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CTE Newsletter
Summer 2024
This update is provided by the Career and Technical Education team at the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. We welcome your support in encouraging anyone who would benefit from the information to join our listserv. Individuals can sign up here. Questions can be shared with CTE@che.IN.gov.
A Note from State Director Anthony Harl: As the summer begins, I wanted to take a moment on behalf of the CTE team to thank all the instructors, school and career center staff, and other stakeholders who made possible another great year for CTE. Recently, the Commission was able to recognize some of the outstanding work taking place in CTE at our annual Awards for Excellence ceremony. This event is always an inspiration for our team to witness firsthand the incredible achievements of CTE students and hear about the partnerships, programs, and career advising taking place across the state to provide students the best possible opportunities within CTE. Read more about this year’s Awards for Excellence here.
Our team’s transition to the Commission this year brought about some tremendous opportunities to increase our capacity and keep making the case that CTE is postsecondary education and training. We continue to see record enrollment in CTE and are encouraged by some of the early results with the transition to NLPS (which will be fully complete this upcoming school year!).
As we look ahead, I look forward to partnering with all of you to continue advancing student outcomes in CTE. Our recently completed Perkins State Plan and upcoming CTE Strategic Plan will provide the framework for much of our work over the next few years. But prior to that, I hope many of you are able to take some time for rest and relaxation this summer. Look for our next newsletter around the time school starts back up and let us know any ways we can be of assistance in the meantime. Enjoy your summer!
NLPS Capstone Course Guidance
The CTE team continues to provide clarification and examples for offering NLPS Capstone courses as more schools prepare to offer these courses this fall. NLPS Capstone courses are always available for 2-6 credits. The below chart is intended to help break down the options a school has when determining how many secondary credit hours of a capstone course to offer. Students must be enrolled in and completing Part I first. After that, schools have the option of also offering Parts II and/or III.
 More information on offering a NLPS Capstone course, along with previously shared guidance, has been combined into this NLPS Capstone Guidance Document. Questions regarding capstone implementation can be directed to CTE@che.in.gov.
Indiana’s Perkins State Plan was approved by the Commission for Higher Education at the May Commission meeting and submitted to the U.S. Department of Education.
An Executive Summary highlights key changes within the State Plan. Discussions are ongoing with USDOE to finalize State Determined Performance Levels in the State Plan and will be communicated with Area CTE directors upon final approval. The Executive Summary also shares how the State Plan connects with the Commission’s HOPE Agenda, Indiana’s Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Plan, and a forthcoming CTE Strategic Plan planned for release later this year.
A webinar from March providing additional details regarding the State Plan can be found here. Questions regarding the State Plan can be shared with the CTE team by contacting CTE@che.in.gov.
Industry Certification Reimbursement
The state will once again be distributing funding to high schools in the fall to reimburse the cost of industry certification exams students took during this school year (2023-2024). All certifications on the Graduation Pathways Eligible Industry Certification List can be reported and receive reimbursement. Schools and career centers should enter into InTERS any eligible certification exams (passed or failed) completed by students during the 23-24 SY by September 1. Following collection of this data, the funding will be distributed to high schools. Please reach out to JVance@che.in.gov with any data reporting questions.
The line item for certification reimbursement has been increased from $200,000 to $2,000,000 beginning this fiscal year. With this increase, it is anticipated schools will now receive full reimbursement for certifications beginning this fall (i.e. a certification that costs $50 will now receive $50 in reimbursement rather than a prorated amount that was distributed the prior two years.) The likely reimbursement cost for eligible certifications can be found in the “Assessment Cost” tab on the Graduation Pathways list. This column will be undergoing review this summer and finalized prior to the fall semester.
CTE districts have received separate communication regarding limitations on utilizing federal Perkins funding to cover certification costs given that Indiana is now fully reimbursing these costs with state funding. Schools are encouraged to collaborate with area career centers to develop local agreements in cases where the career center is incurring the costs for exams. Given the reimbursement funding is provided to schools, consideration should be given to utilizing this annual funding to cover the upfront costs for certifications during the 24-25 SY and in future years.
New Computer Science Course Requirement
Computer Science Requirement: Legislation (HEA 1243) was passed during the 2024 legislative session instituting a computer science graduation requirement beginning with the 2029 cohort. CTE staff collaborated with IDOE staff to provide guidance related to this new requirement. An initial guidance memo released last Friday by IDOE can be found here.
As the guidance memo states, the preferred recommended option to meet the requirement is a new course, Computing Foundations for a Digital Age (4565), that is categorized as a foundational level CTE course. Proposed standards for the course can be found here. Finalized standards will be added into the NLPS Review Document over the summer.
The IDOE memo outlines additional course options for students to meet the requirement, including utilizing Principles of Computing (7183) in combination with a concentrator course in an IT or CS pathway. This option requires two full-year courses (4 credits total) and is only recommended for students pursuing CTE concentrator status in an IT or CS pathway.
The memo also notes that Introduction to Computer Science (4803) is being redesigned as a career exploratory course and will not meet the CS requirement. Updated standards for this course will be shared prior to the beginning of the 24-25 school year.
Career Scholarship Account Program
Indiana launched the Career Scholarship Account (CSA) program last school year as part of HEA 1002-2023. The CSA program provides $5,000 annually for tenth- through twelfth-grade students enrolled in eligible Work-Based Learning programs.
CSAs are intended to expand the number of career preparation opportunities for students. CTE staff collaborated with IDOE and the Treasurer’s Office to develop an FAQ around specific CTE focused questions related to the CSA program. This CSA/CTE FAQ can be found here.
Student CSA applications for the 24-25 school year are open and information can be found here. Questions regarding student applications can be directed to CSA@tos.in.gov.
Provider applications for the 2024-2025 school year also remain open, and information can be found here. Entities eligible to apply as a CSA provider include employers, intermediaries, labor organizations, and schools. Questions can be shared with CSA@che.in.gov.
High School Diploma Redesign
The Indiana Department of Education shared an initial proposal at the March State Board of Education (SBOE) meeting regarding new draft diploma requirements. The presentation shared at the meeting can be found here and the meeting recording can be found here.
An update was provided at yesterday’s June SBOE meeting, including initial information on proposed Diploma Seals. The meeting recording can be found here and the presentation can be accessed here.
Prior to the final adoption of new diploma requirements, the Indiana State Board of Education and the Indiana Department of Education are gathering extensive stakeholder feedback to improve the current draft diploma requirements. Feedback can be shared through this JotForm and additional information can be found here.
As a reminder, all NLPS resources are available on this page. The CTE team will be updating a variety of resources over the summer. This will include work on fully integrating all NLPS Review Document content into InTERS to allow for easier online browsing of information contained in the Review Document.
The Dual Credit Crosswalk for the 24-25 school year will be posted on the NLPS Resource Page next week. Most changes to the Crosswalk from last year were previously incorporated into the latest version of the NLPS Review Document released in late April.
Advance CTE – Modernized Career Clusters Framework
Advance CTE, a national non-profit that represents State CTE Directors and other state CTE leaders, has been working over the past year with a variety of CTE stakeholders to modernize the existing federal Career Clusters Framework. The initial version of the new framework is being unveiled today (June 6th) via a webinar from 1-2 ET. Registration is required for the webinar and can be done here.
The webinar will cover the major changes to the Framework, the research and rationale that informed those changes, and strategies being considered for implementation. Following the webinar, a survey will open through July 5 where individuals can provide input on the overall Framework and individual Career Clusters.
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