Title: Nebraska Career Education
1Nebraska Career Education
- Equity Advisory Council
- June 5, 2007
2Who are Special Populations?
- Students with Disabilities
- Displaced Homemakers/Single Parents
- ELL and Minority Students
- Economically Disadvantaged
- Educationally Disadvantaged
- Migrant
- Gender Nontraditional Students
3Why Equity for Special Populations?
- Nearly half of students who begin at community
college do not earn a degree and are not enrolled
in any institution 6 years later. Why? - Poor academic preparation
- Competing demands of work, family, school
- Feel unsupported on campus
- Financial difficulties
- Health issues
- Court dates
4Why Equity for Special Populations?
- Casey Family Programs recently examined case
records and interviewed more than 1,000 former
foster youth. - Fifty-five are in prison,
- 11 are in psychiatric hospitals or confined to
other institutions, - 62 are deceased and
- 331 are nowhere to be found.
- About 20 had been homeless at some point and if
employed, their income was meager.
5Why Equity for Special Populations?
- Two-thirds of Nebraskas Limited English Speaking
adults have less than a high school diploma or
equivalent the majority of those have less than
a 9th grade education. - Only 32 of people with disabilities are
employed. - Today, 43 of women work in jobs for wages
below-poverty-level. - Nebraska consistently ranks in the top 5 states
for people holding 2-3 jobs, the majority of
these are women.
6Why Postsecondary Community Colleges?
- Accessible, affordable, serving 11.6 million
nationwide 16 in Nebraska-all over the state - Offer a path to careers with higher incomes
- Strengthened social networks, better health,
increased civic participation - Applied, practical knowledge
- By 2014, 40 million occupations will not require
a 4-year degree (BLS) - By 2012, there will be a need for an additional
1.1 million special trades contractors
7Deloitte 2005 Skills Gap Report for Manufacturing
- 90 of survey respondents indicated moderate
severe shortage of skilled production employees
8What Do You Think the Workforce Looks Like?
1.3 of aviation mechanics are women 7.2 of
registered nurses are men 1 of automobile
mechanics are women Two-thirds of single mothers
are in one of three occupational categories
service, clerical and sales Industrial Tech and
IMES is the most gendered of all career fields
9Diversity Matters
- Increasingly diverse Nebraska
- Recruiting and retaining the best talent
- Diverse groups have varied perspectives, wider
array of ideas and solutions, challenge
long-accepted views, divergent thinking, and
differing communication skills - Make gains in performance data
10Imbalance is a Threat
- To our future economic competitiveness,
- To our quality of life,
- To our national security
- To our continued funding
11Perkins IV Core Indicators Purpose
- Address enrollment and completion of programs
preparing special populations for occupations and
careers in high wage, high skill occupations. - Measure enrollment and completion in program
areas that are underrepresented for gender and
special populations.
12Gender Nontraditional
- The definition of nontraditional with respect to
gender is defined as an occupational area that is
represented by less than 25 of specific gender
13Nebraskas Performance Data for the past 5 Years?
- The data indicates Nebraska has not met the
Perkins PostSecondary Nontraditional
Participation measure in some of the previous
five years, and - Nebraska has missed the target in four of the
five years for the PostSecondary Nontraditional
Completion measure
14Possible Root Causes for Consideration
- Curriculum materials
- Interest v. Aptitude
- Dual Credit courses in secondary
- School climate/industry climate
- Limited number of Special Populations instructors
- Participation of Special Populations instructors
in low numbers in professional associations - Isolation based on gender, race, other
- Peer Influence/social attitudes/support
- Professional development
- Message to Special Populations
15Perspective
- Many believe Special Populations cannot succeed
in IMES education. - Teachers responded when asked if majoring in
engineering is more difficult than majoring in - English 63 agreed
- Finance 56 agreed
- Sociology 67 agreed
- Biology 39 agreed
16Past Strategies
- Create career fields, clusters, academies and
pathways - Professional Development for counselors
- Look at data from Special Populations to inform
funding decisions - Ensure participation of representatives of
Special Populations in planning - Perkins resources targeted to close gaps between
Special Populations and their peers - Job Shadowing, mentors, apprenticeships, alumni
speakers - Special Populations workshops within professional
meetings and conferences - Special Projects
17Examples of Special Projects
- Partnerships with Community Colleges
- Girls Discover IT
18Milford Girls Nontraditional
19Girls Discover IT
20Focused on Performance Improvement
- Work with institutes counselors/
coordinators/human resource administrators - Provide trainings and technical assistance
- Provide role models, job shadowing,
apprenticeships, early exposure, and support - Conduct surveys, focus groups, brainstorming
21Desired Outcomes
- Increase completion persistence habits
- Higher graduation rates, transfers, and/or
employment in high-wage careers - Job Satisfaction
- Higher economic base for Nebraska
- Filled labor market shortages
- Solve critical need for living wages
- Overcome stereotyped expectations
- Break through the isolation
- Meet performance measures for continued grant
funding
22Results
- Funding targeted for special projects aimed at
recruiting and retaining Special Populations in
programs and employment Nontraditional for their
gender, with - No significant gains in our data over the past
several years.
23Improvement Plans and Sanctions
Loss of Perkins funding is a possible sanction
for not meeting performance measures, under new
legislation, for local schools, as well as the
state Nebraska Department of Education.
Current data indicates, Special Populations are
severely under-represented in NCE and, unless we
focus on Special Populations, we will not meet
performance measures.
24Identify Potential Strategies and Models
- Issue an RFP for a research study to help us
identify our strategies for the future - Form a state-wide Equity Advisory Council
- Develop solutions
- Collaborate among stakeholders
- Implement the model statewide through the Equity
Advisory Council
25Other Possible Outcomes
- Strengthen instruction
- Improve school/ employer support services
- Increase financial aid while working full time
- Gain exposure to facilities not on campus
- Develop contacts for employment
- Reduce competition for scarce resources
- Connect coursework to employment
- Strengthen relationships among organizations
- Data shows significant increase
26How can an Equity Advisory Council Help?
- Focus on performance gap for Special Populations
networking, newsletters, role models and
listservs - State-wide familiar with needs of area and
regional leadership - Identify issues for your area
- Raise awareness for community, business,
students, educators, mentors, media - Provide direction for education by participating
in local improvement plans - Open houses, career fairs, PTA, School Board mtgs
- Actively participate in advisory meetings
- Join industry groups and associations
27Nebraska Secondary Participation and Completion
Negotiated Level of Performance for
2007 Participation 21 Completion
22.5
28NE Postsecondary Participation Completion Rates
Negotiated Level of Performance for
2007 Participation 15.14 Completion
18.91
29Why?
- Failure is expensive
- Develops partnerships among change stakeholders
- Full support and commitment of school, parents,
community, industry, agencies - Invite, involve, and educate
- Meaningful, relevant, financially rewarding
careers - Diverse workforce
30Contact
- Rebecca Hasty, Gender Equity/Special Populations
Initiatives Specialist - Nebraska Department of Education
- Nebraska Career Education
- PO Box 94987
- Lincoln, NE 68509
- 402-471-4823
- 402-471-4565 (FAX)
- www.nde.state.ne.us/nce
- Rebecca.hasty_at_nde.ne.gov