It is my honor to join the talented and passionate team at Advance CTE in the role of Senior Advisor. As a former State Director of Career Technical Education (CTE), I am excited to lead and contribute to major initiatives and projects including Advance CTE’s Postsecondary CTE Leaders Fellowship Program and Advancing the Framework, a multi-year project to revise the National Career Clusters® Framework. I will also support Advance CTE’s federal advocacy, state policy and technical assistance efforts.

My journey to Advance CTE started as a CTE student and teacher in northeastern Indiana where I witnessed firsthand the difference we as a CTE community make in the lives of learners of all ages and backgrounds. My early CTE experience led service to the National FFA Organization, the state of Colorado and the Colorado Community College System, Vivayic (a learning solutions provider devoted to helping individuals, organizations and corporations do good in the world) and the United States Department of Education as the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE). As the assistant secretary for OCTAE, I served as the principal adviser to the Secretary of Education on all matters concerning high school, career, technical and adult education as well as community colleges, the workforce and economic development.

Without question, collaborating with state and national leaders and organizations on the implementation of the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) was the most meaningful work to me over the past two years. Early in the process we asked states to “Rethink CTE” by questioning everything to ensure that nothing limits a student’s ability to be ready for what’s next in their life and career.

Wherever opportunities and travels have taken our family over the past few years, home is a small ranch in Stoneham, Colorado.  As a parent, I am proud that all of my children are products of CTE.

Scott Stump, Senior Advisor 

An effective career readiness data ecosystem has a clear governance structure in place that designates roles and responsibilities for collecting, validating and reporting career readiness data as well as for setting a strategic vision for the publication and use of data. The absence of a clear and effective data governance structure can lead to entities collecting data in silos, a lack of coordination in data collection and analysis, inconsistent quality of data analysis, and an overall mistrust in the data being collected and reported. 

One state that has established a strong and sustainable data governance structure is Maryland. Maryland created a statewide longitudinal data system in 2012, which is operated by an independent state agency and overseen by a cross-agency governing board. This governing structure has provided Maryland with trusted, reliable and consistent data, allowing for the effective analysis and reporting of education and workforce data. The Maryland Longitudinal Data System (MLDS) is operated by the MLDS Center, an independent state agency that is overseen by a 13-member governing board. The governing board meets quarterly and is responsible for overseeing the operation of the MLDS Center.

Today, the MLDS Center is essential to policymaking and evaluation across the state. The MLDS Center’s longevity has helped it to establish importance and value, thus withstanding personnel and political changes. Researchers, elected officials and state leaders regularly consult the MLDS Center to provide data analysis on a variety of issues, including the impact of poverty on learner outcomes, teacher pipelines and various federal reporting requirements. The MLDS Center also advises the Legislature on the impact of legislation and supports the development of state reports, as required by law.

Read the Advance CTE Case Study Effective Data Governance: Maryland’s Longitudinal Data System Center  to learn more about how Maryland structured its data governance system. For additional resources on improving the quality and use of career readiness data, check out the Career Readiness Data Quality microsite.  

This is the second 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

While many states are still operating in a virtual environment and facing challenges to executing traditional Career Technical Education (CTE) Month activities, state CTE leaders still found creative ways to promote CTE programs and their benefits for learners. 

In honor of CTE Month, this post highlights how states have leveraged virtual events, digital media, Career Technical Student Organizations (CTSOs), and collaborative convenings to elevate the learner voice in celebrating CTE, connect CTE to timely topics and bring CTE leaders together to plan for the future. 

Recognizing CTE Month 

17 states and territories presented proclamations or resolutions to commemorate CTE Month. 

Sharing CTE Experiences through Virtual Events 

Instead of traditional classrooms, industry and state capitol visits, many states utilized virtual events to raise awareness of CTE. Some benefits for this format emerged, including the ability to highlight a wider range of programs and connect policymakers with learners that may not have the resources to meet in-person. 

 Arkansas preserved its annual ‘Day at the Capitol’ with a virtual event that included greetings from the Governor, Secretary of Education, state Association for Career Technical Education (ACTE) leadership, and state CTSO leaders. Learner testimonials and CTE program demonstrations were shared via dozens of video submissions from across the state. The state ACTE organization also hosted a digital escape room as a fun activity for CTE students. 

Oregon’s Community College Association hosted virtual weekly ‘Workforce Wednesdays’ throughout the month to highlight in-demand industries and provide information to access aligned career pathways through Oregon’s community colleges. 

Wisconsin’s State Superintendent conducted four virtual CTE program visits and a roundtable with state leaders from six CTSOs to hear their perspectives about preserving the value of CTE programs and leadership opportunities in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

Digital Media Campaigns

States utilized a variety of strategies to integrate data, learner voices and storytelling into innovative campaigns to raise awareness of CTE, market learner outcomes and highlight diversity and community. 

North Dakota released a series of six videos utilizing the theme ‘I Love CTE” that compiled photos of students and instructors displaying ‘I Love CTE’ signs in CTE classroom settings that feature the creative, collaborative and hands-on aspects of CTE programs. 

Georgia conducted a daily #CTAEDelivers Twitter campaign with colorful and informative graphics to increase awareness of CTE and its positive outcomes for learners. 

Colorado’s Association for Career and Technical Education elevated videos created by the Colorado Community College Association as part of their CTE Month Advocacy Toolkit and annual Showcase for Legislators held virtually this year. These videos, segmented for parents, students and school counselors, showcased CTE programs throughout the state using targeted messages for each audience. These videos were created as part of Colorado’s participation in Advance CTE’s grant, Strategies for Attracting Students to High-Quality CTE. 

Connecting CTE and Essential Careers 

Several CTE programs leveraged CTE Month to contribute to the timely conversation of the value of essential workers, and the importance of CTE in skillbuilding for in-demand careers that have been essential to coronavirus pandemic response and recovery. These communications elevated how learners felt empowered to excel in a difficult learning environment and contribute to their community. 

Oregon’s Mt. Hood Community College utilized CTE program graduates to highlight pathways to in-demand careers in healthcare. 

Arizona’s Maricopa Community College highlighted first responder pathways and how learners led problem-solving efforts to continue their learning in virtual and hybrid learning settings.  

Learners from the Berrien Regional Education Service Agency in Michigan had hands-on experience supporting coronavirus response efforts this month. 

Reenergizing CTE Leaders and Planning for the Future 

Several states utilized CTE Month as an opportunity to convene CTE leaders to conduct professional development, share best practices and plan for the future. 

Hawaii held a Pathways Summit February 18 and 19 co-hosted by the Hawaii Chamber of Commerce and Hawaii P-20, a partnership among the Executive Office on Early Learning, the Hawai‘i State Department of Education and the University of Hawai‘i System. The Summit focused on best practices for education-industry partnerships, work-based learning experiences and short-term credential programs while also providing a platform for students to share their experiences.

This weekend, California’s CTE division will assist California Partnership Academies in hosting their annual Educating for Careers Conference, a professional development event for CTE instructors and administrators focused on improving learner experiences and outcomes.

Georgia hosted its statewide Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education Winter Leadership Conference virtually this month with over 240 CTE leaders in attendance. 

We hope these creative celebrations give you more ideas for next year and keep you energized as CTE Month comes to a close! Visit our Communications page in the Learning Resource Center for resources to continue your efforts to strategically communicate about CTE. 

Stacy Whitehouse, Senior Associate Communications and State Engagement 

Almost every American has a story about plans that were upended because of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. For many Americans, that story involves plans for postsecondary education. While some opted to continue their postsecondary plans but take fewer classes either online or at a different school than they were initially enrolled, more than 19 million Americans cancelled their plans altogether and, for the time being, did not enroll at any institution (Education Table 6). Among the nearly 60 million Americans surveyed by the U.S. Census Bureau, 30 percent of White Americans cancelled their postsecondary plans while 37 percent of Latinx Americans and 37 percent of Black Americans cancelled their postsecondary plans. This data point continues to emphasize the inequitable impact the coronavirus pandemic has had in America. 

Previous analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data by the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW) further illustrate the inequitable impact of the coronavirus pandemic on postsecondary enrollment plans. According to Georgetown CEW’s analysis, Americans in lower-income households were more likely to have members of their household cancel postsecondary plans compared to Americans in higher income households, who were more likely to have a member continue with their plans but in a different format (i.e. virtual instruction). 

The analysis also shows a disparate impact for prospective Career Technical Education (CTE) learners, as 54 percent of households with a member planning to pursue a credential from an occupational or technical school cancelled their postsecondary plans compared to 25 percent of households with members planning to pursue a bachelor’s degree or 31 percent with members planning to pursue a graduate degree. 

This data is concerning, as previous research has found that many learners who delay their postsecondary plans take at least five or more years to return to postsecondary education or do not return to complete a postsecondary degree at all. Advance CTE has written previously on the importance of postsecondary credential attainment, which is now a requirement for most job opportunities in most industries. This is especially true for Black and Latinx Americans and Americans with low-income who have been disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. 

The U.S. Census Bureau identified several reasons why learners cancelled their postsecondary plans (Education Table 7). The top concern was not being able to pay for classes or educational expenses due to a change to income because of the pandemic, followed by a fear of contracting the virus. 

It will be important in the post-coronavirus economic recovery for state and local leaders to develop plans that address learner concerns about continuing their postsecondary education. The decisions these leaders make today will have significant, and potentially lifelong, consequences for learners who delay or cancel their postsecondary enrollment plans. Leaders should maintain communication with these learners and continue to encourage and support them while they contemplate their career paths. 

Brian Robinson

Policy Associate

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 Austin Estes! Austin is the Manager of Data and Research at Advance CTE. Austin oversees Advance CTE’s strategy for data quality and effective use. In this role, he supports state CTE leaders by developing resources, reports and tools and delivering technical assistance to help improve policy and practice related to CTE data.
During his time at Advance CTE, Austin has led efforts related to rural CTE, work-based learning, equity in CTE, industry-recognized credentials and accountability.

Q: Through your work at Advance CTE, what are some barriers states face when effectively reporting data?

A: First and foremost is getting access to good, quality data. We surveyed the State CTE Directors back in 2018 and found that, while many of them are able to collect and report the required indicators for Perkins, there are challenges with validating the data with administrative records. A lot of data is self reported, and it can be really challenging to link learner-level data across education levels to see where learners end up after they complete their programs. The findings from that survey are published in our report The State of Career Technical Education: Improving Data Quality and Effectiveness. 

Another big challenge is using and communicating data effectively. Some states like Kentucky are doing really great work putting data to use. The Kentucky Center for Statistics has developed really powerful CTE feedback reports and other data tools, and has worked with the Kentucky Department of Education to train different stakeholders to understand and use these data assets. But this takes a lot of work and time. Late last year Advance CTE, in partnership with the Association for Career and Technical Education, developed a set of design principles and a communications toolkit to help state leaders develop effective reporting tools and tell the story behind their data. These resources will be particularly useful as states begin to share out their Perkins V data.

Q: How does Advance CTE work to improve CTE data quality?

A: Our team is working on two major efforts right now to improve CTE data quality. The first is the development of a comprehensive policy benchmark tool for data quality. The tool is designed to help state leaders evaluate the design and effectiveness of their career readiness data ecosystem and identify action steps to improve the quality and use of data. The tool will be released as an interactive microsite in February and was developed with input from some of the smartest thought leaders working at the state and national level. 

The second effort is the Advancing Postsecondary CTE Data Quality Initiative, or PDI for short. With support from ECMC Foundation, Advance CTE is working closely with a cohort of states to implement innovative strategies to improve CTE data quality at the postsecondary level. Lessons from the PDI will be shared out more broadly through a postsecondary data community of practice and through resources and publications. 

Q: What is the parallel between effective data reporting and high-quality CTE for each learner – of any background, age and zip code?

A: I think it’s important first of all to acknowledge the distinction between data and insights. You can have all the data in the world, but if you can’t make sense of it and use it to improve policy and practice, it’s worthless. State leaders have a critical role to play in ensuring that practitioners and policymakers can make meaning of their data and use their data to improve CTE program quality and equity. 

One example of this is conducting a proportionality analysis to compare enrollment in CTE programs to the overall learner population. If one out of 10 students in a high school is classified as a learner with disabilities, but only one out of 20 CTE students is, then you might want to adopt new recruitment strategies to minimize barriers to accessing CTE for learners with disabilities. This is just one example of how data can lead to insights, which can inform action.

Brittany Cannady, Digital Media Associate