The last week of February marked the end of CTE Month, but we hope you were able to experience and participate in some of the events that took place around the country!. Many events shone a spotlight on CTE-related policies, initiatives and advocacy efforts this month, such as ACTE’s National Policy Seminar last week. In addition, last Friday, ACTE and Advance CTE release the eighth annual State Policies Impacting CTE: 2020 Year in Review which highlights major trends in CTE and career readiness policymaking from 2020, and includes a companion online state policy tracker that tracks and analyzes legislative actions by state and content area. On Tuesday, March 2, at 3pm EST, we will be hosting a webinar discussing the report and the trends we saw this year, along with potential policies that might be enacted in 2021. Here are a few other notes from last week:
- House Passes $1.9 Trillion COVID-19 Relief Package: Late Friday night, the House passed the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package. Included in this large relief package is $130 billion in funding to help K-12 schools reopen for in-person classroom instruction, as well as $1,400 stimulus checks, a $400 weekly unemployment insurance boost through the end of August, $8.5 billion in funding for continued COVID-19 vaccine efforts, among other items. The bill now goes to the Senate, and Democratic leadership wants it to be signed into law by mid-March.
- Guidance on Assessing Students During COVID-19: The Department of Education’s Office of Education and Secondary Education released a letter providing an update on assessment, accountability and reporting requirements for the 2020-2021 school year. The guidance to states emphasizes that the Department will not be issuing complete, blanket waivers of assessments this school year, but does offer some flexibility in the administration of assessments this year due to COVID-19, and urged continued transparency in reporting assessment data as a source of information for parents and educators to target resources and support.
- Statement on Student Assessment: Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA) of the House Committee on Education and Labor and Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) released a joint statement on the importance of statewide assessments. They emphasized the value of statewide assessment data as a reliable, valid and comparable measurement of student achievement.
- SNAP Eligibility Expanded During COVID-19: The U.S. Department of Education partnered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and issued guidance to postsecondary institutions about the temporary expansion of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) eligibility for learners in need due to the economic burden of the pandemic. These expanded benefits are available to learners who participate in state or federally financed work study or have an expected family contribution of $0 in the current academic year, which includes learners who are eligible for a maximum Pell Grant.
- Webinar on Access and Equity in CTE Programs and the Workforce: The National Skills Coalition and the National Coalition of Advanced Technology Center hosted a webinar to share best practices that can be implemented in CTE programs and workforce development initiatives that include inclusive and diverse policies to better engage learners regardless of the learners’ background.
- Webinar on Advancing Innovation in Adult Education: The Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education (OCTAE) and the Manhattan Strategy Group hosted a webinar to highlight the benefits of strong partnerships between adult education programs and workforce partners. During the webinar, a panel discussion covered topics such as strategies to keep and manage partnerships, addressing challenges with partnerships in rural areas, employability skills, career pathways and more.
Hello! Any word on the outcome of the Feb 18th meeting of the GADOE for the teacher stimulus of $1,000.00?
Posted by: Angela Palmer | 03/03/2021 at 02:10 PM