CTE Policy Watch: A blog for CTE advocates

ACTION ALERT: Learn About Your Representatives for the 118th Congress!

With Election Day in the rearview mirror, now it is time for new representatives and senators-elect to start the process of hiring staff, opening offices and developing their legislative philosophies and agendas.  

The First Session of the 118th Congress – comprising calendar year 2023 – will begin officially on January 3, 2023. While we are still awaiting final election results in several races, this is a critical time for CTE and CTE advocates. 

Although the current Congress still has a “lame-duck” session of the 117th Congress left to finish this year, this is the best time to start planning outreach to newly elected Members to build relationships and help shape their priorities for the months to come. It is still important to maintain existing relationships on Capitol Hill as well – now is a great time to renew relationships with existing Members of Congress and remind them to support CTE!  

This is not an exhaustive list, but some actions you can take before the start of the next Congress may include: 

• Visit member-elect campaign websites and review their information and views on education and workforce development. 
• If contact information is available, congratulate the member-elect on their election victory and offer to serve as a resource to them on education and workforce development issues going forward. 
• If members-elect are attending community events or meetings, attend to introduce yourself and inquire about their understanding and support of CTE in their state or district. 
• Reach out to your returning representatives to congratulate them on re-election, reiterate your desire to serve as a resource to them and express your hope that they will continue to take actions in support of CTE, such as increases to Perkins funding, Pell Grants expansion to short-term training programs and support for the educator workforce. 

Shortly before the beginning of the new Congress, ACTE will share more resources to help you build relationships with your new representatives  and urge them to support ACTE priorities that will benefit CTE. We need your help in getting to know the new Members of Congress and encouraging them to serve the needs of their constituents in the CTE community. You can view a full list of election winners here. 

Read ACTE’s comprehensive advocacy toolkit for a head start as we prepare for the transition! If you have any questions, please reach out to Jori Houck, ACTE Media Relations and Advocacy Associate, at jhouck@acteonline.org.

OCTAE Releases First Year of Perkins V Performance Data

Today, the U.S. Department of Education released data from states’ Consolidated Annual Report (CAR) submissions for program year 2020-2021 – the first year that states reported performance data under Perkins V. 

Today’s release includes CTE participant numbers, CTE concentrator numbers and CTE concentrator performance on the Perkins accountability indicators, including the secondary program quality indicators new under Perkins V. The data can be accessed on the Perkins Collaborative Research Network in several formats:

• National and state-level summaries showing funding distribution, CTE participant data, CTE concentrator enrollment by Career Cluster, and CTE concentrator performance data
• A new dashboard of national- and state-level performance data, which can be filtered by gender, race/ethnicity, special populations and Career Clusters
• The Perkins Data Explorer, which enables users to generate custom reports on CTE participation, concentration and performance

We’ve shared several takeaways from this dataset below. Please note that national-level average performance should be interpreted with caution, owing to differences in how states define each indicator, particularly for the placement, postsecondary credential attainment and secondary program quality indicators:

• In 2020-21, there were almost 12 million participants in CTE nationwide, including 8.3 million secondary CTE participants and 3.5 million postsecondary CTE participants.
• In 2020-21, there were about 3 million secondary CTE concentrators and close to 1.9 million postsecondary CTE concentrators nationwide.
• The top four Career Clusters among secondary concentrators were Health Science; Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources; Business Management & Administration; and Arts, A/V Technology & Communications.
• The top four Career Clusters among postsecondary concentrators were Health Science; Business Management & Administration; Law, Public Safety, Corrections & Security; and Information Technology.
• The average four-year graduation rate for secondary concentrators across the nation was 96%.

In addition to exercising caution when interpreting national averages, please also remember that COVID-19 may have impacted data for the 2020-21 program year, particularly in regards to performance on academic assessments and secondary program quality indicators such as recognized postsecondary credential attainment and work-based learning participation.

We encourage CTE educators to explore their state’s disaggregated data, and ACTE will be digging into this data and will share additional findings and takeaways with the CTE community soon.

Research Roundup: Post-Pandemic Effects and Online Learning

COVID-19 Relief Spending: Recently, FutureEd analyzed COVID-19 relief spending plans from a nationwide sample of 5,000 K-12 school districts and charter organizations and conducted additional research with the 100 largest K-12 school districts in the United States about their plans for Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER III) aid. The following summarize key trends from the report on COVID-19 relief spending plans among K-12 districts:

• Staff numbers: The majority of school districts in the national sample and the largest districts plan to use funds to hire new teachers and pay teachers and other staff.
• Recruitment and retention: Around 20% of school districts in the national sample and 47% of the largest districts are using ESSER funds to recruit and retain teachers.
• Financial incentives: Roughly 33% of the largest districts are using funds for additional pay and stipends to help with teacher retention, and 10% of districts in the sample are offering retention bonuses.
• More hours: One-third of the largest districts are dedicating relief funding to pay teachers a stipend for working additional hours.
• Professional development: About 43% of school districts in the national sample plan to use relief funding for professional development.

Post-Pandemic Practitioner Reflections: Last month, the Coalition on Adult Basic Education (COABE) released the latest issue in their peer-reviewed, practitioner-focused themed journal on adult education. This issue features nine articles with reflections from and innovations used by adult education practitioners during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some topics the articles discuss include serving English learners, developing statewide collaboration, devising innovative learning strategies for incarcerated learners and using remote learning to expand access to adult education.

Online Course Enrollment & Completion: A report published by the University of Florida studied the impact of online course enrollment on community college students’ degree completion, with an emphasis on outcomes among traditionally underserved student groups. The author examined 2009-19 transcript data from a high-enrollment community college and found that students who enrolled in some, but not all, online courses were more likely to earn their associate degree and/or bachelor’s degree. In contrast, students who enrolled in all online courses were less likely to earn a degree. Both trends held true for Black, Hispanic and low-income student groups.

Online Learner Perspectives: In the spring of 2022, Wiley University Services surveyed 2,500 high school graduates nationwide that had been enrolled, were currently enrolled or planned to enroll in a fully online undergraduate or graduate degree or certificate program in the next 12 months to better understand online learners’ motivations, preferences and outcomes. The following highlight key findings from the report:

• One in three respondents hadn’t considered an online program until the COVID-19 pandemic, with most of these respondents being young adults.
• Online learners’ top motivations to apply to an online program included affordability (59%), program completion time (33%) and accreditation (32%).
• Although most online learners prefer asynchronous and fully online programs, of the 18% of online learners who must complete lab work for their program of study, the majority stated that they would prefer to complete these courses in person.
• About 36% of current online learners and recent graduates reported a salary increase, 26% began a new job, 22% switched careers, 20% were promoted, 19% started their careers and 18% have more responsibilities at work.
• About 60% of online learners are open to pursuing an alternative credential, including trade credentials, industry certifications and non-credit options such as micro-credentials and digital badges.

ACTE’s recently updated “What is a Credential?” fact sheet defines different types of credentials, including alternative credentials, to help CTE advocates and stakeholders better understand the credential landscape.

Research Roundup: Work-based Learning

State Work-based Learning Toolkits: State work-based learning (WBL) toolkits provide guidance to educators, administrators and other career development professionals about effective WBL program implementation in that state. In June, Advance CTE created a tracker of state WBL toolkits. According to the tracker, of the 54 states and territories analyzed, 41 currently have WBL toolkits. The tracker lets users filter by key components that WBL toolkits may include, such as WBL definitions, training forms and employer resources, and explore innovative approaches used by toolkits. You can find a more in-depth analysis of Advance CTE’s State WBL Toolkit Innovation Tracker here.

The Case for Paid Work-based Learning: Recently, New America conducted a study of paid WBL program models at five community colleges across the nation to better understand their design, goals and outcomes. Currently, it is estimated that around one million students receive offers for unpaid internships each year, which can pose significant barriers for students from historically underserved backgrounds. Through interviews with program directors and senior campus administrators, New America found the following themes present among the paid WBL models studied:

• Paid WBL programs enhance a community colleges’ retention strategy, with prior evidence showing that paid experiential learning opportunities can result in higher retention rates.
• On-campus or local paid WBL opportunities can alleviate barriers related to transportation as well as work and family obligations.
• Many programs offered various wraparound services such as reimbursements for travel and course expenses, childcare vouchers and career readiness services.
• Programs were funded in a variety of ways including COVID-19 federal relief funding, donor contributions, corporate sponsorships and local or state appropriations.
• Programs reported a lack of longitudinal data on student outcomes and could only share baseline demographic data on student participation trends.

Equity in Apprenticeships for Young People: Recently, Jobs for the Future (JFF) analyzed federal Registered Apprenticeship data between 2010 and 2020 to gain insight about the demographics and outcomes of youth apprentices – those aged 16 to 24. The following are some of the study’s key findings:

• Between 2010 and 2020, the number of youth apprentices grew 113%, a much faster rate than registered apprentices of all ages.
• When compared to the general population, Hispanic youth are slightly overrepresented as young apprentices (21%) while Black youth are underrepresented (8%).
• Women compromised about 7% of all young apprentices and the top occupations between men and women vary, with women in more service-oriented careers and men in more trades-related careers.
• The average hourly exit wage for all young apprentices was $31. White and Hispanic apprentices roughly matched this average, while Black apprentices made $23 per hour. Additionally, the hourly exit wage for female apprentices was $18 per hour, $13 less than male apprentices.

Tech Apprenticeships in Missouri: In 2020, the Missouri Chamber Foundation created the Industry-Driven IT Apprenticeship Program, which is a four-year program funded by a U.S. Department of Labor grant that provides reimbursements to IT companies that are creating or expanding Registered Apprenticeship programs. Recently, the foundation released new data on the program’s progress over the past two years:

• More than 700 apprentices have completed the program.
• Over 95% were hired for permanent, full-time jobs with an average starting salary of $61,000.
• More than 640 of the participating apprentices identify as a person of color and 605 as women.
• Since its inception, the program has funded 113 apprentices with disabilities and 40 veterans.
• The program is on track to create more than 5,300 total apprenticeships.

Research Roundup: Teacher Certifications and Shortages

Alternative Teacher Certification: The Center for American Progress recently published an analysis of alternative teacher certification programs sponsored by organizations other than institutions of higher education (IHEs). Researchers examined the types of sponsors, states in which these programs operate and how enrollment varies by demographics to reveal the following findings:

• Regional education service agencies (50%), non-profit organizations (23%) and for-profit programs (14%) were the largest operators in the non-IHE alternative sector in 2018-19.
• Despite only being 14% of the non-IHE alternative sector, for-profit programs enrolled 70% of students in non-IHE alternative programs, a nearly 280% increase since 2010.
• Between 2010-11 and 2018-19, enrollment in non-IHE alternative certification programs grew by 76%, while IHE-based programs experienced an overall decline. Despite enrollment increases in the non-IHE sector, completion rates dropped by 19%.
• From 2010-11 to 2018-19, non-IHE alternative programs enrolled a higher percentage of students of color than IHE-based programs.

Teacher Shortages: Recently, Brown University released a report and an accompanying interactive map that provides national- and state-level estimates from 2014-22 on the K-12 teacher shortage. Researchers examined news reports, U.S. Department of Education data and publicly available information on teacher vacancies and certifications to uncover the following:

• An estimated 36,504 full-time teacher positions are unfilled; however, this number may be as high as 52,800. Overall, vacancies amount to almost 2% of positions nationwide.
• About 163,650 positions are filled by teachers who are teaching a subject different than their area of preparation or have an alternative, temporary or emergency certification.
• Mississippi had the highest relative vacancies with 68 vacancies per 10,000 students while Missouri had the lowest with less than one vacancy per 10,000 students. (Thirteen states did not have credible data related to teacher shortages).

General Education Data: In May, the National Center for Education Statistics released its annual Condition of Education report, which summarizes the latest data available on P-12 and postsecondary education in the United States. The following are some of the report’s main findings:

• P-12 public school enrollment decreased from 50.8 million in fall 2019 to 49.4 million in fall 2020, a 3% drop, which is the largest single-year decline since 1943.
• In 2017-18, there were 3.5 million full-time and part-time public school teachers. About 8% of these teachers held a provisional, probationary or emergency teaching certificate, and 2% held no certification.
• Between fall 2009 to fall 2020, postsecondary undergraduate enrollment declined by 9%, which was driven by a 35% drop at two-year institutions. In fall 2020, 31% of undergraduate students (4.9 million) were enrolled in a two-year institution.
• The number of associate degrees earned increased by 20% from 2010 to 2020. The most popular fields of study included business, health professions and STEM.

State Report Cards: The Data Quality Campaign released its annual analysis of state school report cards for the 2020-21 school year to identify what school data is accessible, or may be missing, for students and their families. At the time of the study, 43 states had submitted their 2020-21 report cards. The following are some of the analysis’ key findings:

• Twenty-eight states disaggregated data by all federally required student groups.
• Many states did not include data on the 2020-21 school year. For instance, 16 states did not include 2021 assessment data, 25 states did not include 2021 graduation rates and 26 states did not include 2021 chronic absenteeism data.
• About 25 states included some form of language translation for their state report card; however, only seven states had high-quality translations.

Research Roundup: Equity Gaps and Career Planning Supports

CTE Outcomes for Students with Disabilities: In March, Georgia Policy Labs at Georgia State University published a report that analyzed participation, graduation rates and postsecondary outcomes for high school students with identified disabilities (SWD) who concentrate in CTE. Researchers examined student data from Massachusetts, Tennessee and Washington and shared the following findings:

• Across all three states, students with specific learning disabilities such as dyslexia are more likely to concentrate in CTE than any other disability category. In contrast, students with autism and low-incidence disabilities, such as intellectual disabilities or multiple disabilities, are less likely to concentrate.
• CTE SWD are 10 to 15 percentage points more likely to graduate from high school than non-CTE SWD.
• Of the three states examined, only Tennessee has higher postsecondary attendance rates for CTE SWD than non-CTE SWD.
• CTE SWD are 5 to 10 percentage points more likely to be employed at least part-time one year after graduation than non-CTE SWD. However, this trend isn’t consistent across all disability categories.

Female CTE Concentrator Outcomes: An article by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development analyzes the outcomes of female Minnesota students who take high school CTE coursework. The analysis is highly detailed but concludes that, for many female CTE concentrators, high school CTE is not enough to attain a family-sustaining wage. However, when combined with a postsecondary credential, female CTE concentrators can reap benefits.

Improving Access and Success for English Learners: Recently, Advance CTE released a brief that describes challenges English learners (ELs) may encounter in CTE programs. In the 2018-19 school year, over 520,000 secondary and nearly 122,000 postsecondary CTE participants were ELs. Barriers to access and success these learners may face include a lack of personalization; entrance exams that test language ability as well as content knowledge; out-of-school commitments, such as supporting one’s family; and a lack of data on ELs and feedback mechanisms to learn more about EL students’ needs.

Career Planning Supports: A brief published by MDRC describes lessons learned from a pilot career planning program for recent high school graduates. In 2021, MDRC partnered with the Regional Youth Adult Social Action Partnership, an organization that serves young people in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to implement the Park City Career Pathways (PCCP) program. Partnering with key stakeholders, PCCP aimed to connect 300 to 400 Bridgeport high school graduates and non-graduates from the class of 2020 and 2021 with career planning supports as well as postsecondary, work-based learning and employment opportunities. The brief highlights some of the challenges PCCP faced regarding building partnerships, program promotion strategies and follow-up support for participants that may be useful for communities implementing similar initiatives.

Research Roundup: Dual Enrollment & High School CTE

State Dual Enrollment Policies: Recently, Education Commission of the States compiled dual enrollment policies across all 50 states to create a comprehensive resource that lets users explore and compare states’ policies. Included in the resource is information on student access, eligibility requirements, course offerings, funding and program quality. The following outline broad-level findings:

• About 48 states and D.C. have state-level dual enrollment policies and 28 states have created multiple dual enrollment programs through state policy.
• Approximately 27 states require secondary and/or postsecondary institutions to notify students and their families of at least one of their state-level dual enrollment programs.
• Among 41 states that have student eligibility criteria, the most common types were students’ grade level, meeting the postsecondary institution’s entrance requirements and having a recommendation from a school official.
• Of 42 states that have instructor qualification requirements, the most common were meeting the postsecondary institution’s faculty requirements, meeting institutional accreditor requirements and having a graduate degree.

P-TECH 9-14 & Dual Enrollment: New York City’s P-TECH Grades 9-14 model prepares high school students for STEM careers through dual credit courses at the City University of New York (CUNY), which allows them to earn an applied associate degree within six years. To qualify for dual enrollment in New York, students must pass the New York State Regents exams. In a report by MDRC, researchers compared P-TECH students with students from other New York City high schools and found the following differences:

• About 42% of P-TECH students passed the Regents English language arts exam with a qualifying score compared to 25% of students from other high schools.
• By grade 10, the dual enrollment rate for P-TECH students was significantly higher than for other high school students, with the gap growing larger each consecutive year of high school.
• P-TECH students attempted and earned more dual enrollment credits than other high school students. By graduation, on average, P-TECH students had earned 6.4 more college credits.
• In both P-TECH and other high schools, female students took dual enrollment courses at higher rates than their male counterparts.

Dual Enrollment Access for English Learners: A blog post by the Community College Research Center describes how Anne Arundel Public Schools and Anne Arundel Community College (AACC) in Maryland are pursuing efforts to grow the number of English learners in dual enrollment courses, which has led to the pairing of a noncredit Capstone Grammar and Editing course with a one-credit Student Success Seminar for dual credit EL students. Recently, 19 ELs from Anne Arundel Public Schools applied to AACC and registered for the two classes, almost matching the total number of ELs statewide (23) who were dual enrolled in 2017-2018.

High School Students’ Perspectives on CTE: Between February 2020 and January 2022, ECMC Group conducted five national surveys of more than 5,000 high school students to understand their perspectives on their education and career plans. The following detail findings from the surveys that are particularly relevant to CTE:

• Almost half of students believe that postsecondary education should last less than four years, and skills should be taught by hands-on or on-the-job experiences.
• Roughly 22% of students stated they are more likely to attend a postsecondary CTE institution because of the COVID-19 pandemic, a 10-percentage point increase from May 2020.
• Many careers that students are thinking of pursuing are aligned with CTE pathways; however, only 20% believe that CTE can lead to the career they want. This could be attributed to the fact that more than half of students surveyed don’t understand what CTE is.
• About 74% of students say it’s important to have a career in mind before graduating and 55% of students state that they have already begun exploring their career options during high school.

House Appropriations Committee Approves FY23 Labor-HHS-Education Spending Bill

On June 30, the House Appropriations Committee marked up and approved by a vote of 32-24 the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 spending bill for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education.

The legislation proposes a $45 million increase to the Perkins Basic State Grant program, a year-over-year increase equal to what was enacted in FY22. In addition, $50 million is allocated to a new competitive grant program as proposed by the Administration in their Career Connected Learning proposal. Overall, the bill provides a 15% increase to the Department of Education and a 12% increase to the Department of Labor.

The bill maintained the investments put forth in the draft text of the legislation.

An amendment was offered by Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR) to prevent the Department of Labor from proposing any regulation after the date of enactment of the bill that is not estimated to support the “quality and availability” of CTE. The amendment was defeated by voice vote. An amendment to continue funding industry-recognized apprenticeship programs (in addition to registered apprenticeship programs) was offered by Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA), but was also defeated by voice vote. 

The next steps are for the full House to approve the Labor-HHS-Education spending bill, and for the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee to draft and mark up a FY23 spending bill in the Senate. The previously agreed upon timeline for this was July, but an injury to Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) could extend that timeline. ACTE will continue to push for robust funding in the FY23 appropriations cycle. If you have any questions, you can reach out to ACTE Government Relations Manager, Zach Curtis (zcurtis@acteonline.org) or Media Relations and Advocacy Associate, Jori Houck (jhouck@acteonline.org).

ACTION ALERT: Ask Your Members of Congress to Cosponsor the RAISE Act!

On March 3, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) introduced legislation that would boost compensation for all public early childhood and K-12 teachers, including those in CTE. The legislation, titled the RAISE Act, would provide refundable federal income tax credits between $1,000 and $15,000 to eligible teachers annually. The amount of the credit would be determined by a sliding scale based on the school poverty level where the teacher works. 

Specifically, the RAISE Act would:   

• Provide all eligible K-12 and early childhood teachers with a minimum $1,000 refundable tax credit, regardless of school poverty level.  
• Provide a refundable tax credit of up to $15,000 for early childhood teachers with a bachelor’s degree and all eligible K-12 teachers. 
• Provide a refundable tax credit of up to $10,000 for early childhood teachers with an associate degree or Child Development Associate (CDA) certificate.  

Additionally, the bill would invest in educator recruitment and retention programs, incentivize local education agencies to increase teacher salaries, provide labor protections to prevent the tax credit from being unfairly used in salary negotiations and increase the educator tax deduction to $500 for all early childhood and K-12 teachers.   

ACTE has officially endorsed the RAISE Act. Now, we need your assistance to help retain teachers in the profession and attract more high-quality professionals to the teacher workforce.  

ACTION NEEDED: Contact your Members of Congress to ask them to cosponsor and support the RAISE Act! 

If you have a direct contact in your Member's office, such as from a meeting with a staff member during NPS or at another time, we urge you to call or email directly. You can also call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121, and an operator will connect you to your requested congressional office. Please contact your Members of Congress today!

Department of Labor Hosts Summit on Good Jobs

On June 21, the Department of Labor (DOL) in collaboration with the Families and Workers Fund held a summit focused on improving job quality and access to good jobs. Speakers represented federal agencies, Congress, state and local government and the workforce.

To start off the Summit, Deputy Secretary of Labor Julie Su introduced the DOL and Department of Commerce’s Good Jobs initiative, which aims to improve job quality by engaging employers, strengthening workforce pathways and creating partnerships. As a part of this initiative, the DOL identified eight principles of a good job related to the following topics:

• Recruitment and hiring
• Benefits
• Diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility
• Empowerment and representation
• Job security and working conditions
• Organizational culture
• Pay
• Skills and career advancement

Following Deputy Secretary Su, Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh highlighted the importance of workforce pathways; Deputy Secretary of Transportation Polly Trottenberg explained how transit employers are using federal grants to provide high-quality workforce training; and Deputy Secretary of Energy David Turk shared how the Department of Energy is prioritizing funding for employers that provide evidence of how they’ll create good jobs.

On the local and regional levels, Kathleen Culhane of Nontraditional Employment for Women, a New York City organization that prepares women for skilled trades careers, discussed how her organization partnered with the North America’s Building Trades Unions to offer child care services for women in apprenticeships. Speakers from Portland, Oregon, highlighted the Regional Workforce Equity Agreement, which jurisdictions can sign to hold contractors accountable for creating an equitable and safe work environment for people of color and women. So far, eight jurisdictions have signed on.

Representative Bobby Scott (D-VA) served as another keynote speaker at the Summit and discussed the importance of the COMPETES Act, specifically how its passage could create one million additional registered apprenticeships and expand Pell Grants to cover short-term job training. ACTE supports expanding Pell grant access to high-quality short-term education programs as they can help Americans earn credentials and enter the workforce in high-wage, in-demand industries like manufacturing, health care and transportation.

You can view the recording of the summit here and view the Summit’s agenda here.