High School Reform and Implications for CTE

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High School Reform and Implications for CTE

• Janet B. Bray
• Executive Director
• Association for Career and Technical Education

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Who is ACTE?

• 30,000 members
• CTE professionals including administrators, state
  education officials, teachers and guidance
  counselors
• Purpose
• To provide leadership in developing an educated,
  prepared, and competitive workforce.

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• Why
• Education Reform?

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Current Political Considerations

• Concern about U.S. student performance, and
  particularly performance of minorities and
  disenfranchised populations
• United States global competition
• Improved transitions between secondary and
  postsecondary education
• 21st Century Skills

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Academic Performance

• Only 23 of 12 grade students performed at the
  proficient level on NAEP Math 2005.
• Twelfth-graders in 2005 scored lower on NAEP
  reading than in 1992, and fewer students met the
  proficiency level. (NAEP 2005)
• On the Programme for International Student
  Assessments (PISA), U.S. 15-year olds ranked 22nd
  in science, 27th in math, and 29th in
  problem-solving out of 40 countries.

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Postsecondary Access and Success

• Postsecondary transcripts of 1992 12th-graders
  who enrolled in postsecondary education between
  1992 and 200 show that 61 of students who first
  attended a public 2-year and 25 who first
  attended a 4-year institution completed at least
  one remedial course. (NCES)
• Of the more than 1 million first-time, full-time,
  students who enter a 4-year college or
  university, fewer than 40 will actually earn the
  degree within four years and barely 60 will earn
  the degree in six years. (NCES)

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The Dropout Problem

• Every nine seconds in America a student becomes a
  dropout.
• An estimated 3.8 million youth ages 18-24 are
  neither employed nor in school.
• High school students from the lowest income
  families (bottom quintile) dropped out of school
  at six times the rate of their peers from higher
  income families.
• Dropouts cost our national more than 260
  billion in lost wages, lost taxes, and lost
  productivity over their lifetimes. (Secretary of
  Education Spellings)

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Average Annual Income 2004
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Student Engagement

• Nearly half (47) of students surveyed said a
  major reason for dropping out was that their
  classes were not interesting.
• Two-thirds of students surveyed would have worked
  harder if more was demanded of them (e.g. higher
  academic standards and more studying and
  homework).
• Only 56 said they could go to a staff person for
  school problems and just two-fifths (41) had
  someone in school to talk to about personal
  problems. (from the Silent Epidemic)

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Occupational Outlook

• Employment growth in occupations requiring a
  vocational associates degree (30) is projected
  to be more than double overall employment growth
  (14) through 2008.
• Nearly 1/3 of the fastest growing occupations
  will require an associates degree or a
  postsecondary vocational certificate.
• More than 80 percent of respondents in the 2005
  Skills Gap Report indicated that they are
  experiencing a shortage of qualified workers
  overall.

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School Reform Through the Ages

• A Nation At Risk
• Secretarys Commission on Achieving Necessary
  Skills (SCANS)
• The Forgotten Half
• Goals 2000
• School-to-Work
• No Child Left Behind
• Tough Choices or Tough Times

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Where Weve Been

• 109th Congress very contentious
• Completed work on Perkins reauthorization
• Left many other items unfinished
• FY 07 Appropriations
• Workforce Investment Act reauthorization
• Higher Education Act reauthorization

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Congress Today

• Democrat Congressional leadership
• New Committee Chairs
• Partisanship still rampant
• Budget deficits of huge concern
• Lots of unfinished business short timeline
• 2008 Presidential elections impacting events

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What Does it Mean for CTE?

• Perkins implementation
• Future funding levels
• NCLB reauthorization
• High school reform
• STEM initiatives
• HEA reauthorization
• WIA reauthorization

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CTE Addressing Needs

• CTE concentrators participated in more rigorous
  academic coursework and are taking more and
  higher level math and science.
• A year of technically oriented coursework at a
  community college increased the earnings of men
  by 14 and women by 29.

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CTE Addressing Needs

• A ratio of 1 CTE class for every 2 academic
  classes was shown to minimize the risk of
  students dropping out.
• Vocational concentrators were more likely than
  their general peers to obtain a degree or
  certificate within 2 years.

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CTE Improvements

• Improved integration of academic and CTE
  instruction
• Focus on high skill, high wage, high demand
  occupations
• Increased emphasis on achievement of a degree,
  certificate or credential

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Perkins Reauthorization Themes

• Accountability and program improvement
• Secondary-postsecondary connections
• Links to rigorous academics
• Stronger focus on business and industry

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Timeline

• Fall 2006 Draft State Plan Guides released
• January 16, 2007 Last comment period ended
• March 2007 Final State Plan Guide
  non-regulatory guidance released
• May 7, 2007 Deadline for state transition plans
• July 2007 States working with OVAE on remaining
  transition plan issues FY 07 grants made
• Spring 2008 Deadline for full five-year state
  plans

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Transition Key Issues

• NCLB performance indicators
• Measurement of technical skill attainment
• Definitions of studentsinvestor, concentrator,
  completer, etc
• New Tech Prep provisions
• Timeliness of guidance/regulations

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FY 08 Budget and Appropriations

• House Appropriations Committee approved bill on
  July 11
• Perkins Basic State Grant increased by 25
  million, Tech Prep level funded, small cut to
  National Programs
• 62 billion for education programs, an increase
  of 4.5 billion over FY 2007
• Large increases for Pell Grants, NCLB, and IDEA
  most WIA programs level funded

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FY 08 Budget and Appropriations

• Senate Appropriations Committee bill approved on
  June 21
• Perkins Basic State Grant and Tech Prep level
  funded, small cut to National Programs
• 60.1 billion for education programs, an increase
  of 2.6 billion over FY 2007
• Large increases for NCLB and IDEA most WIA
  programs level funded

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Perkins Funding(in millions)
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FY 08 Budget and Appropriations

• Both bills awaiting floor votes
• House total is high-water mark
• Advocacy is critical for any hope of maintaining
  the House funding increase in a conference
  committee
• President has threatened to veto bill over total
  funding levels (not related to Perkins) may
  have to start completely over

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NCLB reauthorization

• Timeline is moving quicklysort of
• Congressional leaders hope to finish bill this
  year
• Numerous hearings already held
• Key issues
• Special population challenges
• Changes to AYP (growth models, multiple
  assessments)
• Differentiated responses
• Focus on middle/high schools
• Teacher quality professional development issues
• Full funding

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NCLB reauthorization

• High School Reform
• CTE must be part of conversation
• Use Perkins IV data to show progress
• Dropout prevention transition key issues
• STEM initiatives
• Some NCLB focus, some outside focus
• Engineering and technology often get left out in
  favor of math and science

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Common Issues

• Addressed LEP and special education challenges
• Altered AYP to base measure on same subject/same
  cohort
• Improved HQT and recruitment/retention
• Growth models
• Provided professional development, technical
  assistance, and data systems
• Full funding

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Number of States Reporting the Extent to Which
Certain Issues Presented a Challenge to NCLB
Implementation During School Year 2003-04 and
2004-05

• Source Center on Education Policy, December
  2004, State Survey, item 43 December 2005, State
  Survey, item 48

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ACTE NCLB Recommendations

• Integrate academic and technical education to
  better engage and prepare students for their
  futures
• Support comprehensive guidance and career
  development strategies to assist students in
  determining clear pathways to postsecondary and
  workforce goals

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ACTE NCLB Recommendations

• Increase the focus on secondary school completion
  through comprehensive dropout prevention and
  reentry strategies
• Ensure that highly effective educators are
  supported, and available across the curriculum in
  all schools

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ACTE NCLB Recommendations

• Improve Adequate Yearly Progress and
  accountability provisions to more accurately
  reflect student learning progress
• Provide support and incentives for innovation,
  replication and improvement

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ACTE Resources

• Issue Briefs
• Position Papers
• Promising Programs and Practices Web page
• Research Clearinghouse Web page
• Research Guide
• Action Alerts

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Resources

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Contact Us

• Association for Career and Technical Education
• 1410 King Street
• Alexandria, VA 22314
• [phone] or
• [phone]
• Web www.acteonline.org
• jbray_at_acteonline.org