CTE Policy Watch: A blog for CTE advocates

Senate CTE Caucus Hosts Briefing on Manufacturing and Literacy

On September 10, the Senate CTE Caucus organized a briefing for Capitol Hill staff and education policy advocates to learn about best practices and effective strategies for preparing a qualified manufacturing workforce with robust literacy skills. The event featured a panel of expert practitioners, including Jeff Elkner and Sean Kinnard from the Arlington Career Center, and Sheila Harrity, the principal of Worcester Technical High School.

One example of innovative literacy education that the representatives from the Arlington Career Center shared with the group was that of a connected curriculum between the English as a Second Language (ESL) and Information Technology (IT) programs. The IT students demonstrated their technical prowess by developing a "dictionary" mobile app, which students in the ESL courses could use to collaborate and improve their vocabulary in a dynamic way - skills which will benefit them both as involved citizens in their communities and successful professionals. In addition, Harrity outlined the ways that Worcester Technical High School's CTE programs coordinate with local employers and businesses to ensure that their students graduate college and career ready, as well as with vital technical literacy in a variety of fields.

In addition to the panel, Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Tim Kaine (D-VA), who are both caucus co-chairs, attended and spoke about the importance of CTE in providing students with the technical literacy necessary for success in the advanced manufacturing sector. During his remarks, Senator Kaine touched on the persistent misperception of CTE, but went on to state that "I detect a transformation in the way that we look at career and technical education." The Senators spoke briefly about new legislation they have introduced as a part of their commitment to CTE, including the Middle STEP Act, introduced by Senators Kaine, Casey (D-PA) and Boxer (D-CA), as well as the CTE Opportunity Act, introduced by Senators Baldwin and Kaine.

Department of Education Hosts Briefing on Rigorous Programs of Study Framework Implementation

On September 9, the Department of Education's Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education hosted a briefing on the progress made in implementation of the department's Rigorous Programs of Study (RPOS) framework. The event provided attendees with the opportunity to hear firsthand from educators, administrators and counselors from institutions that have received grant funding to implement the department's 10 components for RPOS.

During the event, panels of speakers from across the country told their stories of how the RPOS framework's implementation has benefited their students, schools and communities. Examples spanned across industries and included both secondary and postsecondary institutions, from an advanced manufacturing program in Wisconsin Technical College System to an architecture and construction program in Montana. The panelists consistently lauded the program's success in helping their students grow their technical, employability and academic skills, as well as the professional development that they had experienced since its launch.

In addition to the program's success in improving students' educational experience and increased workforce readiness, the panelists discussed how implementation of the RPOS framework had broken down the stigma that is all too often still associated with CTE. One speaker, a math teacher, noted that members of his school system developed a greater appreciation for both technical and conceptual learning styles, and that students should be able to see real-world applications for their curriculum whether they're learning "the slope of a line or the pitch of a roof."

To learn more about Programs of Study, visit our CTE Clearinghouse page to access ACTE's resources and research.

Back to School Bus Tour Finds Time for CTE

The U.S. Department of Education embarked on its fifth annual back-to-school bus tour on Monday, with stops planned at schools in Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee. Secretary Arne Duncan is leading the tour to highlight the Administration's education agenda at work in states, including efforts in innovation and early childhood education.

All three states on the tour have received waivers of flexibility from key provisions in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Georgia and Tennessee have also received significant Race to the Top grants.

During its first day, the tour stopped at Carroll County Schools' College and Career Academy in Carrollton, GA. Here, Acting Assistant Secretary for the Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education (OCTAE) Johan Uvin was able to participate in a tour of the school's facility and hold a roundtable with faculty and students.

 

Post by Carroll County Schools.

Simultaneously, Secretary Duncan visited Carroll County's 12 for Life program. A partnership between the school district and Southwire Company, the 12 for Life program helps students stay engaged with their education while learning vital employability skills. While not a CTE program, students do engage in valuable work-based learning opportunities.

As the tour progresses through Wednesday, the bus still has stops to make at schools in Alabama and Tennessee.

Stay tuned to the CTE Policy Watch blog in the coming days for updates as the tour wraps up.

Research-to-Practice Briefs: Seeking Authors and Reviewers

ACTE is launching its new Research-to-Practice Briefs with the first in the series, Lessons in Collaboration: Principles in the Governance of an Industry Advisory Board. This brief synthesizes the relevant research on industry advisory boards as well as organizational development and collaboration, and provides research-based recommendations that can be put into practice in the educational setting.

ACTE's new series of Research-to-Practice Briefs present relevant research on topics of interest to CTE practitioners and include recommendations on applying research to practice. If you are a scholar or expert in CTE and related fields such as workforce development, human development, education, economics, communication studies, psychology or sociology--including graduate students, professors and others-please consider submitting a brief or applying to be a reviewer. Learn more at www.acteonline.org/ResearchToPractice.

CTE: Preparing the Bioscience Workforce

The biosciences use lessons from the study of living organisms to develop processes, products and services that improve lives, including vaccines, food safety improvements and biofuels. ACTE's newest Sector Sheet examines CTE's role in developing talent in this innovative sector. It joins our previous Sector Sheets, which examined CTE's role in growing the qualified workforce in IT; health care; advanced manufacturing; agriculture, food and natural resources; and energy.

This Sector Sheet describes how bioscience employment has flourished: Over the past decade, the bioscience industry in the U.S. grew by about 110,000 jobs, or more than 7.4 percent, in comparison to a 1-percent increase in employment in all private sector industries. In addition, the publication shares job-growth projections for specific occupations within this sector as well as expected earnings in this high-wage area.

CTE prepares high school, postsecondary and adult students for bioscience careers through a variety of courses in STEM and other Career Clusters®, through work-based learning experiences such as internships and job shadowing and through career and technical student organization such as HOSA-Future Health Professionals industry-based competitions. Students also have opportunities to earn stackable credentials, with pathways to more advanced learning.

We encourage you to share these advocacy tools with business, policymakers, education leaders and the public to illustrate how CTE supports specific industries and prepares students for in-demand careers.

Higher Ed Community Expresses Concern about HEA Reauthorization

In comments to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) committee on the draft reauthorization bill for the Higher Education Act (HEA), the greater postsecondary education community expressed concerns with the Higher Education Affordability Act similar to those of ACTE.

A chief concern to the community is the increased regulatory and legislative bureaucracy proposed in the draft bill. While understanding the need to ensure program quality and access, the higher education community, as well as ACTE, asks that legislators undertake a rigorous review of the existing, complex regulatory requirements to identify meaningful requirements and eliminate those with little evidence of benefits to students or taxpayers. This simplification and streamlining would be a better contribution to improving institution and program quality while reducing college costs and better serving students.

Additionally, the groups’ comments closely followed ACTE’s recommendations on year-round Pell grants, ability-to-benefit reinstatement, dual enrollment and early college high school programs, net price calculators and college scorecards.

Bloomberg News Celebrates CTE

A young man who leveraged his auto technology education in high school into earning $40,000 per year at the age of 19 is highlighted in a recent Bloomberg News article on CTE.

In comparison to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, Evan Fischbach is already making slightly more than the average U.S. worker across all ages, education levels and industries; more than the average 25-year-old with a bachelor's degree; and much more than other 19-year-olds who have a high school diploma, but did not experience the rigorous and relevant CTE curriculum and work-based learning experiences to which Fischbach had access.

As authors Jeff Green and John Irwin note, there are almost 30 million jobs such as Fischbach's--middle-skill jobs that pay more than the national median wage--according to research from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. The article also describes how contemporary CTE advocates encourage a balance of technical and academic coursetaking with pathways into postsecondary education, promoting both college and career readiness. However, perception challenges remain.

Success stories such as Fischbach's have not escaped the notice of industry and policymakers. Businesses are increasingly partnering with CTE programs; the article highlights industry partnerships with New Jersey County Vocational-Technical Schools and P-TECH schools. In addition, the Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill includes a $5.4 million increase for Perkins.

ACTE has called on Congress to complete its work on this bill and approve the increase in Perkins funding without further delay. Learn more about how you can advocate for CTE at www.acteonline.org/advocacy.

CTE Funding Spotlight: Back to School Grant Opportunities

As the new school year begins, several major corporate foundations are offering grant opportunities that could bring additional resources to your CTE classroom. First, we spotlight the latest round of the Lowe’s Toolbox for Education grant program, funded by the Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation. Eligible public K-12 schools or school-associated parent groups can apply for grants of $2,000 to $5,000 per school to support hands-on service learning opportunities focused on community and school improvement projects. Some examples of previously funded projects include transforming unused school space into an afterschool tutoring center, landscaping a school garden, refurbishing a playground or park space and constructing an outdoor picnic pavilion. The deadline to submit an application for this grant cycle is Wednesday, October 15, 2014. Applications can be submitted online at the foundation’s website.

The next corporate foundation funding opportunity is the State Farm Good Neighbor Citizenship Company Grants program. State Farm provides educational grants for eligible institutions that focus on personal financial education and job training initiatives, including basic economics, budget counseling and employability skills training. They also offer eligible K-12 public schools the opportunity to apply for grants to fund teacher development, service learning programs and school reform/improvement initiatives. Application forms must be submitted online by Friday, October 31, 2014.

The final funding opportunity in today’s spotlight is the Farmers Insurance Thank a Million Teachers project. Any educator that has been “thanked” on the Thank a Million Teachers website is eligible to apply for a $2,500 grant that they can use to purchase classroom supplies at AdoptAClassroom.org, and/or have the funds applied toward a professional certification offered through the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Applicants must submit their funding proposal by October 31. The public can vote online for their favorite proposal.

ACTE & NASDCTEc Represent CTE in WIOA Implementation

In August, the U.S. Department of Education put out a call for comments on implementing regulations for adult education accountability measures required under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), which was signed into law in July. In response to this call for comments, ACTE and NASDCTEc submitted a joint response from the CTE community.

While the department sought comments on a several implementation issues, we responded only to those most relevant to CTE stakeholders. Specifically, the department sought opinions on how to interpret the term ‘measureable skill gain’ to gauge program effectiveness in providing services to low-skilled and limited English proficient individuals and what factors to consider when measuring employer engagement and satisfaction with the workforce system.

ACTE is providing continually feedback on CTE related issues to both the Department of Education and the Department of Labor as they work to implement the new law. We will continue to provide updates on that work here on the CTE Policy Watch blog, including updates on opportunities for you to provide feedback.

ACTE Submits Higher Education Comments

In June, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee released a discussion draft for reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. After reviewing the draft legislation, ACTE submitted comments to the committee to urge better inclusion of community colleges and less-than-2-year postsecondary institutions in the higher education system.

The Higher Education Affordability Act mostly focused on college cost issues, including student aid, institutional aid and higher education cost transparency. In doing so, the bill positively reinstated the year-round Pell grant program and Ability-to-Benefit provisions, but it would write into law the college scorecard system and impose additional regulatory burdens on institutions.

ACTE's comments to the HELP committee encourage policymakers to reevaluate their higher education efforts, which have too often been focused on the traditional, full-time, 4-year degree seeking student instead of the majority of the student population, termed "non-traditional" by policymakers, who are part-time, working adults in less-than-4-year programs. In reauthorizing the Higher Education Act (HEA), we must keep in mind these students and the institutions they predominately attend by:

• reducing barriers that keep short-term postsecondary programs from participating fully in the higher education system
• ensuring adequate access to financial aid programs for students in short-term postsecondary programs
• evaluating data collection requirements to reduce burdens on institutions, align with other federal programs and ensure program integrity

HEA reauthorization also must include an updated teacher preparation program to ensure a steady pipeline of educators prepared not just to teach core academics, but also to incorporate vital CTE standards into their classrooms, including standards in STEM-related fields.

ACTE will continue to push for these reforms and others needed to ensure a robust postsecondary system for CTE students. You can find ACTE's full HEA reauthorization priorities here.