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Posts Tagged ‘Colorado’

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Shaping Tomorrow’s CTE: State Policies Paving the Way

Thursday, October 31st, 2024

As we look to the future of Career Technical Education (CTE), Advance CTE continues to support high-quality CTE programs created through legislation that addresses key challenges and opens new opportunities for learners and educators alike. In this blog, Policy Associate Velie Sando highlights recent state policies that can play a crucial role in shaping a more dynamic, accessible, and industry-aligned landscape.

Breaking Down Barriers

Apprenticeships offer intensive, high-quality programs, but are often limited in availability and accessibility. South Carolina’s S.B. 557 tackles this issue by offering substantial tax credits to employers who hire apprentices. This incentive, which can amount to up to $4,000 per apprentice for four taxable years, encourages businesses to invest in on-the-job training and education. By making apprenticeships more financially viable for employers, South Carolina is expanding opportunities for learners to gain valuable work experience and industry-recognized credentials.

Empowering Educators

Addressing the shortage of qualified CTE educators and instructors in many states is crucial to expanding program quality and accessibility. Delaware’s S.B. 188 addresses this by enhancing educator mobility across state lines. By allowing CTE educators with valid licenses to obtain equivalent authorization in other member states, this legislation removes geographical barriers and expands the pool of qualified instructors. This not only benefits those looking for new opportunities but also ensures that learners have access to experienced educators with diverse backgrounds.

Hawai’i’s S.B. 2257 takes a different approach to the same problem by broadening the qualifications for CTE instructors. By considering candidates with associate’s degrees or even high school diplomas combined with relevant experience, Hawai’i is opening doors for industry professionals to bring their expertise directly into the classroom. This policy elevates skills-based hiring practices in CTE by recognizing that practical skills and real-world knowledge are invaluable.

Data-Driven Decision Making

Colorado’s H.B. 1364 demonstrates a commitment to understanding and improving CTE outcomes through comprehensive data analysis. The law establishes the Colorado state longitudinal data system governing board to support the development and implementation of the data system, which is created to improve data connectivity and analysis concerning education and workforce readiness statewide. The law also authorizes a cost analysis of postsecondary and workforce programs and credentials to local education providers. By commissioning a financial study on the costs and benefits of college credit opportunities, industry credentials, and work-based learning experiences, Colorado is laying the groundwork for evidence-based policy decisions. 

Tomorrow’s CTE Puts Learners in the Driver’s Seat

By expanding apprenticeship opportunities, ensuring access to qualified teachers, and gathering data on program effectiveness, states are creating an environment where learners can make informed decisions about their educational and career paths. Simultaneously, the emphasis on industry credentials and work-based learning experiences ensures that CTE programs are closely aligned with the needs of today’s employers, preparing learners for success in the future workforce.

To access our state policy tracker and explore other innovative CTE-connected policies, visit Advance CTE’s State Policy Resources page. 

Velie Sando, policy associate

By Layla Alagic in Public Policy
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State CTE Policy Spotlight: Governors Prioritize Workforce Development in their State of the State Addresses

Friday, March 29th, 2024

In this post, Policy Associate Velie Sando highlights how governors are championing workforce development, and by extension Career Technical Education (CTE) in their 2024 State of the State addresses.

As the new year unfolds, 38 governors across the nation have delivered their much-anticipated State of the State addresses, outlining their vision for the future and key educational priorities, including career readiness. Some governors vouched for increased funding toward CTE  initiatives while others highlighted accreditation as a means to address workforce demands in their state.  The emphasis on career readiness within the State of the State addresses aligns with Advance CTE’s Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of Career Technical Education (CTE Without Limits), which leverages CTE as a catalyst for ensuring each learner can reach success in the career of their choice.  

This year, as in previous years, governors continue to emphasize workforce development in their efforts to prepare learners for the evolving job market. Thus far, 24 addresses implicate CTE in some capacity, as governors highlight apprenticeships, training programs, and initiatives such as free community college to address emerging labor market needs. 

Apprenticeships

With growing labor market demands, states including New Jersey and Pennsylvania have invested in apprenticeship programs to meet workforce needs in their state. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy highlighted doubling the number of apprenticeship programs in fields such as life sciences and renewable energy, reflecting a proactive approach to meeting workforce demands in emerging sectors. Similarly, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro celebrated 33 new apprenticeship programs, mentioning significant enrollment numbers and program expansions. Elsewhere, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee proposed expansions in apprenticeships, particularly in high-demand sectors like healthcare. Tennessee’s proposal aims to bridge the gap between education and employment, ensuring a skilled workforce meets the needs of the healthcare industry. Similarly, Colorado Governor Jared Polis aims to create 100 new private sector apprenticeships by June 30 and increase state government apprenticeships by 50%, while Missouri Governor Mike Parson announced a $3 million investment in youth apprenticeship opportunities.

Free Community College

Recognizing the pivotal role of education in workforce development, states including Colorado and Massachusetts have implemented initiatives to make higher education more accessible. Governor Polis of Colorado highlighted that their expansion of free community college for in-demand careers has already benefited 3,500 learners, empowering them with the skills needed to thrive in today’s job market. Massachusetts Governor Maura Healy celebrated the MassReconnect program which offers free community college to adults aged 25 and older, removing barriers to education and training for mid-career professionals. Similarly, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer called for tuition-free community college for all high school graduates, addressing the financial burden often associated with pursuing higher education and ensuring equitable access to skill-building opportunities for all graduates. 

Training Programs

Governors recognize that investments in specialized training programs are crucial for addressing evolving workforce needs. Rhode Island Governor Daniel McKee celebrated the launch of the first State Institute for Cybersecurity & Emerging Technologies at Rhode Island College, underscoring the importance of staying ahead in emerging fields, laying the groundwork for a skilled workforce equipped to tackle cybersecurity challenges. Missouri invested $54 million in workforce training through the MoExcels initiative, demonstrating a commitment to equipping postsecondary institutions with the resources needed to deliver high-quality training programs.

Michigan highlighted free community college and training for medical technicians and electricians aged 21-24 through the Michigan Reconnect program, catering to the growing demand in these critical sectors. Massachusetts proposed building a workforce plan for growing industries, while Maine Governor Janet Mills celebrated the Maine Jobs Plan for investing over $200 million in skills attainment and training programs. Elsewhere, Idaho Governor Brad Little announced the Idaho LAUNCH grants that will cover up to $8,000 in costs to enroll in education or training programs after high school, incentivizing residents to pursue education and training aligned with in-demand careers. 

Governors across the nation are prioritizing workforce development initiatives to ensure a skilled and adaptable workforce for the future. By investing in apprenticeships, expanding access to free community college, and bolstering training programs, states are laying the foundation for economic growth and prosperity. Outside of workforce development, governors are also investing in rural communities to mitigate the barriers that hinder their access to educational and training opportunities. CTE can serve as the connector offered in communities to connect secondary and postsecondary classroom learning, work-based learning and apprenticeship, and skilling and reskilling training programs. 

Advance CTE and ACTE’s eleventh annual State Policies Impacting CTE: 2023 Year in Review and Advance CTE’s Longitudinal Year in Review Analysis Tool examine CTE and career readiness policies across the nation. While the report focuses on policy trends, the tool comprises every CTE-related policy enacted within each state since 2013. 

 

For further insights and resources connected to workforce development, check out our Learning that Works Resource Center.

Velie Sando, Policy Associate

By Jodi Langellotti in Public Policy
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Realizing CTE Without Limits: An Interview with Colorado State CTE Director Dr. Sarah Heath

Wednesday, March 27th, 2024

This month, Advance CTE celebrates the 3 year anniversary of the release of Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of Career Technical Education (CTE Without Limits), supported by over 40 national organizations. As part of the celebration, Advance CTE is highlighting the initiatives, outcomes and lessons learned of current and former states who have participated in technical assistance opportunities to conduct the challenging but necessary work to fully realize the vision in their state. 

Senior Director of Policy Nithya Govindasamy interviewed Colorado State CTE Director Sarah Heath to revisit the impact of technical assistance on realizing a more cohesive, flexible, and responsive career preparation ecosystem. 

How has the CTE Without Limits influenced the mindset and priorities for CTE in your state? 

CTE Without Limits has influenced the mindset and priorities in Colorado in terms of alignment. Our team has examined our goals and determined how we can better serve learners and how we can get learners ready for things that are connected geographically. 

CTE Without Limits has also been central to goals and actions that can be taken to infuse the principles in the Perkins State Plan and strategic plan to ultimately support local leaders and educators. In Colorado, we are trying to connect the principles in the vision and the foundational commitments when evaluating our current goals and the gaps in our goals. We have used it to “check ourselves” and integrated it to support our stakeholder outreach and continue to use it as a bar and checkpoint.

What do you consider your state’s most impactful work in progress as a result of the CTE Without Limits vision? 

For Colorado, the most impactful work has occurred in our equity-centered work, specifically empowering locals through the Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment (CLNA) and tying it to CTE Without Limits through the Opportunity Gap Analysis (OGA). In particular, we’ve focused on sub-populations indicators and “checking ourselves” to ensure we were not being too generic in measuring success. Principle 2: Each learner feels welcome in, is supported by, and has the means to succeed in the career preparation ecosystem, pushed us to identify tangible tools to help locals; it also pushed our state team to view data differently and get comfortable with data. Tools like the heat map ease people into the work without the “equity stigma”. 

We are also using tools to analyze local performance and to inform local decision making. For example the OGA data was linked to school performance frameworks and school finance to show the intersections. We are training principals and need to train middle-management leaders in our schools to help them to make data-driven decisions to help all learners be successful. 

In Colorado, working directly with locals to be more impactful has been a priority. We held a session about this work at CACTA (Colorado Association for Career and Technical Administrators, the Admin Division of ACTE in Colorado), where the designated CTE Directors attend for each district and they are empowered to engage the principals. Rural school districts are supported by Boards of Cooperative Educational Services or BOCES (typically fiscal agents for Perkins) and each have a Superintendent Council, so our team has taken the opportunity to use their meeting structure and support to offer more CTE services. 

Additionally, Colorado has taken a “near-peer approach” and is leveraging the relationships with the BOCES and helping the state team connect with local leaders who are not always the designated CTE Director. The Colorado CTE Team is also reflecting on their experiences to ensure the best presenter or connector is available to support these cohorts. For example, the state Program Director for Agriculture, Natural Resources and Energy was a principal in a rural school district prior to being on the Colorado CTE Team so it makes perfect sense to connect her to projects where we are expanding the knowledge of our local principals in how to connect CTE data to their school performance data and goal setting.  

Colorado participated in the inaugural cohort to provide vision-related technical assistance to states. What is one part of that work (highlighted here) that you have been able to build upon over the past year, and how?

Of the work highlighted in last year’s blog, we focused on Goal 3: “Building Local Leader Data Literacy: Leverage Advance CTE’s Opportunity Gap Analysis (OGA) process to increase data literacy of local CTE administrators and educators and in doing so improve data-focused storytelling of learners’ outcome and identification of program participation and success gaps.” In order to increase the data literacy of locals and teachers, we are offering professional development with a panel of local CTE directors. We are using the CLNA and OGA for action planning, and conducted needs assessment in-person during a statewide CTE roadshow. 

In terms of what is next for us, we are intentionally incorporating learner voice into our work. We are focused on “how are we empowering local leaders and their data literacy” and helping them with storytelling. For example, our CTE concentrator graduation rate is 98% while our overall Colorado high school graduation rate is 83%. Elevating these data points and integrating into our storytelling on the local level will assist in destigmatizing CTE. CTE is being seen all over Colorado as a new strategic move in high school education. We are seeing Designed Career and Technical high schools being built in school districts who market their four-year college going culture.  We are seeing most districts “up” their CTE programs and want to better serve learners across the board by offering multiple off ramps from industry credentials, Apprenticeship, and college credit.

We’ve been able to engage with families by going to the PTA conference and enhancing their data literacy. We are working with the entire ecosystem to empower local leaders, administrators, principals, parents/guardians, family members and learners and “empower” local communities by equipping them with better information to make more informed decisions. We are also helping connect education to the overall ecosystem through regional level conversations about industry needs and alignment. 

What resources or support has been most helpful in moving this work and mindset forward? 

For the Colorado team, the technical assistance and the actual resources, such as the Pushing the Limits Roadmap, has been the most helpful. We have used this resource to develop goals, to conduct an assessment of our current system, and develop an action plan. The tools were helpful in identifying the areas that need to be improved and we were able to use the tool to help locals assess their own system. 

Another helpful resource was the With Learners, Not for Learners: A Toolkit for Elevating Learner Voice in CTE. We walked through the toolkit and tackled issues such as not “tokenizing” learners by just having them on advisory committees. 

Having the tools, resources and support was definitely helpful when determining how to use the various pieces to help locals. 

What principles and areas of work connected to the vision are you planning to focus on this year? 

Colorado is currently focused on Principle 4: Each learner’s skills are counted, valued, and portable. We are centering this mindset in our work by leaning into Credit for Prior Learning (CPL), portable credit and policy change and matrix, faculty qualifications, and counting all learning that happens. In 2020, Colorado passed HB 20-1002, which enables students and adults to earn postsecondary credit for prior work experience, including work-based learning. A landscape report on CPL was released in 2021 that guides our work:

Through our team that supports concurrent enrollment as well as our work on the Colorado “Student Bill of Rights”, we are working to ensure learners are receiving the correct credit for earned Industry Recognized Credentials when they matriculate to an institution of higher education as well as their  CTE high school experiences, even if it does not include concurrent enrollment, and assisting learners with understanding how to link these experiences to their college credits through articulation.

Colorado’s Governor has set a Skills-Based hiring expectation and as a team, we are using this expectation to help our employers who serve on our CTE advisory committees better understand how to post jobs to ensure they are attracting talent based on their skills. 

Additional Resources

To learn about how to begin implementing CTE Without Limits in your state or community, read Colorado, Nebraska, and South Carolina’s origin and impact journeys so far.. Resources to learn about and implement the vision can be found on our CTE Without Limits webpage. 

Nithya Govindasamy, Senior Director of Policy

By Stacy Whitehouse in CTE Without Limits
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ECMCF Fellow Feature: Danny Sandoval

Friday, October 27th, 2023

In September 2022, 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 month, we’re excited to highlight two members of Advance CTE’s second cohort of Postsecondary State CTE Leaders Fellows. ECMCF Fellow Danny Sandoval (CO) is already applying the skills he’s acquired in the Fellowship to build his team in meaningful ways.

Tell me more about your journey to the Fellowship.

When I first saw the Fellowship advertised, I dismissed it because I wasn’t confident that I was the type of candidate they were looking for. Shortly after, I had a colleague at my institution share it with me, and then I had another colleague who had participated in the first cohort of the Fellowship reach out to try and recruit me. After talking with him, I decided to attend the information session with Dr. Johnson and that was the final nudge I needed to submit my application.

My initial hesitation was due in part to the fact that I didn’t feel like I had enough Career Technical Education (CTE) experience to be considered a good fit for the program. I’d done adjacent work with CTE programs but at that point, I hadn’t worked in CTE, but the Fellowship has allowed me to leverage this experience and it’s been great. 

What skills or areas have you experienced the most growth in the program? 

I have learned a lot about the operational aspects of CTE, meaning the governance structures, program operation and funding. It’s almost like a conveyor belt humming along under postsecondary that is always moving, so understanding the policies and practices and building a knowledge base of CTE’s significance in the history of our country has been a huge piece for me. Through the Fellowship, I’ve gotten a national perspective of CTE, and how it looks in different states, and I’ve been able to zero in to gain a better understanding of the way programs are organized and interact with industry partners in my own state. This has definitely been an area where I feel like I’ve experienced significant growth over the past year.

Throughout my career, I’ve done a lot of work where I’ve partnered with different industries or different organizations outside of education. It wasn’t until this Fellowship that I made the connection that this work of partnering has been CTE work. Being able to name it and being able to see that my own career journey has also been like a CTE journey has been really reaffirming. Last year, our Pathways Conference in Colorado brought Joel Vargas who was one of the authors of Jobs for the Future’s (JFF) “The Big Blur” report, and his presentation really resonated with me. It is important for people to see that CTE doesn’t have to live in a separate box.  

Have you been tapped for new or more advanced roles within your organization as a result of your experience in the Fellowship?

I started a brand new job in the summer of 2020, and it was the first time in my career that I was required to get a CTE license for my role. Taking the steps to maintain my licensure and then continue to elevate my license for professional advancement was a crash course into the world of CTE. This was a brand new position, and the staff didn’t have a plan for what this was going to look like, but I’ve made a lot of connections from hopping into the different professional networks. Fast forward to the present day and I’m now overseeing a team of five people and preparing to hire two more. I went from having almost no budget to being awarded 2.8 million dollars for competitive grants I’ve written. I’m managing multiple grant initiatives and programs and collaborating with external partners to continue to develop additional systems. I’m directly applying the skills and knowledge gained through the Fellowship to execute my vision for my department and even my hiring practices. I’ve been able to see the ways that I can tap the diverse talent in my community. Without the Fellowship, I don’t think I’d have as much clarity around this vision.

When asked about how I’ve managed to acquire these grants, I just say that it comes down to the clear commitment our office has to upskilling and reskilling people of color in our community. We know exactly how to leverage these funds to bring enhanced experiences and opportunities to disadvantaged populations. Marginalized populations can encounter issues – falling flat in leadership roles, or encountering other barriers that keep the momentum from building. The plateau is by design. In order to fight back against that, I have taken the confidence built by the Fellowship and applied these skills to this work. There’s a real purpose driving our implementation and the Fellowship was very instrumental in helping to establish and refine that vision to keep it focused so we aren’t tempted to deviate from it.

How has your experience in the fellowship helped you explore new spaces or positions in postsecondary state CTE leadership? 

I feel like the skills I’ve developed through the Fellowship have prepared me for a lot of different roles and expanded my understanding of what type of opportunities would align with my interests.

I’ve been able to attend different conferences in my state and talk with leaders to learn more about their roles in the state CTE landscape. This fellowship has opened doors for me to meet people across the state and beyond and helped me reframe my thinking about what my career trajectory might be. I’ve been able to build up my current role and that momentum excites me. As I continue to build my network by interacting with different folks in state leadership, industry and those working on national initiatives, I feel like the next step will present itself when the time is right.

How has the Fellowship expanded your network?

The Fellowship has expanded my network in a few important ways. I’ve learned a lot from my cohort-mates, attending conferences and hearing from guest speakers during the workshops. I’ve also been able to join Advance CTE’s Kitchen Cabinet on Apprenticeships. This group is advising national policy and it has been a fascinating experience. I’ve been working with my mentor Sonja Wright-McMurray, and I’ve also been able to connect with Dr. Laura Maldonado at Advance CTE. The network is limitless. 

You can contact Danny at [email protected]. 

By Layla Alagic in Achieving Equitable and Inclusive CTE
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Achieving Inclusive CTE: Early Achievements and Upcoming Opportunities to Support Inclusive CTE

Wednesday, October 11th, 2023

In 2022, Advance CTE and Education Strategy Group, through the New Skills ready network initiative, released the Achieving Inclusive CTE Goal-Setting Tool (AICTE). This tool adds a new resource to the data toolbox for state and local CTE and career pathways leaders to assess learner group data. The goal-setting tool enables leaders to analyze CTE learner group data in comparison to the broader student population. The purpose of the tool is to support leaders with their efforts to recruit, engage and support underrepresented learner groups to increase access to high-quality Career Technical Education (CTE) programs and career pathways. 

Over the past six months, four states, Alabama, Indiana, Louisiana and Utah, have participated in a technical assistance cohort to leverage the AICTE Goal-Setting Tool to evaluate the inclusivity of their system and establish goals to improve equitable access and outcomes for learner populations in their states. The cohort of technical assistance included two workshop sessions to review the tool and its analyses; ongoing support and coaching calls with each state team to guide the use of the tool in their states; and two Communities of Practice sessions to share promising solutions and discuss shared challenges. The two states that completed the pilot of the Goal-Setting Tool, Colorado and South Carolina, were also invited to attend the Communities of Practice sessions.

Lessons Learned

Over the course of the technical assistance cohort, key themes and lessons learned emerged from the states using the Achieving Inclusive CTE Goal-Setting Tool:

Continue reading for detailed information on the lessons learned and examples from the states who participated.

The Achieving Inclusive CTE Goal-Setting Tool Supports Perkins Performance Indicators: The AICTE Goal-Setting Tool analyzes data for 11 indicators across all learner populations. This level of analysis includes gender, race and ethnicity and special populations (English learners, Migrant learners, Economically Disadvantaged and Learners with disabilities). The disaggregated design of the Goal-Setting Tool supports users in drilling down specific areas for improvement and support. Utah is utilizing the tool to support one of its Perkins performance indicators: nontraditional participation. With the help of the AICTE Goal-Setting Tool, the team will leverage the data analysis to identify areas where their state and local leaders can make a greater impact to increase nontraditional participation and understand if the adjusted performance targets the state has set are reasonable to achieve.

As the team works towards achieving its Perkins performance goals, the Utah team will also conduct a state-level analysis of nontraditional participation for multiple years to compare the data and identify any changes in the groups over time. Additionally, the state team plans to conduct training to support local leaders with the use of the Goal-Setting Tool and allow them to enter their own data to identify opportunities for a more inclusive CTE system. The team will provide this training to local CTE leaders during the winter months of 2023 and will align the Goal-Setting Tool with their Opportunity Gap Analysis workbook and data.

With the assistance of the Goal-Setting Tool, the team shared that the greatest benefit is having more insightful data analysis in conjunction with their Opportunity Gap Analysis. According to the team, using the tools together offers a greater understanding of the CTE system and areas where learners need to be recruited, supported or engaged. 

The Achieving Inclusive CTE Goal-Setting Tool is a Strong Companion in the Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment Process: One of the many use cases for the Goal-Setting Tool is the examination of equity and disaggregated learner performance data as part of the Perkins V Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment (CLNA). The Goal-Setting Tool takes a deeper dive into the CTE continuum to identify priority areas for Perkins plans. The team in Indiana is taking full advantage of the Goal-Setting Tool with their CLNA process by planning to include training on the use of the goal-setting tool in their next round of Equity Labs. Equity Labs are regional sessions held across the state to share the importance of equity and inclusivity in CTE programs and career pathways. 

The Goal-Setting Tool will support Indiana’s CLNA process by providing a tool to facilitate a deep dive into each district’s data. The state team plans to supply regional and district CTE leaders with the Achieving Inclusive CTE Goal-Setting Tool to analyze data, set a goal to increase equity and inclusivity and implement a practical strategy to achieve the goal. 

To use the Goal-Setting Tool to its full potential in Indiana’s CLNA process, the team plans to provide local CTE leaders with ongoing support and opportunities for follow-up to ensure locals are leveraging root-cause analysis to better understand data trends. The state plans to leverage the tool for continuous monitoring of the practical strategies and interventions deployed to create a more equitable and inclusive CTE system.

The Achieving Inclusive Goal-Setting Tool Supports Data Tools Alignment: Each state selected to participate in the pilot and technical assistance cohort previously completed the Opportunity Gap Analysis Train-the-Trainer workshop, a workshop that prepares CTE leaders to provide comprehensive training on the importance of equitable access to high-quality CTE, demonstrates how to conduct a percentage point gap analysis to identify gaps among learner groups including race and ethnicity, gender and special populations and conducting a root-cause analysis to understand the implications on the data.

The AICTE Goal-Setting Tool is the next phase of data analysis work to support inclusive and equitable CTE systems: analyzing the current representation of learners in CTE programs compared to the learners that could be engaged, recruited and/or supported in CTE and setting goals to achieve a more equitable system. 

While these tools complement each other in their analyses and findings, participants using the tools identified the importance and value of ensuring the two tools work together and clearly communicating the alignment of the tools to their local-level CTE leaders and practitioners. Colorado is making progress leveraging both tools with their local-level CTE leaders and practitioners. To support the local-level use of the tools, the Colorado state agency provided the Opportunity Gap Analysis dashboard to their local-level teams. Then it provided guidance on using the AICTE Goal-Setting Tool. By leveraging the two tools together, locals were able to identify opportunity gaps in CTE enrollment and then further drill down on equitable access and inclusivity in every stage of the CTE continuum across specific CTE programs using CIP code-level data. Conducting analysis with CIP code-level data allows districts within a state an opportunity to identify where they have gaps. As districts continue to leverage both tools, they can work collaboratively with industry partners to expand access to CTE career pathway programs and work-based learning opportunities. 

To ensure alignment between the tools, the Colorado team launched both tools to every district and consortia to review regional data to account for small n-sizes. The Colorado team has held several sessions on data quality and interpreting the data dashboards. These sessions include guidance and support to identify trends in the data. The state team continues to offer support sessions and office hours to discuss all data-related issues.

As the team looks ahead, they plan to leverage the two tools in their Perkins state plan revisions. The team will begin regional meetings for the Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment (CLNA) to gather input for the state plan to ensure it includes robust and diverse perspectives especially when setting state performance targets. The state team will set Perkins performance targets leveraging both the Opportunity Gap Analysis dashboard and the AICTE Goal-Setting Tool. 

Looking Ahead

The Achieving Inclusive CTE Goal-Setting Tool is a strong data analysis tool for CTE leaders and Advance CTE is committed to supporting states with the use of the tool to achieve more inclusive and equitable CTE systems. In the coming months, Advance CTE will launch a second round of technical assistance to guide participants through the use of the tool, provide individualized coaching and support for states using the tool and elevate the promising approaches and successes from the use of the tool. To learn more about this cohort of technical assistance and apply, please visit this form. 

If you have any questions about the Achieving Inclusive CTE Goal-Setting Tool or the upcoming technical assistance cohort, please contact Haley Wing, Senior Policy Associate, Advance CTE at [email protected]. 

By Layla Alagic in Achieving Equitable and Inclusive CTE, Resources
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States Make Progress in Strengthening Meaningful Learner Engagement in CTE

Tuesday, August 22nd, 2023

Career Technical Education (CTE) programs must be designed with learners, not simply for learners, to be responsive to their diverse needs at every stage of the CTE continuum. Being responsive to diverse learner needs can occur only if learners have direct and ongoing input into the design and delivery of CTE programs and experiences. This blog provides an overview of the Leveraging Learner Voice to Strengthen CTE Technical Assistance cohort; highlights the states in the cohort that are meaningfully engaging CTE learners to inform CTE programs and policies; and shares links to resources to support states in engaging CTE learners.

Over the past seven months, Advance CTE and the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) provided training, resources and coaching to help states identify opportunities to engage learners more meaningfully in the design and delivery of CTE programs and experiences. The cohort of states (Colorado, Delaware, New Hampshire, Oregon and Wisconsin), engaged in six 90-minute virtual sessions and individual coaching sessions to work through the Learner Voice Toolkit to develop and execute on strategies for leveraging learner voice in CTE policies and programs.

Over the course of the technical assistance sessions and coaching calls, each state team developed a comprehensive Action Plan to leverage meaningful learner engagement in the development of CTE programs and policies. The Action Plans are guiding the states’  actions over the next year to improve and systematize their learner engagement. 

Action Plan Development

The development of the Action Plan took place in stages. States first completed an organizational capacity assessment to understand the existing structures, policies, relationships and resources that can support the expansion of learner engagement practices. 

States then identified high-level goals in which they envisioned what meaningful learner engagement would look like in their states to support CTE program improvement, CTE policy development, learner supports, Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment (CLNA) process improvement with learner engagement and more. After identifying the goals, states mapped the actions that needed to be taken in order to achieve their goals. 

Through the development of each state’s Action Plan, states included learners’ feedback and input. States engaged learners in focus groups, interviews, surveys, advisory board meetings and more to capture their input and reflect their thoughts in the Action Plans. States in the cohort were supported by Advance CTE with a pool of funds to compensate learners for their time and expertise engaging with state agencies. Over the course of the Action Plan development phase, states in the cohort engaged more than 400 learners.

Early Areas of Success

Prioritizing learner engagement in the development of Action Plans is not a common practice, however, states in the technical assistance cohort are already seeing the value of more meaningfully engaging learners in CTE program development and improvement. 

Wisconsin learned from learners in their state the type of communication they prefer for engagements, the compensation rate they need to engage in events and meetings, the areas of CTE that student voices are most needed and the roles they are most interested in engaging in. 

New Hampshire leveraged the input from learners from their statewide survey to develop a toolkit for regional and local practitioners to improve learner engagement at their CTE centers. 

Colorado and Oregon engaged learners in a mix of focus groups and surveys to learn what they enjoy about CTE, challenges they experience in CTE programs and ways their state agency can do a better job of incorporating learner voice. Both states focused on engaging learners who were not typically included in focus groups or surveys to ensure they had a broad range of voices.

Delaware leveraged learners’ input and leadership and now has two simultaneous learner-led cohorts supporting the development of a new teacher preparation program of study and leadership training for Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO) leaders. The learners leading the cohorts support the state agency and foster deeper engagement with their peers across their state to expand the reach of meaningful learner engagement. 

Looking Ahead

As the official cohort technical assistance sessions come to a close, states in the cohort will continue to engage in coaching sessions with Advance CTE and ACTE to actualize the goals they identified in their Action Plans. 

Additionally, Advance CTE will continue to hold space for state leaders to come together to discuss opportunities to improve meaningful learner engagement in CTE in Community of Practice sessions. These one-hour sessions will be held bimonthly from August 2023 through February 2024 and will be open to all states interested in learning more about meaningful learner engagement in CTE. To register to attend the Leveraging Learner Voice to Strengthen CTE Communities of Practice, please fill out the form on this page. 

Haley Wing, Senior Policy Associate, Advance CTE

By Layla Alagic in CTE Without Limits
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New Skills ready network Highlight Blog: Leveraging Learner Voice to Strengthen Career Pathways

Wednesday, July 26th, 2023

The New Skills ready network (NSrn) is part of JPMorgan Chase’s substantial portfolio in support of an inclusive economy and workforce. This five-year commitment is part of the New Skills at Work initiative to prepare people for the future of work and their $30 billion commitment to advance racial equity. With a dedication to building equitable career pathways, the New Skills ready network connects six sites —  Boston, Massachusetts; Columbus, Ohio; Dallas, Texas; Denver, Colorado; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Nashville, Tennessee — with local partners with the intentionality necessary to build a strong workforce ecosystem for all learners.

Denver, Colorado’s vision for the NSrn initiative, aims to “dramatically increase the number and diversity of students who complete selected high-quality career pathways that start in high school, continue into and through higher education, and lead to good jobs in Denver’s labor market.”

Over the past three years, the project team has achieved significant milestones in the development of high-quality, equitable career pathways including building a shared data framework, aligning work-based learning opportunities within high-quality career pathways and enhancing the learner experience when transitioning from secondary to postsecondary institutions. Under the leadership of the site lead, The Attainment Network, the project team leverages strategic cross-sector partnerships while centering equity and learner voice to enhance and improve their career pathways work. 

A critical component of the Denver, Colorado, site work includes centering and leveraging the voices of learners to understand their experiences, barriers and opportunities and shaping career pathways aligned with their needs.In April 2023, The Attainment Network held their second annual Learner Voice Symposium which brought together an audience of educators, employers and policymakers to hear directly from Colorado learners what they seek in career-connected pathways and how they define success.

Haley Wing, Senior Policy Associate, Advance CTE, interviewed Rana Tarkenton, Chief Operating Officer, The Attainment Network to discuss the importance of leveraging learner voice in career pathways and how others might replicate their efforts to meaningfully engage learners in the design and implementation of career pathways.

Overview of the Learner Voice Symposium Event

The purpose of the Learner Voice Symposium is to elevate highlights from learners’ diverse perspectives and backgrounds and provide actionable insights to improve and expand pathways for all learners. The Symposium serves as a reminder to partners of the reason why they engage in this work and elevates the voices of learners who are not always invited to the table when developing and implementing career pathways. Learners, who are not simply the receivers of the work of career pathways, but rather the experts in their experiences, provide critical feedback to leaders. 

The Symposium fills a gap in the career preparation ecosystem in Colorado; leaders developing career-connected pathways are continuously striving to improve the system and learners are disconnected from the leaders who need to hear their voices most. The Attainment Network identified this gap and provides career pathway partners the space to listen to and reflect learner voices in their work in the form of The Symposium. 

The Symposium held virtually on Zoom, included a keynote speaker who is a practitioner that engages with learners frequently and specializes in community engagement, and breakout sessions that are co-led by learners who are compensated for their time and expertise. The Symposium is attended by a wide audience including practitioners in secondary and postsecondary education, college and career advisors, state agency providers, policymakers and employer partners.  

Participants have the opportunity to attend breakout sessions of their choosing covering topics like authentic youth engagement in career pathways, immigrant and undocumented learner experiences, non-traditional learners and pathways and more. Presenting organizations that support the sessions include Ednium, The San Luis Valley Boys & Girls Clubs, Emily Griffith Technical College, MSU Denver and more.

All of the information shared during The Learner Voice Symposium is centered on elevating the experiences of learners and incorporating their voices in the development of career-connected pathways. At the close of The Symposium, The Attainment Network announced their Learner Voice Grants that organizations and institutions can apply for to support and enhance their meaningful learner engagement efforts. 

Impact of The Learner Voice Symposium on the New Skills ready network 

The learner engagement in The Learner Voice Symposium supports the Denver, Colorado, New Skills ready network team in their communications strategies as they develop materials and messaging to better connect learners and families to career-connected pathway opportunities. Additionally, Denver Public Schools (DPS), a secondary partner for the New Skills ready network site, and the Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDHE) are two of the grantees for the Learner Voice Grant. DPS and CDHE leverage the grant funding to support their learner engagement work in the development of local and state-level career pathways. 

With more than 175 attendees of The Symposium, The Attainment Network models meaningful learner engagement for its system-wide network. The Network, being a statewide intermediary, supports strengthening the career pathway ecosystem and strengthens relationships with system partnerships that impact learners. 

Further, the Denver, Colorado, project team also elevates the voices and feedback from learners in state-level policy. The Attainment Network, alongside the Colorado Department of Education and the Colorado Community College System, led an effort to design, collect, and report on community input to inform the HB22-1215 Secondary, Postsecondary and Work-Based Learning Integration Task Force (Study of Expanding High School Programs).

Recommendations delivered to the Task Force focus on equitable access to and successful expansion of high school programs across all regions of Colorado with a focus on traditionally underserved populations and those who have not accessed relevant programming in their educational experience. The discovery process of community feedback collection leveraged community organizations, educational organizations, and local partnerships.

Replicating Meaningful Learner Engagement

Leveraging learners’ input and feedback in the development of career pathways, CTE programs and policies is a valuable component of program improvement. Leaders who are interested in replicating The Learner Voice Symposium should prioritize including learners whose voices are historically underrepresented, leveraging partners who can support recruiting learners to bring them to the table and co-creating the event with partners and learners to ensure the content fills the needs for the ecosystem.

The Attainment Network engages in the planning and execution of The Symposium with an equity lens to ensure a diverse representation of learners, speakers and attendees. The Network also backward plans by prioritizing the outcomes they want the event to achieve from the start of the planning process to ensure there are sessions with meaningful outcomes and takeaways for attendees. 

The planning and execution of an event of this size includes a lot of logistics and leaders should consider adequate staffing, preparation that helps to keep audiences engaged and ensuring the videos and notes from the event are accessible once the event is over. The addition of a visual scribe enhances the experience for attendees throughout the session, as well as providing engaging artifacts to further share learnings after the event and marketing for future events. 

Looking Ahead

As The Attainment Network enters year four of the New Skills ready network, the project team is working towards holding more learner and community engagement events to continue the work of leveraging learner voices, input and feedback in the design and delivery of career pathways. The Network team is currently working on analyzing themes from The Learner Voice Symposium to inform the design of their Colorado Pathways Conference on September 19 – 20. The two-day conference will focus on pathways-focused education-to-workforce systems across the state and country. 

Haley Wing, Senior Policy Associate

 

By Jodi Langellotti in CTE Without Limits
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Enhanced Collaboration Towards Implementation of High-Quality Career Pathways in Year Three of the New Skills ready network

Tuesday, July 11th, 2023

Advance CTE and Education Strategy Group (ESG) recently released an annual report and site snapshots for year three of the New Skills ready network initiative. The five-year initiative, part of JPMorgan Chase’s $350 million global New Skills at Work program and $30 billion commitment to advance racial equity, aims to improve student completion of high-quality, equitable career pathways to gain skills needed for the future of work, particularly among learners of color and other historically marginalized learners. 

As a partner in the New Skills ready network initiative, Advance CTE elevates the successes and lessons learned across the six sites as they work towards the implementation of high-quality, equitable career pathways. Over the course of the three years of the initiative, sites have made significant progress in the development and implementation of career pathways from defining the core elements of high-quality career pathways to improving the access and equity of high-quality career pathways. The policy and programmatic changes adopted across the six sites in the initiative are promising approaches and strategies that can be leveraged in other states and areas to enhance the design, delivery and implementation of high-quality, equitable career pathways.

Throughout year three of the New Skills ready network initiative, several key priorities emerged as trends for the six sites:

Across each key priority area, sites have leveraged cross-sector networks and partnerships to deploy promising practices that support their sites with the successful development and implementation of high-quality career pathways that meet the needs of learners and industry. Examples of achievement across the sites include the Columbus, Ohio, site leveraging an employer toolkit, created by the Ohio Department of Education, to help industry partners better understand the opportunities and challenges associated with work-based learning. 

The Indianapolis, Indiana, site expanded learner access to college and career advising by developing resources and supports for learners and finalizing frameworks that align career advising practices. For example, postsecondary partners published program maps for learners participating in agreements between Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and Ivy Tech Community College. 

The Nashville, Tennessee, team has supported increased access to career pathways in HVAC and IT by engaging postsecondary partners like the Tennessee College of Applied Technology – Nashville (TCAT-Nashville). The engagement with TCAT-Nashville has increased learner participation and interest in dual enrollment, and the site now has more than 300 learners enrolled in these opportunities.

Sites like Boston, Massachusetts, and Dallas, Texas, are expanding access to career exploration, advising and high-quality career pathways opportunities to middle grades learners. In year three, the Boston, Massachusetts, team expanded the rollout of their My Career and Academic Plan to middle grades learners to better prepare learners for career pathways, dual enrollment and early college experiences. The Dallas, Texas, team is currently designing a cybersecurity career pathway that will connect all partner institutions with learners and provide lab experiences at the University of North Texas – Dallas. Learners in Dallas, Texas, will be exposed to this high-wage, high-demand career pathway as early as middle school with opportunities to earn credentials. 

Project team partners in Denver, Colorado, are improving the learner experience when transitioning from secondary to postsecondary institutions. In year three, the site lead, The Attainment Network, supported secondary and postsecondary institutions with solutions to longstanding challenges in learner transitions including lack of data sharing, erroneous dual enrollment rosters and incorrect schedules for learners. The institutions are now leveraging IT automation to ensure each institution has access to timely information on learners’ schedules, enrollments and more. 

In addition to diving more into the aforementioned exciting developments, the site snapshots and year three annual report preview the work for year four in the New Skills ready network initiative. Each site has ambitious goals for year four including exploring new pathways sectors, engaging families and learners in the design and implementation of career pathways, sustaining and scaling career pathways as sites near year five of the initiative and more. 

Visit Advance CTE’s New Skills ready network series page to read the full annual report and a snapshot of each site’s innovative partnerships and early accomplishments across the four project priorities. Our New Skills ready network collection page provides additional resources for strengthening career pathways.

Haley Wing, Senior Policy Associate

By Layla Alagic in Publications
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College in High School Series: a Look at CHSA’s State Policy Roadmap

Wednesday, June 14th, 2023

Advance CTE serves as a steering member of the College in the High School Alliance,a coalition of national, state, and local organizations collaborating to enable high school students to enroll in authentic, affordable college pathways toward postsecondary degrees and credentials offered with appropriate support. This blog, the second in a series, highlights the CHSA’s Unlocking Potential guide that elevates findings and work states are doing to design and deliver high-quality college in the high school programs. 

Resource Overview

College in High School Alliance (CHSA)’s Unlocking Potential: A State Policy Roadmap for Equity & Quality in College in High School Programs provides a comprehensive set of policy recommendations for states looking to expand equitable access to college and high school programs. This guide provides policy recommendations as well as actionable items for state and local administrators and concludes with other examples of state tools and resources.

Background:

College in High School Alliance defines college in high school programs as dual enrollment, concurrent enrollment, and early college high school. These programs are formed via partnerships between school districts and accredited institutions of higher education to provide high school-age students postsecondary experiences that lead to college credentials or degrees. 

The number of students participating in College in High School Programs has increased to provide opportunities to more than 5.5 million secondary learners, with Career Technical Education (CTE) courses making up one-third of enrollments (1). While these programs have proven popular and in high demand, enrollment demographics do not reflect the full diversity of the learner population. Significant opportunity exists for reducing barriers to accessing College in High School Programs for all learners, especially those in low-income communities, learners of color, learners from rural communities and first-generation college-goers.

Unlocking Potential provides recommendations and highlights work for state policies that advance the goals of equity and quality for college in high school programs in six categories:

The numbers in the image represent page numbers from the resource guide, per each category.

The policy recommendations are presented along a continuum: foundational, advanced, and exceptional policies. Foundational policies are those that every state must have to best support its learners.

For example, under the Equity Goal and Public Reporting, Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) data reporting requirements would be considered a foundational policy. On the other end of the spectrum, states can enhance these same data reporting requirements by creating tool kits and providing technical assistance to empower local use of data to remove barriers for learners and create more equitable programs. 

To learn more about how CTE early postsecondary opportunities (EPSO) such as dual enrollment serve learners, check out Advance CTE’s report on The State of CTE: Early Postsecondary Opportunities. This 50-state report, provided in partnership with College in the High School Alliance reveals key findings on how EPSOs serve CTE learners and provides recommendations for state leaders to leverage state infrastructure and collaboration to advance equity in these experiences.

  1. The State of CTE: Early Postsecondary Opportunities
  2. Unlocking Potential

 

Suela Cela, Senior Policy Associate

By Jodi Langellotti in CTE Without Limits
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New Skills ready network highlight: Interview with JPMorgan Chase Vice President Deshaun Mars

Wednesday, June 7th, 2023

The New Skills ready network is part of JPMorgan Chase’s (JPMC) substantial portfolio in support of an inclusive economy and workforce. This five year commitment is part of the New Skills at Work initiative to prepare people for the future of work and their $30 billion commitment to advance racial equity. With dedication to building equitable career pathways, the New Skills ready network connects six sites —  Boston, Massachusetts; Columbus, Ohio; Dallas, Texas; Denver, Colorado; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Nashville, Tennessee — with local partners with the intentionality necessary to build a strong workforce ecosystem for all learners. 

As part of ongoing blog topics providing updates on this initiative, Deshaun Mars, Vice President, Global Philanthropy (Job Skills,) and Brice Thomas, Policy Associate engaged in a discussion to highlight JPMC’s view of the initiative and how this work advances JPMC’s philanthropic portfolio and ultimately building high-quality local and state career pathway systems. 

How does the work being done in the initiative support the rest of JPMC’s Global Ready Initiative (GCRI) job, skills, and philanthropy portfolio? 

As a firm, we are focused on creating a more equitable labor market, and we support policy solutions, organizations and initiatives that help upskill and train the workforce of today for future jobs.

More specifically, our Global Career Readiness Initiative prepares young people, particularly those from historically underserved backgrounds, to build skills and enter the labor force through quality jobs.  

This investment highlights the importance of intentional engagement between the education (K-12/higher ed) and business/employer communities to support students and arm them with the resources, skills and access to meaningful career pathways to help power the economy and workforce of the future.  

How do you see JPMC leveraging the work being developed through the initiative? 

Businesses are grappling with a challenging labor market – there are more job openings than qualified people to fill the roles. This investment helps fill that gap by increasing access to skills, training and resources for young people so they are better prepared to enter the labor force with the skills employers need most.  

We are learning how deep cross-sector relationships and partnerships can support young people, communities, and business outcomes. Within our own workforce, we are applying these same principles to transform how we prepare people to compete for well-paying jobs and successful careers.  

With multiple sites across the world, we’re able to share best practices and lessons learned to bolster engagement and strengthen the investment.  

How does JPMC plan to continue supporting the sites? 

Intentional collaboration and partnerships are key to the ongoing support of these sites. We are connecting our local market leaders and the firm’s work across other bodies of work to these partners to help them scale, build capacity and think long-term.  

Since we are past the midpoint of this initiative, what do you hope to see from the participating sites? 

Continue investing in building out the long-term infrastructure of career pathways so this work is not dependent on one funder.

As sites progress on implementation and sustainability, what encouragement would you share in their continued progress? 

We understand how difficult this work is. That is why we made a longer-term investment so our sites have the time to put the infrastructure in place to support and build the local economies of the future. 

The New Skills ready network has also supported the creation of several publications and resources designed to engage and support the field. Advance CTE’s Learning that Works Resource Center houses hundreds of reports, briefs and toolkits designed to advance high-quality CTE for our members. The State Work-Based Learning Innovation Tracker, for instance, compiles the work-based learning toolkits from all 50 states to serve as up-to-date models of best practices. Our latest resource from this initiative, the Credit for Prior Learning Messaging Toolkit, provides effective messages targeted to key audiences and strategies for dissemination to increase participation in Credit for Prior Learning among adult learners. 

JPMC, New Skills ready network, and Advance CTE remain committed to helping all learners have access to high-quality career pathways. 

Brice Thomas, Policy Associate

By Layla Alagic in Achieving Equitable and Inclusive CTE
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