Employer Engagement « Advance CTE Blog

Reshoring is Only Possible with High-Quality Career Technical Education

Wednesday, August 23rd, 2023

Many have heard of the term offshoring, moving production to another country to save on costs, but are you familiar with reshoring? Reshoring involves moving the production of goods back to the country where the business is located. There are several reasons for a company to make this decision, including new legislative or regulatory requirements; increasing costs due to changes in the country where the production was outsourced; or logistical reasons related to cost and time. While the reasons for reshoring may be varied, a strong Career Technical Education (CTE) system that prepares future workers is necessary to make reshoring possible for companies based in the United States.

There has been an increasing push within the manufacturing industry to reshore more production back to the U.S. due to recent legislation at the federal and state levels. While there have been policies regarding federal purchasing that require domestic production, such as the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS), the Buy American Act and recently the Build America Buy America Act, there are now new policies being enacted focused on supporting private sector domestic sourcing. The Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors and Science Act of 2022 (CHIPS and Science ACT) is intended to increase more domestic production of semiconductors, but also to support the growth of new and emerging technologies such as quantum computing, AI, clean energy and nanotechnology. To facilitate this growth, the CHIPS Act authorizes $174 billion over the next five years for STEM programs, workforce development and research and development (R&D).

National and state policy are not the only reasons for manufacturers choosing to reshore, there are also cost and supply chain reasons. As the economies of nations around the world evolve, the savings from previously lower cost of production compared to domestic production is diminishing and almost negligible in some cases. Logistical issues have also prompted the drive to bring production back to the U.S. During the coronavirus pandemic, the fragility of the supply chain and transportation infrastructures was exposed.

Supporting reshoring efforts requires access to a robust and highly skilled workforce and talent pool. This is where a high-quality CTE system that is accessible to all learners plays a critical role. Domestic manufacturing has many career pathways available to learners including those outside of what is traditionally considered as being a part of the sector. Business management, logistics, supply chain management, and many more in-demand careers are available within the umbrella of manufacturing. Learners need to have access to the education and training needed to prepare them for these in-demand career opportunities that provide self-sustaining wages.

To maximize’s CTE’s value in reshoring, employers must be informed on its alignment with reshoring-connected careers and be partners in designing CTE programs to meet skills needs. Advance CTE’s employer engagement fact sheet and messaging guidelines provide several recommendations on effectively engaging employers about the positive return on investment that CTE experiences provide for business and economic growth. The findings from the research provide CTE leaders with several suggestions to enhance employer participation, program quality and learner outcomes.

Leverage partnerships to advance skills-based hiring
Expand partnership capacity among small businesses and local systems
Provide repeated and consistent messaging on the value and benefit of CTE for employers

This blog is the first in a series that will highlight promising state policies that connect the expansion of domestic manufacturing and CTE. The upcoming topics include curriculum and skill set development, programs of study alignment, and work-based learning programs that will all provide learners with the tools they need to be prepared to fill these high-skill, high-wage and in-demand jobs.

Paul Mattingly, Senior Policy Associate

By Layla Alagic in Public Policy
Tags: Domestic Manufacturing, Domestic production, Employer Engagement, Federal Policy, Learner Outcomes, manufacturing, Reshoring, state policy

The Case for State Investment in Youth Apprenticeship Programs

Thursday, March 30th, 2023

Our newest brief, released in partnership with the Partnership to Advance Youth Apprenticeship (PAYA), explores the current landscape around state funding models to support youth apprenticeship (YA) programs. Equipping state and local Career Technical Education (CTE) leaders with the knowledge and tools to advance YA programs aligns with Advance CTE’s vision for each learner’s skills to be counted, valued, and portable.

YA programs are an important component of a fully developed career preparation ecosystem. High-quality YA programs allow learners to explore career pathways and develop skills that are relevant to industry needs to improve the overall health of the local economy. State Funding Models to Support Youth Apprenticeships evaluates the landscape of state YA funding models and highlights practices in Georgia, Michigan, Utah and to equip states to adopt funding strategies that enable these programs to be fully embedded in states’ career preparation ecosystems.

Benefits for State Investment

States are uniquely positioned to invest in and implement high-quality YA programs, and in doing so can systematically expand access to and quality of growing YA programs. These investments allow learners to access a complete spectrum of work-based learning experiences to gain in-demand skills and credentials and enter the labor market prepared for the world of work.

Additionally, investment at the state level is a strong signal to industry to initiate or expand employer participation in these programs.¹ Employers in IT, healthcare, advanced manufacturing, business, finance, education, and many other industries have found that YA delivers a positive return on their investment by helping them build a pipeline of young, diverse talent and fostering a culture of learning and innovation that attracts and retains employees.²

States have the power to align CTE programs of study with YA programs to create seamless pathways for learners and in some cases earn college credit simultaneously. For example:

In Connecticut, the Connecticut Department of Labor administers the Manufacturing Innovation Fund Apprenticeship program, which was first launched in 2015 as part of the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development’s $30 million Manufacturing Innovation Fund.
North Carolina’s apprenticeship programs are implemented by ApprenticeshipNC, a program housed within the North Carolina Community College System. For FY 2022–24, $11.6 million dollars was allocated from the State Fiscal Recovery Fund to expand apprenticeship programs to learners ages 16–25 to increase the enrollment of learners within under-served populations at state community colleges.³
Last year, the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL) announced $1 million in available grant funding to encourage the development of Degree Apprenticeship structures that integrate paid on-the-job learning with credit-bearing classroom education.⁴

In State Funding Models to Support Youth Apprenticeships, we also share findings on how states are providing funding for work-based learning programs and make recommendations for how state investment in YA programs represents a critical part of the career preparation ecosystem.

For more information about PAYA’s work and resources for building your own YA program, visit Advance CTE’s Learning that Works Resource Center.

Amy Hodge, Policy Associate

By Jodi Langellotti in Publications
Tags: Connecticut, CTE Data, cte funding, Employer Engagement, employer partnership, Georgia, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, PAYA, South Carolina, Utah, work-based learning, youth apprenticeship

Interview: CAST Researcher Dr. Amanda Bastoni on Supporting Rural CTE Learners

Monday, November 21st, 2022

As part of ongoing blog topics aimed at supporting all learners in the realization of the national vision for the future of Career Technical Education (CTE), CTE Without Limits, Dr. Amanda Bastoni, Educational Research Scientist at CAST and Dr. Tunisha Hobson, State Policy Manager engaged in a discussion to highlight the importance of providing support for CTE learner success in rural areas. CAST is a nonprofit education research and development organization, and Dr. Bastoni has conducted multiple research projects on rural learner access and engagement in STEM-focused programs. [Note: this interview has been edited for length and clarity].

Considering your wealth of experience in this area, how do you think states should approach learner access to CTE in rural areas?

State leaders should create policies that support small rural employers’ participation in CTE. A quick way for states to support rural learners is through work-based Learning. One example, in New Hampshire (RSA 188 –E: 9-a), employers of any size can be eligible for a tax credit against business profit taxes up to 50 percent for salaries of students and supervisors participating in work-based learning experiences and up to 100 percent for supplies and equipment donated for related use to an educational program offered by the regional CTE center when they make donations of time, money and goods for CTE centers.

Learner access can also begin with large scale remote career day programs and intentional employer engagement in the local and broader communities. There is a rural community in Arizona that is conducting school-wide career days where the whole school engages with different employers in activities and conversations about the experiences of working in that field.

Additionally, I think there is an opportunity to engage employers and industry partners in rural areas by preparing them for filling roles with learners. Many rural employers are willing to support work-based learning experiences, but there is a need to equip them with the right tools for success. Equipping employers with tools describing the work-based learning continuum provides an opportunity for employer engagement from small sized companies to larger corporations in understanding the experiences that can be provided to learners in rural communities.

What are some best practices states can use to support rural learners to access equitable opportunities in CTE?

Equip educators through professional development: Communicating the complexities of rural learner experiences is reliant upon the messenger. The most well meaning practitioner may not understand the challenges rural learners encounter, so it is important to find research based professional development that encourages engagement for rural learners. Ultimately, teachers can leverage their community relationships to connect learners to additional resources and opportunities.

Access CTE Without Borders while considering the digital divide: Using asset-based learning approaches to meet the needs of rural learners is important. State leaders should consider innovative approaches to realizing career pathway experiences. One example, simplistically, consider designing experiences where learners can leverage cell phones rather than laptops or computers they may not have access to. Additionally, consideration for STEM through outdoor recreation related career pathways and experiences invite rural learners to engage in CTE without borders.

Build social capital for underrepresented rural learners, particularly for careers they do not see in their community: Family engagement and inclusion of learner voice is a foundational requirement for decision making and helping learners build their social capital. Policy makers and practitioners are critical to move the work forward, but the voices of learners will drive effective change in communities. Efforts to elevate learner voice can include sharing strategies, analyzing information, and developing solutions can not only help rural learners understand how social networks are being developed but also help build positive self-identity.

Encourage and support virtual work-based learning experiences within the classroom: Embedding virtual work-based learning experiences in CTE coursework bolsters learner exposure to careers beyond their communities. Examples like BioFab Explorer from CAST, which aims to broaden the participation of underrepresented populations in rural communities in biofabrication and biomanufacturing, embeds a components of career guidance curriculum, including work-based learning simulations and activities that teachers can use to help students explore careers and develop and demonstrate industry skills, to dual enrollment opportunities.

What guidance can help states remove barriers with postsecondary program persistence in rural areas?

Rural learners need access to transportation, childcare, and paid work-based learning experiences to support their families and encourage persistence in a career pathway. Offering paid apprenticeships and internships related to outdoor recreation through postsecondary programs are critical in rural areas. According to research, many rural regions are currently experiencing declines in traditional resource-extractive industries such as mining and timber harvesting.

Like many “amenity/decline” regions, New Hampshire was significantly impacted by the loss of paper mills in the 1990s followed by the 2008 recession; however, the region has also seen steady growth in outdoor recreation. In 2020, outdoor recreation represented a higher percentage of New Hampshire’s GDP (2.6 percent) than the U.S. average (1.8 percent), ranking it 11th nationally (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2021). Similar rural states across the country are leveraging the outdoors as a significant positive asset for recreation and employment through legislation which creates opportunities in career pathways for learners. In 2021, New Hampshire joined 13 other states including Maine, Vermont, North Carolina, Oregon, Montana, Virginia, and West Virginia, in committing to establish State Offices of Outdoor Recreation Industry Development (Confluence of States, 2018).

Additional Resources

With Learners, Not for Learners: A Toolkit for for Elevating Learner Voice in CTE

CTE on the Frontier: Rural CTE Strategy Guide

Dr. Tunisha Hobson, State Policy Manager

_______________________________________________________________________

About- Dr. Amanda Bastoni

Dr. Bastoni is a former CTE teacher and Director. While currently employed as an Educational Research Scientist at CAST, some of her research projects have included:

Inclusion, Access, Equity and Diversity (IAED) National coordinator for ACTE
Principal Investigator on new National Science Foundation (NSF) iTEST Grant working with rural CTE teachers to investigate if drones can be used to increase access to STEM careers for middle school girls and rural learners.
Principal Investigator on an NSF AISL feasibility Grant focused on understanding how asset-based approaches can be leveraged to increase rural learners’ engagement in STEM-based careers

By Stacy Whitehouse in Public Policy
Tags: CTE Without Limits, Employer Engagement, Postsecondary Attainment, Rural CTE, work-based learning

New Advance CTE Research Provides Key Insights to Expand Employer Partnerships

Thursday, October 7th, 2021

Today, Advance CTE released findings from a national survey of more than 300 employers on the top skills desired by employers, their attitudes toward Career Technical Education (CTE), and their current involvement in CTE partnerships. The respondents were full-time company employees who were actively involved in hiring decisions.

Shifting the Skills Conversation: Employer Attitudes and Outcomes of Career Technical Education is highly encouraging for the growth of employer engagement with CTE programs – not only do employers of all sizes have an overwhelmingly positive view of CTE, but are enthusiastic about increasing involvement in CTE partnerships in a variety of ways. Employers also strongly support increased investments in CTE and see a direct benefit to such investments to their business, industry and the economy overall.

This research provides state leaders with impactful data points and messages that shift the skills conversation with employers to intentionally pursue CTE as a proven strategy for hiring talent, enhancing business’ bottom line and growing their business and industry

Key Findings

Employers view CTE very positively and see CTE as a value-add. Employers view learners with CTE experience as attractive job candidates for both meeting skill needs and business growth, and employers hiring from CTE were more likely to report positive industry growth and trends. Eighty-three percent of respondents agree that hiring employees with CTE experience would improve their business’ bottom line.
Employers value skills more than degrees, and believe CTE will help meet their skills-based hiring needs. One of the most encouraging findings from this research indicated positive progress in employers favoring competencies over academic degrees, a key metric to advance equity in hiring processes. Employers chose categories such as flexibility, adaptability and job-specific skills as the most important traits for recent graduates by a margin of 20 percent over degrees. Additionally, employers saw robust alignment with their skill needs and the traits found in job candidates with CTE experience.
Employers overwhelmingly want to expand their partnerships with CTE programs. While almost every employer survey expressed interest in expanding CTE partnerships, only around 25 of employers were currently involved in these partnerships, and just slightly more than 50 percent reported recruiting through CTE channels. The findings demonstrate there is a great opportunity to expand partnerships at all levels with industry.
Employers strongly favor increased public funding for CTE. Over 90 percent of employers reported that increased funding for CTE would have a positive impact on their business, industry and the overall economy.

Next Steps

There are several communication-focused steps states can take to put this research into action to shift the skills conversation with employers and stakeholders that work with employers:

Utilize and share messaging resources: Advance CTE has created a fact sheet and key messages tool that provide ready-made visuals and data points to use when communicating with employers and policymakers about the value of investing in and partnering with CTE programs.
Evaluate and develop consistent routines for communicating partnership and advocacy opportunities with employers. Employer enthusiasm for involvement in CTE programs increased with repeated exposure to messages about the impact for CTE on learner and business growth. Among employers who reported already hiring from CTE programs, favorable perceptions of CTE increased from 69 percent to 79 percent after viewing a video about CTE.
Serve as capacity-builders to build and sustain local employer partnerships: When asked about preferences for learning more about opportunities to participate in CTE programs, local CTE programs were chosen as the top four out of 11 outreach options. States can provide local CTE leaders tools and infrastructure for relationship-building, such as Hawaii’s ClimbHI Bridge initiative or Colorado’s CareerWise initiative, or simply creating communication tools featuring employer champions for CTE, such as South Carolina’s promotional videos featuring learners in in-demand sectors.
Leverage state-level business and industry partnerships: State-level partnerships provide another avenue to access local capacity-building beyond CTE-centric avenues, such as the partnership between the NJ Business & Industry Association and New Jersey Council of County Vocational-Technical Schools to launch the New Jersey Employer Coalition for Technical Education. Advance CTE’s guide to enhancing industry collaboration provides multiple strategies for capacity expansion and stakeholder engagement, such as the Maryland Department of Education’s alliance with the Maryland Business Roundtable for Education.

For more information, visit the Working with Policymakers web page to access the full report and supplemental tools, as well as additional advocacy materials and the Learning that Works Resource Center for employer engagement-related resources and tools.

Stacy Whitehouse, Senior Associate for Communications and State Engagement

By admin in Advance CTE Resources, Communicating CTE, Research
Tags: business and industry partnerships, Communicating CTE, Employer Engagement, recruitment, Stakeholder engagement

Communicating CTE: Washington’s Statewide Initiative for Secondary Career Exploration Empowers Educators and Learners

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2021

The third post in the Communicating Career Technical Education (CTE) series will focus on creative initiatives for career exploration for secondary learners by highlighting Washington’s State of Innovation Challenge. This is particularly timely as states continue to grapple with the difficulties of supporting long-term career exploration experiences in an environment of sustained uncertainty and student disconnect in virtual learning environments.

Background

The State of Innovation Challenge, launched in November 2020 and open through March 2021, is a statewide initiative led by the Washington’s STEM Education and Innovation Alliance in partnership with the Office of Governor Jay Inslee, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and Career Connect Washington. The initiative invites learners to offer solutions to policy issues related to hunger, mental health and community resilience that have emerged from the COVID-19 (coronavirus) global pandemic while also exploring pathways to careers and postsecondary education.

Becky Wallace, Executive Director of Career and Technical Education at the Washington Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, shared that her office was inspired to join this initiative because of the widespread evidence that instructors were overwhelmed with the transition to virtual learning and did not have the capacity to fill the void of a lack of hands-on learning. The things that make CTE unique including work-based learning, real-world skill attainment and application have been challenging to replicate in a hybrid and virtual environment. As such, the Office saw this as an opportunity to elevate project-based and experiential learning for learners in all types of programs, empower the learner voice and leverage statewide resources to expand the career path students can name and see as a possible passion.

The initiative proposes challenge cases covering three major policy areas questions:

“The Food Chain”: Facilitating access to healthy, affordable and sustainable food during the pandemic, particularly for households that experience low income.
“Responding to COVID-19”: Supporting the mental health of teens and the elderly
while practicing social distancing, and ensuring access to accurate information about coronavirus and its spread while protecting privacy.
“Our Communities after COVID-19”: Building more resilient communities in the aftermath of COVID-19 through improvements to housing, education, community planning and economic policy.

More detailed subtopics are given for each challenge case that can be aligned to CTE programs. For example, learners that choose the Food Chain case can develop projects addressing school nutrition, food waste, food production or restaurant and hospitality impacts that connect to the associated career pathways.

Learners in middle school, high school, alternative education and out of school youth programs are able to participate. The initiative is also accessible for programs beyond the traditional classroom setting such as Career Technical Student Organizations (CTSOs), community organizations such as 4-H Washington and Junior Achievement, and specialized programs like the Road Map Project that supports homeless and foster youth.

Julia Reed, Senior Consultant for social impact consulting firm Kinetic West that guided the formation and implementation of the initiative, shared that the biggest concern was convincing educators that this initiative could enhance, not burden, their virtual instructional goals. Flexibility and variety in lesson plan offerings were prioritized to make sure the initiative was easy to participate in and would enhance student engagement in their classroom.

In the Classroom

After choosing a challenge case, students and educators take several steps to develop a policy solution: viewing videos created by teen filmmakers connected to each policy question; selecting one of the provided subtopics for their chosen challenge case; exploring careers associated with the policy area; and executing a lesson plan and policy tool that can range from one day to one or more months in duration.

The project solutions themselves encourage exploration and skillbuilding across a variety of career pathways, as students are allowed to record videos, create apps, design websites and computer programs, write business plans and more as part of a proposed solution. Educators are provided instructional guides for each challenge to assist building lesson plans, and are able to share their lessons through a group lesson bank and submit final projects for state recognition.

Students are able to directly interact with employers and learn about career pathways within industries through virtual weekly industry engagement webinars. Past employer engagement sessions include interactions with high-tech manufacturers, firefighters and government agencies all based within Washington.

Exploring Postsecondary Pathways

Students are able to build on their exploration of policy, skillbuilding activities and careers by researching postsecondary opportunities for further education. Rather than recreating the wheel, this initiative elevates pre-existing state college preparation and financial aid resources, including Career Connect Washington’s Career Launch paid learning program, Washington College Access Network’s College Knowledge Materials with handbooks in five languages for grades 9 to 12 on planning for a postsecondary education path, and Washington Student Achievement Council’s Ready, Set Grad step by step online portal.

Marketing and Equity Considerations

Reed emphasized that marketing this initiative focused on building sustainable partnerships and reaching underserved populations by utilizing existing peer-to-peer networks. More than 40 organizational partnerships were established with additional intentional outreach to underserved communities, particularly learners of color, learners in rural communities, and Native American learners.

Equity was a major consideration not only in marketing but the design of the initiative itself. Several strategies pursued include:

The creation of a general secondary educator advisory group and an ‘open doors’ educator advisory group to ensure project utility for all learners;
Industry engagement recruitment seeks to feature employers and career paths that would be relevant to students in more remote rural communities;
Challenge case videos intentionally pursued diverse casting and script copy that emphasized the unequal distribution of impact of coronavirus on different communities;
Submission criteria for challenge projects includes an equity category: “You’ve thought about how this problem impacts people of different races or ethnicities, genders, abilities or income in different ways. How does your solution help address those different impacts?”

This initiative reflects the enormous potential of states to scale up local efforts to connect learning to work and bring these experiences to more learners. Additionally, the inclusion of lesson plans and engagement opportunities provides timely support for educators and local systems that face unprecedented burdens in coronavirus response.

Additional information and resources for this initiative can be found on the State of Innovation website.

Communicating CTE is a new series where Advance CTE is exploring how states are leading the way in communicating about the value and benefit of CTE to key stakeholders. Read the previous posts in this series.

Stacy Whitehouse, Senior Associate Communications and State Engagement

By Stacy Whitehouse in Communicating CTE
Tags: Access and Equity, Career Exploration, career pathways, college and career readiness, Employer Engagement, Washington State

Getting To Know Advance CTE’s Work to Advance Employer Engagement

Thursday, October 22nd, 2020

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

Meet Meghan Wills! Meghan is Director of Strategic Initiatives at Advance CTE; she’s been with the organization since August 2019. Meghan leads Advance CTE’s state policy and technical assistance work, including supporting the expansion of high-quality career pathways, providing technical assistance to states as they implement their Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) state plans, and modernizing The National Career ClustersⓇ Framework.

Q: Through your work at Advance CTE, how have you seen employer engagement prioritized in high-quality CTE programs?

A: As a result of Perkins V, employers have more opportunities than ever before to become active participants in developing high-quality CTE programs. Through the comprehensive local needs assessment (CLNA), employers can identify local workforce needs and high-skill, high-wage, in-demand occupations in their community and ensure that CTE programs and programs of study are aligned to those needs and opportunities. Work-based learning is a critical component of high-quality CTE programs, and the strongest work-based learning experiences are co-developed by employers and the education system to meet both learners’ and employers’ needs. Finally, employers and industry experts are serving as classroom instructors and industry mentors, which provide learners with invaluable opportunities to directly learn from experts in the field.

Q: What are the common barriers to effective employer engagement?

A: One of the biggest challenges employers face when trying to become more engaged in CTE programs is that the education system and employers speak very different languages. Employers are focused on skills their employees will need in the workplace, but they often feel that those skills are not sufficiently emphasized in the education system. Another challenge is that employers often don’t know where to start to become more engaged in CTE programs; while there are a number of opportunities for them to do so, which I described earlier, employers often don’t know about those opportunities or don’t know who they should contact to become more involved.

Q: What future opportunities do you anticipate for the intersect between CTE and employers?

A: As the country looks ahead to the recovery from COVID-19 (coronavirus), CTE programs can play a strong role in helping prepare learners for jobs of the future, as described in our recent fact sheet CTE Prepares Learners for the Future of Work. The coronavirus accelerated the pace of technological change, and workers in the near future will require a different set of skills to be successful in the workplace. CTE programs, with their strong emphasis on hands-on learning and real-world skills, help learners develop foundational skills that can easily be transferred across rapidly shifting sectors and work activities. As employers remain actively engaged in CTE programs, they can continue to ensure that CTE learners are well prepared with future-oriented foundational skills.

Employers eager to get involved with CTE in their state or local communities can leverage:

Cheat Sheet: Opportunities for Employer Involvement in CTE, which provides a snapshot of ways employers can become more engaged in CTE programs;
Our Learning that Works Resource Center where there is an entire section dedicated to employer engagement resources;
Recent releases of the New Skills for Youth Innovation Sites for the Greater Washington Region and Germany that detail the collaboration between CTE programs and employers in their local area.

By admin in News, Resources
Tags: CTE Resources, Employer Engagement, Perkins V

Getting to Know….West Virginia

Thursday, May 21st, 2020

Note: This is part of Advance CTE’s blog series, “Getting to Know…” We are using this series to help our readers learn more about specific states, State CTE Directors, partners and more.

State Name: West Virginia

State CTE Director: Dr. Sarah Tucker, Chancellor, West Virginia Community and Technical College

Before becoming the Chancellor of West Virginia’s Community and Technical College System (WVCTCS), Dr. Tucker was a self-proclaimed “data geek” who worked in policy and planning. Dr. Tucker analyzed data that examined who was attending college, who wasn’t and what happened to students once they arrived at college. From that work, Dr. Tucker soon realized that West Virginia’s state workforce needs would not be met if low graduation rates persisted. Dr. Tucker applied for and received a grant that allowed her to play a role in revamping the state’s approach to development education, which resulted in a full scale corequisite redesign of remedial education. As Chancellor of the of the WVCTCS, and now Interim Chancellor of the state’s four-year system of higher education, Dr. Tucker has played a key role in promoting high-quality Career Technical Education (CTE) programs.

About West Virginia: CTE in West Virginia is delivered through secondary institutions, nine community and technical colleges, 24 CTE centers and seven multicounty centers. Historically, CTE in West Virginia functioned separately at the secondary and postsecondary levels. One of the priorities for Dr. Tucker when she became Chancellor was to address this lack of alignment, which she did through working with the State Superintendent of Schools at the West Virginia Department of Education.

In addition to secondary and postsecondary alignment, the quality of CTE programs in the state are bolstered by strong industry partnerships. West Virginia has longstanding, strong relationships with partners, particularly at community colleges. The community colleges in West Virginia work with more than 700 companies across the state. Colleges take a sector based approach to workforce development, meeting with industry sectors throughout the year to get buy-in from companies and to ensure programs align with employer needs.

The state recognized that core to quality programs is ensuring access and equity. West Virginia has a high poverty rate, with 17.8 percent of the population experiencing poverty. To address socioeconomic gaps, in 2019, the State Legislature passed legislation to create West Virginia Invests, which is a last-dollar-in grant program that covers the cost of tuition and associated fees for a certificate or associate degree programs aligned with high-demand fields at public two-year or four-year institutions. Notably, enrollment of first-time freshmen in the state’s nine community and technical colleges increased 9.9 percent from fall 2018 to fall 2019 after the creation of West Virginia Invests.

Brianna McCain, Policy Associate

By admin in Uncategorized
Tags: Employer Engagement, Getting to Know, systems alignment, West Virginia

Connecting Rural Learners to the World of Work in Livingston, Montana

Wednesday, May 30th, 2018

Livingston, Montana is a small ranching community of about 7,000, just north of Yellowstone National Park. Most of the town’s economic activity revolves around agriculture and tourism — being so close to Yellowstone brings in lots of travelers. Bozeman, which is about 30 miles away hosts a growing manufacturing and photonics industry. Despite these opportunities, students at nearby Park High School don’t always interact with industry leaders in the area, limiting their ability to explore different career options and weakening the talent pool for local business owners.

Last year Meagan Lannan, then manager at the Livingston, Montana Job Service office, along with several community leaders, decided to step in and ask educators how best to support a new work-based learning program to help close the gap and connect young learners with industry mentors. After studying states like Tennessee, Washington and California for inspiration and strategies, she built a coalition of key partners to launch a work-based learning program and engage more than 260 high school students in their first year.

So how did Lannan mobilize her town to go all in on work-based learning?

She started by securing buy in and support — including funding — from key business and education leaders in Livingston. After getting commitment from the Montana Department of Labor and Industry, the Montana State University Park County Extension, and Park High School, Lannan established a memorandum of understanding to clarify the roles of each partner. She also secured an agreement from the Arthur Blank Foundation, the charitable organization of Home Depot founder and philanthropist Arthur Blank, for four years of funding for a work-based learning facilitator pilot program.

Leveraging the relationships she cultivated at the job service office, Lannan was able to mobilize a network of Livingston business leaders to drive and provide work-based learning opportunities for high school students. It took a lot of time and effort to build and nurture these relationships, but Lannan’s hard work paid off. Once the community recognized the value and critical role in connecting learning with work, business leaders were on board.

In total, more than 260 work-based learning experiences were brokered through the first year of the pilot program. Experiences ranged from low-touch engagements such as guest speaking to more intensive internships, apprenticeships and more. Some employers even came into the classroom to teach a few classes under the teacher of record before leading students on a tour of their facilities. While several work-based learning experiences were in industries like agriculture or manufacturing that are considered high-demand in the Livingston area, students had the opportunity explore a variety of different careers. One student learned about wolf tracking in Yellowstone National Park. Another partnered with a local business to learn about sound wave engineering.

Providing work-based learning opportunities can be a challenge in rural communities, which often have a small employer base and limited industry presence. But, as Livingston, Montana discovered, a successful work-based learning program hinges on the support and buy-in of the community. Rural business leaders are often ready and willing to roll up their sleeves and, as Lannan puts it, help “raise the barn.” It just takes a thoughtful, coordinated strategy to generate buy in, secure sustainable funding and connect learners with the world of work.

To help state and local leaders develop a comprehensive plan to improve access to high-quality work-based learning and career pathways in rural areas, Advance CTE developed and released a rural strategy guide earlier this year. The guide, part of the CTE on the Frontier series, provides five strategies for rural leaders to replicate Livingston’s approach:

Secure buy-in and commitment for new or ongoing reform
Leverage regional, cross-sector partnerships
Use data strategically to understand access gaps and assess impact
Use technology to expand access and reach
Invest resources to spark innovation

Ensuring access to high-quality career pathways in rural areas is a persistent challenge facing state and local leaders — but communities like Livingston, Montana defy the odds, recognizing the value of work-based learning and committing to expanding opportunities for students.

Thanks to Meagan Lannan, Work-Based Learning Facilitator Lead, for providing input into this story.

Austin Estes, Senior Policy Associate

By admin in Uncategorized
Tags: CTE on the Frontier, Employer Engagement, Montana, rural, work-based learning

Early Achievements and Innovations from Phase One of the New Skills for Youth Initiative

Wednesday, March 1st, 2017

Last spring, 24 states and Washington, D.C. began a national, six-month effort to examine and transform their career readiness systems and expand opportunities available to students in their states. Under the initiative, part of JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s $75 million New Skills for Youth initiative, states were required to conduct a comprehensive needs assessment and use the results to construct a three-year action plan. States were provided grant funds to conduct the needs assessment and begin early implementation of their action plans.

Today, Advance CTE, Council of Chief State School Officers and Education Strategy Group released a series of snapshots documenting state efforts under Phase One of the New Skills for Youth initiative. The snapshots profile some of the significant achievements and lessons learned through this early work, drawing out strategies that other states can emulate. A holistic summary of the cross-state Phase One work is available here, along with individual state snapshots.

These resources were developed through the New Skills for Youth initiative, a partnership of the Council of Chief State School Officers, Advance CTE and the Education Strategy Group, generously funded by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

While all states had CTE and career readiness policies in place prior to the start of the initiative, each began the work at different starting points. Nonetheless, states made considerable progress during the grant period. Cross-sector ownership was one area of focus, as many states worked to distribute the work across various stakeholders — particularly within business and industry — and secure commitment from cross-sector leaders. These efforts paid dividends, ensuring that employers were not only aware of the work, but were empowered to lead key initiatives. Additionally, states that engaged stakeholders early and often found it easier to distribute the work and clarify roles during the planning process. Rhode Island, for example, gathered input from business, secondary education, postsecondary education, the Department of Commerce and the Governor’s Office, which enabled the state to assign activities in its action plan to individual staff members within each partnering organization.

The snapshots also detail trends related to:

The role of equity in early implementation and strategic planning;
How states worked regionally to develop and execute action plans;
Efforts to link data and build career-focused accountability systems;
Enhancing career guidance strategies.

The Phase One planning and early implementation grant period concluded in October, but ten states were selected to receive additional funds and still more have elected to work as a cohort to implement their three-year career readiness action plans. Stay tuned for periodic updates from states’ ongoing New Skills for Youth work.

Austin Estes, Policy Associate

By admin in Publications, Research, Resources
Tags: Access and Equity, Career Guidance, Data and Accountability, Employer Engagement, JPMorgan Chase & Co., New Skills for Youth, NSFY, Phase One, Publications, rhode island, Snapshots

Alternative Certification Alone Will Not Solve CTE Expert Shortage

Friday, December 16th, 2016

New Report Describes State Efforts to Increase Access to Industry Experts in High Schools

As interest in Career Technical Education (CTE) continues to increase, the need for experts qualified to help ensure students gain the real-world experiences they needÂ for success increases as well. Individuals with industry expertise provide a perspective to students that traditional academic teachers may be unable to offer, and can also help students explore and connect with particular career opportunities. Unfortunately, there is a national shortage of these experts working in schools. Â Â

Today Advance CTE released a report examining the shortage of industry experts in secondary classrooms and how to address it. This report was developed through the New Skills for Youth initiative, a partnership of the Council of Chief State School Officers, Advance CTE and the Education Strategy Group, generously funded by JPMorgan Chase & Co. Advance CTE, in partnership with the Center on Great Teachers and Leaders at American Institutes for Research, carried out two surveys: one of 47 State CTE Directors and one of 260 local CTE teachers and administrators from 26 states.

The surveys revealed that, while many states use alternative certification policies to bring industry experts into schools as full-time teachers, those policies do not fully address the problem. Alternative certification policies may work well for industry experts who are already willing to change careers and go into the classroom full-time, but there are other options that better meet the available capacity of industry experts still working in their field. These strategies include allowing experts to teach part-time or co-teach with a fully certified teacher of record, which gives students the benefit of their industry-specific knowledge without requiring the expert to give up their job in industry or go through the same rigorous and time-consuming preparation of a fully certified teacher.

Other states have policies that encourage experts to give their time in non-instructional roles, such as through career coaching and mentorships. Many states have articulation agreements with postsecondary institutions and use those to share faculty, which can include industry experts. Fewer states use incentives to attract experts to the teaching profession.

Using the data collected from the surveys, Advance CTE developed several recommendations for state leaders to consider. First, states should develop policies and initiatives that go beyond full-time alternative certification policies to allow for a broad range of options for industry expert involvement. States can do more to leverage their articulation agreements with postsecondary institutions to give secondary students access to industry experts teaching at the postsecondary level. Importantly, states must work to increase awareness of all of these opportunities within industry. Finally, states should consider how to deliberately coordinate and streamline disparate recruitment strategies so as to maximize their collective impact.

For more information, look out for an invitation to a webinar discussing this paper, which will take place on January 9 at 3 pm ET and feature an in-depth look at Nebraskaâ€™s strategies for increasing access to industry experts.

Ashleigh McFadden, State Policy Manager

By admin in Advance CTE Resources, Publications, Research, Resources
Tags: Alternative Certification, CTE teachers, Employer Engagement, industry experts, New Skills for Youth, State of CTE

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