This second blog post in our CLNA series digs into one of the key challenges that CTE leaders shared with us for Lessons in Collaboration and Innovation: The Impact and Promise of the Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment, our new report co-published with Advance CTE – the authentic engagement of a full range of stakeholders during the first CLNAs.
Stakeholder engagement was noted by both state and local CTE leaders as an area for improvement in the first CLNAs. Several of the states interviewed could not speak with certainty about whether all stakeholders were substantively engaged, particularly learners and families. Local CTE leaders similarly shared that stakeholder engagement was not always as robust as desired, in part because COVID 19 required some local recipients to switch their engagement plans mid-stream.
Where local recipients were able to engage in intensive stakeholder engagement for the first CLNA, positive transformation was possible. In Mitchell County, North Carolina, a small rural district, CTE educators hosted 14 focus groups in fall 2019, each with cross-stakeholder participation that included learners, and followed each focus group with leadership team meetings, during which they reviewed and discussed the feedback received. This robust engagement led the district to develop several new courses and new professional development opportunities.
For this 2021-22 CLNA process, states are acting to help local leaders improve stakeholder engagement and local leaders are working to diversify consultation methods and do more in-depth engagement. For instance, the College of DuPage in Illinois planned to survey learners to find out if they identify as a member of a special population, what they know about existing supports and what other supports they need, as well as conduct focus groups for more of a deep dive.
Stay tuned for the next entry in this series, which will look at the role of data in the first CLNAs, and revisit our first post.
Comments