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Posts Tagged ‘youth apprenticeship’

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President Biden Publishes FY25 Budget Request

Friday, March 15th, 2024

This week President Biden formally released his annual budget request to Congress. Elsewhere lawmakers in the Senate explore youth apprenticeship programs. 

Biden Administration Sends FY25 Budget Request to Congress

On Monday, March 11, The Biden administration formally sent its fiscal year 2025 budget (FY25) request to Congress this week. The president asked for $82.4 billion for the U.S. Department of Education (ED)—roughly 4% over FY23 enacted funding levels or about $3.1 billion. Of note for the Career Technical Education (CTE) community, this request proposes a $40 million increase for the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act’s (Perkins V) basic state grant program. Advance CTE and the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) released a press statement after the publication of this budget applauding this aspect of the proposal, especially in light of the tight fiscal constraints. The budget is also seeking $32 million in additional funding to expand ED’s ongoing “Career Connected High School” competitive grant initiative– a component of the budget that Advance CTE has continued to raise concerns about. In addition, the ED portion of this FY25 budget is proposing greater investments in career-relevant dual and concurrent enrollment programs.

Elsewhere, the FY25 budget proposal includes a more modest request for the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), asking Congress for $13.9 billion overall, a roughly 2.3% increase over current funding levels. This part of the budget includes a new $8 billion “Career Training Fund” which would be funded on a mandatory basis over the next 10 years. Per the budget, this fund would provide “…up to $10,000 per worker to support the cost of high-quality, evidence-based training with additional funding for wrap-around supports.” More details regarding this aspect of the proposal are still forthcoming.

The release of the President’s FY25 budget request formally begins the wider federal budget and appropriations process. However, as Advance CTE has previously shared, Congress is still working to finalize full-year FY24 funding, including for Perkins V and other education and workforce development programs. Lawmakers must complete this process by March 22 or pass legislation extending appropriations on another short-term basis. Most recently this week, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) published a new analysis of the potential impact an across-the-board sequester cut (required by last year’s debt ceiling deal if full-year FY24 funding is not enacted by April 30 this year) would have on non-defense discretionary (NDD) programs like workforce development and education. The CBO is now estimating that this provision would have no impact on NDD programs, reducing a key point of leverage for some factions within Congress to oppose a full-year funding deal. 

As these efforts continue to take shape, Advance CTE and partners will continue to advocate for a strong investment in Perkins V as part of both FY24 and FY25 appropriations cycles. 

Senate Explores Youth Apprenticeship

On Tuesday, March 12, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee’s Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety held a hearing entitled, “Youth Apprenticeships: Building Partnerships, Strengthening Career Pathways.” The hearing featured testimony from several youth apprenticeship partners and examined how these programs are currently being implemented across the nation. Broadly, the hearing highlighted how youth apprenticeships and related pathways programs, including CTE, can provide learners with multiple options from K-12 education into postsecondary education and careers. Witnesses and Senators discussed strategies and approaches to expand these opportunities for more learners and ways to ensure program quality. In particular, Subcommittee Chairman John Hickenlooper (D-CO) and Subcommittee Ranking Member Mike Braun (R-IN) highlighted bipartisan legislation they recently co-sponsored that would broaden access to and funding for youth apprenticeship programs. A video webcast of the hearing and related testimony can be viewed on the Senate HELP webpage.

Steve Voytek, Policy Advisor 

By Layla Alagic in Public Policy
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The Top 5 Policy Trends in Connected to Career Technical Education in 2023

Wednesday, February 28th, 2024

February marks the release of the 2023 Year In Review, the 11th edition of this comprehensive report developed by Advance CTE in collaboration with the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE). Dedicated to providing a thorough overview of state Career Technical Education (CTE) policies, this report is valuable for state and local administrators and practitioners to better understand national trends and specific policy actions taken by individual state legislatures in 2023. 

The policy tracking conducted for 2023 Year In Review totaled 115 policies implemented in 47 states. The report highlights innovative and practical legislation and emphasizes common policy themes. Notably, clean and renewable energy emerges as a prominent focus among policymakers, reflecting the emerging workforce demands of this sector while highlighting the dynamic landscape of CTE. Building upon the legacy of previous reports, the 2023 Year In Review offers insights into the top five policy areas in 2023: 

“Industry Partnerships and Work-Based Learning” was the predominant policy category in 2023, with 48 policies enacted under this topic. This category first took the top spot last year after multiple years of the funding category being the most popular. Many policies in this category focused on engaging industry to drive student learning that addresses workforce needs. The following policies illustrate strategies that address labor shortage by fostering industry engagement and enhancing the learner experience through work-based learning opportunities:

Arkansas

S.B. 294 mandates the Division of Elementary and Secondary to establish career-ready pathways for high school diplomas. These pathways include rigorous academic courses and modern career and technical studies aligned with labor market needs, leading to industry credentials. These initiatives address labor shortages by ensuring that students are equipped with skills that meet industry demands through practical work-based learning experiences, thereby bridging the gap between education and employment. 

Maryland 

S.B. 104 creates the Apprenticeship 2030 Commission to expand registered apprenticeships in sectors with skill shortages. The goal is to increase registered apprenticeships to 60,000 by 2030 and have 45% of high school graduates complete high school-level apprenticeships. By fostering apprenticeships, the policy aims to provide career pathways for young people while addressing industry needs through hands-on training and mentorship, thereby reducing skills shortages. 

Vermont 

H.B. 452 establishes the Vermont Registered Apprenticeship Program to regulate apprenticeship programs aligned with industry demand. This program oversees apprenticeship, pre-apprenticeship, and youth apprenticeship initiatives. The policy directly addresses labor shortages through structured apprenticeship programs by preparing individuals with the specific skills demanded by industries, ensuring a better alignment between workforce supply and industry demand.

For a comprehensive exploration of the policies enacted this year, Advance CTE offers an accompanying online tracker. This tool empowers users to search and filter for specific legislation, providing a more in-depth understanding of the enacted policies.

The 2023 Year In Review strives to contribute to the ongoing dialogue on CTE, showcasing successful strategies, and fostering collaboration among stakeholders in the field. CTE leaders are encouraged to utilize the tracker and state highlights in their respective states and communities for more strategies to implement potentially innovative policies. 

Velie Sando, Policy Associate

As a Policy Associate, Velie conducts research and develops resources to support Advance CTE’s state policy initiatives, including the New Skills ready network, the annual Year in Review, and the Green Workforce.

By Layla Alagic in Advance CTE Resources, Public Policy
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Research Round-up: Building and Expanding Registered Apprentice Programs through Community College Partnerships

Thursday, November 30th, 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 elevates state examples of how federal funding might be used to administer youth apprenticeship. These findings align with Advance CTE’s vision for the future of CTE where each learner’s skills are counted, valued, and portable. 

Overview

In celebration of Apprenticeship Month, we’re elevating two reports from New America that provide state CTE leaders with helpful information about opportunities to leverage (or braid) funding to support youth apprenticeship or registered apprenticeship (RA) programs.

Background

Earlier this spring, New America published a blog, “Leveraging Existing Federal Funding Streams for Youth Apprenticeship,” in response to memos from the Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education (OCTAE), the U.S. Department of Education (DoE) and the U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) outlining how the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins V) can be applied in more flexible and innovative ways to support youth apprenticeship. New America then published a research study in early November on the challenges and opportunities facing community colleges that want to expand apprenticeship opportunities to their students. This report, “Community Colleges and Apprenticeship: The Promise, the Challenge” expands on key blog recommendations; notably, that state CTE leaders should consider using federal funds to partner with an experienced intermediary organization to build out RA programs statewide. 

Apprenticeship Intermediaries

An apprenticeship intermediary is similar to “workforce intermediaries” in the public workforce system, which has a long history of facilitating connections between public and private services and workers. Unlike Registered Apprenticeship, which is well defined and regulated by the DOL, there is no definition of an “apprenticeship intermediary” in federal statute. In their study, New America utilizes the definition coined by the federal government, “An apprenticeship intermediary helps to build, launch, and run apprenticeship programs in collaboration with other apprenticeship partners. Just as many organizations may participate in apprenticeship partnerships—including employers, and often also labor organizations, secondary and postsecondary institutions, community-based organizations (CBOs), and industry organizations or associations—an equally wide array of organizations may perform intermediary functions.” 

Intermediaries typically support program development and delivery; stakeholder engagement; monitoring, evaluation, and support services; and strategy and field building. These responsibilities make community colleges a strong contender to serve in this role as many of these services are already built into the institution.

Findings

This study found that community colleges are uniquely positioned to support the expansion of apprentices by acting as apprenticeship intermediaries”

Recommendations

State and system policy plays a key role in supporting community colleges as apprenticeship intermediaries. State CTE leaders seeking to leverage community colleges to expand apprenticeship participation can:

For further reading

Leveraging Existing Federal Funding Streams for Youth Apprenticeship also addresses the use of federal funds for teacher preparation programs.

Please visit Advance CTE’s Learning that Works Resource Center for additional resources about the benefits of expanding apprenticeships and strategies for leveraging community college partnerships.

Amy Hodge, Membership and Policy Associate

By Layla Alagic in Research
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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
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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 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
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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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In Delaware, Building a Youth Apprenticeship Data System Means Looking to the Future

Wednesday, March 16th, 2022

This is the third blog in a series published in partnership with New America through the Partnership to Advance Youth Apprenticeship (PAYA). The blog series highlights how PAYA network sites are using data to improve youth apprenticeship quality and equity. 

In Delaware, youth apprenticeship is a critical pillar of the state’s career readiness initiatives and is a truly collaborative project. While administration of the state’s youth apprenticeship programs falls under the Delaware Department of Labor, related technical instruction is handled by the Delaware Department of Education (DDOE). This requires a significant amount of coordination and partnership across state agencies. 

In 2020, Delaware received a grant through the U.S Department of Labor to enroll 400 youth apprentices in the areas of construction, hospitality and Information Technology. This opportunity, and the expansion of youth apprenticeship in the state, enabled Delaware to focus on improving the quality and use of its youth apprenticeship data. 

Tackling Youth Apprenticeship Data Challenges 

As Delaware works to strengthen and scale youth apprenticeship, the state encountered a few challenges with accessing quality data. For one, state leaders confronted some inflexibilities with the federal Registered Apprenticeship Partners Information Database System (RAPIDS), which includes nationwide data on Registered Apprenticeship participation but does not differentiate youth and adult apprenticeships. 

Another challenge was coordinating and systematizing partnerships among agencies and organizations. Delaware first had to create and adopt shared definitions for youth apprenticeship data and then work to break down silos to enable timely inter-agency data sharing. 

And finally, state leaders wanted to make sure youth apprenticeship data could fuel program improvement, equity initiatives and storytelling, and made sure to shift from a compliance to a continuous improvement mindset. 

To tackle these challenges, DDOE assumed a coordinating role, leveraging its scale as a statewide agency to convene partners, reach consensus on important decisions, and establish data sharing agreements. In this role, DDOE was able to compile and match data, including education records, employment records and social services records, “behind the curtain” before pushing de-identified data back out to partners. 

Equipped with relevant and timely data, DDOE is now positioned to support local youth apprenticeship programs to make data-informed decisions. For example, DDOE can identify learners who would be a good fit for youth apprenticeship and provide that information to school counselors ahead of youth apprenticeship recruitment cycles. 

This data also enables DDOE to craft a story about youth apprenticeship, targeting policymakers and members of the public with stories about the impact of high-quality programs.

Lessons Learned

One important lesson from Delaware is the critical need for qualitative data from learners. Partners are developing a new case management system to ensure qualitative data is collected, considered, and utilized as part of a continuous program improvement process.  To fully understand the story behind the numbers, data must be connected to the learners’ voices and experiences. 

Delaware also learned that the goal of youth apprenticeship data systems should not be sustainability alone but rather evolution. Data systems should be flexible, always moving towards the next set of questions the state is looking to explore and answer. If states and youth apprenticeship intermediaries can anticipate the questions they will want to answer in the future, they can begin to build data systems that address those needs. 

Delaware’s advice to state and local youth apprenticeship intermediaries is to concentrate first on the initial strategy, coordination of effort, systems building and partner relationships. This will ensure there are suitable conditions for collecting and using youth apprenticeship data effectively. Partners should also establish a shared system of values that emphasize partner action and innovation and are reinforced by established data routines. 

Additional blog posts in this series can be accessed here. For additional resources on data and accountability, please visit Advance CTE’s Learning that Works Resource Center.

Kate Kreamer, Deputy Executive Director 

By admin in Uncategorized
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Challenges & Opportunities to Improving Youth Apprenticeship Data Quality: Reflections from the PAYA Data Work Group

Tuesday, November 17th, 2020

Apprenticeship in the United States is an under-utilized but promising education and employment strategy — particularly for youth whose connections to college and paid work are even more tenuous due to the COVID-19 economic crisis. In 2018, New America launched the Partnership to Advance Youth Apprenticeship (PAYA), a national network of partners (including Advance CTE), states, local intermediaries and philanthropies to define and scale up high-quality youth apprenticeships nationwide. In just a couple short years, the network has made incredible progress, sowing the seeds for future programs.

But through all of this work, data quality has emerged as a persistent challenge for states as well as local intermediaries. Improving the quality and availability of youth apprenticeship data can help PAYA network partners evaluate program quality, address gaps in equitable access and outcomes, and make the case for further investment in youth apprenticeship. But building the infrastructure to collect, validate, warehouse and analyze youth apprenticeship data can be costly and time intensive. 

To dig deeper into this challenge, Advance CTE and New America organized a practitioner workgroup on youth apprenticeship data quality in early 2020. The workgroup met several times throughout 2020 to discuss the following questions: 

The workgroup’s conclusions are summarized in a new report, Improving Youth Apprenticeship Data Quality: Challenges and Opportunities. The report addresses five challenges with improving youth apprenticeship data quality and several promising strategies to mitigate data roadblocks: 

  1. Determining what to measure: Some states have taken the guesswork out of data collection by establishing statewide business rules for collecting youth apprenticeship information. But in others, local intermediaries are left to their own devices, leading to inconsistencies in how youth apprenticeship data is collected. State and local leaders should work to develop and adopt consistent definitions and business rules for collecting for youth apprenticeship data. 
  2. Clarifying roles and responsibilities: Another challenge is clarifying who is collecting what data in the first place. Because youth apprenticeship involves partnerships across the K-12, postsecondary and workforce systems — with state agencies, intermediary organizations and employers in the mix — clarifying roles and responsibilities for collecting and sharing data early on is important. Local intermediaries can coordinate this process, ensuring all partners are aware of their responsibilities. 
  3. Building the infrastructure: Collecting and warehousing data can require costly technology. Building out an entire data system before launching a new youth apprenticeship program might not be feasible, but state and local leaders should establish systems and processes at the beginning that can be scaled easily. They can also leverage existing systems — such as student information systems housed at the school district or college — or develop new tools to minimize the data collection burden on educators and employers. 
  4. Accessing data: Privacy rules, data transfer limitations and incompatible data systems can, at times, limit access to data for youth apprenticeship participants. To ensure that all relevant partners can access the data they need, intermediary organizations should establish data sharing agreements that specify what information will be shared and in what format as well as the process and frequency for sharing this information. States can facilitate this process by developing local data sharing templates and demystifying rules and regulations for data sharing. 
  5. Scaling and sustaining: Finally, the workgroup elevated challenges with bringing data collection processes to scale as youth apprenticeship programs expand statewide. State leaders play an important role in supporting the sustainability and scale of youth apprenticeship programs by streamlining data collection processes, integrating youth apprenticeship data into existing state databases, providing sustainable funding, and offering professional development opportunities to build the capacity of frontline actors. 

 

Data is rarely among the first priorities in setting up a new youth apprenticeship program, but it should be. With reliable and valid youth apprenticeship data, states and local intermediaries can help scale quality programs that expand college and career options for high school students and meet the training needs of employers and industry.. The report Improving Youth Apprenticeship Data Quality: Challenges and Opportunities outlines the most common barriers to improving youth apprenticeship data quality and provides actionable recommendations for states and local intermediaries to strengthen the reliability, validity and use of their data. 

Austin Estes, Manager of Data & Research, Advance CTE

By admin in Publications, Resources
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New Report on The Role of Data and Accountability in Growing Youth Apprenticeship Programs

Tuesday, November 5th, 2019

Youth apprenticeship programs can give students access to valuable work-based learning experiences that provide insights into how their interest can connect to education and the workforce. Although these programs are often beneficial for participants, there is little data to show the programmatic landscape and impact. A lack of data inhibits the development and expansion of youth apprenticeship programs. 

Advance CTE’s latest report, The Role of Data and Accountability in Growing Youth Apprenticeship Programs, explores how states are collecting data on youth apprenticeship programs, and what steps can be taken to collect high-quality enrollment and outcomes data. 

There are many challenges that inhibit the ability of state and local communities to collect and use reliable data to support and improve youth apprenticeship programs. However, there are steps that state and local leaders can take to strengthen data collection and analysis, including: 

There are also qualitative methods that can be used to support findings and build a comprehensive understanding of youth apprenticeship programs. This report explores how qualitative data supports findings, and supplements gaps in data.

This report was made possible by the Partnership to Advance Youth Apprenticeship (PAYA). PAYA was created by New America and includes Advance CTE, CareerWise Colorado, Charleston Regional Youth Apprenticeships at Trident Technical College, Education Strategy Group, JFF, The National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity, the National Fund for Workforce Solutions and National Governors Association. PAYA is appreciative of the support of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Ballmer Group, Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Joyce Foundation, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and the Siemens Foundation.

Meredith Hills, Policy Associate

By admin in Uncategorized
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PAYA National Meeting in Charleston, South Carolina

Monday, March 25th, 2019

Earlier this month, the Partnership to Advance Youth Apprenticeships (PAYA), of which Advance CTE is one of the partners, held a national meeting in Charleston, South Carolina. This convening included educators, employers, policymakers, community leaders and PAYA partners. Over the course of two days, PAYA featured sessions such as: panels on the perspectives from school districts, employers, students and national leaders; a keynote presentation from Barbara Humpton, CEO of Siemens USA and Chair of the Siemens Foundation; a discussion with Mayor Randall Woodfin of Birmingham, Alabama and a tour of the youth apprenticeship labs at Trident Technical College. Advance CTE also led a session, Seeing Connections in PAYA & Perkins, which walked through the major components of Perkins V and how Perkins V and PAYA’s principles align.

The conference began by highlighting the success of youth apprenticeships through personal examples of new opportunities and achievements.  Data demonstrating the impact of youth apprenticeships was also shared, for example for $1 the government puts into apprenticeships, there is a $23 return on investment.

A favorite part of the conference for attendees was the panel of five youth apprentices:

The impressive group spoke about what led them to their apprenticeships, what they are getting out of their programs and their plans for continuing education and employment. Most were prompted to explore apprenticeships by parents, school counselors or teachers who believed in the potential of these programs. All on the panel shared that it was difficult to make the decision to enroll in a youth apprenticeship program instead of the traditional educational path that their peers were on, and that they themselves had always planned on doing. However, there was unanimous agreement that the program is well worth it,  and that the ability to follow their passions by combining work and academic skills has been incredibly positive. To learn more about how youth apprenticeships work for students, check out this infographic from PAYA.

Attendees had the opportunity to tour the meeting location’s, Trident Technical College, culinary, nursing and industrial mechanics lab spaces where youth apprentices’ technical coursework is held. Each space was designed to provide students with the best and most realistic learning experience. For example, the nursing lab space includes replicas of hospital rooms, so that students can gain hands-on experiences in a setting that mirrors the workplace.The lab experience  includes high fidelity mannequins that can mock different scenarios that a participant can expect to encounter in a patient. The mannequins are able to make noise, change color and even produce fluids. Students are able to apply the knowledge and skills they learn on the mannequins, setting them up for success in the workplace.

For more information on the intersection of Career Technical Education (CTE) and youth apprenticeships read Advance CTE’s blog, Incorporating Youth Apprenticeships in CTE Pathways. To learn about best practices, as well as common challenges  linking CTE and apprenticeships, check out a report from Advance CTE in partnership with JFF, Vivayic and RTI International, Opportunities for Connecting Secondary CTE Students and Apprenticeships. This report was developed through a contract with the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education, at the U.S. Department of Education.

Meredith Hills, Policy Associate

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