Career

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Career Technical Education Update
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CTE Update
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CTE Update
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CTE Update
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• Career Technical Education
• Learning in the Context
• of Careers

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• Career Technical Education
• but the perception is

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- George W. Bush, April 6, 2004, Arkansas speech
We spent about 1 billion a year for vocational
training, and that's good. The program was
written in 1917. I don't know if they understood
what was going to be taking place in the year
2004. I suspect they didn't. I suspect they
would be shocked to hear us talk about the skill
level necessary to fill the jobs of the 21st
century.
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- George W. Bush, April 6, 2004, Arkansas speech
My attitude is, is that this vocational training
program ought to go forth, but it ought to make
sure that the kids learn to speak English and
that there's algebra, and that there's a science
and social science component. In other words,
when kids are coming out of a vocational training
program, they're going to need to do more than
just what's taught at the vocational training
level. They're going to need to be able to think.
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- George W. Bush, April 6, 2004, Arkansas speech
And we can't let kids go through without raising
the standards and raising the bar. So I'm going
to ask Congress to reform the Perkins Vocational
Program. That's not to cut back on the money
it's quite the contrary. It's to make sure the
money we are spending prepares these youngsters
for the jobs of the 21st century.
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• Vocational Education - 1917

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Career Technical Education - Today
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CTE Update
So what are the recent understandings and
expectations that guide our work in career
technical education?
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CTE Update

• Three-part emphasis of secondary career
  technical education in Minnesota
• from
• Career Exploration
• Advanced Standing
• Job Entry Skills

• to
• Career Development
• Technological Literacy
• Workplace Skills

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CTE Update

• Change in CTE in recent years
• Shift to emphasis on general program improvement
  rather than support only for disadvantaged
  learners
• Shift to increased emphasis on academic skill
  development
• Greater emphasis on postsecondary education

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CTE Update

• To better understand these changes in career
  technical education, I look to two pieces
• The National Assessment of Vocational Education
  (NAVE)
• The GWDC Investment Advisory

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• National Assessment of Vocational Education

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NAVE

• Congress mandated an evaluation of the federal
  support for vocational (career technical)
  education. After a lengthy delay, the National
  Assessment of Vocational Education (NAVE) report
  was finally released in June 2004.

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NAVE

• The assessment tries to address three key
  questions
• How does, or can, vocational education improve
  the outcomes of secondary students who choose to
  enroll in vocational and technical programs?
• What is the nature and impact of vocational
  education at the sub-baccalaureate level, and
  what is its relationship to current workforce
  development efforts?
• Is the policy shift from set-asides and
  legislative prescription to flexibility and
  accountability likely to improve program quality
  and student outcomes? How do special populations
  fare?

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1. How does, or can, vocational education improve
the outcomes of secondary students who choose to
enroll in vocational and technical programs?

• The short- and medium-term benefits of vocational
  education are most clear when it comes to its
  longstanding measure of success earnings.
• Students in vocational programs of study have
  significantly increased their academic course
  taking and achievement over the last decade,
  although gaps remain.
• There is little evidence that vocational courses
  contribute to improving academic outcomes.

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1. How does, or can, vocational education improve
the outcomes of secondary students who choose to
enroll in vocational and technical programs?

• Postsecondary transition rates have increased
  vocational courses neither hurt nor help most
  students chances of going on to college but are
  associated with a shift from earning a bachelors
  degree to earning an associates degree or
  certificate.
• Secondary vocational education is a large
  component of high school course taking and serves
  a diverse set of students, but it is an
  increasingly smaller share of the overall
  curriculum.

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1. How does, or can, vocational education improve
the outcomes of secondary students who choose to
enroll in vocational and technical programs?

• The Perkins quality improvement strategies may be
  too vague to drive change without clear
  direction.
• Improving teacher quality will be important if
  vocational education is expected to alter its
  mission.
• Tech-Prep was a catalyst for certain vocational
  reform activities but, because few schools
  implement it as a comprehensive program of study,
  it is now playing less of a distinctive role.

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2. What is the nature and impact of vocational
education at the sub-baccalaureate level, and
what is its relationship to current workforce
development efforts?

• There are significant economic returns to
  postsecondary vocational education, with the
  greatest benefits for those who earn a
  credential.
• Fewer than half of postsecondary vocational
  participants seeking a degree or certificate take
  enough courses to earn a credential.
• Postsecondary vocational education serves a large
  and diverse population with varied expectations.
• Community colleges have had limited involvement
  in early implementation of WIA, citing both low
  emphasis on training and reporting requirements
  as disincentives.

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3. Is the policy shift from set-asides and
legislative prescription to flexibility and
accountability likely to improve program quality
and student outcomes? How do special populations
fare?

• The new law succeeded in sending a higher share
  of funds to the local level.
• Flexibility provisions are popular, but may be
  weakening the targeting of funds to high-poverty
  communities.
• Implementation is progressing, but so far the
  performance measurement system is rarely viewed
  as a tool for program improvement.
• Although there have been some cutbacks to
  staffing dedicated to special population
  services, the full effects on programs and
  students are unknown.

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NAVE

• Options for future directions
• Transform Perkins into a program with clear,
  focused, and limited objectives.
• Emphasize immediate goal of education or
  workforce development.
• Separate the high school and postsecondary
  components of the Perkins Act.
• Eliminate Tech-Prep as a separate title, folding
  its key activities into postsecondary
  institutions responsibilities.
• Streamline accountability to align with the more
  focused objectives.

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Investment Inventory

• In August, the Governors Workforce Development
  Council released its Investment Inventory, a set
  of priorities and recommendations for the
  Governor around Employment and Economic
  Development.

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Investment Inventory

• While the Inventory does not make specific budget
  recommendations (leaving that to the Governor and
  his cabinet), it does point to trendlines and
  gives recommendations regarding the importance of
  a strong working relationship among education,
  training, and labor force development efforts.
• The focus of the Investment Inventory is on Skill
  Development. For youth (14-21), this includes
  basic academic core skills, job specific skills,
  and career exploration and mobility skills.
• See http//www.gwdc.org/pubs/investmentadvisory.
  pdf

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• In conclusion

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In Conclusion

• We know
• The benefits of career technical education are
  clear earnings.
• Students in career technical programs of study
  have significantly increased their academic
  course taking and achievement over the last
  decade.
• Postsecondary transition rates have increased.
• Career technical education serves a large and
  diverse population with varied expectations.
• There are significant economic returns to career
  technical education, with the greatest benefits
  for those who earn a credential.

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In Conclusion

• We provide
• Connections between schools and the community.
• Opportunities for students to apply what they
  know.
• Avenues to success.

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In Conclusion
Career technical education quality
experiences for Minnesota learners.