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Posts Tagged ‘Graduation Rates’

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Lower Dropout Rates for CTE Students in Nebraska

Thursday, April 5th, 2012

Addressing student truancy in Nebraska has become a high priority for state legislators. In the last year alone, almost 82,000 students missed more than 10 days of school and 23,000 missed 20 or more days. As the state works to improve its dropout and high school graduation rates, Career Technical Education (CTE) is proving to be an effective strategy for engaging students.

Matt Hastings, Data and Research Specialist with Nebraska Career Education, recently described how CTE is working in Nebraska. Though the data does not indicate why, Hastings said, “We see consistently lower levels of dropouts for career education students compared to Nebraska students as a whole.”

Hastings stated that the hands-on, meaningful experiences provided through CTE could be credited for a student’s decision to stay in school. Through a blend of rigorous academic and technical coursework, CTE students receive relevant knowledge and skills to prepare for college and careers.

Visit Netradio’s Web site to access an article and radio interview on CTE in Nebraska. To learn more about how CTE is working in your state, view the CTE State Success Map, and contribute your own example here.

Kara Herbertson, Education Policy Analyst

By admin in News, Research
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Report Finds Increasing High School Graduation Rates and Fewer “Dropout Factories”

Thursday, March 29th, 2012

A new report from America’s Promise Alliance finds that the national high school graduation rate has improved and fewer schools have been labeled “dropout factories,” or schools that graduate less than 60 percent of students on time.

The report, Building a Grad Nation: Progress and Challenge in Ending the High School Dropout Epidemic, states that the national graduation rate increased by 3.5 percent from 2001 through 2009 from 72 percent to 75.5 percent.

Texas, Florida, and Georgia had the most significant decrease in the number of “dropout factories” with a total of 238 schools in the three states no longer meeting the definition.

The report also highlighted Georgia’s efforts to address the high school dropout crisis. The state’s College and Career Academies (CCAs), charter schools that provide rigorous CTE curricula based on local labor market needs, were recognized as a model for increasing graduation rates through partnerships with business and industry. Many of the CCAs collaborate with businesses, such as the Georgia Power Company, to design Career Pathways in high-demand areas. Data on Georgia’s CCAs shows that:

Kara Herbertson, Education Policy Analyst

By admin in Research
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CTE in the News: Career-Tech Important Program in Real World

Friday, March 9th, 2012

As Tennessee moves forward with its strategies to bolster education and workforce development, successful CTE programs should continue to play a key role in the state’s efforts, said Tennessee Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey in a recent editorial featured in the Tennessean.

“For Tennessee to stay one of the most attractive economic engines in the Southeast, we must leave a place at the table for CTE,” Ramsey said.

In the last year, a total of 398,695 Tennessee students were enrolled in CTE courses, Ramsey noted. Further, over the last six years, CTE concentrators graduated at a higher percentage than the school-age population and CTE concentrators scored higher average averages in math and well as in reading and writing. The data comes from a new report by the Council for CTE.

Despite CTE’s demonstration of success, Ramsey said CTE programs have not received an influx of state funds in nearly 30 years. When making fiscal decisions during these tough economic times, it hopefully is apparent among most state leaders that an investment in CTE would provide the returns Tennessee needs.

Erin Uy, Communications & Marketing Manager

By admin in News, Public Policy
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CTE Month: CTE Success Map Highlights Top Programs

Tuesday, February 7th, 2012

NASDCTEc has launched the CTE Success Map, a collection of data from CTE schools and colleges that have demonstrated success in graduating students, sending students to college, and putting them on a path to earn postsecondary credentials.

CTE is working across the nation, enabling students and helping to close the skills gap. Visit the CTE Success Map and click on a state to see where CTE has been making strides in:

These data points help tell the CTE story and help us advocate for funding and policies that support your schools and colleges.

View examples from the CTE Success Map including:

Do you have CTE success to share? Complete our survey and we will add your school or college to our CTE Success Map.

View more ways to recognize CTE Month here.

Kara Herbertson, Education Policy Analyst

By admin in Research, Resources
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President Focuses on Education and Skills Training in State of the Union

Thursday, January 26th, 2012

In his State of the Union address last night President Obama called keeping the middle class alive “the defining issue of our time.” Throughout his speech, he set out proposals to foster an economy “built to last” predicated on education, a skilled workforce, high-paying jobs, energy independence and fairness that would help bolster the middle class.

The President highlighted the skills gap that exists in industries such as manufacturing, information technology and clean energy: “Growing industries in science and technology have twice as many openings as we have workers who can do the job.” In an effort to solve this problem, he called for a national commitment to train two million individuals with the skills they need to land a job, with a focus on partnerships between businesses and community colleges. The President is scheduled to release his FY13 budget on February 13. We hope that his commitment to address the skills gap and provide resources for unemployed individuals will be reflected in his proposal for Perkins Act funding.

President Obama also focused on the current job training system, saying that he wants “to cut through the maze of confusing training programs, so that from now on, people…have one program, one website, and one place to go for all the information and help they need.” His hope is that streamlining the system will get people back to work more quickly in the jobs that exist today, and better prepare them for the jobs of tomorrow. While he does not mention the Workforce Investment Act specifically, the program has been due for reauthorization since 2003 and has been top priority for the both the House and the Senate this session. Given the President’s mention of the workforce system, we are hopeful that this signals a desire to reauthorize WIA in the coming year.

The President also touched on other education issues such as high school dropouts, calling on states to require students to stay in school until graduation or until they turn 18. In terms of college access and affordability, the President urged Congress to keep student interest rates low and extend the tuition tax credit. He also asked institutions of higher education to keep costs down and was blunt in his commitment to making postsecondary education more affordable, saying, “If you can’t stop tuition from going up, the funding you get from taxpayers will go down.”

Nancy Conneely, Public Policy Manager

By admin in Legislation, Public Policy
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Secretary Duncan Commends CTE Center for Narrowing Skills Gap

Wednesday, January 18th, 2012

On a visit to Miami Valley Career Technology Center in Ohio last week, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan commended the school for its “innovation and creativity” in establishing strong connections with local businesses to prepare students for further education and careers. He stated that, “I am in schools two to three times a week all over the country, and I haven’t seen too many places like this.”

The Secretary’s remarks referred to the Center’s efforts to narrow the skills gap by working closely with local employers. One example of this is the strong relationship the school has formed with Caterpillar Logistics, a manufacturing and distribution company. Through collaboration with businesses, the school is able to identify and teach knowledge and skills that are of value to employers, and provide relevant training so that graduates will meet the needs of employers. To date, Caterpillar Logistics has brought on 250 Miami Valley graduates, and plans to take on 250 new hires this year.

Miami Valley’s success is also evident through its nearly 100 percent graduation rate. Many of the school’s graduates continue on to postsecondary education.

Similar achievements and connections to industry can be found in CTE programs across the nation. Beginning in February, stellar CTE programs will be highlighted on the NASDCTEc CTE Success Map. Members can log in and view the Success Map today!

Kara Herbertson, Education Policy Analyst 

By admin in News
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New Democrat Coalition Releases ESEA Framework

Tuesday, December 13th, 2011

The New Democrat Coalition, a group of moderate members of the House, released a framework for the reauthorization of ESEA. The framework stresses the need for a comprehensive approach to reauthorization, calling well-educated students “the foundation for a strong workforce, globally competitive businesses, and sustainable economic growth.”

Some of the principles outlined in the framework that are relevant to CTE include:

“These principles will guide us in promoting best practices learned from schools, including charter and magnet schools, and replicate in other schools for positive outcomes. We need to encourage non-traditional approaches to education, such as partnerships with the private sector, to encourage innovation in education. We then need to find successful ways to disseminate this information to discover innovative ways to improve educator effectiveness for better student outcomes.” said Rep. Susan Davis (CA), New Democrat Education Task Force Co-Chair.

Nancy Conneely, Public Policy Manager

 

By admin in Legislation
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NASDCTEc Signs on to Extended Graduation Brief

Friday, August 19th, 2011

NASDCTEc has signed on in support of a new brief that encourage states’ use of extended-year graduation rates in adequate yearly progress calculations and incorporation of these rates into their state accountability frameworks/systems. Written by the American Youth Policy Forum, Gateway to College National Network, and the National Youth Employment Coalition, this brief, Making Every Diploma Count: Using Extended-Year Graduation Rates to Measure Student Success, aims to educate and inform states about the flexibilities that currently exist to use extended-year graduation rates as a policy mechanism to encourage schools and districts to continue to work with over-age, under-credit students.

These rates provide for the inclusion of students who take longer than four years to earn a high school diploma, but who successfully earn their credential in five or six years. Extended-year graduation rates allow states to document increases in graduation rates compared to the traditional four-year measure and highlight the successful work of schools and districts to get struggling and out-of-school students back on-track to graduation. The brief encourages states to calculate five- and six-year high school graduation rates to ensure that schools’ and districts’ efforts to serve struggling and off-track students are recognized and not discouraged.

The brief recommendations the following:

• In addition to four-year graduation rates, states should gather and report extended-year graduation rates.
• States should use extended year graduation rates for purposes of accountability.
• States should use extended graduation rates to create incentives for schools and districts to serve struggling and off-track students.

By admin in Publications
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Legislative Update: Deficit Committee, Bills Introduced

Friday, August 12th, 2011

Congress Appoints Deficit Reduction Committee

The Budget Control Act, which raised the debt ceiling earlier this month, requires Congress to select a bipartisan, bicameral committee to reduce the deficit by $1.5 trillion. Congressional leaders this week revealed their picks:

Senate

House

The co-chairs are Sen. Murray and Rep. Hensarling. The committee has until December 23 to vote on a final bill to reduce the deficit. If the committee cannot come up with $1.5 trillion in cuts or revenue, that will trigger $1.2 trillion in across the board spending cuts that will go into in 2013.

Because of the sheer number of cuts that need to be made to reduce the deficit, there is great potential for Perkins funding to be affected. And if we are not a part of the committee’s cuts, we may be impacted by the across the board cuts that will go into effect if the committee does not meet its $1.5 trillion target.

We encourage you to reach out to your members of Congress, but the committee members in particular, to ask them to preserve Perkins funding. Given that Perkins was cut in FY 2011, we know that we are vulnerable. Now is the time to tell Congress how those cuts and future cuts will hurt CTE students and programs.

Bills Introduced:

Hire, Train, Retain Act
Rep. Marcia Fudge (OH) introduced H.R. 2742, Hire, Train, Retain Act of 2011, which would provide tax incentives to employers for providing training programs for jobs specific to the needs of the employers.

METRICS Act
Senator Richard Blumenthal, Richard (CT) introduced S. 1464, Measuring and Evaluating Trends for Reliability, Integrity, and Continued Success (METRICS) Act of 2011. This bill is designed to help states implement integrated statewide education longitudinal data systems by awarding grants to state educational agencies.

Early Intervention for Graduation Success Act
Senator Lisa Murkowski (AK) introduced S. 1495, Early Intervention for Graduation Success Act in an effort to curb dropout rates. This bill would amend ESEA to direct competitive grants to states and school districts with the lowest graduation rates for school dropout prevention activities.

By admin in Legislation
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Legislative Update: House Floor Schedule for FY 2012 Appropriations, House Approves Protecting Academic Freedom in Higher Education Act, Committee Report Filed on ESEA Setting New Priorities in Education Act, Bills Introduced

Friday, June 17th, 2011

House Floor Schedule for FY 2012 Appropriations
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (VA) released the House floor schedule for appropriations bills. According to the schedule, Labor, Health and Human Services and Education appropriations will be considered as follows:

• July 26th: Subcommittee markup
• August 2nd: Full committee markup
• Week of September 19th (tentative): Floor

Committee Report Filed on ESEA “Setting New Priorities in Education Act”
A committee report has been filed on H.R. 1891, the Setting New Priorities in Education Act, which would eliminate ineffective or unnecessary education programs to restore focus on successful federal elementary and secondary education programs for disadvantaged students. The report is filed under House Report 112-106.

House Approves Protecting Academic Freedom in Higher Education Act
Rep. Virginia Foxx (NC) recently introduced H.R. 2117, the Protecting Academic Freedom in Higher Education Act, which would repeal unnecessary credit hour and state authorization regulations to protect institutes and students from excessive burdens.. The House Committee on Education and the Workforce approved the legislation this week, passing the Committee by a vote of 27 to 11.

Bills Introduced:

Bill to Develop and Support 21st Century Readiness Initiatives
Sen. Kay Hagan (NC) introduced S. 1175, a bill that would develop and support 21st century readiness initiatives to help students acquire skills for problem solving, critical thinking, communication, creativity, teamwork, and innovation.

Graduation Promise Act
Sen. Jeff Bingaman (NM) introduced S. 1177, the Graduation Promise Act (GPA), the first in a package of bills that aims to reform America’s schools by raising academic standards and helping students to achieve them. The GPA would direct funding towards underperforming high schools with the goal of increasing graduation rates and student achievement. In his press release, Bingaman points out that about 25 percent of low-income students in the United States attend high schools, yet less than 10 percent of federal funding for disadvantaged students goes to high schools. The GPA aims to improve this.

By admin in Legislation, Public Policy
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