reset and reimagine! 

During the breakouts on the second day of the meeting, I was pleased to help host a reimagining conversation with state leaders centered on The National Career Clusters® Framework. State leaders concurred that the world of work continues to change rapidly and it is time to modernize The Framework’s structure and design to ensure its relevance for current and future needs of learners at all levels and of the workplace. One participant noted that students have skills that can cross into multiple industries, and asked, “How do we create fluidity between all of the areas?”

To that end, this effort is not designed to tinker around the edges, adding a new Career Cluster or renaming one of the existing Career Clusters. The work is seeking to completely reimagine the way The Framework is organized to reflect the current and future world of work.  All that we are committed to at this stage is the purpose statement, which has been approved by the Advance CTE Board of Directors, which you can read on the project web page. 

Advance CTE is seeking bold and innovative ideas to help us construct a new, modern and enduring Framework. To submit your ideas, visit the Advancing the Framework portal. Please also share this link through your networks to assist in our effort to crowdsource ideas that will shape a new framework. 

Thank you for a great 2021 Spring Meeting!

Scott Stump, Senior Advisor 

Reconnecting with Families on the Value of CTE

Achieving a robust national recovery will require a diverse and skilled workforce, not only through upskilling and reskilling displaced workers but also giving learners the tools to explore careers and prepare for lifelong skill building. While CTE has the tools to lead the way to fill this need, recruitment into CTE programs has stagnated for the past decade and significant awareness gaps remain, particularly among populations historically marginalized from participating in CTE. 

Our 2021 Spring Meeting explored how to improve messaging about CTE to families to increase program recruitment and address equity gaps to ensure CTE can meet future workforce needs. Director of Communications and Membership Katie Fitzgerald and myself gave a preview of updated communications research on what parents/guardians and learners say is most important in their education, what messages and messenger resonate with them to consider and stay in CTE, and what message tailoring and program quality considerations should be taken to effectively reach populations historically marginalized from participation in CTE. 

Members were excited to hear that many of the previously tested messages still resonate across racial, ethnic, and income categories, and that what families are looking for in their education closely aligns with what CTE can offer. Attendees were also very engaged in asking questions about equity gaps in satisfaction and messenger trust that were found in the research. We look forward to many more presentations to share this important information with stakeholders and utilizing tools to assist states in refreshing their communication plans to prioritize our key messages and equity considerations. 

Stacy Whitehouse, Senior Associate Communications and State Engagement 

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Advance CTE Spring Meeting, Uncategorized | Comments Off on Staff Reflections from 2021 Spring Meeting Part 2: Expanding CTE’s Potential to meet the needs learners and stakeholders

We Need Your Help to Modernize the National Career Clusters Framework

April 23rd, 2021

Over the past year, Advance CTE has worked with state and national partners to modernize The National Career ClustersⓇ Framework (The Framework). Through kitchen cabinets, stakeholder engagement sessions, and town halls with our members, we collected a ton of great information about the purpose and the users of The Framework, its value, and where it no longer fits with the modern and future world of work. We recognize that The Framework has lived its useful life.

Now, more than ever, we need support from our community to help develop a new, modernized Framework. We know that we don’t have all the answers about the potential of a new Framework, so Advance CTE has opened an online crowdsourcing portal to collect ideas from you. This undertaking is no small task, and the strength of The Framework has always been the state-led, collaborative approach to build and update it. The more ideas we can collect, the stronger the end product will become. Here are some top tips to help you when filling out the portal. 

  1. You don’t have to go it alone: Are you an educator looking for a class project or an employee of a non-profit company in the CTE and career readiness space? What about an employer who hires CTE students? Collaborate with learners, your staff and peers to work together to submit an idea to the idea challenges.
  2. Complete one or all of the idea challenges: We know you have a busy schedule. However many idea challenges you choose to submit to, we welcome your input. Do not feel like you need to submit a response to all of them. Please pick the challenges that you connect with most and submit your strongest ideas. If you and your team are deep thinkers with a lot of feedback, please feel free to submit ideas for each of the challenges as well!
  3. Keep equity and access in mind: We are looking for ideas that center learners and are equity and access minded. Make sure to keep that lens when completing your submission.
  4. Be BOLD! and future-focused: We are looking for bold and innovative ideas! Think of the world of education and work in 2041 and how this framework may reflect that world. No idea is too ‘out there.’ The bolder the better!
  5. Unsure if you are the right person to submit an idea? If you are reading this blog, we want you to submit an idea. We are looking for ideas and perspectives from the full range of those impacted by education and the workforce including educators, learners, school counselors, school administrators, state leaders, employers, industry leaders, non-profit organizations, for-profit companies, economists, researchers, marketers, data professionals and more!


Submit your ideas today! The portal will be open until May 7. You can also help us get the word out about this initiative by using this promotional toolkit. Share the initiative with your networks through social media or inclusion in your newsletter.

Once the portal has closed, we will aggregate and tweak top ideas through facilitated workshops with a group of state- and national- level experts, with the end goal of two prototypes for a new, modernized Framework. After the development of these prototypes, we will again ask for feedback from the CTE and workforce communities to help us refine and hone a final version of a new Framework. Currently, Advance CTE is looking toward July 2024 for a rollout of this final version. Please visit advancingtheframework.org or the Advancing the Framework page on our website for updates or more information about the timeline and process. Please contact policy associate Dan Hinderliter ([email protected]) if you have any questions or require assistance with the portal.

Dan Hinderliter, Policy Associate

Tags:
Posted in Career Clusters®, Uncategorized | Comments Off on We Need Your Help to Modernize the National Career Clusters Framework

Improving CTE Data Quality: Practitioners and the Public are Equipped to Understand and Leverage Data

April 19th, 2021

In a high-quality career readiness data ecosystem, states do not report data for data’s sake but rather to foster understanding and to spur users to action. This requires a thoughtful approach to designing and presenting career readiness data and a robust system of professional development, technical assistance and support to ensure practitioners understand how to use the data. Additionally, data elements should be integrated into a state’s communication strategy to tell a career readiness story. 

The Kentucky Department of Education works in partnership with the Kentucky Center for Statistics (KY STATS) to collect career readiness data in the state and make the data available and accessible to the public. Then, the Department of Education’s Office of Career and Technical Education travels the state to deliver professional development and training activities at convenings throughout the year, ensuring practitioners and the public have the knowledge to understand and leverage the data to support high-quality Career Technical Education (CTE).

KY STATS collects and links learner-level data across Kentucky to evaluate education and workforce programs in the state. The agency uses this data to develop reports and data dashboards, to respond to research requests and to provide statistical analysis to help policymakers, practitioners and the general public make data-informed decisions. At these events, Department staff teaches CTE administrators, school counselors and teachers how they can utilize data at the school and classroom levels. As an example, the Office of Career and Technical Education organizes regional data sessions with practitioners on how they can analyze and interpret data, examine the root causes of challenges they may be experiencing, and how they can identify the academic standards that are the most challenging for learners. 

Showing practitioners how to use the data to support learners is only half of the Office of Career and Technical Education’s work. The other half is teaching local leaders and practitioners how to use the data to tell a story. Data can be used to challenge the stigmas associated with CTE and to convince skeptics that CTE programs are valuable. For example, the Office of Career and Technical Education uses data to communicate the value of CTE by comparing the number of CTE concentrators who demonstrate college and career readiness compared to non-CTE concentrators. Kentucky’s data shows that that CTE concentrators outperform nearly every other population on academic benchmarks.

Read the Advance CTE Case Study, Kentucky Center for Statistics and Department of Education Data Partnership, to learn more about how Kentucky ensures practitioners and the public are equipped to understand and leverage data. For additional resources on improving the quality and use of career readiness data, check out the Career Readiness Data Quality microsite.  

This is the third edition in a series of Advance CTE data quality blogs to accompany Advance CTE’s latest releases, Career Readiness Data Quality and Use Policy Benchmark Tool and Data Quality Case Studies. For more resources on data and accountability in CTE, please visit the Learning that Works Resource Center.

Brian Robinson, Policy Associate

Posted in Publications, Research, Resources, Uncategorized | Comments Off on Improving CTE Data Quality: Practitioners and the Public are Equipped to Understand and Leverage Data

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

 

Series

Archives

1