UPDATED*: CTE Newsletter
October 2024

*Award amounts have been updated in the Industry Certification Section

This update is provided by the Career and Technical Education team at the Indiana Commission for Higher Education (Commission). 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.

Fall CTE Enrollment Reporting Deadlines: Deadlines are approaching for schools to submit fall CTE enrollment data into InTERS. This data is utilized to distribute CTE funding and for multiple other purposes. Upcoming submission deadlines are listed below:

• October 30 – Final amendment deadline
• November 6 – Deadline for uploading signed Form 30A

The CTE Data team held trainings throughout late September and October and continues to support schools and career centers in submitting their data. An Open Lab is being held next week to provide additional assistance.

• October 30 – Open Lab at Walker Career Center
  • Staff will be on site most of the day, but individuals are encouraged to arrive by mid-morning. Please email JVance@che.in.gov if you plan to attend.

Career Exploration Internship (CEI) (0530): The current school year (24-25) is the first year Career Exploration Internship is a funded Work-Based Learning (WBL) course. Funding was added for this course to provide an increased incentive for schools to better capture qualifying WBL experiences for students not in a CTE pathway. Schools are encouraged to review the course requirements included in the NLPS Review Document, including the reminders below, to ensure proper usage of this newly funded course.

• Career Exploration Internship (CEI) requires students to have a training plan and complete at least 75 hours of work in a single placement. These are the same expectations that exist for the WBL Capstone course (5974).
• Where WBL Capstone must be connected to a student’s CTE pathway, CEI must be similarly connected to the student’s career/graduation plan. The experience should also build off previous academic coursework the student has taken.
• CEI requires a classroom component where the student is connecting their academic coursework to the WBL experience.
• Cooperative Education (6162) is another available course code that can capture WBL experiences. This course does not have many of the requirements of Career Exploration Internship or WBL Capstone. A training plan is not required and the WBL experience does not have to align to the student’s CTE pathway or career interests.
  • Cooperative Education is focused on employability skills and does require some classroom instruction in addition to the students work experience. The NLPS Review Document (page 506) includes course standards that must be covered as part of the course.

The CTE team will take steps following the finalization of fall enrollment data to review how the CEI course was used during its first year of funding eligibility. This will include completing enrollment reports for Cooperative Education (6162), CEI (0530), and WBL Capstone (5974). Schools with large changes from prior years may be asked to provide additional information related to the requirements of these courses.

Schools are encouraged to review the requirements for each eligible WBL course code to ensure students are being properly reported. Questions regarding how to best utilize available course options to track WBL experiences can be directed to CSnodgrass@che.in.gov.

School corporations will soon receive their funding allotment for industry certification exams taken during the 2023-2024 school year. Schools can find the amount they are slated to receive in this spreadsheet. These funds have been allotted to all eligible entities based on data submitted prior to September 1, 2024.

Funds will be distributed by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education and will come with the following subject line – “FY 2023-2024 Industry Cert Reimbursement”. Schools who receive this funding will utilize Fund 3749 with the receipt account number of 3293. There are no specific restrictions on usage of the funds. Additional information regarding the certification reimbursement process was outlined in this memo in the September newsletter.

Contact CTE@che.in.gov with any questions about the certification reimbursement process.

The Indiana Department of Education is working to redesign the Indiana diploma. The official public comment period for the second draft opened earlier this month and is available through November 8. Hoosiers are encouraged to provide feedback on the second draft of the proposal via this form. An overview of the revised proposal was originally presented in August.

The press release announcing the opening of the second public comment period can be found here and additional information from IDOE regarding High School Diploma Redesign can be found here.

The Commission is currently accepting applications for the Next Generation Hoosier Educators Scholarship, which provides up to $40,000 of financial aid to aspiring teachers.

High-achieving high school and college students who plan to teach in Indiana for at least five years can receive up to $10,000 per year of college (up to $40,000 total) from the scholarship. Students must apply by January 31, 2025 at ScholarTrack.IN.gov.

More information can be found in this press release or online here. Questions can be directed to NextTeacher@che.in.gov.

The Indiana Pre-Admissions: Your Path to College initiative launched last year to help address Indiana’s declining college-going rate and is informed by similar efforts in other states. The Commission, in partnership with the state’s higher education institutions, sent out pre-admissions letters to more than 67,000 Indiana high school seniors this fall, informing them of their options for postsecondary education in Indiana. Some highlights for this year include:  

• 390 high schools are participating for the class of 2025
• 39 campuses are participating for the class of 2025 (16 public, 23 private)
• Average number of pre-admissions decisions per student: 24 campuses
• 16,286 received pre-admissions to all 39 campuses (24% of eligible students)
• 67,904 students received 1,665,723 pre-admissions decisions

More information regarding Indiana Pre-Admissions can be found here. School partners assisting students can find additional information in this guide. Questions regarding the initiative can be shared with preadmissions@che.in.gov.

NLPS Review Document: The latest version of the NLPS Review Document released in September can be found here. The CTE team does not plan to release another version of the review document throughout the 24-25 school year.

Updates from the last version released in late July are listed on Page 1. Updates include:

• Priority competencies denoted for NLPS Capstone Courses (more information shared in Capstone section below)
• Finalized standards for Computing Foundations for a Digital Age (4565)
• A set of career exploration standards released in July have been added to all Principles courses

REMINDER: Principles Course Standards: Career coaching is a key element for students to be successful in their career pathway journey. To better support these efforts, a set of shared standards has been added to all Principles courses. The standards center around career navigation and readiness, leadership, etc., and are largely intended to formally incorporate college and career goals into coursework that is often already taking place. Find the standards within each Principles course in the NLPS Review Document or directly linked here.

REMINDER: NLPS FAQ: An updated version of the NLPS FAQ was released in July and can be found here. This resource includes many common questions our team receives regarding CTE programming.

Updated CS Requirement Memo: Legislation (HEA 1243) was passed during the 2024 legislative session instituting a computer science (CS) 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 was released in May and an updated version of the memo was released in late August. The updated version can be accessed here.

Foundational CS Course Finalized Standards: As the guidance memo states, the 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. Standards for this course have been finalized over the summer and can be found beginning on Page 452 of the review document or directly accessed here. A crosswalk comparing the draft standards released in May with the finalized standards can be found here.

As the original memo states, schools/districts have broad flexibility in determining how to staff this newly required coursework. While the subject matter of the course is computer science-focused, utilizing computer science/IT licensed instructors for this foundational course may limit the ability for schools to offer CS/IT pathways. Schools may explore options such as additional training, shared planning time, PLCs, etc. to support teachers who may be otherwise licensed in teaching these newly required standards.

Registration is open for the Indiana Work-Based Learning Conference. This event will be on February 13 in Noblesville and is hosted by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce’s Institute of Workforce Excellence. It includes the annual IMPACT Awards where Hoosier students engaged in WBL, employers, innovative programs and more are celebrated. To learn more about the event and register, click here.

Nominations are also open for the 19^th Annual Impact Awards, a featured part of the conference. Nominations are open in the following categories:

• Work-Based Learner of the Year
• Career Development Professional of the Year
• Outstanding Employer of the Year
• Innovative Program of the Year
• Work-Based Learning Supervisor of the Year

The nomination form can be found here. Nominations close on October 29.

The U.S. Department of Education has launched the CTE CHIPS Challenge, offering $1 million in prizes to boost student recruitment, training, and placement in semiconductor fabrication (fab) construction and advanced manufacturing careers. Aligned with the CHIPS and Science Act, the challenge seeks innovative action plans from CTE programs, schools, and workforce boards to:

• Enhance student opportunities for CHIPS related careers
• Expand recruitment, training, and placement strategies
• Support teachers in strengthening CTE programs

To learn more about the CTE CHIPS Challenge, register for the following sessions here.

• Oct. 29, 2024 - Info Session 1: Challenge Overview
• Nov. 13, 2024 - Info Session 2: Connecting the Dots Between CTE Programs and the CHIPS Act
• Nov. 19, 2024 - Info Session 3: How to Submit Your Action Plan

CONTACT US: 
CTE@che.in.gov
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