CTE Policy Watch: A blog for CTE advocates

White House Hosts Maker Faire

On Wednesday, President Obama hosted the first White House Maker Faire in conjunction with the National Day of Making 2014. Since 2006, maker faires have been held in cities across the country and around the world to showcase the efforts of makers. Maker faires have become part of a larger “maker movement” that encourages students, inventors and entrepreneurs to take advantage of expanding access to new technologies such as 3D printers, laser cutters, design software and desktop machine tools that allow individuals to create, design and build their own projects.

“I am committed to helping Americans of all ages bring their ideas to life,” said the president in his official proclamation of the day. “We are supporting an apprenticeship program for modern manufacturing and encouraging startups to build their products here at home. Because science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are essential to invention, we launched a decade-long national effort to train 100,000 excellent STEM teachers. And we are expanding STEM AmeriCorps so that this summer, 18,000 low-income students will have learning opportunities in these vital fields.” 

The president also announced several new initiatives across the Administration. The Department of Education, Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education will launch a Career and Technical Education Makeover Challenge for the 2014-2015 school year, through which states and local educational agencies can compete to receive technical assistance, professional development, equipment, and/or technology to modernize and upgrade their CTE facilities. The department will provide more information of this initiative in the coming weeks.

The Small Business Administration, utilizing the accelerator competition grant program, will encourage communities to include startup accelerators and “maker spaces” for entrepreneurs in their regional entrepreneurship strategies. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is opening outreach spaces for makers in the USPTO’s four new regional offices, as well as developing a customized advice hotline and  “how to” guide on patenting and intellectual property issues for maker entrepreneurs. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will launch two new competitions later this year for community college and secondary students to compete to create commercialization plans and prototypes for existing USDA Agriculture Research Service technologies. 

Bipartisan Proposal to Reinstate Year-Round Pell

With higher education affordability and student loan burdens hot topics on Capitol Hill in recent months, Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) have introduced a bipartisan billaimed to make higher education more attainable through reforms to federal student aid.

The main priority of the bipartisan bill is to simplify the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form by reducing the number of questions from 108 to two. Students must fill out a FAFSA in order to determine aid eligibility for student loans and grants, but the daunting nature of the current form often deters students, especially low-income individuals, who could benefit from Pell grants and other aid.

In an effort to help students speed up their time to completion of a postsecondary credential, the bill would also reinstate year-round Pell grant eligibility to allow students to utilize their aid for summer coursework. Year-round Pell was eliminated in 2012 only three years after its implementation and before institutions and students were able to take full advantage of the benefits.

Additionally, the bill seeks several other reforms to the student aid program. In filling out the FAFSA, students would be allowed to use their parents’ pre-tax income levels from two years earlier to determine household income levels. This shift would allow students to determine their loan eligibility amounts starting in their junior year of high school versus in their second semester of their senior year under the current form requirements. The bill would also simplify loan offerings and repayment options, and would limit student borrowing levels per semester to their enrollment status as full-time or part-time to prevent over-borrowing.

The introduction of this bill is likely to set off a more robust effort to reauthorize the Higher Education Act (HEA) in the coming months. While it’s unlikely that we will see a final bill in this Congress, we could see many recommendations from policymakers on how to reform postsecondary education.

ACTE is currently working with Members of Congress to move forward priorities that would make HEA more inclusive of CTE programs and students and would provide opportunities for preparation of future CTE educators.

Engagement and Motivation Matter

Education Week's Diplomas Count 2014 salutes recent gains in high school graduation rate and shines a light on the role of engagement and motivation in student success.

A companion report, Engaging Students for Success, surveyed about 500 K-12 teachers and administrators and found that, while engagement and motivation were ranked as the most important drivers of student achievement, only 40 percent of respondents said that their students were highly engaged and motivated. Less than half of respondents thought that their pre-service training prepared them to engage and motivate students. Additional challenges identified included lack of parental support, student apathy, inadequate time and resources, and accountability pressures and administration policies.

The top approaches to promoting student engagement and motivation identified by respondents were:  

• Schoolwork that is relevant to real-world challenges and life experiences
• Fine arts courses
• Programs to connect students with careers and businesses
• CTE courses
• Challenging and rigorous coursework and assignments

In addition, the following were the three most common responses to the question "What are the most effective strategies you use to engage and motivate students?":

• Use a variety of interactive and hands-on activities
• Build personal relationships with students
• Make curriculum interesting and relevant

As these survey findings indicate, students are engaged and motivated to succeed when they have access to relevant, hands-on learning that connects them, through real-world activities, to postsecondary education and the workplace. 

Senate Appropriators Postpone Action on FY 2015 Funding Bill

The Senate Appropriations Committee has indefinitely postponed consideration of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill, which includes Perkins funding. The Senate Labor-HHS-Education subcommittee approved the bill by a voice vote on Tuesday afternoon. As we previously reported, it was expected that the full committee would hold a markup on Thursday.

However, that markup never occurred, and it is not known if or when the committee will be able to complete its work on the bill. The text of the bill approved by the subcommittee has not been publicly released, so we do not yet have the committee’s recommendation for Perkins funding levels. The committee did provide a brief summary of the bill, which highlights proposed increases for Workforce Investment Act (WIA) state grants, Title I funding under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), and the national Registered Apprenticeship program. We will provide updates on the CTE Policy Watch blog as more information becomes available.

It is critical that CTE stakeholders reach out to Members of Congress to let them know about the importance of Perkins funding. Visit the CTE Action Center to send a message to your policymakers!

Adult Education Data: See How Your School or District Compares

Federal and state adult education data is now available through New America's Federal Education Budget Project (FEBP), including demographics, financing and outcomes for each state, school district and postsecondary institution participating in adult education.

According to the New America Foundation's Mary Alice McCarthy and Clare McCann, the number of U.S. adults who require basic skills or English language training is more than 90 million. Meanwhile, state and federal adult education programs serve only about 2 million of those in need. In addition, the U.S. performed poorly on the OECD's inaugural Survey of Adult Skills, which analyzed the skills of more than 150,000 adults across the world in literacy and numeracy as well as problem solving in technology-rich environments. Learning more about this population is one step in better helping low-skilled adults persist on a pathway to a family-sustaining wage.

The FEBP includes a variety of other measures for K-12 and postsecondary education that New America hopes will help advocates, researchers and policymakers.

Specific Technical Skills Needed for Internships

Internship postings commonly ask for specialized technical skill sets relevant to the position, including specific skills and software, according to an analysis of more than 275,000 online internship postings conducted by Burning Glass Technologies.

As you're aware, internships and other work-based learning experiences are increasingly important in preparing students for successful careers. According to a 2014 survey from the National Association of Colleges and Employers, employers made full-time job offers to almost 65 percent of interns; these former interns were also more likely to be retained by the organization one year and five years out.

Burning Glass also found that internships are particularly important in engineering; IT; arts, video and graphic design; and communications, marketing and social media. "In the professions that have a higher internship-to-job ratio, the students who have completed one or more internships will be at a distinct competitive advantage over those who have not completed any," said Matt Sigelman, CEO of Burning Glass Technologies.

Department of Labor Awards Workforce Data Quality Grants

On July 12, the Department of Labor announced the winners of the fourth round of grants under its Workforce Data Quality Initiative. Approximately $6 million will be awarded to six states "to build or expand longitudinal databases that link workforce and education data and help these states to better understand how education and workforce development programs complement each other." The winners include:

• Connecticut Department of Labor
• Indiana Department of Workforce Development
• Kentucky Office of Education and Workforce Development
• Mississippi Department of Employment Security
• Nebraska Department of Labor
• New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development

This grant program is designed to complement the Department of Education's Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems grant, and is critical to helping CTE programs track student performance in the workforce after completing programs. The three-year grants will allow Connecticut, Indiana, Kentucky and Mississippi to begin to develop their workforce databases, and for Nebraska and New Jersey to expand theirs. For all states, project goals include:

• developing or improving state workforce longitudinal data systems with individual-level information
• enabling workforce data to be matched with education data to create longitudinal data systems
• improving the quality and breadth of the data in the workforce data systems
• using longitudinal data to provide useful information about program operations
• analyzing the performance of education and employment training programs
• providing user-friendly information to consumers, in the form of scorecards or integrated digital platforms, to help them select the training and education programs that best suit their needs

CTE Caucus Briefing Attracts Senators

The Senate CTE Caucus held its first public event on June 11, which featured a panel discussion on CTE’s crucial role in preparing America’s students for the 21st century workforce. In advance of Perkins CTE Act reauthorization, the caucus has planned several events for Senate staff, including a school visit, to familiarize them with CTE benefits for students and the business community.

Panelists included:

• Steve DeWitt, Deputy Executive Director, ACTE
• Johan Uvin, Acting Assistant Secretary, Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education
• Kim Green, Executive Director, National Association of State Directors of CTE
• Robert Chiappetta, Associate Director of Government Relations, Toyota

Caucus co-chairs Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) attended the event as well to share their commitment to CTE.

 
(Sen. Tim Kaine)

(Sen. Tammy Baldwin)

President Delivers Commencement Address at Massachusetts Secondary CTE School

Yesterday, President Obama delivered the commencement address to the graduating class of 2014 from Worcester Technical High School in Worcester, Massachusetts. The speech, which is available to watch here, touched on a broad range of topics including the need for community engagement in education and the Obama Administration's ConnectEd initiative, while emphasizing the need for employability skills and CTE in secondary schools.

During his address, President Obama stated:

"Over the past four years, some of you have learned how to take apart an engine and put it back together again. Some of you have learned how to run a restaurant, or build a house, or fix a computer. And all of you are graduating today not just with a great education, but with the skills that will let you start your careers and skills that will make America stronger."

The president is not the first high-ranking government official to visit Worcester Tech - Secretary of Education Arne Duncan paid the school a visit in March for a town hall-style discussion of CTE with members of the school's staff and community. Worcester is one of many examples of high-quality CTE program models from across the country, and it's encouraging to see the Administration placing greater emphasis on the importance of CTE in preparing students for success in college and careers.

On a related note, Worcester Tech's principal, Sheila Harrity, received the honor of National Principal of the Year and is a keynote speaker at the upcoming 2014 Best Practices and Innovations Conference. To learn more about the conference, click here.

Where the Middle-wage Jobs Live

Economic Modeling Specialists Intl. (EMSI) has identified states with the greatest percentage of middle-wage jobs. Using Analyst, the firm's labor market data research tool,EMSI found that Wyoming, Iowa, North Dakota and Michigan are at the head of the pack. In these states, 35 to 45 percent of new jobs since 2010 are classified as middle wage. In addition, Texas and California have created the most new middle-wage jobs, a percentage increase of 25 and 23 percent, respectively.

Middle-wage jobs, as defined by the National Employment Law Project, pay between $13.84 and $21.13 an hour, and are typically associated with education requirements of more than a high school diploma but less than a bachelor's degree. EMSI data demonstrates an overall decline in middle-wage jobs; however, EMSI's Joshua Wright points out that some middle-skill and middle-wage jobs are growing, particularly in CTE fields such as engineering, energy, health care, transportation and customer service.