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Posts Tagged ‘Teacher Pipeline’

House Moves Forward on FY25 Proposals | Legislative Update

Friday, June 7th, 2024

Congress returned to Capitol Hill this week for a new work period this month. Lawmakers in the House have been focusing attention this week on appropriations legislation for the upcoming fiscal year while the Senate continues to consider updates to federal investments in workforce development. 

House Advances FY25 Funding Measures

Both chambers of Congress returned to Capitol Hill this week, with lawmakers in the House focusing much of their attention advancing federal fiscal year 2025 (FY25) funding measures for a subset of the dozen individual spending bills that compose the entire federal budget. Nearly half of these spending measures have been marked up by appropriations leaders and are expected to be considered by the full appropriations committee and House chamber in the near future. As a reminder, Labor-HHS-ED funding bill—legislation that provides funding for the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education (CTE) Act (Perkins V) and other education and workforce development priorities—is slated to be considered at the end of June. As these efforts continue to take shape, Advance CTE will continue to advocate for a robust investment in CTE via Perkins V’s state grant program. 

NCES Releases Condition of Education Report

Late last week, the U.S. Department of Education’s (ED) National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) published its “Condition of Education” report– an annual publication highlighting a wide range of data and emerging trends from early education, K-12, and postsecondary levels. The annual report examines key developments in education over time throughout the education continuum. This year’s report highlighted CTE and found that students pursuing CTE courses were more likely to go to postsecondary education or training and earn credentials of value in shorter periods of time. In addition, the report highlighted significant challenges in CTE regarding shortages of qualified teachers with 31% of respondents indicating difficulties in filling open positions for these programs. 

Read the full report 

Senate to Hold WIOA Hearing Next Week

Next week the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing titled “The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act: Supporting Efforts to Meet the Needs of Youth, Workers, and Employers.” The hearing is expected to focus on potential updates to the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) as HELP Committee leaders continue to discuss the prospects of reauthorizing the primary federal investment in workforce development.

Read more information about the hearing 

House Agriculture Committee Votes on Federal Nutrition Programs

The House Agriculture Committee held a nearly 12 hour markup recently to consider the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024—legislation that would reauthorize the nation’s Farm Bill for another five year period. The measure includes major components of the Creating Access to Rural Employment and Education for Resilience and Success (CAREERS) Act (H.R. 7015)– legislation that Advance CTE endorsed earlier this year. The $1.5 trillion legislative package was advanced by the committee on a slight bipartisan basis by a margin of 33-21, with four Democrats crossing party lines to vote in favor of the proposal. The bill is expected to be further considered by the House, as the Senate considers its own proposal led by Senate Agriculture Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-MI). The current Farm Bill authorization expires this October.

Steve Voytek, Policy Advisor 

By Stacy Whitehouse in Public Policy
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State CTE Policy Update: Building Diverse Educator Pipelines in CTE

Monday, January 23rd, 2023

Teacher preparation programs are an important aspect of building an educator pipeline. While recruiting and certifying CTE teachers may vary slightly depending on the state, one fact is true among all school districts and education platforms: learners, regardless of their own backgrounds, benefit from diversity among their teachers. With CTE’s pivotal role in providing real-world connections to career pathways, a diverse staff of educators elevates learners’ exposure to different approaches and links to future careers. As state directors dedicated to creating CTE Without Limits, ensuring the recruitment, retention and support of a diverse and culturally competent workforce is critical to ensuring each learner feels welcome and secure in their CTE ecosystem. The following are some ways to build a strategy that will help to diversify your CTE workforce.

Make Teaching Affordable

Teaching is not a high-wage job. In fact, there are some states who are losing the ability to use Perkins funding to subsidize their teacher training programs due to the historic low wage of teachers. CTE instructors, most of whom are often career changers coming from industries with higher pay are often hesitant for this very reason. While potential ways to improve teacher compensation have been addressed in this blog, there are other ways to mitigate some of the financial burdens teachers face. Student loan forgiveness and scholarship programs are attractive solutions that can be made through policy. Additionally, stipends and scholarships for teacher preparation programs can reduce some of the financial burdens on potential teachers and attract talent that may otherwise be hesitant to join.

Diversify the Applicant Pool

One of the best ways to attract diverse talent is to create “grow your own” teacher programs. This allows states to ensure they are hiring talent that reflects their learner population and makes targeted recruiting a more manageable task. Including people of color in the hiring and recruiting (and marketing) process can also help draw a more diverse pool of CTE instructor talent. Additionally, it is necessary to ensure that districts and those with hiring power are trained in racial bias mitigation and are intentional in their recruitment. Teacher preparation programs should also look to be intentionally inclusive of students from diverse backgrounds.

Build Inclusive School Environments

Creating state standards for leadership focused on creating inclusive school environments is a significant step state CTE directors can take to improve the cultures of their CTE programs. Principals and teachers can have mandatory in-service training that provides them with the strategies needed to create and sustain inclusive work environments and diverse recruitment, hiring and retainment strategies. Instructor and administrative preparation programs can also build those strategies into their curriculums.

If you would like to learn more about this subject:

Advance CTE is currently recruiting educators of color for a focus group on diversifying the CTE field. If you are interested, please sign up here.

Brice Thomas, Policy Associate

By Jodi Langellotti in Public Policy
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Legislative Update: Lawmakers Continue to Negotiate FY23 While House Examines Youth Apprenticeships 

Friday, September 16th, 2022

This past week, lawmakers continued to negotiate federal fiscal year 2023 (FY23) funding while the House hosted a hearing about youth apprenticeship’s role in supporting small businesses. Elsewhere, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) made a number of announcements this week related to teacher preparation, assessments and more. 

Congress Negotiates a Continuing Resolution

As shared previously, federal legislators recently returned to Capitol Hill for a three-week work period before the upcoming midterm elections. While there are many legislative items lawmakers hope to attend to during this time, providing more time to complete the federal fiscal year 2023 (FY23) appropriations process is the top priority at the moment. As a reminder, the federal fiscal year begins on October 1. Both the House and Senate have thus far been unable to find agreement on the 12 individual spending bills that fund federal operations and programs. Consequently, Congress is currently quickly negotiating a continuing resolution (CR)—short-term legislation that will extend current fiscal year 2022 (FY22) funding levels for a specific period of time.

At present, the CR will likely extend current FY22 funding levels for all federal operations and programs, like the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins V), until sometime after the midterm elections. Lawmakers are currently debating whether to include a variety of other provisions, including supplemental funding for the natural disasters, the war in Ukraine, and environmental permitting to this legislation. These talks are fluid and expected to continue through next week. Advance CTE expects a CR to extend current FY22 funding levels until mid-December. As these talks continue, our organization will continue to advocate for robust investments in Perkins V, including other federal Career Technical Education (CTE) funding priorities.

House Hosts Youth Apprenticeship Hearing

On September 15, the House Small Business Subcommittee on Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Workforce Development held a hearing entitled “Back to School, Back to Startups: Supporting Youth Apprenticeship, Entrepreneurship, and Workforce Development.” The hearing focused on the impact the pandemic has had on small businesses and strategies to help these firms identify and hire the talent they need to be successful. The hearing highlighted testimony from Noel Ginsburg, the Founder and CEO of CareerWise, a national organization focused on promoting youth apprenticeship, as well as Shani Watkins, the Director of West Sounds Technical Skills Center, an area technical center located in Bremerton, Washington. 

During the hearing lawmakers explored a wide variety of innovative workforce development strategies targeted at youth that can provide important on-ramps from secondary  education into the labor force. Watkins in particular highlighted the importance of CTE for ensuring youth workforce success and emphasized the critical need to foster meaningful partnerships with employers. The hearing also highlighted the urgent need to expand federal financial aid and support for these programs and wider efforts. An archive of the hearing can be found here. 

ED Announces New Teacher Grants

On Monday, September 12, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced $25 million in new awards intended to support teacher recruitment, retention, diversification, and preparation efforts. The Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP) grant program’s latest round of grants will make 22 five-year investments in several institutions of higher education intended to fund teacher preparation programs in high-needs communities throughout the country. More information on the announcement can be found here.

ED Issues Assessment Letter

On Tuesday, September 13, ED circulated a Dear Colleague letter to Chief State School Officers regarding the upcoming release of state assessment data from the 2021-22 school year. In anticipation of these releases, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona reiterated best practices for using and interpreting assessment data. The letter goes on to encourage states to use these results in a “constructive” manner. The letter can be found here.

DOJ to Appeal Title IX Ruling

Also on Tuesday, September 13, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that they intend to appeal a recent federal court ruling temporarily blocking the Biden Administration from implementing its recently issued proposed rules to help schools, districts and institutions implement the requirements of Title IX. These rules have recently been available for public comment which garnered nearly 146,000 individual pieces of feedback. The full appeal can be found here.

ED Releases Title IV-A Guidance

Yesterday, September 15, ED released new guidance to implement the recently passed Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA)—legislation intended to help reduce gun violence in schools. Among the provisions contained in the BSCA was an additional, supplementary investment of $1 billion in ESSA’s Title IV-A Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grant program. These one-time supplementary funds are intended to help schools and districts provide for safer and healthier learning environments for students and have additional requirements for their use. The guidance provides important details regarding how these funds—which were released yesterday— can and should be spent for these purposes. Read the letter here.

Steve Voytek, Policy Advisor

By Stacy Whitehouse in Public Policy
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Legislative Update: Lawmakers Return to Capitol Hill as Advance CTE Hosts Assistant Secretary Amy Loyd and the Biden Administration Works to Address Teacher Shortages

Friday, September 9th, 2022

Over the last two weeks, lawmakers have returned from their annual August recess to address upcoming federal funding deadlines. Meanwhile, Advance CTE hosted Assistant Secretary Dr. Amy Loyd to launch its fall policy conversation series while the Biden Administration makes a series of announcements related to teacher shortages, new U.S. Department of Education (ED) nominees, and more. 

Lawmakers Return to Capitol Hill

Federal legislators have been in home states and districts since early August as part of Congress’ annual summertime recess. This week lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill and are facing a fast-approaching deadline at the end of the month to pass federal fiscal year 2023 (FY23) funding legislation. For most of the year, Democrats and Republicans have been unable to find consensus on the 12 individual spending bills that compose the federal government and which are due annually by September 30. Given this lack of agreement, lawmakers have re-focused their attention this week on negotiating shorter-term, stop gap funding legislation, known as a Continuing Resolution (CR). This legislative measure will simply extend current FY22 funding levels for all federal operations and programs, like the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins V), for a specified amount of time. 

At the moment, lawmakers are negotiating the length of time this CR will cover and what, if any, additional provisions—beyond the extension of FY22 funding levels—will be included. Advance CTE currently anticipates that this CR will last until after the upcoming midterm elections set for November. As these talks continue, Advance CTE will continue to advocate for robust investments in Perkins V’s basic state grant program and other programs of interest to the Career Technical Education (CTE) community. 

Advance CTE Hosts Discussion with Assistant Secretary Dr. Amy Loyd 

On Wednesday, September 6, Advance CTE’s Executive Director Kimberly Green hosted Dr. Amy Loyd — the recently confirmed Assistant Secretary for the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) at ED — for a wide ranging discussion regarding her pathway to CTE and her plans for the office’s future direction. The conversation highlighted Dr. Loyd’s unique career and educational experiences, which began in New Mexico, and her wider work on CTE policy as a state, local, and national leader. In particular, Loyd emphasized the importance of culturally responsive instruction and the need for CTE programs to reflect the communities they serve. A recording of the discussion can be found here. 

President Biden Nominates New Head for RSA

Late last Friday, September 2, President Biden announced his intent to nominate Danté Quintin Allen to be the next Commissioner of the Rehabilitative Services Administration (RSA) at ED. The RSA is tasked with supporting states to deliver vocational rehabilitation and related services for individuals with disabilities to ensure they are able to find and sustain employment, live independently, and integrate with the wider community, and fully participate in the labor market. Allen currently serves as the Executive Director for CalABLE—a statewide program in California that provides savings and investment plans for individuals with disabilities. More information on the announcement can be found here. A date for further consideration in the Senate of Allen’s nomination has not yet been set. 

Cardona Announces Back-to-School Tour

On Wednesday, September 7, the U.S. Department of Education announced that the department will be undertaking a back-to-school bus tour beginning next week. U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, First Lady Jill Biden, Second Gentleman Douglass Emhoff, and a number of other high-ranking USED officials will be participating in the week-long, multistate bus tour which will includes stops in Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Starting September 12, the tour is intended to highlight a number of the Administration’s efforts to support states, schools, students and families during the new school year. More about the tour can be found here. 

Biden Administration Announces Additional Actions to Address Teacher Shortages

Late last month,  the Biden Administration announced a series of additional actions aimed at addressing persistent nationwide teacher shortages. These efforts include new partnerships with the private sector to help increase awareness about career pathways leading to the teaching profession and the creation of new jobs portals to help facilitate connections between prospective candidates and teaching opportunities. In addition, the Administration highlighted  “Grow Your Own” CTE programs to prepare the next generation of educators as a key recommended strategy for more states and communities to consider when addressing teacher shortages. 

Notably, the Administration also announced that the next round of apprenticeship expansion grants—  $100 million in discretionary funding provided to DOL to promote and expand registered apprenticeship programs for priority populations and targeted economic sectors—will focus primarily on programs providing pathways to the teaching profession. More on this announcement can be found here.  

DOL Announces New Community College Grants 

Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) unveiled the most recent round of Strengthening Community Colleges Training (SCCT) grants. Administered by DOL’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA), these grants are intended to bolster community colleges’ ability to deliver high-quality skills development programs that lead to in-demand industries and related careers. “These grants are designed to empower community colleges to ensure their curriculum meets the needs of employers in their communities and equips workers with valuable skills,” U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh stated as part of this announcement. More information on these grants, including the most recent awardees, can be found here. 

Steve Voytek, Policy Advisor

By Stacy Whitehouse in Public Policy
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Legislative Update: Secretary Cardona Testifies and Makes State CTE Visit

Friday, May 6th, 2022

Over the last two weeks U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona testified before House appropriators while also leading several efforts to celebrate the importance of teachers and promote much-needed reforms to the Pell Grant program. Elsewhere, lawmakers introduced legislation to attract and retain a robust teacher workforce while the U.S. Secretary of Labor and the Chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee highlighted the importance of workforce development and apprenticeship programs. 

Secretary Cardona Testifies on FY23 Budget

On Thursday, April 28, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies regarding the Biden Administration’s 2023 federal fiscal year (FY23) funding requests for programs overseen by the U.S. Department of Education (ED). This hearing is part of wider, ongoing efforts in Congress to consider aspects of President Biden’s FY23 budget request released a few weeks ago. During his formal testimony, Secretary Cardona focused on the need to close opportunity and achievement gaps by investing more in educational programs, addressing student mental health needs, growing the educator workforce, and building creative on-ramps to more affordable college and career pathways. During the hearing, lawmakers discussed a wide range of issues, including STEM education and lingering stigmas attached to “skilled trades” instruction. An archived webcast of the hearing, including Secretary Cardona’s testimony, can be found here. 

Although the Carl D. Perkins Act’s (Perkins V) basic state grant program was not mentioned explicitly during this hearing, House CTE Caucus co-chairs Reps. Langevin (D-RI) and Thompson (R-PA) successfully led a Dear Colleague letter calling for robust funding for this program ahead of Cardona’s appearance. Nearly a third of Representatives in the House, 127, signed on in support of this letter– a reflection of the strong support the program has in Congress. 

Lawmakers Introduce RAISE Act 

Coinciding with national Teacher Appreciation Week, Sen. Booker (D-NJ) and Rep. Schiff (D-CA) introduced the Respect, Advancement, and Increasing Support for Educators (RAISE) Act– legislation that, if enacted, would provide a sliding scale of refundable annual tax credits specifically for teachers. Tax credit amounts would be determined by school poverty levels where teachers work. Importantly, CTE instructors who meet state certification requirements would be eligible for up to $15,000 in tax credits. Advance CTE is proud to endorse this legislation and urges its swift enactment to help address persistent teacher shortages across the country. More information on the proposal can be found here. 

Cardona Promotes Pell Grant Modernization 

Secretary Cardona attended an event celebrating Second Chance Month last week, where ED announced it had invited 73 postsecondary institutions to participate in the third round of the Second Chance Pell Experiment– an effort that expands access to Pell grants for incarcerated individuals. During this event Secretary Cardona also expressed support for the expansion of the Pell Grant program for high-quality short-term CTE programs. As a reminder, lawmakers in Congress are debating whether to include a short-term Pell Grant program provision as part of wider conference negotiations over economic competitiveness legislation. Recently the Senate held a series of procedural votes to formally begin this negotiation process. Advance CTE has continued to advocate in favor of this change which is modeled after legislation long sponsored by Sens. Kaine (D-VA) and Portman (R-OH). 

ED Celebrates Teacher Appreciation Week 

This week commemorates Teacher Appreciation Week—a time to honor the contribution of teachers nationwide. As part of these efforts,. Secretary Miguel Cardona kicked off the week with a visit to Richmond, Virginia to tour high school and postsecondary CTE programs with Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA). The event also included a visit to Richmond’s Teacher Residency Program which aims to attract and retain teachers in high-needs subject areas. Later in the week, Cardona hosted a roundtable further celebrating teachers and the invaluable contributions that they make each day. At this event, the Secretary discussed a public service loan forgiveness waiver announced last fall aimed at discharging student debt carried by eligible teachers. 

Encourage Lawmakers to Join CTE Caucuses 

In conjunction with the House and Senate CTE Caucuses, Advance CTE and ACTE are working to encourage Senators and Representatives over the next several weeks to join their respective CTE Caucuses, if they have not done so already. To find out if your Members of Congress have joined their respective Caucus, you can review House and Senate membership lists. Membership in these caucuses is an important way for lawmakers to signal their support for CTE and the millions of learners across the country who enroll in these programs. To encourage your Senator or member of Congress to join, click here and scroll down to the request form corresponding to your needs.

Odds & Ends 

 

Steve Voytek, Policy Advisor

By Stacy Whitehouse in Public Policy
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Strengthening the Teacher Workforce through Talent Management Pipeline Strategies

Friday, November 4th, 2016

teacher talent pipelinesTalk to any rural district about challenges facing their school system and they’re likely to cite a teacher shortage. Recruiting and retaining high quality educators who are equipped to meet the demands of a 21st century classroom is one of the most pressing challenges the American education system faces today, affecting communities of all sizes and geographies. Crucially, Career Technical Education (CTE) classrooms – which demand highly-skilled teachers – are struggling to fill open positions.

A new report from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation (USCCF), released this week, examines teacher recruitment practices from school districts in Arizona and finds that many schools struggle to find teachers that are adequately prepared to support the diversity of student needs. Part of this preparation gap is due to the lack of formal systems to communicate teacher supply needs and build pathways into the classroom. Recognizing parallels with other industry workforce shortages, USCCF developed a set of recommendations for school districts to expand the pool of quality teachers through a talent pipeline management strategy. Recommendations include:

These strategies aim to improve the quality and supply of the teaching workforce by streamlining the talent pipeline and increasing avenues of communication and collaboration from the preparation to the recruitment stage. In regions where teacher workforce gaps exist, states should consider strategies to reach potential teachers earlier in the pipeline and expand pathways into the profession.

Promising News for College Promise

In his 2015 State of the Union address, President Obama called on Congress and the states to provide tuition free community college for students in the U.S. This proposal was inspired in part by the Tennessee Promise program, which provides last-dollar scholarships to eligible students in the state. In the time since then, free community college programs have expanded significantly, encompassing a total of 150 programs across 37 states. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania recently developed a web-based platform that maps and details each of these programs. Additionally, the College Promise Campaign — a national, non-partisan initiative to research and advocate for Promise programs — released its 2016 annual report, profiling pioneer and emerging programs across the states. One example is the Oakland Promise program, which aims to reach back to early learning years in order to create a college-going culture and provide college and career advising supports throughout the K-12 education system. Students who qualify for the scholarship program can receive up to $16,000 towards their postsecondary education.

On a related note, the College Board released its annual “Trends in College Pricing Report” and found that in 2016-17, the average net tuition and fees paid by two-year college students was $920 less than before the Great Recession (though costs have increased since 2011-12). Over roughly the same period, state and local appropriations for higher education declined 9 percent.

Odds and Ends

talent shortage surveyShort on Talent. Manpower Group’s 2016/17 Talent Shortage Survey reports the highest global talent shortage since 2007, largely in the skilled trades, IT and sales industries. As a result, more than 50 percent of surveyed employers are training and developing existing staff in order to fill open positions.

Data Linkages. All 50 states plus D.C. have the ability to connect data between systems — but only 17 (plus D.C.) have a full P20W system. That’s according to the Education Commission of the States’ 50-state comparison of statewide longitudinal data systems.

For the Equity Toolbox. The National Skills Coalition released a set of five policy toolkits with resources and recommendations for adopting and aligning policies to expand equitable access to training, credentials and careers. Toolkits include stackable credentials and integrating education and training, among others.

Standards for CBE. C-BEN, a coalition of more than 30 colleges offering competency-based education (CBE) programs, released draft quality standards for CBE. The standards will be finalized early next year and focus on eight areas, including clear, measurable, meaningful and complete competencies and credential-level assessment strategy with robust implementation.

Austin Estes, Policy Associate

By admin in Research, Resources
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