South Carolina « Advance CTE Blog

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
Tags: Access and Equity, Apprenticeships, Colorado, CTE instruction, Data Analysis, Delaware, Hawaii, South Carolina, state policy

Getting to Know the 2024-2025 Advance CTE – ECMCF Fellows (Part 4)

Friday, September 20th, 2024

Advance CTE and ECMC Foundation are excited to introduce the Fellows of the third 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.

Over the last few days, this blog series has introduced 15 of the 20 Fellows participating in the third cohort of emerging leaders from across 16 states and one U.S. territory. The remaining five Fellows will be introduced in this final blog of this series.

Willie Thompson is a South Carolina native born in Sumter SC. Willie is married with two young boys. He has a Bachelor of Science in Electronic Communications Engineering Technology. Willie has eight years of industry experience. Willie’s previous roles were quality technician field service engineer, and quality engineer. Willie has been at Greenville Technical College for six years and has been academic program director of mechatronics for the last three years. Willie is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Greenville Section. Willie also teaches the Creative Inquiry course where select students help solve real world advanced manufacturing projects in the THINKER Program alongside Clemson Automotive Engineering Grad students. Willie serves as a mentor for the African American Males Scholars Initiative (AAMSI) program. Willie loves supporting the students and helping students achieve their goals to become successful.

Dr. Brittani Williams is the director of advocacy policy & research at Generation Hope, a national nonprofit dedicated to ensuring student parents succeed, achieve economic mobility, and build wealth. She recently earned her doctorate. in educational leadership policy from Texas Tech University, with a dissertation focusing on Black women navigating four-year degree programs. With over 10 years of experience in higher education administration, policy, and research at the institutional, state, and federal levels, Dr. Williams is deeply committed to advancing high-quality and equitable CTE. Her work emphasizes the importance of CTE in supporting state leadership to develop policies, programs, and pathways that ensure career and college success for parenting learners.

Kellise Williamson is an experienced higher education professional, born and raised in Baltimore City. Her vision is to support high school students and adult learners in accessing postsecondary and career opportunities. Kellise currently serves as the postsecondary credit and P-TECH coordinator with the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) within the Office of College and Career Pathways. Her role includes serving as the statewide dual enrollment liaison, P-TECH program manager, and articulation agreement coordinator. Her experience includes providing leadership, management, and supervision to local education agencies and postsecondary institutions in support of dual enrollment and CTE programs. Kellise’s work supports practitioners by providing guidance with implementing dual enrollment programs under the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future. She earned her Master of Science in Higher Education Administration and Organizational Management from Drexel University and her Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from Pennsylvania State University.

Mike Woods, an influencer in CTE, has dedicated his career to enhancing educational opportunities for all students, including those with disabilities and non-traditional backgrounds. After teaching agricultural science and advising FFA programs in Pennsylvania, he joined the Association for Career and Technical Education® (ACTE) as the state association liaison for region one. This role helped him build a vast network of CTE partners in the Northeast and connect with the CTE Technical Assistance Center (CTE TAC) of New York and Successful Practices Network. Currently, as the director of the CTE TAC of New York, Mike and his team focus on providing high-quality professional learning opportunities for CTE administrators, faculty, and staff across New York State. A firm believer that representation matters, his efforts emphasize diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), aiming to empower educators and improve CTE for all students in secondary and postsecondary career pathways.

Kelly Zinck is the education team research analyst at the Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC), Office of Community Colleges and Workforce Development (CCWD). In this role, she manages data for both the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Title II and CTE Perkins programs, ensuring accurate, timely, and transparent federal reports and administering the Title II performance-based funding model. Kelly is committed to empowering collaborative partners by providing the tools and knowledge necessary to enhance program effectiveness and promote equitable opportunities. She provides technical assistance and professional development responsive to program needs, tailored to individual expertise, and aligned with statewide objectives. Kelly’s approach to data is guided by her dedication to data equity and literacy. She strives to translate complex data into meaningful and actionable insights, fostering a culture of data-driven decision-making among colleagues and collaborative partners. Kelly holds a master’s degree in public policy.

To learn more about the Fellowship, the Fellows of Cohort 3, and the alumni of the Fellowship, please visit https://careertech.org/what-we-do/initiatives/postsecondary-state-cte-leaders-fellowship/

By Layla Alagic in Achieving Equitable and Inclusive CTE
Tags: District of Columbia, ECMCF Fellows, Maryland, New York, Oregon, postsecondary cte, South Carolina

Advance CTE 2024 Spring Meeting Sponsor Blog – Gold Sponsor American Student Alliance | Using CTE to Create Innovative Career Exploration Programs That Prepare All Learners for Their Futures

Thursday, April 11th, 2024

The views, opinions, services and products shared in this post are solely for educational purposes and do not imply agreement or endorsement by Advance CTE, nor discrimination against similar brands, products or services not mentioned.

In recent years, middle school career exploration has gained traction as a foundational element of Career Technical Education (CTE). As many State CTE Directors and leaders know, the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins V), signed into law in July 2018, for the first time permitted Perkins funding to be used on career exploration programming as early as fifth grade. Here are four strategic actions that states can take to expand and enhance career exploration programs that prepare learners for postsecondary education and career success, based on a recent nationwide study of middle school career exploration programs, commissioned by American Student Assistance® (ASA).

Clearly define middle school career exploration and ensure a unified definition is adopted across relevant agencies and partners, including K-12, postsecondary, workforce, and relevant community-based organizations. A quality definition clearly defines middle school career exploration as a strategy that will help learners build their understanding of career interests and expand awareness and understanding of career opportunities, including through hands-on, applied experiences.

Once a clear definition is established, coordinate related and supporting efforts across state leadership, including departments driving academics and instruction, school counseling, CTE, and workforce training. Establish routines for collaboration between programmatic leaders who should be working together to support an overall vision for learner success with elements from each of their programs.

Integrate career exploration into your accountability and data collection systems. The last two years of high school are insufficient for dramatically increasing learners’ readiness for postsecondary and career opportunities. States can leverage program quality indicators in Perkins V and the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) state plans to formally set measurable goals for middle school career exploration, integrating them into existing college and career readiness (CCR) targets. States can also utilize their data collection systems to not only identify middle school career exploration participants and determine their positive placement within high school CTE programs, but also to ensure the quality of programming through evaluations or learner-based software platforms.

The report also highlights seven states that have distinguished themselves by instituting formal accountability mechanisms to influence district and school focus on meaningful career exploration. Although federal changes made through the reauthorization of ESSA allowed states to exercise flexibility in the indicators used to assess districts and schools, only two states—Pennsylvania and Georgia—have used this flexibility to include career exploration as a component in their federal accountability systems. Five additional states—Missouri, Kansas, Utah, South Carolina, and Michigan—have incorporated middle school career exploration into their state accountability mechanisms to assess the quality of delivery of career advisement services or activities.

Assess and address state policies that have the potential to limit learners’ ability to access different career exploration opportunities, including restricting CTE course enrollment by grade level or grade point average minimums.

It’s important to provide innovative and comprehensive career exploration that includes CTE. Only 33 states facilitate exploration via a course or set of courses that can serve as an on-ramp to a CTE pathway, according to ASA’s report. In contrast, the study highlights Utah’s College & Career Awareness Program, which requires a course that enables learners in grades 7-8 to explore high school, college, and career options based on individual interests, abilities, and skills. A team of CTE teachers, school counselors, and work-based learning coordinators teach the course and provide instruction in career development.

This well-rounded, effective approach equips all learners with the information they’ll need to understand their options and make informed, confident decisions about their futures.

Julie Lammers is Senior Vice President of Advocacy and Corporate Social Responsibility at American Student Assistance® (ASA), a national nonprofit changing the way kids learn about careers and prepare for their futures. Julie leads ASA’s philanthropic strategy as well as ASA’s advocacy efforts on both the federal and state level. Julie has been at ASA since March 2010.

By Layla Alagic in Advance CTE Spring Meeting
Tags: 2024 Spring Meeting Sponsors, Career Exploration, ESSA, Georgia, K-12, kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Perkins V, postsecondary, Program Quality, South Carolina, Utah, work-based learning, workforce

Funding Career Technical Education: Making State-Level Investments to Support Unique Elements of CTE

Tuesday, February 27th, 2024

Advance CTE released the 2023 State of CTE: An Analysis of State Secondary CTE Funding Models to highlight how states and the District of Columbia provide high-quality Career Technical Education (CTE) through various secondary CTE funding models and approaches. This blog, the fourth in a series, describes ways states invest in CTE programs through line item appropriations to support unique elements of CTE. This blog unveils new information not available in the State of CTE Funding release.

Overview

States make significant contributions to CTE programs through non-categorical, line item appropriations. Programmatic funding is distributed through periodic, legislatively established authorizations that are contingent on the availability of funds. States often place conditions on how money should be spent or used to promote state priorities. Additionally, a programmatic line item appropriation can be a recurring or a one-time investment. This blog highlights appropriations in industry-recognized credentials, Career Technical Student Organizations (CTSOs), career advisement, and educator preparation for fiscal year (FY) 2022. You can read more about categorical funding in the first blog in this series, Funding Career Technical Education: Secondary CTE Funding Basics.

These key state investments often pilot new programs, sustain existing programs, provide training to educators and professionals, or allow purchases for needed equipment and supplies. These investments certainly allow Local Education Agencies (LEAs) to scale and improve program quality, which aligns with Advance CTE’s vision for the future of CTE where continuous improvement is needed at all levels within systems.

Investing in Unique Elements of CTE

State funding through non-categorical, line item appropriations is incredibly common; 80 percent of state leaders surveyed in summer 2022 reported some line items for CTE programs.

Industry-recognized Credentials

Helping learners have access to and earn industry-recognized credentials can make them more competitive for future work and educational opportunities. States may offer reimbursements to the learner, educator, or local institutions for the completion of credentials. There are expenses associated with industry-recognized credentials such as exam fees, materials, books, or supplies.

Thirteen state leaders reported appropriations for industry-recognized credentials in FY 2022.

Indiana enacted H.B. 1001 and appropriated $200,000 to the Governor’s Workforce Cabinet to help cover the expenses for earning industry-recognized credentials.
Ohio appropriated $8 million for credential reimbursements to districts and $12.5 million for the Innovative Workforce Incentive Program through H.B. 110, which awards districts, community schools, STEM schools, and joint vocational school districts $1,250 for each credential a student earns from a list of priority credentials established by the Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation.

CTSOs

CTSOs allow learners to gain academic, workplace, and technical skills, build networks, and pursue leadership experiences that are needed to succeed in today’s global workforce.

Twelve state leaders reported line item appropriations for CTSOs, with appropriations ranging from $125,000 to $2.52 million per year in FY 2022. Most states allocated the funds toward one or more of the 11 CTSOs specifically authorized in the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins V).

South Carolina allowed funds through H. 4100 for a Career Cluster Partnership Program to be used for organizations’ statewide student competitions leading to national competitions.

Career Advisement

Offering comprehensive and connected career advisement systems helps all learners get the support and guidance to gain skills and explore future careers.

Nine state leaders reported line item appropriations for career advisement in FY 2022.

Connecticut’s Career Resource Network and Massachusetts’ My Career and Academic Plan (MyCAP) are two examples of career resources that have been funded across multiple years.

Other states have made one-time investments to help pilot programs and offerings.

North Carolina enacted S.B. 105 and appropriated $1.5 million in non-recurring funds to use a ScholarPath platform to create a 12th-grade transition pilot program. The program is an education planning and communication platform that helps learners and their families use O*NET data to connect and match learners to high-demand careers.

Other states focused on providing resources for professionals who help with career advisement and planning.

Arkansas appropriated $6.31 million toward a career coaches public school fund and program grants for career education services for students with special needs through H.B. 1167.

CTE Educator Preparation

There remains room for improvement in CTE educator preparation as only Georgia, Minnesota, and Virginia reported line item appropriations for CTE educator preparation in FY 2022.

Minnesota enacted S.F.No.9 and provided $400,000 to the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System for a CTE educator pilot project.
Virginia’s H.B.1800 appropriated $1.3 million for information technology (IT) industry certifications, which included the use of funds to increase the number of teachers in targeted CTE areas and teachers who receive training in IT and industry-recognized certifications.

You can learn more about identifying funding streams that support CTE educator diversity by reading Advance CTE’s State and Local Strategies for Diversifying the CTE Educator Workforce.

Recommendations

Programmatic line item appropriations are additional sources of funding to leverage to support important components of career preparation ecosystems. State leaders should take the following action steps:

Tell the story of state investment in CTE at the local level so LEAs can best leverage resources across funding streams. Although most states provide funding for secondary CTE, due to a lack of sufficient state-level accountability and data collection, states do not have lines of sight into how LEAs are using funds. Therefore, measuring the impact of state funding and advocating for evolution in either the structure or levels of state funding is challenging.
Review federal, state, and local funding sources, including the purpose, population it will serve, and eligibility requirements. Identify manuals or documents that explain the allowable use cases for the state funding streams. Explore how to braid the funding with other resources to get the most value for CTE investments.
Establish a sustainability plan to navigate shifts in funding. These programmatic line item appropriations may be one-time investments. Having a plan in place to offer continuity of high-quality CTE programs and services will ease the barrier of loss of funding.

Additional Resources

Be sure to read the other blogs in this series:

We also encourage you to watch the Exploring State Secondary CTE Funding webinar.

Dr. Laura Maldonado, Senior Research Associate

Dr. Laura Maldonado is a Senior Research Associate with Advance CTE. In this role, Laura directly supports Advance CTE’s policy research and technical assistance initiatives, data quality initiatives and internal data strategy.

By Layla Alagic in Public Policy, Research
Tags: Arkansas, Career Advisement, Career ClustersÂ®, Connecticut, cte funding, CTE Vision, CTE Without Limits, CTSOs, District of Columbia, Educator Talent Pipeline, FY 2022, Indiana, industry-recognized credentials, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Perkins V, South Carolina, State of CTE, Virginia

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:

The Achieving Inclusive CTE Goal-Setting Tool Supports Perkins Performance Indicators;

The Achieving Inclusive CTE Goal-Setting Tool is a Strong Companion in the Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment Process; and

The Achieving Inclusive Goal-Setting Tool Supports Data Tools Alignment.

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
Tags: Access and Equity, Alabama, CLNA, Colorado, Education Strategy Group, Indiana, Louisiana, New Skills ready network, Opportunity Gap, Perkins V, South Carolina, Utah

Advancing Equity in CTE: The Equity-Minded Leadership Framework

Tuesday, July 18th, 2023

This is the third blog in a series of four blogs about the Postsecondary State Career Technical Education Leaders Fellowship at Advance CTE – Sponsored by ECMC Foundation (Fellowship) and provides Career Technical Education (CTE) leaders with a framework by which to develop equitable CTE ecosystems, a foundational approach to ensuring all learners have access to high-quality programs aligned to in-demand high-wage occupations.

Overview

The Postsecondary State Career Technical Education Leaders Fellowship at Advance CTE – Sponsored by ECMC Foundation is anchored in the construct of “Equity-Minded Change Leadership” which posits that in order to transform education systems and engage the operations of and organizational structure of education institutions, a lens of “equity-mindedness” has to be clearly defined and used to evaluate learner outcomes. To clearly determine a challenge, adaptive leadership is necessary. The combination of the adaptive leadership theory and the concept of equity-mindedness is the foundation of equity-minded change leadership. Advance CTE chose this framework of equity-minded change leadership because it can support CTE leaders in fostering change and addressing the effects of inequitable systems on learners who have been underserved by education institutions.

Defining the Challenge

In order to transform or mitigate the effects of an inequitable system, the problem has to be clearly defined and categorized to determine the approach leaders should take and which solutions to apply to enhance learner success. “Adaptive challenges linked to differences in how students experience and benefit from education, systematically advantaging some while disadvantaging others, must be recognized and addressed to change education in ways that reduce and eventually resolve systemic equity gaps”.¹ Equity-minded change leadership. Seattle, WA: Bragg & Associates, Inc. Retrieved on April, 12, 2018.[/efn-note] As part of a mandatory real-world research project, each fellow identified a challenge, collected data to describe the scope of the challenge, applied a solution to the challenge, reported on the impact of the intervention, as well as offered recommendations using the adaptive change leadership theory.

A few examples of research topics explored include:

Advancing Equitable Access to CTE Programming in Illinois Correctional Facilities
The Impact of House Bill 444 on Career Technical and Agriculture Education Enrollment at Technical College System of Georgia Institutions
Eliminating the Educational Assessment Score Requirement for Enrollment in Postsecondary Education CTE Programs in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Exploring Equity Gaps and Achievement in the Agriculture Cluster at Rural Community Colleges in Northern California
Increasing the retention rate among African American Males at Greenville Technical College

Analyzing the Gap

How challenges are initially framed are important and essential to applying the appropriate solution to a problem. Equity-mindedness takes into account the current systems, policies, cultural norms and everyday practices being applied in an education institution or agency and evaluates the impact, intentional or unintentional, on individuals or groups. A starting point for the Fellows was to disaggregate data by the special populations and subgroups identified in the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins V) and analyze learner outcomes for a subset of this group. This analysis revealed gaps in access and outcomes, which were then mapped to root causes that likely require systemic interventions and remedies.

Building Solutions

Equity-minded change leadership offers state leaders an evidence-based approach to deliberately and systematically evaluate impact for learners. In doing so, it holds the potential to be a transformational lever to achieve, fully, the aspirations of CTE Without Limits. During the Fellowship, Fellows applied this framework to their real-world projects with much success. Fellows evaluated equitable access to CTE programming for justice-involved learners, Black males in South Carolina’s technical college system and women in rural communities, among others. CTE has always been a system that was required to be responsive to the needs of industry. As state leaders strive to build high-quality CTE systems, they must also be responsive to the needs of our nation’s increasingly diverse learner population.

Blog 1: Advancing Equity in CTE: Making the Case for Diverse Leadership Pipelines in Career Technical Education

Blog 2: Advancing Equity in CTE: A Review on the Current State of CTE Leadership Programs and Diversification Efforts

Blog 4: Advancing Equity in CTE: Administrative Policy Review – An Assessment of Equitable Practices

Dr. Kevin Johnson, Sr., Senior Advisor and Kimberly Green, former Executive Director

1. Bragg, D., & McCambly, H. (2018). Equity-minded change leadership. Seattle, WA: Bragg & Associates, Inc. Retrieved on April, 12, 2018.

By Layla Alagic in Advancing Equity in CTE
Tags: Access and Equity, California, CTE Leadership, CTE Without Limits, Georgia, Illinois, Perkins V, professional development, South Carolina, texas

Pushing the Limits: South Carolina

Thursday, May 25th, 2023

Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of Career Technical Education (CTE Without Limits) was released in March 2020 with the support of over 40 national organizations. In October 2021, Advance CTE launched a technical assistance opportunity called Advancing CTE Without Limits, which sought to support states in a project to coordinate systems, improve equity goals, strengthen policy or otherwise align with a CTE Without Limits principle. The year-long Advancing CTE Without Limits project ran from March 2022 to March 2023. This blog series shares the details, outcomes and lessons learned from projects across the three participating Pushing the Limits state teams – Colorado, Nebraska and South Carolina.

Project Focus

South Carolina has made it a priority to build and create aligned state systems that can support all CTE learners to move seamlessly through their education and career journey. To accomplish this vision, South Carolina approached their Advancing CTE Without limits work through the lens of Principle 1: Each learner engages in a cohesive, flexible and responsive career preparation ecosystem.

South Carolina focused on three main objectives:

Needs Assessment: Conduct a needs assessment to identify strengths and gaps within the state’s comprehensive local needs assessment (CLNA) process and outcomes (i.e., rural, middle school and students with disabilities).
Guidance and Support for Local Implementation of Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment (CLNA): Provide strategic collaboration, peer learning, training and support to implement a more strategic process around CLNA.
Building State Leader Data Literacy: Participate in professional development through Advance CTE’s Opportunity Gap Analysis to learn the root cause analysis process and get technical assistance to increase data literacy to address learner opportunity gaps.

Project Outcomes

Through monthly coaching and technical assistance provided by Advance CTE and Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) staff, South Carolina focused on evaluating its comprehensive local needs assessment process and outcomes with an emphasis on continuous improvement. Surveys were developed for state and local stakeholders to gather their input on both the implementation of the CLNA and the practical application of results of the CLNA process. Results of the survey showed that the CLNA process itself had been valuable, and it had served to strengthen connections across the career preparation ecosystem. However, at the state and local levels, stakeholders were not fully utilizing the information gleaned from the CLNA process. At the state level in particular, leaders from across agencies were not as engaged with each other around the CLNA results as the state desired.

This led the state CTE agency to start a quarterly interagency meeting to increase cross-sector team collaboration and support a high-quality career preparation ecosystem. To ensure sustainability of this strategic collaboration among their state agencies, South Carolina has put into practice a shared-ownership structure, where a different agency takes the lead in developing the shared agenda and leads the conversations. The first meeting included sharing results from the CLNA and the survey.

South Carolina also used the CLNA to inform the development of regional “snapshots” of data. The snapshots were published accompanied by a workshop and guidance to support the regional perspective being used in the state for the CLNA.

South Carolina has also designed differentiated support for the regions based on the needs assessment and survey of regions. These efforts have helped increase knowledge and staff capacity in the strategic use of data for the CLNA process.

The South Carolina team also participated in the Opportunity Gap Analysis workshop to learn to conduct root cause analysis, identify ways to address opportunity gaps for all learners and provide guidance to their local educators on how to build a comprehensive career preparation ecosystem.

Lessons Learned

One of the primary lessons learned through this project for South Carolina was to focus on making sure that the results of the CLNA are being used and not treated as a compliance exercise.

Recommendations

States are highly encouraged to look at CLNA results across all their eligible entities or regions and to identify common themes with a lens towards developing new policies, programs, technical assistance and professional development to help address the needs commonly identified across the state. In addition, states should make it common practice to provide technical assistance to local districts on how they can change their behaviors to better address needs.

Stay tuned for future updates about South Carolina’s continued efforts and for more information about other states’ Advancing CTE Without Limits projects. For more information about CTE Without Limits, visit https://careertech.org/without-limits.

To learn more about planning and implementing the principles of CTE Without Limits in your state, check out Pushing the Limits: A Roadmap for Advancing CTE Without Limits.

For more information on better using the CLNA to drive quality and equity within CTE systems and programs of study, read Lessons in Collaboration and Innovation: The Impact and Promise of the Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment.

Nithya Govindasamy, Senior Advisor

Alisha Hyslop, Senior Director of Public Policy, ACTE

By Jodi Langellotti in CTE Without Limits
Tags: career preparation, CLNA, Perkins, South Carolina, systems alignment

Legislative Update: Lawmakers Set to Meet Next Week on the Debt Ceiling

Friday, May 5th, 2023

This week lawmakers have continued to struggle to find consensus on how to lift the nation’s borrowing authority. In addition, significant legislation regarding postsecondary data and apprenticeships has been introduced in the House and Senate with implications for Career Technical Education (CTE) while the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced a new round of funding for state longitudinal data systems.

Lawmakers Agree to Meet Next Week on Debt Ceiling

Since the beginning of the 118th Congress lawmakers have struggled to agree on whether and how to raise the nation’s statutory borrowing authority (known informally as the debt limit or ceiling). In recent weeks, House Republicans have advanced legislation that would dramatically cut investments in domestic programs, including the primary federal investment made in CTE by the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, in exchange for raising the debt ceiling through the spring of 2024. However, the legislation contains several policy provisions, including these significant funding reductions, that congressional Democrats and President Biden have indicated they will not support.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), in a Dear Colleague letter this week, re-emphasized Democrats’ position that the debt ceiling should be extended without preconditions and shared plans to hold hearings in the coming weeks to draw attention to House Republicans’ recent legislative proposal.

As the impasse continued this week, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen wrote to lawmakers indicating that she expects the federal government to reach this limit as soon as June 1 of this year. Following her letter, President Biden invited top Congressional leaders from both parties and chambers to meet on May 9 to further negotiate a path forward.

As these efforts continue, Advance CTE will continue to closely monitor this situation and engage with partners to ensure that this process does not adversely impact federal investments in CTE as part of the ongoing federal fiscal year 2024 (FY24) budget and appropriations process.

House Lawmakers Introduce Apprenticeship Proposal

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers led by House Education and the Workforce Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Representative Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) introduced the National Apprenticeship Act of 2023— legislation that would comprehensively update, for the first time since 1937, the primary federal law that authorized registered apprenticeship programs (RAPs). If enacted, the law would codify and update existing RAP regulations while providing more than $3.8 billion in funding for the expansion of these, and related programs, for new occupations and a wider array of learners. Notable for the CTE community, the legislation would also formalize expectations for pre- and youth-apprenticeship programs which often serve as on-ramps from education into RAPs. More information about the bill can be found here, including a related factsheet and bill text. Advance CTE has endorsed and supported versions of this legislation in previous Congresses.

Elsewhere, the U.S. Department of Labor is hosting a listening session today, May 5, to receive input from the public regarding improvements and enhancements that can be made to the existing RAP system. More information regarding this opportunity can be found here.

Postsecondary Data Modernization Bill Reintroduced

Earlier this week a bipartisan group of Senators, led by Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Ranking Member Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and a bipartisan group of House lawmakers, led by Reps. Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) and Joe Wilson (R-SC), reintroduced the College Transparency Act (CTA). This legislation would make much needed reforms to the nation’s postsecondary data reporting system.

Advance CTE has long supported and endorsed this legislation, which would overturn an existing ban on the creation of a postsecondary student unit record system– a feature of current law that greatly diminishes the ability to understand postsecondary outcomes for many learners. The legislation would make several other data improvements that would increase transparency, improve the timeliness of this information and enhance the accuracy of the data that is collected from postsecondary institutions. These improvements would ensure that consumers, and the wider public, have better access to the data to make more informed decisions regarding postsecondary education and training. A factsheet on the bill can be found here and the full text, as introduced this week, can be found here.

In other postsecondary data developments, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) has recently updated the College Scorecard. This year’s scorecard now features four years of earnings data for program completers, includes new demographic data and expands data collection to cover graduate programs. A recent ED blog further details these updates here.

ED Announces New Rounds of SLDS Funding

Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced the availability of a new round of State Longitudinal Data System (SLDS) Grant program funding. These resources are intended to support states in developing and modernizing SLDSs to improve the utility of student-level data and develop more cohesive and comprehensive P-20W (early education through workforce) data systems. This latest round of grants will promote four priorities for proposals and projects that seek to improve data infrastructure and interoperability, college and career, school finance and those that support various state-level policy concerns. Only state education agencies may apply for funding and they must express interest in doing so by May 19. More on how to apply for funding can be found here.

In addition, the Data Quality Campaign, in partnership with Advance CTE and many other national organizations, released a new vision for transforming SLDSs this week, which includes actionable use case examples and provides policy suggestions for improving state data systems and promoting integrated, interoperable and linked data.

Steve Voytek, Policy Advisor

By Jodi Langellotti in Public Policy
Tags: 118th Congress, College Scorecard, College Transparency Act, debt ceiling, debt talks, House Education and the Workforce, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Postsecondary data, Postsecondary Education, RAP, Registered Apprenticeship, SLDS, South Carolina, Virginia, youth apprenticeship

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

Research Round-Up: Analyzing Enrollment Gaps in South Carolina’s Health Sciences Career Cluster

Monday, March 27th, 2023

Advance CTE’s “Research Round-Up” blog series features summaries of relevant research reports and studies to elevate evidence-backed Career Technical Educational (CTE) policies and practices and topics related to college and career readiness. This month’s blog highlights findings from a replicative study that explores educational inequity within the South Carolina CTE Health Science Career Cluster®. These findings align with Advance CTE’s vision for the future where each learner can access CTE without borders.

CTE programs offer learners the opportunity to build their awareness of different career options through exposure to activities that promote early exploration to more explicit skill development through work-based learning and apprenticeships. When well designed, these programs achieve robust and equitable enrollment that supports local and state economic growth by aligning with relevant and high-wage industries.

One recent dissertation, Educational Equity Patterns within South Carolina Career and Technical Education (CTE): A Replication Study, authored by Nickolas Sumpteris describes the outcomes of replicating a previous study by Fuller Hamilton. Fuller Hamilton analyzed STEM CTE enrollment patterns in Illinois by the racial/ethnic make-up and sexual characteristics of all students within the state. Since no CTE educational equity research exists in South Carolina, Sumpter sought to apply this same analysis to South Carolina’s CTE Health Science Career Cluster.

Fuller Hamilton et al. (2015) showed considerable differences in enrollment of male participants in the STEM career cluster compared to females and how these enrollment patterns correlated to other enrollment patterns within career clusters at the state and national levels. The original study also showed that all racial/ethnic groups in Illinois, except white students, were generally underrepresented in CTE programming. In addition, learners within marginalized groups identified as special populations under the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) experienced significant success in obtaining high-demand skills as a pathway to college or the career of their choice when enrolled in CTE courses.

The population represented in Sumpter’s paper consisted of high school learners enrolled in CTE within South Carolina during the 2018-19 school year. Secondary data was collected from a sample of 196,318 CTE enrollees and examined using descriptive analysis procedures. Sumpter’s research questions for this replication study were:

RQ1. What are South Carolina students’ CTE enrollment patterns, by sex, in both Health Science and Non-Health Science career clusters?
RQ2. What are South Carolina students’ CTE enrollment patterns, by race/ethnicity, in both Health Science and Non-Health Science career clusters?
RQ3. What are South Carolina students’ CTE enrollment patterns, by region, in both Health Science and Non-Health Science career clusters?
RQ4. What are South Carolina students’ CTE enrollment patterns, by socioeconomic status, in both Health Science and Non-Health Science career clusters?

Findings

The study in South Carolina found inconsistencies in the levels of equity that existed within race, ethnicity, and sex. These inequities were also present regarding regional effects and socioeconomic status.

Sumpter concluded with recommendations for future research:

Conduct a qualitative or mixed-method study to explain further the enrollment patterns of CTE programs in South Carolina.
Address the inequities in South Carolina by:
- improving the underrepresentation of educators by sex and race/ethnicity;
- recommending equity audits;
- examining access and availability of opportunities within CTE programs;
- encouraging all educators to actively adopt and advance the equity agenda from the original study.

Additional Resources

Analyzing the Health Science Career Cluster was significant because the healthcare field represents a major employer in South Carolina and is one of the largest growing fields nationally. By improving the enrollment of underrepresented groups in the Health Science Career Cluster, South Carolina can improve the quality of life and the labor market for its residents.

State, local CTE and career pathways leaders can learn more about effectively harnessing learner group data using Advance CTE’s Achieving Inclusive CTE Goal-Setting Tool. The Achieving Inclusive CTE Goal-Setting Tool strives to equip state and local CTE and career pathways leaders to approach program participation, outcomes data, and goal setting with an inclusive and representative lens. With this goal-setting tool, leaders can more intentionally plan to recruit, engage and support underrepresented learner groups to increase access to high-quality CTE programs and career pathways.