Building Robust District Work-Based Learning Data Collection Systems: A recently published report by the CTE Research Network showcases the promising practices of six school districts across the nation that have gone well beyond the minimum for work-based learning (WBL) data collection and use.
Recommendations on how school leaders can improve WBL data collection below:
- Begin data collection as early as possible by creating records of learner career interests and activities.
- Systematically capture learner skill gains so they can be assessed as an outcome measure through tagging predefined sets of skills or using a structured employer evaluation form.
- Track student career interests and WBL participation through individual learning plan databases.
- Minimize data collection errors by implementing formal systems that restrict entries to first-hand sources such as teachers, students, employers and school-level WBL coordinators.
- Prioritize data quality and integration across systems.
Researchers also emphasized the need for longitudinal data systems that link education and employment records.
ACTE is one of the lead organizations in the CTE Research Network.
Geographic Variation in Equitable Postsecondary Value Among Community Colleges: The American Institutes for Research has released a report that quantifies the value that postsecondary institutions provide to students by using publicly available data to measure learners’ earnings against the Postsecondary Value Commission’s Postsecondary Value Framework. Experts determined that community colleges hold a positive value for students from the 2008-09 and 2009-10 beginning cohort with a median economic return of $2,800 compared to people whose highest attainment is a high school diploma. In particular, pathways that result in employment within health care and manufacturing were associated with increased economic value for students.
Understanding Dual Enrollment: The Community College Research Center recently published a policy fact sheet on dual enrollment (DE) summarizing what we know from the research. Researchers noted that 82% of high school students nationwide report attending a school that offers DE courses.
Top-level findings, insights and recommendations below:
- Unequal access to DE is prominent with White students participating in these courses at twice the rate of their Black and Hispanic classmates. Individuals with disabilities and English learners are also significantly underrepresented.
- Over 1.5 million learners annually enroll in DE courses nationwide with more than a million of those individuals taking them through two-year institutions. In fact, secondary students account for approximately 20% of community college enrollments.
- Standardized placement tests are the main method for determining eligibility, although researchers question their validity and whether they perpetuate inequities.
- The most frequent model for DE delivery is college-level coursework taught at the high school. Students who take courses on a college campus are less likely to pass the DE course but more likely to enroll in community college after high school.
- Traditional DE models are less costly overall than Early College High School (ECHS) models despite ECHSs being designed to offer programing at low or no cost to learners.
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