CTE Policy Watch: A blog for CTE advocates

DC Digest: June 22-28

It was a busy week in DC last week! While police reform bills have stalled, discussions continue on next steps. In addition, lawmakers continue to move slowly toward a new COVID-19 relief bill, and support for additional funding for education in the next relief package is gaining traction. Read more below!  

• Four More CTE State Plans Approved: The Department of Education has approved four additional Perkins State Plans! The plans that were approved are: Arkansas, Mississippi, Nevada and Tennessee. More information on their plans can be found on the Departments website. 
• House Committee Hearing on Racial Inequities During COVID-19: On Monday, June 22, the House Education and Labor Committee hosted a hearing on “Inequities Exposed: How COVID-19 Widened Racial Inequalities in Education, Health and the Workforce”. During the hearing, committee members were able to hear from four experts about this issue discussed ways to move forward. Topics included lack of access to distance learning for Black, Latino and low-income students, minority businesses being most negatively affected during the pandemic, and other impacts that have disproportionately affected people of color during COVID-19. 
• Transformation of Work Summit: Protocol hosted “The Transformation of Work Summit” to explain how COVID-19 has shaped employability skills, workforce training, economic development and more. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), the Future of Work Caucus Chair in the House, spoke on how COVID-19  illuminated inequities and accentuated the need for technology to address the current and future skills gap. A Future of Skills panel discussed barriers to closing the skills gap, in-demand skills and the role of educational institutions during and after COVID-19. Watch the recording here. 
• Executive Order on Skills-Based Hiring: President Trump signed an Executive Order stating that the federal hiring process will no longer rely on degree-based hiring but instead on skills-based hiring. The order directs the Office of Personnel Management and the heads of other agencies to “review and revise all job classification and qualification standards for positions within the competitive service” to focus more on skills and competencies rather than educational credentials. 
• Apply for Out-of-school-time Career Pathways Grant: The Department of Education’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) is inviting schools to apply for the new Out-of-school-time Career Pathway program. This grant program is offering $1.5 million to help state educational agencies support projects that will lead to expanded options for career pathways that can lead to postsecondary credentials. The deadline to apply is September 21, 2020. 
• Support for Additional Education Funding in COVID-19 Relief Package: Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), the chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) committee, supports giving schools and colleges additional funds in the next COVID-19 relief package in order for students to be able to safely return to campuses in the fall. 

ACTION NEEDED: Ask Your Representative to Support Perkins Basic State Grant Funding in FY21

The House Appropriations Committee plans to begin mark-ups for FY21 appropriations bills, including funding for education programs, SOON, with the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies subcommittee holding their mark-up on July 7.

After years of declining federal support for CTE, the past three federal budgets (FY18, FY19, FY20) have included modest increases for the Perkins Basic State Grant program. Your advocacy these past few years has been critical to securing increases in Perkins funding, and so we need your help again to keep the momentum going!

CLICK HERE to ask your Representative to support an increase in Perkins CTE funding in the FY21 appropriations bill. 

You can also call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121. An operator will then connect you with your requested Senate office.

We need to continue to raise awareness with policymakers to ensure they understand the many benefits associated with high-quality CTE programs. Your advocacy makes a difference and encourages policymakers to take action, so please contact your representative today!

Middle Grades CTE: Data and Measurement

There is widespread agreement that high school is too late to begin to expose learners to careers and the foundational skills needed to access and succeed in careers, but there remains a lack of consensus about what CTE and career readiness should entail at the middle grades level.

Advance CTE, with support from ACTE, convened a Shared Solutions Workgroup of national, state and local leaders to identify the core components of a meaningful middle grades CTE experience. This collaboration resulted in Broadening the Path: Design Principles for Middle Grades CTE and a companion blog series exploring each of the core programmatic elements of middle grades CTE defined in the paper. In this seventh entry in the blog series, we will examine the core programmatic element of data and measurement.

As states and districts are working to expand their middle grades CTE programs, it is critical that they are able to measure the effectiveness of those programs to ensure continuous program improvement process and that resources invested are having the desired impact on student achievement. Yet, there are few policies and mechanisms in place to date to collect meaningful middle grades CTE data. As more attention and resources are focused on middle grades CTE, state and local leaders should dedicate time and attention to identifying effective strategies for measuring whether students have achieved established standards, gained skills and other key outcomes as a result of middle grades CTE courses and activities.

As part of its teacher evaluation system – DPAS II - Delaware requires all teachers to bi-annually develop goals for instruction based on the state’s framework for teaching. The state has created specific guidance and tools for middle grades CTE teachers on how they can establish clear, measurable goals that are aligned with their schools’ focus and priorities and CTE performance data. The system intentionally is linked to the state’s high school college- and career-ready accountability framework, and requires middle grades teachers to focus on goals around Perkins indicators and employability skills. Middle grades CTE teachers must also identify which populations of students will be impacted, which standards and skills will be taught and attained, and how they will assess student growth. The state provides the framework, but teachers work directly with their building administrators to identify and finalize those goals that will support their own professional growth, as well as the growth of their students.

As a way of monitoring and collecting critical information on instruction and skills development, Utah requires each local education agency to submit an End of Year Summary. This reporting mechanism requires local districts to describe how the middle grades College and Career Awareness requirement was delivered, how it was integrated with other subjects, what teachers were involved, how the required workplace skills were addressed and demonstrated by students, which Career Technical Student Organizations were explored and how, what work-based learning experiences were offered, and how teachers and counselors collaborated to advance middle grades students’ college and career awareness. Starting in 2021, districts will be required to upload artifacts to provide more evidence.

In terms of reporting and accountability, North Dakota includes participation data for both grades 9-12 and grades 6-8, disaggregated by the 16 Career Clusters, on its annual CTE fact sheet.  And, Georgia is one of the few states that includes some indicator of career readiness in its statewide accountability system, with the percentage of students earning a passing score in a career exploratory course at middle school level as one of the “beyond the core” readiness indicators for middle schools.

Key reflection questions for state and local leaders as they build or evaluate this element of middle grades CTE programs include:

• How can data on the full range of students participating in CTE-related activities be collected?
• Are the assessments used in middle grades CTE aligned with educational standards, and are they age appropriate?
• How might data already being collected within the broader educational system be used to evaluate middle grades CTE programs?
• What is the role of employers in measuring outcomes of middle grades CTE programs?
• What new data need to be collected, and how can the burden of new data collection be reduced?
• What are the priority indicators of success for middle grades programs?

For additional resources relevant to CTE educators in the middle grades, check out the Middle Grades CTE Repository, another deliverable of this Shared Solutions Workgroup.

This blog series is being cross-posted with Advance CTE's blog. 

DC Digest: June 15-21

This week, there was quite a bit of news on the federal education policy front with the Senate back in session. The House is scheduled to return on June 24, but committee meetings and pro forma sessions continue. Both chambers are working toward legislation related to police reform but have yet to come to a consensus. We will continue to provide updates on any related bills impacting education or workforce development as the process continues. Here is the news!

• Fourth Wave of CTE State Plans Approved: The Department of Education (ED) has approved six additional CTE state plans! The plans that were approved are: Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, New York, South Carolina and Utah. More information on their plans can be found on the ED’s website. 

• FY21 Appropriations Schedule Released: The House Appropriations Committee announced on Friday that its Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill is scheduled to be marked up in subcommittee on July 7, at 5pm. At the same time, however, the Senate Appropriations Committee is delaying the start of markups for its FY 2021 bills over partisan disagreements on police reform and COVID-19 spending. Senate Democrats believe that this year’s funding bills should include COVID-19 relief funding and increased funding for programs that promote social justice. Republicans argue this breaches a previous agreement and consider these provisions "poison pills," so it is unclear how the process will move forward.  

• Republicans Release Broadband Connectivity and Digital Equity Framework: Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), ranking member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, released principles for a legislative framework to expand broadband access and digital opportunity and close the digital divide. Their hope is that this legislation will serve as a foundation for future legislative efforts related to the COVID-19 economic recovery. Read more.

• House Education Committee Member Briefing: On Thursday, the House Education and Labor Committee Democrats hosted a member briefing focused on their $15.6 billion workforce investment bill, H.R. 6646, the Relaunching America's Workforce Act. During the briefing, Members discussed how Congress can help workers sharpen their skills and quickly reenter the workforce in the face of the current economic decline. Watch here.

• Child Care is Infrastructure Act Introduced in the House: Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) introduced the Child Care is Infrastructure Act that would allocate $10 billion over five years for child care infrastructure, and an additional $35 million for early childhood education and workforce development to fund a student repayment program and grants for students pursuing individuals pursuing a Childhood Development Associate (CDA) Credential or an associate’s degree. 

• Supreme Court Blocks Administration from Ending Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA): On Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled that DACA, which protects deportation and provides work authorization for undocumented immigrants that came here as children, and affects a large number of college students nationally, cannot be ended immediately.

High-quality CTE: Planning for a COVID-19-impacted School Year

As the country continues to grapple with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, CTE stakeholders around the nation are thinking ahead to what education might look like in the future. Whether schools and postsecondary institutions will be able to open fully for the 2020-21 school year using social distancing methods, utilize a blended approach or continue with remote learning, there are significant implications for CTE programs, students and educators.

High-quality CTE: Planning for a COVID-19-impacted School Year is a guide for helping CTE stakeholders identify the key considerations, guiding questions and emerging best practices that should shape future planning. The guide is organized around the 13 elements of ACTE’s Quality CTE Program of Study Framework to capture the breadth of issues important to maintaining CTE program quality within any of the possible educational environments being considered for the new school year. It is accompanied by a webinar series that is exploring issues and sharing ideas from the field about CTE planning for the 2020-21 school year.

Read the full guide, or excerpts of particular sections, at https://www.acteonline.org/professional-development/high-quality-cte-covid-19-planning-guide.

ED Announces New Higher Ed Grant Program Aimed to Encourage Short-Term Education Opportunities, Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth as America Shifts to Economic Recovery from Pandemic

On June 19, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced the creation of the Reimagine Workforce Preparation Grant program, a $127.5 million competitive grant aimed to “provide students the opportunity to develop new skills, provide innovators and inventors the resources to expand existing businesses or build new ones, and encourage institutions of higher education to foster business development and innovation as America begins to recover from COVID-19-related disruptions to education and our economy.”

In the press release, Secretary DeVos argues that although colleges and universities are national treasures, they need to become more responsive to the needs of their students and communities. This grant, she goes on, is to empower them, along with their community partners, educators, business leaders, and entrepreneurs, to provide lower-cost education and training options that leverage the expertise of local business leaders and better embrace technological change.

This grant, which is funded through the Education Stabilization Fund (ESF) authorized under the CARES Act, is open to all states, as well as Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. Eligible applicants are State Workforce Boards. To apply, states must demonstrate a burden created by the coronavirus pandemic and propose a project that will support people living and working in their communities, specifically along one of two tracks:

1. Expanding educational opportunities through short-term, career pathways or sector-based education and training programs:
• Grantees are invited to propose the development or expansion of short-term education programs, including career pathways programs, to help prepare unemployed or underemployed individuals for high demand jobs in their community or region; and/or
• Grantees are invited to propose the development or expansion of industry sector-based education and training programs that lead to a credential that employers in a given sector recognize and reward.
2. Supporting local entrepreneurship through small business incubators:
• Grantees are invited to submit applications that help colleges and universities make their faculty, staff and facilities more accessible to small businesses in their communities, and to ensure that institutions can sustain their operations at a time when enrollments are declining and campus buildings may be underutilized, including through the creation of small business incubators that are on the campus of, or affiliated with, one or more colleges and universities in the state.

Each state’s Workforce Board may submit one proposal. Once submitted, a panel of independent peer reviewers will evaluate each application to ensure that it meets the needs of the state and engages the full range of stakeholders, with the highest-scoring proposals being funded. States that were hardest hit by COVID-19 disruptions and projects that seek to address the needs of Minority-Serving Institutions and distressed communities will be prioritized among the strongest applicants.

Interested states should submit their completed application no later than August 24, 2020, and the Department intends to make awards no later than October 2020. Additional information on the grants can be found here.

House Dems Introduce $1.5T infrastructure Plan; Includes School Construction and Modernization Funds

On June 18, House Democrats unveiled H.R. 2, the “Moving Forward Act,” a $1.5 trillion, comprehensive plan that calls for a robust increase in funding to repair America’s infrastructure, from roads and bridges to expanding broadband access in rural areas. 

The base of the bill is the $500 billion INVEST in America Act, which separately passed out of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on June 18 as well. Additionally, it includes $25 billion for drinking water, $100 billion for broadband, $70 billion for clean energy projects, $30 billion to upgrade hospitals, $100 billion in funding for public housing and $25 billion for the postal service. The package also includes the Rebuild America’s Schools Act, which would invest more than $100 billion in America’s public schools. ACTE has endorsed the Rebuild America’s Schools Act and is actively advocating for its passage, particularly in light of the additional challenges the COVID-19 pandemic has created related to educational facilities, which are highlighted in the Moving Forward Act.

Addressing the deficiencies in our nation’s infrastructure will require more than just new investments in roads, bridges, airports and waterways. Any federal infrastructure legislation should include dedicated resources to develop and expand CTE programs of study that are essential to creating a robust workforce pipeline to rebuild our infrastructure and secure its sustainability for the future. ACTE will continue to monitor the specific provisions of this legislation and advocate for the inclusion of dedicated resources for our nation’s infrastructure workforce.

House Education Committee Holds Hearing on COVID Impact on Education

On Monday, the House Education and Labor Committee hosted a hearing entitled, “Budget Cuts and Lost Learning: Assessing the Impact of COVID-19 on Public Education." The purpose of the hearing was to examine how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted state and local government revenue and how projected state and local government budget shortfalls will further exacerbate education investments and program quality. Witnesses at the hearing included Michael Leachman, the vice president for state fiscal policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities; Rebecca Pringle, the vice president of the National Education Association; Mark Johnson, superintendent of public instruction at the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction; and Eric Gordon, the CEO of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.

Although members from both parties agreed that the current pandemic is having adverse effects on student learning and that the government needs to play a role in minimizing the effects, they differed on what that role should be and the scope of the federal response. Democrats argued that the federal government hasn’t currently done enough, noting the CARES Act hasn’t come close to meeting the budgetary needs states face. They suggested that inaction will further widen the achievement gap among students. In his opening statement, Committee Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA) stated “unless the federal government provides immediate relief, it won’t be a matter of whether education funding will be cut, but how deep the cuts will be.  While wealthier districts will fall back on property taxes, low-income public schools will rely heavily on state funding.  These districts—which are already disproportionally impacted by COVID-19—will suffer severe cuts in education and other areas at a time when they can least afford it.”

Republicans on the other hand favored a slower, more measured approach. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), the committee’s ranking republican, acknowledged the toll the pandemic has taken on our school districts, but said it would be “irresponsible” to provide more federal education aid without first assessing the effectiveness of funds Congress has already spent. She went on to back this point by saying, “More spending does not guarantee better outcomes.” Rep. Rick Allen (R-GA) suggested that more federal funding to help schools will mortgage the futures of students it is meant to help.

If you would like to watch the entirety of the hearing, click here.

Middle Grades CTE: Teachers and Leaders

There is widespread agreement that high school is too late to begin to expose learners to careers and the foundational skills needed to access and succeed in careers, but there remains a lack of consensus about what CTE and career readiness should entail at the middle grades level.

Advance CTE, with support from ACTE, convened a Shared Solutions Workgroup of national, state and local leaders to identify the core components of a meaningful middle grades CTE experience. This collaboration resulted in Broadening the Path: Design Principles for Middle Grades CTE and a companion blog series exploring each of the core programmatic elements of middle grades CTE defined in the paper. In this sixth entry in the blog series, we will examine the core programmatic element of teachers and leaders.

Delivering quality CTE experiences in the middle grades is contingent upon a cadre of educators with the necessary content knowledge and pedagogical skills. Educators working with middle grades students need specific, relevant content knowledge about career pathways as well as skills for working with middle grades students. While there are often shortages of CTE teachers at all levels of education—a situation that will likely be exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic—creativity and flexibility related to licensing and scheduling can help address this need. Professional development and other supports are critical not only for educators and administrators, but also for counselors, advisers and other career development professionals who provide career advisement to middle grades students.

States have implemented a variety of requirements and supports to facilitate quality instruction in middle grades CTE. In Ohio, middle grades students have access to both career exploratory courses and, in eighth grade, courses that are the equivalent of high school CTE introductory courses. For these high-school-equivalent courses, instructors must hold the appropriate subject-area-specific CTE teaching credential, but for other middle school CTE courses, only a standard teacher license is required. This allows the state to access a broader pool of teachers and alleviates some concerns about teacher shortages. To ensure that they possess the skills and knowledge to effectively teach middle school CTE courses, these teachers must complete online modules that cover the pedagogy of a CTE class and CTE standards.

To integrate grade 6-12 education and career planning more holistically across the education system, Georgia has developed a Teachers-As-Advisors Framework. The framework is linked to the National Career Development Guidelines and includes goals organized by grade level and by three domains: career management; academic achievement, educational attainment and lifelong learning; and life skills. For instance, career management goals for grade 6 address understanding decision-making processes, locating career information sources and trends, and identifying key 21st-century employability skills. The framework enables teachers and other professionals in the school system to support students in their career development.

In Arizona, AZ GEAR UP has partnered with the AZ College Access Network to provide online training focused on postsecondary access and career planning. Module 4: College and Career Advising in the Middle Grades addresses the skills and knowledge required to counsel middle grade students for college and careers, including career exploration, planning and transition, and the value of postsecondary education. Middle school teachers, administrators and counselors are encouraged to participate in this module, which is offered by AZ GEAR UP for free.

As you reflect on this element of middle grades CTE in your state, district or school, consider such questions as:

• Are there currently enough qualified and certified educators to deliver quality CTE content to all middle grades students?
• Do teachers and administrators have access to meaningful professional development tailored to the individualized needs of students?
• Do teachers and administrators have access to meaningful professional development around experiential and hands-on learning?
• How can all teachers and staff in the school be involved in delivering quality middle grades career development experiences?
• How can new educators be recruited or resources used creatively to build capacity?
• Do teachers and administrators have a full understanding of the principles and goals of middle grades CTE?

For additional resources relevant to CTE educators in the middle grades, check out the Middle Grades CTE Repository, another deliverable of this Shared Solutions Workgroup.

This blog series is being cross-posted with Advance CTE's blog. 

DC Digest: June 8-14

Members of Congress, like much of the country, have spent significant time in the last few weeks discussing issues around racial inequity, with initial legislation introduced this week and more proposals under consideration. Common ground appears to be emerging between the two parties on several law enforcement reform issues. We will share more on any related bills impacting education or workforce development as the process unfolds. Below are a few other updates:

• Third Wave of CTE State Plans Approved: The Department of Education has approved 10 additional CTE state plans! The 10 plans that were approved are: Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Wisconsin and DC. More information on their plans can be found on the ED’s website. 
• Senate Holds Hearing on COVID-19: Going Back to School Safely: The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee hosted a hearing entitled ‘COVID-19: Going Back to School Safely’ where lawmakers discussed how to ensure schools can open safely in the fall. Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) also encouraged the reopening schools because of racial inequalities that minority students are facing while schools are closed. Watch the full hearing here, and read more on the blog here. You can also read the statement Sen. Alexander made on the Senate floor the next day, which acknowledged that schools may need additional funding to reopen
• The Committee for Education Funding (CEF) Hosts Hill Day: On Tuesday, ACTE joined CEF for their Hill Day to speak with lawmakers about the need for federal investment in education for COVID-19 costs and FY2021. Members of Congress were urged to increase the level of funding since the current level of funding is $7 million below the 2011 level in inflation-adjusted terms.
• Department of Education Releases Regulatory Guidance on CARES Act Student Aid: The Department of Education has issued a draft rule related to student eligibility for the portion of postsecondary CARES Act funding that is set aside for student aid. More information can be found in this blog post. 
• Applications for Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund Available: The Department of Education announced that all applications for the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund, a $3 billion stabilization fund under the CARES Act stimulus package, have been received. These applications are now public. The Governor’s fund is  aimed to help with funding for secondary and postsecondary institutions that were hit the hardest by COVID-19. Check out the plans to see what was included in your state’s application.
• Markups for FY21 Appropriations Bills Announced: House Appropriations Chairwoman Nita Lowey (D-NY) has announced that subcommittee markups for the FY21 Appropriations bills will begin the week of July 6, with the hopes of having them passed out of the House by August recess. Similarly, Senate Appropriations Chair Richard Shelby (R-Al) announced the Senate will begin its process the third week of June. The situation remains fluid and is subject to change.
• House Members Request Education Funding for Next Relief Package: More than 100 Democratic House members are requesting $305 billion in education funding for K-12 schools in the next COVID-19 relief package. The lawmakers argue this funding is needed in order to ensure schools can be effective in the fall.