CTE Policy Watch: A blog for CTE advocates

Updated Sector Sheets: Manufacturing, Energy, Health Care

ACTE has updated the first three publications in its Sector Sheet series, addressing CTE’s role in developing the workforce in advanced manufacturing, energy and health care sectors. These one-pagers were first published in 2013.

The updated Sector Sheets include more recent employment, earnings and skills gap data and new profiles of promising or excellent programs in CTE that help meet the needs of these industry sectors.

You can find these one-pagers, and our other Sector Sheets, at www.acteonline.org/factsheets.

ESSA Implementation

Key Information:

On December 10, 2015, President Barack Obama signed into law the Every Student Succeeds Act, which reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (P.L. 114-95) for the first time in 14 years. The new law is the product of months of congressional negotiations and stakeholder input, and places an unprecedented emphasis on the importance of career and technical education for all students.

The Department of Education (ED) is now working through the next steps to implement the new law, which is scheduled to be fully completed by the fall of 2017. ED has consulted with relevant stakeholder groups on its regulatory process for specific topics pursuant to its obligations under ESSA, and has issued several Dear Colleague letters and other forms of guidance regarding upcoming rulemaking activities. ACTE has provided feedback to these notifications on behalf of its members, and will continue to play an active role in ensuring the implementation process reflects the needs of CTE students and professionals.

Below are resources, tools and communications that may be helpful in ESSA implementation. This post will be updated with additional materials as they become available, so please check back often!

Official Guidance, Resources and Communications

• Department of Education - Transitioning to the Every Student Succeeds Act: Frequently Asked Questions
• Department of Education – ESSA Dear Colleague Letter
• Department of Education – Perkins IV and the Every Student Succeeds Act: Intersections and Opportunities
• ESSA Webinar Powerpoint and Audio Recording

ACTE Resources

• ACTE Fact Sheets on CTE in ESSA
  • Academics and CTE in the Classroom
  • Career Guidance and Counseling
  • Career Readiness Accountability
  • Teacher Recruitment, Training and Professional Development

Other Resources and Tools

ACTE has assembled the following resources to assist members and the CTE community in the transition to the new law. Check back soon for additional updates!

• Education Week Video - ESSA Explained: Inside the New Federal K-12 Law
• National School Boards Association: Transition Timetable and Frequently Asked Questions
• Council of Chief State School Officers – Getting Started: A Guide on Stakeholder Outreach
• Whiteboard Advisors: ESSA Implementation Timeline
• American Federation of Teachers – ESSA Fact Sheets: Career and Technical Education

In addition, we invite those interested in learning more about ESSA implementation to visit the following websites.

• U.S. Department of Education
• American Federation of Teachers
• National Education Association
• Council of Chief State School Officers
• AASA: The School Superintendents Association

The Benefits of Youth Apprenticeship

A report from The Century Foundation puts forth the benefits of apprenticeship abroad and in the United States and proposes apprenticeship as a solution to youth unemployment.

According to the publication, evidence-based benefits to apprenticeship include:

• lower youth unemployment rates for European nations with strong apprenticeship systems;
• benefits to businesses in the United Kingdom; and
• here at home, an average earnings gain of almost $250,000 over an apprenticeship participant’s entire career.

The publication harnesses examples from South Carolina and Wisconsin for how youth apprenticeships can be structured, and concludes with several recommendations:

• Integrate apprenticeships into the education system
• Encourage deep business engagement
• Address barriers for underrepresented populations
• Ensure portable credentials
• Support programs through longitudinal data

States Improve Education-Workforce Data Linkages

The Workforce Data Quality Campaign (WDQC) has released its second annual report assessing state progress on the organization’s blueprint. Forty-five states plus the District of Columbia responded, allowing WDQC to investigate trends in states related to education and workforce data. ACTE is a WDQC partner organization.

This year, states are having the most success in creating inclusive cross-agency councils; improving labor market information (LMI) collection, analysis and distribution; and sharing employment data across states:

• 41 states have made progress in building cross-agency councils, including CTE, with 28 states achieving this goal.
• 42 states have made progress on LMI data capacity and use, and making this information available to the public.
• 36 states are on their way to sharing employment data with other states, with 25 states fully achieving this measure. Participation in the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage Record Interchange System 2 (WRIS2) is the most common way states met this measure.

The publication applauds Utah and Mississippi in particular for their progress in meeting goals, while South Dakota, Alaska and Kentucky made great improvements in the past year. However, challenges remain, particularly related to industry validation of credentials and the ability to capture diverse credentials, such as certificates and industry certifications.

Learn how your state is doing!

ESEA Reauthorization Bill Passed in House

The U.S. House of Representatives voted last night to advance the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), a bill to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) developed by a joint conference committee and backed by leaders in both parties and chambers of Congress. After debate and consideration on the House floor, ESSA passed through the full chamber by a vote of 359 to 64 and now awaits consideration by the Senate. If the legislation passes both chambers and becomes law, it would mark the largest overhaul of federal K-12 education policy since the passage of No Child Left Behind in 2002.

Because of its significance for students nationwide and far-reaching implications for education policy, ESSA has received substantial media attention. Education Week, a national publication covering education topics, published a piece on its High School and Beyond blog that included reference to ACTE’s endorsement and a deep dive on the CTE-related components of the bill.

ACTE is proud to endorse ESSA, which places unprecedented emphasis on the critical role that CTE has in every student’s education for college- and career-success. As we previously reported, ESSA includes key provisions to advance and strengthen CTE in secondary schools nationwide.

In preparation for the vote, ACTE worked with our champions in the House to gain their support, and called on ACTE members to contact their Representatives and voice their support for the legislation. We will continue to advocate for ESSA as it advances to the Senate, and encourage ACTE members to visit the CTE Action Center to tell their Senators to vote Yes on ESSA!

ACTE Certification Project Shares Data at DQI

Examples of the type of rich analysis that is possible when data on third-party industry certification is paired with education and workforce data were presented recently at the Data Quality Institute from the Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education.

The kind of data produced by the Certification Data Exchange Project, coordinated by ACTE, includes demographic characteristics of community college students who have gained industry certifications, whether certified students also earned educational credentials and—most interestingly for many—employment and earnings by industry for students who are certified compared to students who are not certified. Findings are preliminary and require additional analysis, but earnings generally appear to be higher for those who are certified.

This work is supported by technical assistance from the Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education and is part of a constellation of projects harnessing the connection between education and workforce credentials, third-party credentials and student outcomes. These projects include the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education Multistate Longitudinal Data Exchange, which is experimenting with sharing data across state lines; the credential registry effort from George Washington University, Southern Illinois University and Workcred, a nonprofit affiliate of the American National Standards Institute; and the Workforce Credentials Coalition.

ACTE Public Policy Awards Nominations Open!

As ACTE is preparing for the National Policy Seminar (to be held February 29-March 2), we are pleased to announce that the nominations process for our national public policy awards is now officially open! These awards recognize policymakers and leaders among ACTE’s membership who have gone above and beyond to advocate for public policies impacting CTE in the past year. Applications for all ACTE public policy awards must be received by January 1, through the ACTE Awards Portal.

ACTE’s Policymaker of the Year award is presented annually to nationally recognized policymakers that have made a significant contribution to CTE through their work, such as Senate CTE Caucus Co-chairs Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Rob Portman (R-OH) who received the award last year. Submissions should include a cover letter stating the nominee’s qualifications, as well as information about their accomplishments related to CTE and policies affecting CTE. For additional information on the award or to submit a nomination, click here.

In addition, ACTE members can submit nominations for the Baird-English Advocate of the Year Award, presented annually by ACTE to a member who has worked to advance CTE in federal policy through advocacy. This award provides a great opportunity for ACTE members to recognize the contributions of their colleagues through advocacy actions, such as contacting federal policymakers and their staff or working with the media to raise awareness of CTE topics. Applications can be submitted by the nominee themselves, another ACTE member, ACTE staff member or the Board of Directors, and should include a letter of introduction summarizing the applicant’s background and contributions to CTE advocacy, as well as necessary supporting documents. To learn more about the award or submit a nomination, click here.

To learn more about the ACTE public policy awards or ask additional questions, please contact Sean Lynch.

ACTE Endorses ESEA Reauthorization Bill

This week, the final conference report on the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), a bill to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, was made available to the public. A summary of the bill is available here.  As we previously reported, a conference committee comprised of members of the House and Senate voted overwhelmingly to approve the bill earlier this month. The House is expected to vote on final passage of the bill later this week, followed by the Senate next week.

ESSA includes some key CTE provisions to promote activities that integrate academic and CTE content in the classroom—including specialized professional development opportunities, expanded college and career guidance programs, improved availability of CTE student performance information, and recognition of CTE as a core component of a well-rounded education. For these reasons and more, ACTE has endorsed ESSA. Our statement of support is available here.

Check back on the CTE Policy Watch Blog for additional analysis and updates. Also, please take a few minutes to contact your Members of Congress and ask them to vote Yes on ESSA!

Data Driven: CTE Student Career Plans

6 in 10 high school students are planning to pursue a career related to the CTE area they are studying.[i]

One of the questions policymakers ask about CTE is whether students who study a particular career field in high school continue to pursue the same or a similar program in postsecondary education, and eventually into the workforce.

Findings from an ACTE survey with myCollegeOptions® demonstrate that 6 in 10 high school students are planning to pursue a career related to the CTE area they are studying. This is a great percentage. However, the four in 10 who are unsure or don’t plan to continue in the same field do not indicate a failure in the system—it benefits students to discover the careers that don’t interest them early, before they begin paying tuition at a postsecondary institution or enter the workforce.

When sharing this statistic with policymakers, the media or the public, follow it up with success stories on your students who have transitioned from high school to postsecondary education or the workforce in the same CTE area.

As always, you can access CTE facts and figures online any time you need them with ACTE Fact Sheets.

[i] ACTE and myCollegeOptions®, “College and Career Ready through CTE” infographic, 2015.