CTE Policy Watch: A blog for CTE advocates

Survey Results on CTE Planning for 2020-21

ACTE received an incredible amount of feedback--nearly 1,200 responses--from a recent survey about how CTE stakeholders are planning for the 2020-21 school year and where the greatest challenges lie.

The survey asked two main questions:

1. What combination of in-person and distance learning is your state/district/school/institution planning for when students return?
2. Please rate your level of concern about the following topics in preparing for the possibility of distance or blended learning (i.e., some combination of distance learning and in-person learning) when students return.

About 60% of the respondents said that their schools, districts or institutions were undecided about plans for when students return to campus, or they were unaware of those plans. The next most frequent response was blended learning, with 26% of all respondents indicating that their programs would operate in a blended environment, with both in-person and distance learning available. This is the most common scenario that both secondary and postsecondary CTE educators are anticipating for school return. However, 18% of postsecondary CTE stakeholders are also preparing for  almost all distance learning, compared to only 3% of all respondents.

The results from the second question indicate that CTE educators’  biggest concerns are lab hours and hands-on learning in distance or blended environments, and this was true for both secondary and postsecondary respondents. Student engagement, funding for CTE programs, access and equity, internet access and online learning technology, and technical assessments and industry credentials were among the next top concerns for CTE stakeholders. In contrast, respondents are relatively less worried about instructor staffing and professional development, credit transfer, articulation and dual and concurrent enrollment and industry advisory boards and business partnerships.

These survey responses are informing ACTE’s efforts to help CTE programs and professionals prepare for the new school year. We are launching a webinar series on June 9, High-quality CTE: Planning for a COVID-19-Impacted School Year, and will release a related guide this month. 

Annual Report on The Condition of Education 2020 Released

The annual congressionally mandated report The Condition of Education 2020 was released by the National Center for Education Statistics on May 19. Within the report, researchers present 47 data indicators such as enrollment levels, academic progress, educational attainment, financial status and others to illustrate new developments and trends in education. These indicators are categorized into four areas: preprimary, elementary, and secondary education; postsecondary education; population characteristics and economic outcomes; and international comparisons. 

Some of the most relevant findings include:

• Enrollment for K-12 in 2017-18 was 50.7 million and expected to increase to 51.1 million in 2029.
• The graduation rate for K-12 students during the 2017-18 school year was unchanged from the previous year at 85%. This is the highest rate since first measured in 2010-11.
• College enrollment for traditional aged students (18-24 year-olds) increased between 2000-01 and 2018-19 from 35% to 41%.
• Postsecondary certificates earned between 2017–18 increased by 117% at public institutions compared to 2000-01 (from 310,000 to 672,000). The number of associate degrees between 2017–18 increased as well, by 94% at public institutions (from 456,000 to 886,000).
• Educational attainment rates increased on all levels between 2000-01 and 2018-19 for students aged 25 to 29. Specifically, attainment of a high school degree or higher increased from 88% to 94%, attainment of an associate degree or higher increased from 38% to 49%, and attainment of a bachelor’s degree or higher increased from 29% to 39%.
• An increase in average median earnings positively correlated with higher levels of education in 2018-19 for 25-34 year-olds.
• Compared to other Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, the percent of 25-34 year-olds in the United States who had completed high school  was 92%, while the OECD average was 85%.

These trends can help policymakers and other stakeholders track progress on leading educational indicators and make informed decisions to address areas needing improvement in the future.

Addressing Equity Gaps in Community College CTE Programs

CTE programs in community colleges are striving to achieve equity goals and reduce equity gaps, finds MDRC in their report Voices from the Field: How Community Colleges Are Advancing Equity in Career and Technical Education. In 2019, MDRC did a scan of 17 CTE programs in community colleges and interviewed CTE administrators, state level CTE administrators, instructors, employer and community partners, and students. The report provides best practices on how CTE stakeholders can improve equity in their CTE programs.

First, four main findings from the scan of CTE programs in community colleges are presented. The four findings are:

• New and innovative ways of outreach must be introduced, such as peer recruiters and community partners.
• To increase retention and completion of programs, individualized and targeted coaching, support networks and non-tuition support are needed.
• Increased post-graduation services may help underrepresented students in the labor market and increased earning potential.
• Community colleges working on equity are coming up with ways to uncover inequities regarding race, ethnicity, gender and other characteristics relevant to their local context.

The researchers then go through the lifecycle of a student and identify where inequities may occur. This lifecycle is broken down into three stages: recruitment and enrollment (access); support during the program (persistence and completion); and after graduation (outcomes). For each stage, the researchers provide examples and strategies of best practices of current approaches that are addressing inequities. 

Finally, four policy and practice ideas are recommended for other CTE programs to follow when facing inequities. First, if funding is limited, focus funds on access before completion because it is less expensive and bound by regulation. Also, supporting prospective students through possible challenging application and enrollment processes is essential for equitable access and outcomes. Community colleges also need to ensure that a pipeline is being created so strategies learned in classrooms translate to equitable initial employment. The last policy recommendation is offering postemployment services to encourage retention in current jobs as well as creating opportunities for career advancement. 

To implement these innovative practices and policies, the researchers state that programs will need both financial resources and data to provide more equitable CTE programs. Both of these will help highlight current gaps as well as provide solutions to help address equity issues in CTE programs.

New Middle School CTE Resource Repository

In late March, we partnered with Advance CTE on the release of Broadening the Path: Design Principles for Middle Grades CTE, which laid out a theory of action for advancing high-quality middle grades CTE policies and programs. With the promotion of middle grades CTE in the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V), it is an ideal time for state and local leaders to consider how to best support and expand CTE in middle school.

On Tuesday, the next piece to support this work was released: an extensive repository of state-level resources that state and local leaders can leverage as they begin to develop and expand CTE into the middle grades. The repository includes links to resources from all 50 states and Washington, DC, including state middle grades CTE standards, career development guidance and tools, work-based learning and Career and Technical Student Organization supports, licensure requirements, state policies and more.

Starting next week, we will be working with Advance CTE to jointly release a series of blogs to lift up promising state and local practices across the core programmatic elements of middle grades CTE that are highlighted in the repository. The first blog will focus on middle grades CTE standards, curriculum and assessment, and you'll be able to find it right here on the CTE Policy Watch Blog. 

Broadening the Path: Design Principles for Middle Grades CTE and the new repository were created with the support of the Middle Grades CTE Shared Solutions Workgroup, comprised of national, state and local leaders, convened by Advance CTE with support from ACTE and generously funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Podcast Series for CTE Advocates

Podcasts! Several new podcast series have emerged this Spring that are relevant for CTE advocates. Topics for these podcasts range from the impact of the coronavirus crisis on education  to advocacy efforts for workforce development. Here are three new podcast series that have recently been created that might prove beneficial:

• Lessons Earned: Lessons Earned is a new podcast from Strada Education Network that debuted in the beginning of March and already has two seasons. This podcast interviews educators, employers and policymakers about ideas on learning and earning. The second season covers topics about how COVID-19 has impacted education and the workforce with interviews from experts in the field.
  
  
• The Key: Inside Higher Ed created The Key specifically to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on postsecondary education. Throughout the series, they interview higher education stakeholders to understand how postsecondary institutions are handling COVID-19 and the recession.
  
  
• Skilled America Podcast: Advocacy for the future of workforce development is the focus of the National Skills Coalition’s new podcast series Skilled America Podcast. Their series starts with interviews from workforce organizations on how to spotlight skills during the election season, and then moves into episodes focused on how workforce programs are coping with the current pandemic

Research Round-up: COVID-19 Edition (Part 1)

Compilations of Equity Resources: Advance CTE has compiled a blog post of relevant research and resources surrounding equity as educators transition to remote learning. In addition, the American Youth Policy Forum has started a central webpage to share resources for serving disadvantaged young people. The first set of resources is focused on justice-involved youth.

Chiefs for Change Report on Schools’ Response to COVID-19: On April 15, Chiefs for Change released Schools and COVID-19: How Districts and State Education Departments are Responding to the Pandemic. This report outlines challenges facing districts and states and strategies education leaders are using to address those challenges. Five key areas of focus are reviewed, including basic student needs, technology, distance learning, support for high school seniors, and the economic impact of the pandemic.

Research on School District Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic: A new report, School District Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Round 2, Districts Are Up and Running, from the American Enterprise Institute, outlines how school district are adapting to online education. Data was collected from district websites April 6-7, and is compared to information gathered earlier in March and published in an earlier report, School District Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Round 1, Districts’ Initial Responses.

Weekly Survey on Economic Impact of COVID: The Strada Education Network is releasing weekly data from its COVID-19 Work and Education Survey, a nationally representative survey of 4,000 adults designed to capture the impact of the crisis on jobs, wages and education. The latest results show that the crisis is disproportionately impacting minority groups, and that one in three individuals think they will need more education to find a comparable job if they lose theirs.

Estimates of COVID Learning Slide: The Northwest Evaluation Association has released research on the impact of school closures on student learning losses, with troubling findings showing some students could lose 30% of their reading gains from this year and up to half (or all!) of their math gains by the time school resumes in the fall. You can also read more analysis of potential academic consequences of school closures and the move to remote learning on Education Next.

Financial Consequences for States and Schools: The Albert Shanker Institute released a report in late April that looks at the likely impact of the coronavirus crisis on K-12 education funding, and the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities suggests that states are going to need significantly more fiscal relief in order to counter the effects of the recession on education and other state services.

National Survey on the Impact of COVID-19 on Teachers and District Leaders: EdWeek Research Center is conducting twice monthly polls of educators to determine how schools are addressing critical issues during the pandemic. You can find the results of the survey from April 7-8 here, with updated information expected soon!

Impacts on College Enrollment: A new ACT and NRCCUA report examines the perspectives of college bound high school seniors related to the pandemic and their future educational choices. Not surprisingly, many students are concerned about their future plans, particularly about their family financial situation changing or having to delay enrollment, which could change their original college choice.

New Perspectives from College Students: A recent survey from the American Council on Education (ACE) and the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers found that 17% of college students are considering (or are definitely) not re-enrolling in the fall. Another poll from College Reaction found that many students have lost jobs and think their distance learning is measurably “worse” than in-person instruction. 

And More Perspectives from Colleges Leaders and Faculty: College presidents surveyed by ACE indicate their most pressing concerns are enrollment numbers and long-term financial viability—matching student reports of delaying or forgoing re-enrollment. Another recent survey of college presidents from Inside Higher Education shows similar concerns, but also identifies an emerging issue related to “the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on low-income and underrepresented students.” Finally, a survey from Bay View Analytics summarized how instructors changed their teaching practices in response to the pandemic, including new teaching methods, technologies, and expectations. Interestingly, only 17% of two-year college instructors had changed expectations for quality of student work, and these instructors also reported significantly less grading flexibility for students.

Expanding the Second Chance Pell Experiment

On April 24, the US Department of Education announced it was expanding the Second Chance Pell Experiment to 67 new institutions. The Second Chance Pell program was created in 2015 to allow incarcerated individuals access to postsecondary credits and job skills with the goal to reduce recidivism rates. The Pell grants are allocated to students enrolling in postsecondary programs provided by  local educational institutions or distant learning providers. 

This expansion more than doubles the previous number of institutions that were involved with the program; there will now be a total of  130 institutions authorized to participate in the experiment. A significant number of the new institutions are community and technical colleges. 

A recently released “Snapshot” of the first three years of the experiment found significant success. More than 4,500 credentials--postsecondary certificates, diplomas, associate degrees and bachelor degrees--were awarded in three years, and the number of participants has increased every year. The report, from the Vera Institute of Justice also articulated earlier research that shows that those who participate in correctional educational programs are 48% less likely to be reincarcerated. 

Labor Market Data for CTE Participants

High School students who were enrolled in three or more CTE credits have lower unemployment rates and more access to health insurance and retirement benefits than students who took less than three CTE credits, reports the Institute for Education Science in  Labor Market Outcomes for High School Career and Technical Education Participants. This data comes from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 which focuses on high school Freshman in 2009 and includes three follow-up data collections in 2012, 2013 and 2016. The report compares students three years after their High School graduations that were not currently enrolled in a postsecondary program. 

Though the researchers did not find that CTE participation led to greater participation in the labor force, they did find that students who earned three or more CTE credits had lower unemployment rates compared to students who took less than three CTE credits. Students who took three or more CTE credits had an unemployment rate of 11%, while students who took 1.00-2.99 credits had an unemployment rate of 16% and students who took 0.00-0.99 CTE credits had an unemployment rate of 23%. 

Other findings show that the level of CTE participation does not have a significant effect on job satisfaction or pay, but CTE participation does positively affect access to health insurance and retirement benefits.  43% of students who earned three or more CTE credits received health insurance and retirement benefits, compared to 35% of students who earned 2.00-2.99 CTE credits and 33% of students who earned 0.00-1.99 CTE credits. This is an indication of higher-quality jobs and higher overall compensation for students who concentrate in CTE.

Research Round-up: College and Career Readiness, Workforce Needs, Equity Principals for Developing CLNAs

While most of the attention in education policy and research of late has been related to the COVID-19 response, there have been a few new CTE-related publications recently and we are catching up on some of the research that has been published. These publications cover topics ranging from reducing recidivism rates by giving opportunities through education and training to young people, to a tool to help states learn from each other’s best practices to improve college and career readiness, and more!

Helping Former Incarcerated Young Adults Transition: Strategies for helping young adults who have formerly been incarcerated transition to being successful requires support and educational and career skills, according to From Surviving to Thriving: Supporting Transformation, Reentry and Connections to Employment for Young Adults from The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) and FHI 360. Of the best practices that the report recommends, education, training and work experience are some of the tools for success that are needed to help young people enter into the workforce. The report’s authors also recommend creating lasting partnerships with employers so these young people are able to be hired once their training is completed. 

Collaboration Between States for College and Career Readiness: A new online tool from the Southern Regional Education Board has analyzed states’ approaches to ensure students are successful in college and careers. This tool compares different state policies on topics ranging from education and workforce alignment to accelerated learning opportunities and academic and career planning activities. These comparisons can be used to help states come up with their own college and career readiness policies based on the best practices of other states.

Addressing the Workforce Needs: In Making College Work for Students and the Economy: A State Policy Roadmap, Jobs for the Future (JFF) found three common challenges states are facing: states are data rich but information poor; states are focused on expanding access to postsecondary education when access is not the only thing that increases credential attainment and talent development; and states are not aligning systems for greatest impact. Based on these findings, JFF created recommendations on how to better address these shortcomings.

Higher Wage Opportunities for Workers with No Degree but Some Skills: The National Bureau of Economic Research found in their new working paper, Searching for STARs: Work Experience as a Job Market Signal for Workers without Bachelor's Degrees, that workers without a four-year degree have jobs that pay higher than the average median state wage. The researchers also found that about 5.2 million workers with some postsecondary education but less than four-year degrees are already in high-wage roles ($77,000 per year or higher), and this could indicate that workers without a four-year degree have opportunities to transition to a higher wage scale.

Equity Principles for Developing CLNAs: The National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity (NAPE) published Equity and the Perkins V CLNA which outlines three equity principles and guiding questions for LEAs to follow when creating their CNLAs. The first principle is developing an asset perspective to encourage leaders to view cultural differences as an asset to the workplace. The second principle is grounded action, which looks at where the hardships are for individuals instead of only relying on external research and contexts. The last principle is that systems are not neutral, so LEAs must disaggregate data to the program level to get an accurate picture of a complex system. 

New Infographic on Connecticut Technical High Schools: Male students in the Connecticut Technical High School System have higher high school graduation rates, improved wage earning potential, higher attendance rates in 9th grade and higher 10th grade test scores, a study from the Career and Technical Research Network reports. This infographic supplements the report that was released earlier this year. Read the full report here.

Discovering Potential Solutions for the Skills Gap in Hiring Decisions: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce commissioned a survey of 500 HR professionals with hiring authority in their organizations and found three key issues with candidates: lacking appropriate/necessary skills; lacking previous work experience; and low numbers of applicants. The top three solutions the professionals recommended to fix these gaps were greater skills initiatives, more CTE programs to build talent pipelines, and improvement in the alignment between skills and competencies taught in education/CTE programs and in-demand skills and competencies needed in the workplace. 

CTE Education in Michigan: Research on CTE education in Michigan suggested that there have been varying degrees of success in providing access and participation to all students. In their new report, the University of Michigan Youth Policy Lab says that female, Black, Hispanic and economically disadvantaged students are less likely to participate in CTE programs. However, students who attend the same high school were less likely to have these differences, suggesting that expanding access across schools will increase participation in CTE. The findings also showed about half of all Michigan high school students enroll in at least one CTE course, and through 2026, 500,000 skilled trade jobs will become available that align with many high-demand fields. 

New Book on the Evolution of CTE: Authors Howard Gordon and Deanna Shultz released the fifth edition of The History and Growth of Career and Technical Education In America. The book focuses on the history, philosophy, structure and evolution of CTE, as well as emerging trends relevant to the field.

Career Connected Learning for Education: NC3T released a new paper written by Hans Meeder and Brett Pawlowski that focuses on Career Connected Learning as a potential pathway for the education system in the future. In the paper, the authors describe how students, schools and communities can take steps to adopt a Career Connected Learning mindset.

Broadening the Path: Design Principles for Middle Grades CTE

Over the past few years, ACTE has increased our focus on middle grades CTE in recognition of the growing importance of early career development. Today, Advance CTE and ACTE released Broadening the Path: Design Principles for Middle Grades CTE to support state and local leaders as they work to develop or strengthen middle grades CTE policies, programs and practices. Critically, this resource provides a theory of action for state and local leaders looking to design a new middle grades CTE program or policy or to reflect on and improve upon what is already in place.

There is widespread agreement that high school is simply too late to begin to expose learners to the variety of high-skill, high-wage and in-demand careers available to them and the foundational skills they will need to be able to access and succeed in those careers. Yet there remains a lack of consensus — or even basic understanding — about what CTE and career readiness more broadly should entail at the middle grades level.

With the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) emphasizing career exploration and career development activities in the middle grades and allowing funds to be spent on students as young as fifth grade, the need to understand what high-quality middle grades CTE is – and isn’t – is more important than ever before.

Specifically, this paper lays out:

• Outcomes for student learning that identify what students should gain through participation in middle grades CTE.
• Ten design principles that must undergird any middle grades CTE program or policy. The principles should serve as a resource to ensure that middle grades CTE is comprehensive and fully meets each learner’s needs.
• The core programmatic elements of a middle grades CTE program or policy through which the design principles are applied, with relevant questions for consideration to identify strategies or steps for addressing gaps in the implementation of the 10 design principles.

Broadening the Path also includes a design principles self-assessment for state and local leaders to evaluate their current policies and programs.

This resource was created with the support of the Middle Grades CTE Shared Solutions Workgroup, comprised of national, state and local leaders, convened by Advance CTE with support from ACTE and generously funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

For those interested in leading state examples of middle grades CTE policies and programs, check out Advance CTE’s 2018 report, Expanding Middle School CTE to Promote Lifelong Learner Success. For those interested in local examples, you can find podcasts and webinars here, and more research here.