ACTEA ConferenceMarch 23 – 25, 2011

“Pathways to Prosperity” Meets Evolving CTE Landscape

Meeting the Challenge of Preparing Young Americans for the 21st Century

1991……………………Cosmetology Hours………………….. Building ACTEA Organization

2001……………………Regents Policy Statement …………………... “Gap Closing”

………………….. Increased Rigor/Accountability

2011……………………Increased Prominence of CTE …………………... Graduation Requirement Shifts …………………… College & Career Readiness …………………… Quality and Accountability issues

Changing the Way We Educate ……….Landscape Changes

Existing ConditionsIt is 2011……….•Our national workforce is now a global workforce.•Our national, state and regional economies are struggling.•Our new Commissioner speaks about the potential of CTE.•Our current culture still believes……….. competence academically naturally ensures workforce readiness.•Harvard study reinforces the work of CTE.•CTE begins to be recognized on the national stage.•CTE may be integral to new Graduation requirements•Workforce requires greater competence

Questions To Consider• Do these conditions require us to “Change the Way We Educate”?• What are our collective and individual intentions to meet the

current conditions?• Are our CTE programs universally rigorous enough for career &

college readiness?• Do you really see CTE as part of this states school reform initiative?• Are we capable of having a unified voice to be part of rapid

change?• Do we sufficiently educate for the emerging technologies?• Is CTE at the forefront of 21st Century Skills?• Do we have the will?

Confronted with the current environment…

ACTEA asked itself 3 years ago…

“What should we do now?”

ACTEA asked itself 3 years ago…

“What should we do now?”• Aligning Mind-sets Across the State• Unifying Message – Unifying State CTE

Entities• Common Mission – ACTEA’s 5 Focus Areas• Collaborative Approaches• Merging CTE and Academic “worlds” – Gap

Closing• Standards-Based CTE vs. Progress-Based

CTE• Looking Beyond the Hood of the Car

• Aligning Mind-sets Across the State• Unifying Message – Unifying State CTE

Entities• Common Mission – ACTEA’s 5 Focus Areas• Collaborative Approaches• Merging CTE and Academic “worlds” – Gap

Closing• Standards-Based CTE vs. Progress-Based

CTE• Looking Beyond the Hood of the Car

ACTEA Creates 3 Aims

Promote and provide evidence that demonstrates CTE is a fundamental way of educating students P – 16

Promote the properties, characteristics and components contained in CTE as a High School reform mechanism

Continue to build the capacity of the CTE system to increase relevance and rigor

Concepts that require action by the field to

validate our beliefs

ACTEA Areas of FocusACTEA Areas of Focus1. Advocacy

Representation within the State promoting CTE as a vehicle to increase student achievement to enhance graduation rates & prepare students for post-secondary work and the workforce.

1. Advocacy

Representation within the State promoting CTE as a vehicle to increase student achievement to enhance graduation rates & prepare students for post-secondary work and the workforce.

2. Policy Influence

Working collaboratively with policy entities to influence the direction of policy and regulation that is enhances CTE’s ability to raise student achievement.

ACTEA Areas of FocusACTEA Areas of Focus

3. Guidance to the Field

Provide shared vision clarity, develop areas of state-wide focus and provide technical assistance necessary to carry out the work of CTE’s future.

3. Guidance to the Field

Provide shared vision clarity, develop areas of state-wide focus and provide technical assistance necessary to carry out the work of CTE’s future.

ACTEA Areas of FocusACTEA Areas of Focus

4. Leadership

Engender, foster and pragmatically build the capacity within CTE to lead the development of programs and services that raise student achievement and enhance a students ability to thrive in post-secondary and workplace environments.

ACTEA Areas of Focus

5. Use of Technology

Explore, identify and promote technologies that close the distance – time gap to allow for leadership and faculties to collaborate and respond to the vision of CTE across the state.

ACTEA Areas of Focus

How Do These Areas of Focus Match the

Following?

“Pathways to Prosperity”

According to a national survey of several hundred employers, “…more than half (high school graduates) were ‘deficient’ in such skills as oral and written communication, critical thinking and professionalism.”

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills “…is calling for more focus on the development of such ‘21st century skills’ as critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, and communication.”

“Pathways to Prosperity”

“These findings suggest that a more holistic approach to education – one that aims to equip young adults with a broader range of skills – is more likely to produce youth who will succeed in the 21st century.”

“… a narrowly defined ‘college for all’ goal – one that does not include a much stronger focus on career-oriented programs that lead to occupational credentials – seems doomed to fail.”

“Pathways to Prosperity”

“ ’College for all’ might be the mantra, but the hard reality is that fewer than one in three young people achieve the dream.”

“In 2008, median earnings of workers with bachelor’s degrees were 65 percent higher than those of high school graduates ($55,700 v.s. $33,800). Similarly, workers with associate’s degrees earned 73 percent more than those who had not completed high school ($42,000 v.s. $24,300).”

“Pathways to Prosperity”

“…large numbers (of students) say they dropped out because they felt their classes were not interesting, and that high school was unrelentingly boring. In other words, they didn’t believe high school was relevant, or providing a pathway to achieving their dreams.”

“Pathways to Prosperity” “…most advanced nations place far more

emphasis on vocational education than we (U.S.) do.”

“…most young people would prefer to learn from late adolescence on in an environment in which work and learning are integrated and in which there is a clear occupational goal in sight.”

“…we would have to be willing to abandon our reliance on the various forms of tracking, subtle as well as overt, that pervade much of our education system through the elementary and middle school years.”

“Pathways to Prosperity”

“…vocational education that integrates work and learning is a superior way to learn.”

“…young people who have been in programs teaching them about ‘working life’ and giving them soft skills as well as training and experience in a career area do better at finding jobs.”

“Pathways to Prosperity”

“…we must embark on an effort to build a more comprehensive American system of pathways to prosperity – one that is better equipped to meet the widely diverse needs, interests and abilities of all our young people.”

“For too many of our youth, we have treated preparing for college versus preparing for career as mutually exclusive options.”

“Pathways to Prosperity” “…CTE is often demeaned and disparaged,

especially among the nation’s elites.” “Cutting-edge career and technical education

(CTE) bears little relationship to the old vocational education programs that were often little more than dumping grounds for students who couldn’t cut it in college-prep. Today’s best CTE programs do a better job of preparing many students for college and career than traditional academics-only programs.”

“Pathways to Prosperity”

“…we need to create a system of career-focused pathways that span the last years of high school and at least one year of post-secondary education or training and lead to an industry-recognized credential.”

“Pathways to Prosperity”

“…well-developed, high quality vocational education programs provide excellent pathways for many young people to enter the adult workforce. But these programs also advance a broader pedagogical hypothesis: that from late adolescence onward, most young people learn best in structured programs that combine work and learning, and where learning is contextual and applied.”

“Pathways to Prosperity”

“As President Obama has said, we now need every young American not only to complete high school, but to obtain a post-secondary credential or degree with currency in the labor market.”

How does our current condition, our “Futuring” effort and the questions posed relate to each other?

What does this mean for the work of ACTEA and for the individuals that make ACTEA?

……… What Do You Say?