CTE Policy Watch: A blog for CTE advocates

CTE: The Pathway to Cybersecurity Careers

This week ACTE is releasing a new infographic describing opportunities in cybersecurity and how CTE prepares students for this high-wage, highly-skilled and fulfilling career pathway.

With more than 300,000 unfilled jobs in the United States needing cybersecurity skills, CTE programs—including courses, work-based learning, career and technical student organizations and opportunities to earn recognized postsecondary credentials—are critical for developing the current and future workforce in this sector.

The infographic was developed in consultation with the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE), a partnership between government, academia and the private sector focused on cybersecurity education, training and workforce development, led by the National Institute of Standards and Technology in the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Parents and students can learn more about cybersecurity careers with ACTE’s STEM Parent program, which immerses students in a multi-year interactive experience exploring and test-driving some of the most in-demand STEM careers. The connected mobile app for parents keeps families apprised of their child’s progress. ACTE STEM Parent is powered by LifeJourney, a technology for families to explore careers with leading industry mentors at internet scale.

Research Round-up: Credentials of Value, Equity, Noncredit Outcomes

Fill your fall reading list with new research and publications on CTE equity, industry-recognized credentials, career pathways and postsecondary outcomes.

Credentials of Value: ACTE, among other education and industry leaders, participated in a working group convened by the Education Strategy Group, in partnership with the Council of Chief State School Officers and Advance CTE. The working group developed the following recommendations to help states identify credentials with labor market value and improve attainment of those credentials:

• Identify high-value credentials by analyzing employer signaling, determining which industry credentials can be used for postsecondary credit and building a cross-sector industry-recognized credential list and validation process
• Incentivize attainment of high-value credentials by better communicating the benefits of these credentials, providing funding for credential exams and leveraging program approval processes
• Collect and report credential attainment data by sharing data with industry certifiers and creating a standardized reporting framework

Lessons learned and templates from ACTE’s Certification Data Exchange Project can help states achieve this last goal. 

Equity in CTE: Advance CTE has launched its new Making Good on the Promise series this fall. The first brief charts the history of equity challenges in CTE and looks at equity gaps in CTE today. It describes how bias can impact students through career and academic advising and selection/enrollment criteria, as well as through barriers in different geographic locations, through graduation requirements that pit college and career pathways against each other and through the provision, or lack thereof, of student accommodations.

A second brief in the series looks at how states are using their data systems to address equity gaps by leveraging accountability to highlight inequities, providing data publicly and transparently, and analyzing the causes of access and achievement gaps. Examples are shared from Maryland, Minnesota, Delaware and Oregon.

The Making Good on the Promise series is made possible through the New Skills for Youth initiative, a partnership of the Council of Chief State School Officers, Advance CTE and Education Strategy Group, funded by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Iowa Noncredit Postsecondary CTE Outcomes: The state of Iowa is continuing its commitment to high-quality CTE data and analysis with a new tool: The first edition of Iowa’s Community Colleges: Noncredit CTE Employment Outcomes Report and Interactive Dashboard.

Among its findings, the report notes that:

• Noncredit CTE students in Iowa community colleges are more likely to be older, male and more racially diverse than students in credit-bearing programs
• 32 percent of noncredit students either transfer to credit-bearing programs, or already have postsecondary degrees
• 92 percent of noncredit students were employed in the first year after program exit, primarily in health care, manufacturing, transportation, retail trade, construction and administrative services

Student Data in 2018: According to the Data Quality Campaign, 25 states have passed 59 new laws in 2018 governing the collection, linking, use, access and protection of education data. For instance, Louisiana passed legislation directing the Board of Regents to provide local education agencies with data on high school students’ postsecondary outcomes. In addition, Colorado and Wyoming must now collect data on military enrollment, in addition to other postsecondary pathways.

Career Pathways: A new brief from CLASP defines career pathways and guided pathways, and describes how these two approaches complement each other to support student success.

Another recent CLASP brief summarizes the state of research into career pathways. Author Tim Harmon describes promising findings that show higher earnings and better education outcomes through career pathways, but notes that much research has examined only short-term results and only in health care and manufacturing pathways.

A group of state education and workforce development leaders, national organizations, advocates, funders and federal agency staff was convened by CLASP and the Workforce Collaborative of the Greater Washington Community Foundation to make recommendations for improving career pathways research. These recommendations include developing new measures for career pathways success, tracking co-enrollment to determine how well it addresses students’ education and employment barriers and measuring student retention more effectively, among other steps.

High-quality CTE Tools Library Launched

In this fourth year of our High-quality CTE Initiative, ACTE is concluding a pilot test of our comprehensive, research-based quality CTE program of study framework. We will be releasing a finalized framework and evaluation rubric this fall, and we have already begun integrating the 12 elements of high-quality CTE into our recognition and professional development activities.

For instance, this summer ACTE has built a High-quality CTE Tools section on our website. This online library features resources that support success in each of the 12 elements. The emphasis is on practitioner strategies, case studies and toolkits to help educators and administrators implement high-quality CTE programs of study. In the future, this online library will be linked to an online version of the rubric, so that programs completing the assessment can access resources for areas identified as needing improvement.

Learn more at www.acteonline.org/high-quality-CTE-tools.

CTE Creates the Finance Workforce

Explore CTE’s role in developing the workforce in financial services with ACTE’s updated Sector Sheet. This brief has been revised with the latest on job demand, talent shortages and exemplary CTE programs.  

There are almost four million “good jobs”—jobs that pay an average of $55,000 annually—in financial, consulting and business services. In addition, almost 800,000 new jobs are projected in business and financial services by 2026, fueled by an expanding global economy and an intricate regulatory and tax environment.

To engage and prepare students for careers in this sector, the Academy of Finance at Como Park Senior High School in Saint Paul, Minnesota, offers a career-themed smaller learning community with counseling, coordinated wraparound services and work-based learning experiences such as internships with the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Students in the academy have the opportunity to earn up to 16 college credits and a certificate from Saint Paul College.

On the postsecondary level, Arizona’s Glendale Community College, Mesa Community College and Rio Salado College have responded to demand in the state’s insurance sector by teaming up to offer a postsecondary certificate in insurance studies. The 18-credit certificate curriculum was developed in collaboration with professionals from 20 insurance companies and articulates to associate and bachelor’s degree programs.

ACTE’s Sector Sheet series is generously supported by Pearson.

CTE Survey in the Field

At the end of August, CTE educators nationwide will begin receiving packets with questionnaires for CTE students and teachers. These questionnaires are a collaboration between ACTE and myOptions^TM, and they provide ACTE with valuable research on CTE program elements and student outcomes that informs our work and helps us develop advocacy tools. In addition, educators benefit by receiving customized reports about their students’ postsecondary and career goals, while students receive personalized information connecting them to postsecondary information and planning resources.

You may receive survey requests from other companies that do not have a relationship with ACTE. It is 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! If you did not receive any questionnaires but would like to participate, or need additional forms, please visit http://MyOptions.ACTE-sign-up-request-2018-19.sgizmo.com/s3.

MyOptions, a nonprofit education organization, is the nation’s largest college and career planning program. Through specialized platforms such as MyCollegeOptions^®, myOptions offers free assistance and resources to millions of students, their parents, and high school faculty and staff nationwide. Learn more about myOptions student planning profiles and privacy protections with the Frequently Asked Questions. 

Research Round-up: Program Quality, Community College Partnerships, Employer Perceptions

Read up on the latest publications addressing postsecondary CTE program quality and student outcomes as well as externships, education-workforce data sharing and how manufacturers use credentials in hiring.  

Ensuring Postsecondary CTE Quality: How can states promote postsecondary CTE program quality? A new report from Advance CTE examines strategies for encouraging quality on the postsecondary level with examples from California, Florida and Wisconsin. The publication describes a spectrum of governance structures for postsecondary CTE and the resulting variety of program approval and review processes among states. It shares strategies for ensuring quality based on various levels of state control, including by using Perkins funding as a lever; requiring publicly funded programs to justify their existence with labor market data and/or employer partner commitments; harnessing accreditation policies; and developing state resources such as program approval and review manuals.

Ensuring Pathway Quality: Advance CTE recently produced another resource emphasizing quality assurance, this one aimed at quality in career pathways overall. This practical tool incorporates questions for programs of study and career pathways leaders to ask themselves as well as specific steps to take for reviewing, transforming and phasing out programs.

Employer Needs: Local business leaders surveyed by Business Forward reported the importance of school quality to their ability to hire and retain employees, and endorsed practical skills and technical training as a strategy that would help address their workforce needs.

Externships for OK Teachers: Participation in an Oklahoma teacher externship program in STEM subjects has dramatically increased in its second year. Educators are spending their summer with businesses such as an oil and gas control manufacturer. They report developing their own skills and learning more about career pathways for students.

Postsecondary Partnerships: A new brief from the National Skills Coalition highlights multi-stakeholder partnerships among employers, schools, community-based organizations (CBOs) and other entities. Case studies include the North Baton Rouge Industrial Training Initiative with ExxonMobil and Baton Rouge Community College; the M-Powered initiative involving Hennepin Technical College and the Precision Metalforming Association; and Mopar Career Automotive Program, a partnership of Fiat Chrysler and community colleges.

Community College Transfer: Only 5.6 percent of students who transfer from community colleges do so after earning a postsecondary certificate or associate degree, according to new data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. The vast majority of transfers do not have a credential in hand upon changing institutions. Community colleges and states around the nation are addressing this challenge through reverse transfer policies that retroactively award credentials to transfer students.

Manufacturing Credentials: Credentials are not routinely required or used by manufacturing firms as a primary factor in hiring and promotion, according to a new report from Workcred, an American National Standards Institute affiliate. In addition, many manufacturers are unaware of what credentials are available or how they are relevant to the workplace. However, manufacturers report that credentials could be useful if they were better understood and more aligned with in-demand skills. The report features a number of recommendations, including aligning credentials with quality standards and adding more employability skills content to credentials.

Education-Workforce Data Sharing: A new brief from the Data Quality Campaign and the Workforce Data Quality Campaign lays out a roadmap for implementing quality data linkages between K-12 and workforce systems. The publication addresses steps for building cross-agency data governance structures, matching and analyzing data, and instituting security and privacy processes.  

Working Students: About 44 percent of school year 2011-12 first-time students in two-year colleges worked during their freshman year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, with 18 percent working 35 hours or more per week. Students who worked 20 hours or less per week were more likely to earn an associate degree in two years than both full-time workers and students who did not work.

Employability Skills: Students’ level of confidence in their employability skills is much higher than employers’ perception of their employability skills, according to data from two recent surveys reported by McGraw-Hill Education. In addition, only about 40 percent of college students feel very or extremely prepared for their careers. More than half of students surveyed say that increased opportunities for work-based learning would have helped them feel more prepared for the workforce.

Research Round-up: Certificate Benefits, Workers in the South, Growing Interest in Technical Training

The following recently published research makes the case for the benefits of CTE to students, workers and regional economies.

Students Want Technical Training: More students are considering community and technical colleges and programs, according to a survey of 500-plus U.S. high school sophomores, juniors and seniors conducted by the College Savings Foundation. This includes 28 percent looking to enroll in community colleges and 8 percent aiming to participate in postsecondary vocational/career programs—up from 20 percent and 4 percent, respectively, in 2016.

In addition, 81 percent of students would like colleges to focus more on skills training than on majors that lead to employment further down the road, and 70 percent say they would rather attend such an institution.

Data on CTE Postsecondary Students: Thirty-eight percent of college students in 2011-12 were seeking an associate degree or postsecondary certificate in a CTE field of study, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Health care was the most popular CTE program, followed by business and marketing. Subbaccalaureate CTE students most often attended public two-year colleges—65 percent—with 20 percent enrolled in for-profit institutions.

Skills Gap for Technicians: Equipment distributors are struggling to cope with a skills gap, according to this one-pager from the Associated Equipment Distributors. To address the problem, the infographic recommends incentivizing CTE programs at high school and postsecondary levels.

Building the Southern Workforce: More than half of all jobs in the Southern United States require some college education, such as an associate degree or postsecondary certificate, but less than a bachelor’s degree, according to a National Skills Coalition report. The publication describes how CTE and career pathways can improve the skilled workforce in the South.

Certificate Holders Reap Rewards: Postsecondary certificates bring rewards to Oregonians, according to an analysis from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. Young certificate holders can double their earnings after completion. Mid-career workers also benefit, although their trajectory is a bit bumpier: They typically experience a decline in earnings while pursing a certificate, but make a recovery after earning their credential. Students earning certificates in health care fields typically see the largest wage gains.

ED Online Resource Library: The U.S. Department of Education has launched a new, online Comprehensive Center Network, pulling together resources from the department’s centers focused on specific education initiatives, such as the College and Career Readiness and Success Center, and from its regional centers. The network includes more than 700 resources and more than 200 projects.

State Guide to Non-degree Credentials: A new guide from the Workforce Data Quality Campaign includes step-by-step instructions for states on measuring non-degree credential attainment using student-level administrative data.

Research Round-up: Credential Counts, Community Colleges and Apprenticeships, Relevance

This summer CTE reading list addresses secondary CTE data in Iowa, the relationship between apprenticeships and community colleges, counts of how many credentials are available in the United States, and more.

Iowa CTE: Iowa has published a first-of-its-kind report on recent trends in secondary CTE programs, students and teachers. The data, which spans school years 2013 to 2017, shows a steady number of program offerings as well as steady enrollment and participation numbers in programs and CTSOs. In addition, the analysis found significant growth in student participation in contracted postsecondary CTE courses, particularly in larger school districts. This research gives a baseline against which to evaluate changes in secondary CTE fostered by comprehensive 2016 state legislation that is impacting program offerings, career guidance, work-based learning, teacher preparation and development, and regional partnerships/centers.

Credential Counts: Credential Engine has identified more than 334,000 distinct credentials awarded in the United States. This is a conservative estimate, as several types of credentials—including high school diplomas, licenses and certifications, non-credit certificates, credentials from non-Title-IV institutions and unregistered apprenticeships—could not be fully counted. This count helps establish a foundation for future mapping of the credential landscape.

Non-degree Credential Counts: According to the Workforce Data Quality Campaign, states are increasingly collecting data on non-degree credential attainment, including certificates, industry certifications and licenses, and incorporating these credentials into their state attainment goals. States are most likely to have data about public postsecondary certificates, registered apprenticeship certificates and licenses, and least likely to have data on non-registered apprenticeship certificates and industry certifications. In addition, 30 states are developing lists that identify high-value credentials.

New Skills for Youth: The 10 states selected to transform their career readiness systems through the New Skills for Youth (NSFY) initiative are well on their way, according to a report on the first year of NSFY Phase Two. Activities include Massachusetts’ cross-sector committee that developed definitions and criteria for high-quality college and career pathways; Ohio’s guidance to local school boards on granting credit for work-based learning; Rhode Island’s industry-led validation of CTE and work-based learning standards; and Kentucky’s work to identify credentials of value and align career pathways to labor market need. Priorities for 2018 include further alignment and scaling.

Community Colleges and Apprenticeships: A new report from the American Enterprise Institute describes challenges that community colleges face in apprenticeship delivery, including struggles with funding, difficulties in coordinating with business partners and the U.S. Department of Labor, and competition from apprenticeship service providers. Relatedly, the Task Force on Apprenticeship Expansion, which was established by executive order last year, recently recommended a federal framework for recognizing and supporting industry-recognized apprenticeships.

Educational Adequacy: Researchers at the Century Foundation and Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce are proposing a standard for “educational adequacy” based on postsecondary programs’ demonstrated capacity to provide economic self-sufficiency. Graduates are defined as self-sufficient when they earn more than $35,000 per year 10 years after completion, and when their earnings cover the program’s total costs, including opportunity costs. While specific credentials and programs are not identified in this analysis, both associate and bachelor’s degrees can pass this educational adequacy test.

Relevance Matters: Only 26 percent of working U.S. adults with some college education strongly agree that their education is relevant to their jobs and daily lives, according to a survey from Gallup and Strada Education Network. Relevance was rated similarly across two- and four-year degrees. Regardless of field of study or degree type, completers find greater relevance in their educational investments than non-completers.

CTE Creates the Biosciences Workforce

Learn about CTE’s role in developing the workforce in biosciences with ACTE’s updated Sector Sheet. This brief has been revised with the latest on job demand, talent shortages and exemplary CTE programs.  

The biosciences sector employed almost 1.7 million Americans across more than 77,000 businesses in 2014, with earnings that are more than twice the national average. Skilled workers will continue to be in demand as the sector produces new vaccines, safer pes­ticides and groundbreaking gene therapies, among other innovations.

To engage and prepare students for careers in this sector, the Butler Tech Bioscience program in West Chester, Ohio—part of Butler Technology and Career Development Schools—has partnered to offer job shadowing and internships with local hospitals and medical companies such as drug manufacturer AstraZeneca and medical device manufacturers AtriCure Inc. and DRT Medical–Morris. All students participate in HOSA–Future Health Professionals, complete a capstone project and have the opportunity to earn up to 60 college credits as well as industry certifications.

On the postsecondary level, Austin Community College has recently launched a program in medical device manufacturing, leading to a variety of stackable postsecondary certificate and degree options. Central Texas biotechnology businesses contributed to developing the curriculum and provide students with opportunities to take part in internships and research projects.

ACTE’s Sector Sheet series is generously supported by Pearson.

Conscientiousness Helps CTE Students Succeed

CTE students exhibit key non-cognitive skills that lead to positive education and labor market outcomes, according to a new report from the American Enterprise Institute (AEI).

AEI researchers Collin Hitt and Albert Cheng begin their analysis with a synthesis of CTE research showing that, on average, high school students who take more CTE courses have lower test scores in math and reading, but have positive outcomes when it comes to high school graduation, employment and earnings.

Given these lower test scores, what propels CTE students to labor market success? What skills and abilities do CTE students have that is not captured by these tests? Hitt and Cheng analyzed several measures of non-cognitive skills related to conscientiousness and found that CTE students performed higher on these measures than their non-CTE peers. These measures include teacher reports of attendance, attentiveness in class and homework completion as well as how much effort students put into completing tasks. (The researchers previously demonstrated that students and adults who take more care in accurately and completely filling out forms are more likely to achieve better education and labor market outcomes).

This research adds to a growing body of information on the connection between CTE and cross-cutting skills that lead to success in the workplace and further education.