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Nearly 40 teachers from Business, Family and Consumer Sciences, and Social Studies took part in the "#finstitute 2020" workshop held January 29 in Roseville. Keynote presentation and training was provided by EverFi, with additional presentations from Junior Achievement, BestPrep, Jump$tart, FDIC, and Wings Financial. Teachers learned about available curriculum resources, discussed state Frameworks for Personal Finance courses and shared networking opportunities for engaging business and industry partners to make classes more engaging. An increasing number of local school districts are discussing opportunities to strengthen or develop standards for Personal Finance—so high-quality teacher training, and courses aligned to Frameworks and standards, will continue to be important to building strong Business programs and making real the potential for developing personal finance knowledge and skills for all students!
Business, Marketing and Instructional Technology teachers are encouraged to use the resources and opportunities available in February during CTE Month to highlight the important work you do! CTE Month resources are available on the Minnesota State website and include: a Career and Technical Education in Minnesota 2020 brochure; 25 Ideas for Promoting CTE Month in less than 15 minutes; and Resources from ACTE to help you get involved in CTE Month.
Consider use of social media platforms to share news of your students' learning opportunities and outcomes! Several hashtags have been established to help spread the good news:
#CTEMonthMN
#CareerTechEd
#CTEWorks
#CTEMonth
#MnDeptEd
#PerkinsCTE
#LearningThatWorks
Registration is now open for two BestPrep summer programs: Minnesota Business Venture (MBV) for students and Technology Integration Workshop (TIW) for teachers.
Minnesota Business Venture is a week-long summer camp for students in grades 9-12 from across the state. Students experience college life firsthand and work in small teams or "companies" to create a business plan that is presented Shark Tank-style to judges at the end of the week. Other activities include keynote speakers, breakout sessions, and mock interviews. During the week students explore career options, learn about entrepreneurship, improve resumes, and plan for education and training after high school. Contact BestPrep to learn more about Minnesota Business Venture. MBV is offered at two locations: July 12-17 at University of St. Thomas, and July 26-31 at St. John's University. The early bird registration deadline is April 24 at a cost of $150 per student (financial assistance is available). Space for both sessions is limited so students are encouraged to apply early. Share this registration link with students so they can register for Minnesota Business Venture.
Technology Integration Workshop takes place July 27-30 at the University of St. Thomas. At TIW, teachers incorporate new technology skills into existing unit plans; attend breakout sessions about how to use educational technologies, student engagement, and developing student workforce technology skills; participate in a half-day job shadow; earn CEUs; and expand their professional learning networks. Learn more about the Teacher Integration Workshop. Registration fees are $225 for one educator, $200 for two from the same district, and $175 for three or more from the same district. The early bird registration deadline is April 30. Register for the Teacher Integration Workshop.
Congratulations to Kim DeLong at Murray County Central for her successful application for $10,000 in the Next Gen Personal Finance (NGPF) Gold Standard Challenge! The grant will be awarded to support implementation of a personal finance course once the Murray County Central school board formally makes personal finance a graduation requirement. The grant is available to all public and private high school teachers whose high schools have not yet adopted standalone graduation requirements for personal finance.
Kim will also be attending the third annual "Changemaker Summit" in San Francisco, California on March 13-15. The Summit brings together administrators and educators from high schools working to ensure that all students take a semester-long personal finance class prior to graduation. NGPF underwrites the full cost of the conference. Learn about the NGPF Gold Standard Challenge grant opportunity.
(The following information comes from the "Career Program Advisory Committee Handbook" available on the Minnesota State website. Access the Advisory Committee Handbook.)
Everyone who manages a career and technical education (CTE) program in Minnesota knows that advisory committees are required; at the secondary level they are written into Minnesota Legislature Administrate Rule, and at the postsecondary level they are mandated by policy. As in other states, there are some program leaders who fulfill only the basic requirements related to advisory committees but do nothing beyond.
However, if you ask the heads of the strongest and most successful programs about advisory committees, you'll almost certainly hear a different perspective. Successful program leaders know that the time and effort you invest into building a strong advisory committee provides a greater return on investment than any other type of partnership model available. Your advisory committee can be the single most powerful support tool you have for improving student experiences and outcomes.
Students and staff benefit greatly from the guidance and support of industry partners in the following ways:
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Ensuring program relevance: Helping teachers keep their programs aligned with changing industry needs and future employers
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Ensuring program quality: Provide information on workplace expectations and current industry training strategies
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Keeping teachers current: Assist teachers in keeping their industry knowledge and skills current
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Identifying and engaging partners: Establishing and maintaining relationships with business partners in current and developing aspects of program delivery
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Developing advocates: Involvement by committee members can enable them to become advocates and speak on your behalf
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Tapping into expertise: Utilizing leaders with different skill sets who can help improve program operations and outreach
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A chance to ask, "What if?": enable you to question the way things have been done in the past in favor of new approaches
An important aspect of the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) Program Approval process for career and technical education (CTE) programs is the opportunity to identify continuous improvement opportunities. Once the forms have been completed and the syllabi submitted, the collaboration with MDE to develop and improve quality elements of your program begins!
Minnesota has developed a rubric to be used by school districts in conjunction with local continuous improvement efforts for the secondary CTE programs. This rubric is intended for use as part of annual, ongoing continuous improvement efforts to identify program strengths as well as areas of potential improvement. This rubric is a tool which is to be used internally by school districts—it does NOT need to be submitted to MDE—to provide context to the strengths and opportunities in their CTE programs.
There are 11 elements to the rubric. One approach is to select two areas per year to focus on which your advisory committee and professional learning community (PLC). The continuous improvement rubric elements are:
- Standards-Aligned and Integrated Curriculum
- Integrated Network of Partnerships
- Course Sequencing and Credentials
- Career-Connected Learning and Experiential Learning
- Facilities, Equipment, Technology and Materials
- Work-Based Learning (WBL)
- Data for Program Improvement and Advocacy
- Student Leadership Development
- Access, Equity, and Inclusion
- Student-Centered Instruction
- Professional Development for Knowledgeable Experts
Access the State-Recognized Programs of Study User Guide and the continuous improvement rubrics in part D of the Guide.
Kudos to Holly Christian from Blue Earth Area High School for having the article "A Lesson in Budgeting for High School Students" published in the December 2019 edition of the Business Education Forum!
Research Brief – Examining the Skills Most Necessary for Success in Today's Workplace: University of Minnesota study identifies importance of oral communication, written communication, collaboration and problem-solving skills being demanded by prospective employers.
New Program Pays Teachers to Learn How to Teach Financial Literacy: New South Carolina program trains K-12 teachers how to incorporate
ACTEonline – Techniques Magazine: Three great articles in recent editions of Techniques (free to members of ACTE):
- "CTE and the Future of Work": Glimpse of the shifting landscape of the future workplace and the strategies the CTE community can use to prepare students to thrive in that world.
- "Entrepreneurship Education": Developing an entrepreneurial mindset in every student through innovative, authentic work-based learning experiences.
- "Understanding CTE for Students with Disabilities": Practical steps for CTE professionals to explore partnerships with secondary special educators and transition resource personnel to improve programming supports in CTE for students with disabilities.
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