CTE Policy Watch: A blog for CTE advocates

House Passes Perkins Reauthorization Bill

On Tuesday, September 13, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 5587, the Strengthening CTE for the 21st Century Act, by a vote of 405 to 5! ACTE and Advance CTE applauded the bill’s passage in a joint statement on the bill:

The passage of H.R. 5587 is an important step toward reauthorizing the primary federal legislative investment in Career Technical Education (CTE). The bill would afford states and local secondary and postsecondary recipients the flexibility to build upon their existing efforts to deliver high-quality CTE programs while also promoting innovation and program alignment, all within a framework of streamlined administrative requirements and a more intentional focus on local needs. The legislation will ultimately help fuel the talent pipeline and prepare workers for the high-skill, high-wage, high-demand careers of the 21st century.

Read our full press statement here, and the press statement from the House Education and the Workforce Committee here. The bill approved by the House reflected only minor changes to the Committee-passed bill from earlier this summer. A new summary will be available in the coming days.

Attention now turns to Senate activity, where the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee continues to work toward its own bipartisan Perkins reauthorization bill. We will keep you updated on any activity around that bill.

A big thank you goes out to all the ACTE advocates that have been involved in the Perkins reauthorization process and have encouraged your Members of Congress to make CTE a priority! We hope to keep up the momentum and continue moving forward.

Legislative Alert: House to Vote on Perkins Reauthorization Bill

Tomorrow, the House of Representatives will vote on passage of the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (H.R. 5587), a comprehensive Perkins reauthorization bill. As we reported in July, the House Education and the Workforce Committee voted unanimously to approve the bill. The legislation now moves to the House floor where we hope it will receive the same overwhelming support from lawmakers in order to keep the reauthorization process moving forward. We need the help of CTE advocates nationwide to achieve this goal. Please take a few minutes to contact your Representative and ask him or her to vote YES on H.R. 5587!

Take Action

• Use our online congressional directory to find your Members of Congress.
• Contact your Representative using the CTE Action Center or by phone through the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.
  • Urge your Representative to support bipartisan, comprehensive Perkins reauthorization.
  • Tell him or her to vote YES on H.R. 5587, the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act!

CTE Survey in the Field

This week, a sample of CTE educators nationwide will begin receiving packets with questionnaires for CTE students and teachers. These questionnaires are a collaboration between ACTE and myCollegeOptions®, the nation's largest postsecondary planning program, and they provide ACTE with valuable research on CTE program elements and student outcomes. This infographic shares major findings from last year’s survey.

You may receive survey requests from other companies that do not have a relationship with ACTE. It important that you select the package that is branded with ACTE's logo. It will come from the address 3651 Ralph Powell Road, Lee's Summit, MO 64064.

Participation is voluntary, although if you receive the questionnaires, we hope you and your students will fill them out! Learn more about the questionnaires, how to request materials, and myCollegeOptions® student planning profiles and privacy protections with the Frequently Asked Questions.

New Poll Shows Broad Public Support for CTE

Phi Delta Kappa International (PDK) recently released its 48th annual poll on the public’s attitude toward public schools. While the survey was not limited to questions about CTE and workforce development, the results demonstrate overwhelming public support for career education and skills-based learning.

The poll, which sampled over 1,200 adults in all 50 states, showed that 90 percent of Americans believe that developing good work habits should be an “extremely” or “very important” objective for local public schools. That was the top response to the question, which underscores CTE's importance and the significant role it has to play in fully accomplishing what Americans most widely perceive to be an overall public school objective.

When asked what they believe to be the main purpose of public education, 25 percent of Americans said preparing students for work. Others ranked preparing students academically and to be good citizens as the main purpose. While 25 percent may appear low, as PDK CEO Josh Starr explained, “With the right curriculum and pedagogy, these purposes [of public schools] don’t have to be mutually exclusive,” and that “…the standards and test-based reforms of the past 16 years have addressed only part of what the public wants.” In other words, a variety of responses to this question all lead to the same conclusion: There is substantial support for robust, comprehensive CTE programs as part of a student’s overall education because CTE prepares students not just for the workforce, but also for higher education.

In fact, ACTE has previously documented how CTE prepares students academically, outlining that “the average high school graduation rate for students concentrating in CTE programs is 93 percent, compared to the average national freshman graduation rate of 80 percent.” Further, as this ACTE infographic shows based on research from the Southern Regional Education Board, “80 percent of students taking a college prep academic curriculum with rigorous CTE meet college and career readiness goals, compared to only 63 percent of students taking the same academic core who did not experience rigorous CTE.”

Lastly, the poll shows that the general public ranks enhancing and expanding CTE programs as a top school improvement priority. When asked if they would prefer schools offer more “career-technical or skills-based classes” instead of more “honors or advanced academic classes,” more than two-thirds (68%) of respondents said improving CTE options is more important. (It’s worth noting that as outlined above, CTE is certainly not inconsistent with advanced academic classes, and it includes rigorous coursework often used to prepare students for postsecondary education.)

Ultimately, ACTE believes that to prepare students for a variety of career and academic paths, high-quality CTE programs should be available and accessible to all. Based on the poll results, Americans clearly agree.

For more, see ACTE Executive Director LeAnn Wilson’s statement on the poll here, learn more about PDK here and read the full results from the poll here.

Research Round-up: Career Development, Computer Science

As summer wanes, catch up with some of the research, case studies and other materials about CTE and related subjects that have come out in 2016.

Career Development from the Employer Perspective: A new U.S. Chamber of Commerce report outlines an account management strategy for career development. With employers as the customers, account managers would liaise between the stakeholders, match students and employers, validate skills and ultimately create a talent supply network.

Lack of Access to Computer Science: 56 percent of 2015 high school seniors lacked access to computer science classes, according to an infographic from Change the Equation.

Separating College and Credentials: An Information Technology and Innovation Foundation report calls for a radical separation of credentials from the higher education system. To solve issues such as the variable quality of postsecondary programs and a lack of transferability of credits between institutions, assessment and credentialing work would be disconnected from learning. Instead, third-party organizations would offer standardized, accredited assessments leading to credentials. This proposal builds off the model of industry certifications, but is even broader in scope.

Where is the College Class of 2015?: According to a survey from the National Association of Colleges and Employers, by six months after graduation, 58 percent of the class of 2015 was employed full-time, with 6 percent employed part-time and 18 percent continuing their education. Eleven percent were looking for work. Students in computer science were most likely to be employed full-time, followed by business and engineering.