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New Skills ready network Site Highlight Blog: Nashville Pilot Projects

Monday, February 13th, 2023

This post is part of a blog series highlighting promising practices from the New Skills ready network (NSrn), an initiative of JPMorgan Chase & Co. For more information about the initiative, please see the bottom of this post.

The Nashville, Tennessee site of the New Skills ready network (NSrn) is focused on implementing best practices to strengthen implementation of the funding across the initiative. Advance CTE State Policy Manager Dr. Tunisha Hobson interviewed Daryl Curry, Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce Director of Education and Workforce Partnerships, and Jennifer McFerron, Vice President of Education and Talent Development, about their pilot project initiative. This initiative was pursued to ensure learners have transparent secondary and postsecondary pathways that align to one another and high-demand, high-wage careers that meet labor market needs; enhance learning by defining and implementing best practice work-based learning models and student experiences in secondary and postsecondary; and, increasing the number of historically underrepresented students who successfully enroll and persist in postsecondary education.

Overview of the Pilot Projects

The guiding team of the Nashville site led a Design Sprint process with the support of a consulting firm to develop a strategy for distributing funding across the initiative, with the foundation of the four priorities of the New Skills ready network serving as a guiding light, particularly bolstering access to high-quality career pathways for learners of marginalized communities. Out of that process emerged a proposal that would distribute up to $10,000 to individual pilot projects that engage both Metro Nashville Public Schools and two-year and/or four-year postsecondary partners. The collaborative approach to the pilot project process allows an opportunity to continuously refine norms while providing greater depth to the initiative.

The eight pilot projects are led by a variety of stakeholders in the Nashville site team with implementation support from College and Career Readiness Coaches employed by the city in year two of this work who bolster existing career advising and transition supports. Additionally, an increased partnership between the guiding team and Middle Tennessee State University as the four-year partner was a critical component of success.

Jennifer McFerron stated, “the pilots are an area where our guiding team drove the strategy and implementation plan for these projects. They indicated that what our partners really needed was time and space for deep collaboration and support to identify what they need and to succeed in getting there.”

Pilot Project Highlights

The projects were designed to meet partner needs for effective collaboration and implementation vital to the success of the NSrn initiative. Of the eight pilot projects, there are four that have significantly expanded the success of the initiative: Healthcare Futures, IT Apprenticeships, Work-Based Learning Family Career Launch and You Choose/Tú Escoges. These projects direct resources in various ways to support learner development in career pathways and their families.

Healthcare Futures created an opportunity for Vanderbilt University Medical Center nurses from diverse backgrounds to collaborate with Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) to mentor high school students to become medical assistants or care partners who have identified a future goal of being a registered nurse.

IT Apprenticeships has helped identify a Computer Information Technology (CIT) course at Nashville State that aligns with employer-identified Information Technology (IT) skills that will make students competitive applicants into employer IT apprenticeship programs. High school students participating in IT pre-apprenticeships at John Overton High School, a New Skills ready network priority school, are enrolled in this course as dual enrollment students. This is the first time a CIT course has been offered as a dual enrollment course for Metro Nashville Public School students.
Work-Based Learning Family Career Launch aims to increase family engagement in work-based learning while focusing on site specific target sectors. The project will culminate in March with a family event assisting learners with completing the application process for the work-based learning career practicum experience.

You Choose/Tú Escoges leverages partnerships with community organizations such as Conexión Américas, Martha O’Bryan Center and Oasis Center to provide a collaborative experience in offering multilingual series of workshops for families and move families into case management support around the postsecondary application and enrollment process. Childcare and meals are provided as part of the sessions along with translation headsets to ensure families can access information needed in their preferred language.

From Pilot Projects to Sustainability

Darryl Curry stated, “The Design Sprint was great in that it not only provided additional resources, but also gave our partners an opportunity to dream of the possibilities together. With the successes that we have seen within the pilot projects, the challenge going forward will be sustaining and strengthening those relationships, all the while building on and embedding these offerings and opportunities into how we support both our students and families.”

The relationships developed among the Nashville site guiding team since 2021 allowed for the pilot projects to be both strategic and sustainable beyond the duration of the NSrn initiative. Although the projects are different in scope, the intentional design cultivated employer partnerships, family engagement and support of actualizing durable skills for learners. In order to sustain multiple pilot projects, three actionable steps should be taken: continue to refine norms and processes, value support given by convenors and facilitators experienced in providing guidance on design sprints such as these pilot projects, and inviting the perspectives of employer and community partners.

Learn more about Nashville’s progress in the New Skills ready network initiative in their 2021-2022 site snapshot.

Dr. Tunisha Hobson, State Policy Manager

By Jodi Langellotti in Public Policy
Tags: Access and Equity, New Skills ready network, Pilot Project, Public Policy, tennessee

Research Round-up: Graduation, College, and Employment Outcomes for CTE Learners with Identified Disabilities

Tuesday, January 31st, 2023

Advance CTE’s “Research Round-Up” blog series features summaries of relevant research reports and studies to elevate evidence-backed Career Technical Educational (CTE) policies and practices and topics related to college and career readiness. This month’s blog highlights Career Technical Education and the graduation, college, and employment outcomes for CTE learners with identified disabilities. These findings align with Advance CTE’s vision for the future of CTE where each learner is supported and has the means to succeed in the career preparation ecosystem.

Last spring, the Career and Technical Education Policy Exchange (CTEx) at the Georgia Policy Lab published Graduation, College, and Employment Outcomes for CTE Students with Identified Disabilities. This report examines the relationship between CTE participation and transition outcomes for learners with an identified disorder and for learners receiving special education services for different identified disabilities.

For learners with identified disabilities, participating in career and technical education (CTE) programs in high school appears to positively impact graduation rates and a higher likelihood of securing employment in the year after high school. This report utilizes administrative data from three states, including Massachusetts, Tennessee, and Washington. This analysis is based on data from the 2007-08 through 2015-16 ninth-grade cohort data in Massachusettes, 2009–10 through 2013–14 ninth-grade cohorts in Tennessee, and 2010–11 through 2015–16 ninth-grade cohorts in Washington. This decision was made to address the different learner population sizes; some categories (e.g., specific disability categories) were relatively small within a single high school cohort

Graph: The chart below offers summary statistics for the population of interest across the three states. The blue bar signifies learners with an identified disorder, and the red bar signifies learners without an identified disorder

The authors examined how CTE concentration for learners with an identified disorder relates to three outcomes:

High school graduation rate within five years of their first year of ninth grade.

CTE concentration rates for learners with an identified disorder vary across states and disorder types. Concentration rates for learners with specific learning disabilities, communication disorders, or health disorders are relatively high in all three states.

Across all three states and different identified disabilities, learners with an identified disorder who concentrate in CTE are more likely to graduate from high school than non-concentrators. While not identical, these states have similar concentrator definitions. These differences by CTE concentration status and disorder type vary across the states but tend to be the largest in Massachusetts.

Graph: Five-year graduation rates by CTE concentration and disorder categories

Postsecondary attendance at two-and four-year institutions.

In Massachusetts, learners with an identified disorder who concentrate in CTE and graduate from high school are less likely to attend college. By contrast, learners with a recognized disorder in Tennessee are more likely to enroll in college if they concentrate in CTE than if they do not. In Washington, the relationship between CTE and college enrollment varies across disorder categories. The gap in college attendance among learners with an identified disorder tends to be smaller between CTE concentrators and non-concentrators in Tennessee and Washington, though in Tennessee, learners with autism who concentrate in CTE are much more likely to attend college than non-concentrators.

Graph: College attendance rates among high school graduates by CTE concentration and disorder categories

Employment rates following graduation.

Learners with an identified disorder who concentrate in CTE and graduate from high school are more likely to be employed at least half-time in the year after graduation than non-concentrators. This pattern is consistent across all identified disorder types in Massachusetts and Tennessee and across most identified disorder types in Washington.

Graph: At least half-time employment rates among high school graduates by CTE concentration and disorder categories.

While the authors noted that their findings were descriptive and may not account for unobserved differences between learners with an identified disorder that are high school CTE concentrators and those with an identified disorder who are not high school CTE concentrators, the results do support existing research trends. Given the differences across states, the authors suggested that state leaders investigate trends in their educational context. Additionally, there may be an opportunity to improve access to these programs for those groups that reported much lower program enrollment rates than learners in other disorder categories.

Suggested follow up reading: Advancing Employment for Secondary Learners with Disabilities through CTE Policy and Practice. This report provides a policy landscape of state-level efforts to support secondary learners with disabilities in CTE programs based on a national survey of State Directors and was produced in partnership with University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School.

To read more of Advance CTE’s “Research Round-Up” blog series featuring summaries of relevant research reports and studies click here.

Amy Hodge, Policy Associate

By Jodi Langellotti in Research
Tags: Access and Equity, CTE concentrators, CTE Research, Massachusetts, Research Review, Secondary CTE Concentrator, tennessee, washington, Washington State

Getting to Know the 2022- 2024 Advance CTE – ECMCF Fellows Part 5

Wednesday, January 25th, 2023

In September, Advance CTE and ECMC Foundation announced the second cohort of The Postsecondary State Career Technical Education (CTE) Leaders Fellowship at Advance CTE—Sponsored by ECMC Foundation. The Advance CTE — ECMCF Fellows include representation across multiple demographic categories reflecting the Fellowship’s goal of intentionally building a postsecondary leadership pipeline for underserved populations in Career Technical Education (CTE) that closes racial representation gaps and removes equity barriers to postsecondary leadership advancement.

This is the final blog in this series which has introduced each Fellow participating in the second cohort of emerging leaders from 14 states, including 12 professionals of color.

Caleb Perriton – Wyoming

Caleb Perriton’s career began in the automotive industry as an international trainer prior to entering the world of postsecondary CTE. Currently, he serves as Program Director of the Trades & Technical Studies Pathway at Laramie County Community College. He is an ASE Certified Master Automotive Technician and earned a bachelor’s degree in automotive technology from Weber State University and master’s degree in business administration from the University of Wyoming.

Luv’Tesha Robertson – Kentucky

Dr. Luv’Tesha Robertson is passionate about creating seamless transitions among secondary, postsecondary and workforce programs to foster learner success, particularly for learners of color. She has over 15 years of experience in program quality, accountability, and learner transfer and retention initiatives at postsecondary institutions and the state level. Currently, Dr. Robertson serves as Deputy Executive Director of the Office of Adult Education at the Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet. She earned both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in financial management, conflict resolution and leadership from Sullivan University and earned a doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies from Eastern Kentucky University.

Daniel Sandoval – Colorado

Daniel Sandoval is passionate about cultivating self-reliance among learners and students from marginalized populations and has focused on serving immigrant, economically disadvantaged, racially underrepresented and linguistically diverse communities. His range of experience includes grant writing and administration, managing apprenticeship and credential attainment initiatives, and serving in leadership roles in postsecondary student services. Currently, Sandoval serves as the Director of Customized Training and Apprenticeships at Pickens Technical College and as a Psychology instructor at the Community College of Aurora. He earned a bachelor’s degree in English writing from Colorado Mesa University and a master’s degree in counseling psychology from the University of Colorado at Denver.

By Jodi Langellotti in Uncategorized
Tags: Access and Equity, Colorado, CTE Leadership, ECMCF Fellows, Getting to Know, Kentucky, Wyoming

Getting to Know the 2022- 2024 Advance CTE – ECMCF Fellows Part 4

Wednesday, January 18th, 2023

Over the next several weeks, this blog series will introduce each Fellow participating in the second cohort of emerging leaders from 14 states, including 12 professionals of color.

Dr. Angela Lawhorne – Virginia

Dr. Angela Lawhorne has more than 15 years of experience supporting career development grants for two-year institutions and serving in regional and state leadership roles for workforce programs. Her passion for workforce development began during her service in the United States Air Force, where she supported diet therapy training programs. Currently, she serves as Director of Career Education Programs & Workforce Partnerships at the Virginia Community College System Office, adjunct Assistant Professor with Old Dominion University and Chair of the Southampton County Public Schools CTE Advisory Committee. Dr. Lawhorne holds an executive master’s degree in Business Administration from Texas A&M University and a doctorate in Community College Leadership from Old Dominion University.

Nancy Ligus – West Virginia

Nancy Ligus leverages her unique experience as a former small business owner, industry manager, and workforce educator to design curricula for industry development and work-based learning. Currently, she serves as Director of Workforce, Continuing Education and Economic Development for Pierpont Community & Technical College in West Virginia. She earned both a Human Resource Management Certificate and an associate degree in business marketing from Community College of Allegheny and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Seton Hill University.

Leisa Mathews – Wyoming

Leisa Mathews’ career began her career in the industry sector in human resources and workforce training roles for the oil and gas industry, including designing an international competency-based training curriculum. Her path eventually led to postsecondary administration and workforce development, where she currently serves as the Workforce Development Coordinator and Perkins Coordinator for Western Wyoming Community College.

By Jodi Langellotti in Uncategorized
Tags: Access and Equity, ECMCF Fellows, Getting to Know, professional development, Virginia, West Virginia, Wyoming

Getting to Know the 2022- 2024 Advance CTE – ECMCF Fellows Part 3

Tuesday, January 3rd, 2023

Over the next several weeks, this blog series will introduce each Fellow participating in the second cohort of emerging leaders from 14 states, including 12 professionals of color.

Dominique Footes – Maryland

Dominique Footes’ (Maryland) experience focuses on college and career readiness for learners across postsecondary, non-profit and commercial sectors. Currently, she serves as the Special Programs Administrator for the Southeastern Universities Research Association. In this role, she works alongside partnering universities and scientists to develop and implement early career development, mentoring, and student programming for Goddard Earth Science Technology and Research II. Footes earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from the University of Maryland and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Baltimore.

Dr. Crystal Gardner – Texas

Dr. Crystal Gardner (Texas) is an experienced educator with a record of success in improving school systems and championing culturally responsive professional development at the secondary and postsecondary levels. She currently serves as the Instructional Supervisor for the Houston Community College Alternative Teacher Certification Program. In this role, Dr. Gardner oversees instructional operations, program development, quality control, and compliance management. She received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Prairie View A&M University and both a master’s degree and a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from Texas Southern University.

Davil Jackson – California

Davil Jackson (California) is passionate about empowering youth and young adult learners and has significant experience in apprenticeship program management and career readiness advising. Currently, Jackson serves as a Career Services Advisor at the University of California, Riverside Extension. He earned a Multi-Craft Core Curriculum Apprenticeship Readiness Instructor Certification from Michigan State University and a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of California – San Bernardino. He is currently set to complete a master’s degree in education from Touro College in the fall of 2022.

Amy Hodge, Policy Associate

By Jodi Langellotti in Uncategorized
Tags: Access and Equity, California, ECMCF Fellows, Maryland, professional development, texas

Research Round-up: New Reports on Work-Based Learning Address Impacts for Learners and Institutions

Tuesday, December 6th, 2022

Advance CTE’s “Research Round-Up” blog series features summaries of relevant research reports and studies to elevate evidence-backed Career Technical Educational (CTE) policies and practices and topics related to college and career readiness. This month’s focus supports a vision for the future of CTE where statewide systems and institutions effectively support each learner to earn credentials that are counted, valued, and portable.

Two recent reports from JFF and New America highlight the benefits of different workforce development programs; apprenticeships and work-based learning (WBL), and the opportunity to increase equitable access to these programs for every learner.

Addressing disparities in apprenticeship participation may fast-track non-traditional learners into living wage jobs.

JFF’s Center for Apprenticeship & Work-Based Learning published a report analyzing young people’s apprenticeship participation through an equity lens. The Current State of Diversity and Equity in U.S. Apprenticeships for Young People utilizes data from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Registered Apprenticeship Partners Information Database System to analyze youth apprenticeship participation from fiscal years 2010-2020.

This report showed that, in total, 389,8860 young people (ages 16-24) started a Registered Apprenticeship program between 2010-2020. This rate outpaced overall youth employment.
The average exit wage of $30 per hour for young people completing apprenticeships is much higher than the median wages among all young people, which suggests that work-based learning facilitates movement into well-paid jobs.
The data demonstrate that learners participating in apprenticeships are more likely to be white than non-white (63 percent compared to 35 percent) and more likely to be male.

Average Hourly Exit Wage by Gender and Race/ Ethnicity for All Youth Participants in Apprenticeships, FY 2010-2020

This report identified “occupational segregation” as the explanation for the drastic differences in exit wages across lines of race and gender. For example, the data showed that the top occupation for female learners, pharmacy technician, paid $12 per hour compared with $26 per hour for the top male occupation of electrician. Similarly, these findings suggest that Black apprentices’ average exit wage of $23 (compared to $32 for Hispanic workers and $30 for white workers) is likely attributable to the large share of Black apprentices participating in heavy trucking and tractor-trailer programs, which paid $18 in exit wages.
This report noted the shared benefits of increasing equitable access to workforce training programs: “When employers tap into a broader swath of talent, they often see a positive return on investment via healthier bottom lines and greater innovation, thanks to the wide range of backgrounds and experiences these apprentices bring to the job.”

Paid, postsecondary work-based learning pilot programs may be an effective tool for improving learner retention.

New America recently published case studies of postsecondary institutions that have piloted paid work-based learning programs. This report, “What Everyone Should Know about Designing Equity-Minded Paid Work-Based Learning Opportunities for College Students” highlights the findings from case studies of emerging paid WBL program models across the country to understand the motivation, goals, and design of paid WBL opportunities available at two-year colleges. The findings include implications for state policymakers and college stakeholders in career services, academic advising, and workforce development.

Paid WBL programs appear to correlate with improved learner retention strategy. Learners appear to value and engage more in paid WBL opportunities on campus or in the local community since transportation was previously an obstacle.
Institutions featured in these case studies funded paid WBL programs through multiple sources, from Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds (HEERF), Pell grants to supplement student employment, and internal funding sources from the institution’s general operating budget.

While the learner populations across these reports vary, common themes can be drawn from the key findings of these two reports:

Workforce programs benefit participants by increasing earnings and providing opportunities to gain in-demand skills, and in turn, these benefits are also enjoyed by adjacent stakeholders, including employers and postsecondary institutions.
Understanding learner barriers can create more equitable access for underrepresented learners in these programs.
- Braiding funding sources can allow states to design more equitable programs and supports that facilitate young adults’ transition into competitive wage jobs.
States and postsecondary institutions still need support in collecting data on longitudinal workforce outcomes for those who complete work-based learning and apprenticeship programs.

Additional Resources

Amy Hodge, Policy Associate

By Stacy Whitehouse in Research
Tags: Access and Equity, apprenticeship, postsecondary cte, work-based learning, workforce development

Getting to Know the 2022- 2024 Advance CTE – ECMCF Fellows Part 2

Thursday, November 17th, 2022

This post continues our series to introduce each Fellow participating in the second cohort of emerging leaders from 14 states, including 12 professionals of color.

Kayla Brossett, Louisiana

Kayla Brossett has more than a decade of experience designing and managing strategic industry partnerships, with a specialty in workforce development, diversity, equity, inclusion, and student career services. Currently, she serves as the US Director of Employer Partnerships at the Wadhwani Foundation. She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Northwestern State University and a master’s degree in communications from Grambling State University.

Jomarie Coloriano, Wisconsin

Jomarie Coloriano’s professional experience is deeply influenced by her passion for social justice and systems reform. She has received multiple accolades for her work in diversity, equity, and inclusion and student support including being named the 2021 Gateway Technical College DEI Champion, the National Association of Student Personnel and the Administrators NOW 2020 Professional in Inclusion, Currently, she serves as a Multicultural Support Specialist at Gateway Technical College and an adjunct faculty member in the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences and School of Protective and Human Services. Jomarie is also a doctoral candidate in the Leadership for the Advancement of Learning and Service program at Cardinal Stritch University.

Yolanda Flores, Florida

Yolanda Flores specializes in supporting and preparing refugee and migrant learner populations for secondary and postsecondary success. Her more than two decades of experience include an instructor, school administrator, grants coordinator, and special populations program administrator. Currently, she serves as Administrative Director for Postsecondary, Adult & Community Education for Collier County Public Schools. Flores earned a bachelor’s degree in social science education from the University of Central Florida and a master’s degree in educational leadership from the University of South Florida.

Amy Hodge, Policy Associate

By Stacy Whitehouse in Uncategorized
Tags: Access and Equity, ECMCF Fellows, Florida, Louisiana, professional development, wisconsin

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
Tags: Access and Equity, Area Technical Centers, District of Columbia, dual credit, employer partnership, secondary postsecondary alignment, transportation, work-based learning

Getting to Know the 2022- 2024 Advance CTE – ECMCF Fellows

Tuesday, November 1st, 2022

Over the next several weeks, this blog series will introduce each Fellow participating in the second cohort of emerging leaders from 14 states, including 12 professionals of color.

Dr. Tempestt Adams, North Carolina

Dr. Tempestt Adams’ career path has cultivated a passion for teacher preparation, career and technical education (CTE), and college and career readiness. Currently, she serves as an assistant professor of CTE at Appalachian State University. Dr. Adams earned a bachelor’s degree in business and marketing education from North Carolina State University, a master’s degree in business administration from Pfeiffer University, and a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Shelsi Barber-Carter, Arkansas

Shelsi Barber-Carter has over 12 years of experience in education administration, including coordinating postsecondary programs and managing regional and state teams to implement Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) programs. Currently, she serves as an education and career consultant while pursuing a doctoral degree in educational administrative leadership and research at Liberty University. She received a bachelor’s degree in microbiology and a master’s degree in public administration from Southern University A&M College.

By Stacy Whitehouse in Uncategorized
Tags: Access and Equity, ECMCF Fellows, professional development

Research Round-up: Addressing Stop-Out to Reengage Students and Increase Credit Completion

Tuesday, September 27th, 2022

Advance CTE’s “Research Round-Up” blog series features summaries of relevant research reports and studies to elevate evidence-backed Career Technical Educational (CTE) policies and practices and topics related to college and career readiness. This month’s topic, Addressing Student Stop-Out, supports a vision for the future of CTE where statewide systems and supports are in place for each learner to feel welcome in, supported by and prepared to succeed in the career preparation ecosystem, and identifies some effective strategies for supporting learners to increase postsecondary retention and completion.

Defining “Stop-Out” and Learner Demographics

“Stopped out” students are those adult learners with some college experience but no credentials.

According to a recent National Student Clearing House report, approximately 39 million individuals in the United States qualify as having Some College, but No Credentials (SCNC). Unfortunately, this often leaves learners with the debt of attending a postsecondary institution or program without any benefits from earning a credential.

Based on 2020 National Student Clearinghouse data, learners enrolled full-time achieved a retention rate of 59.5 percent and a persistence rate of 68.7 percent. Those metrics, however, were significantly lower for part-time learners, at 42.3 percent and 49.3 percent respectively.

Retention is defined in this report as the continued enrollment (or degree completion within the same higher education institution in the fall terms of a learner’s first and second year. Persistence is defined in this report as the continued enrollment (or degree completion) at any higher education institution– including one different from the institution of the learner’s initial enrollment– in the fall terms of their first and second year.

Who is the most vulnerable to stopping out? Data trends from the National Student Clearinghouse show that racial and ethnic minorities are overrepresented among SCNC learners. Based on a subset of the 39 million SCNC students who entered college in 2013 or later, this report found that Black and Latinx SCNC students collectively made up 42.8 percent, compared to 34.3 percent of undergraduates.

Source: (National Student Clearinghouse 2022)

Wraparound Services and Other Supports to Address Student Stop-Out

Persevering to Completion, a report published in collaboration with the Lumina Foundation and Higher Ed Insight (HEI), uses survey data to understand better the experiences of SCNC learners and the supports that helped them return to college.

For this study, HEI surveyed students from a cohort identified by the National Student Clearinghouse as having stopped out and then returned to college between 2013 and the end of 2018. In 2021, HEI surveyed a subgroup of these students to learn more about whether they’d completed a credential in the interim, what their reasons were for re-enrolling, and what happened when they re-enrolled.

Among the key findings:

Students reenrolled for personal and professional reasons;
Financial barriers were significant factors for students completing their credentials;
Flexible institutional supports like academic counseling, opportunities for credit transfer and a rolling admissions process had an impact on adult learners; and
Key supports related to the timing and delivery of courses included the availability of online and/or hybrid courses, classes that were offered frequently, and convenient class times.

Factors that respondents identified as helping to facilitate their return to college included:

Proactive outreach by postsecondary institutions to their stop-outs and other adults who are researching degree programs;
Messaging focused on the needs of returning adult students, particularly regarding the cost and time required to complete a credential;
Access to easily navigable admissions and degree program information; and
Readily available assistance to answer questions and support returning students through the process of re-enrolling.

State CTE leaders can lead on this issue by taking a supporting postsecondary leaders in systemic evalutions of current supports for stopped out learners to facilitate their re-enrollment. Additional resources about the strategies to equitable support postsecondary learners can be found in the Learning that Works Resource Center.

Amy Hodge, Policy Associate

By Stacy Whitehouse in Uncategorized
Tags: Access and Equity, Postsecondary Attainment, Student Supports

Posts Tagged ‘Access and Equity’

New Skills ready network Site Highlight Blog: Nashville Pilot Projects

Research Round-up: Graduation, College, and Employment Outcomes for CTE Learners with Identified Disabilities

Getting to Know the 2022- 2024 Advance CTE – ECMCF Fellows Part 5

Getting to Know the 2022- 2024 Advance CTE – ECMCF Fellows Part 4

Getting to Know the 2022- 2024 Advance CTE – ECMCF Fellows Part 3

Dominique Footes – Maryland

Dr. Crystal Gardner – Texas

Davil Jackson – California

Research Round-up: New Reports on Work-Based Learning Address Impacts for Learners and Institutions

Getting to Know the 2022- 2024 Advance CTE – ECMCF Fellows Part 2

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

Getting to Know the 2022- 2024 Advance CTE – ECMCF Fellows

Research Round-up: Addressing Stop-Out to Reengage Students and Increase Credit Completion

Defining “Stop-Out” and Learner Demographics

Source: (National Student Clearinghouse 2022)

Wraparound Services and Other Supports to Address Student Stop-Out

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