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The Minnesota Department of Education 2023-2024 Webinar series gets underway this month with two sessions on topics of high interest in our Spring 2023 teacher survey:
October 11: Project Management
October 25: Work-Based Learning
November 15: Programs of Study
Additional sessions are scheduled for February and March 2024.
See the "Important Dates" information above for the complete set of dates, as well as links to join each session.
Updated legislation passed in May 2023 by the Minnesota Legislature created a new requirement related to use of Minnesota CTE Frameworks (Chapter 55, Article 2, section 120B.022, subdivision 1):
Elective Standards: A district must establish and regularly review its own standards for career and technical education (CTE) programs. Standards must align with CTE frameworks developed by the Department of Education, standards developed by national CTE organizations, or recognized industry standards.
So...what are "CTE Frameworks"?
Frameworks are similar to "standards" and provide guidance for local school district CTE Business and Marketing teachers as to the rigor and outcomes MDE would expect to see in courses to be accepted in the Program Approval process. The collection of Frameworks documents is organized by the seven career clusters identified on the Business Table C.
Frameworks are not "curriculum" – you have local control to develop your curriculum based on interests of students while preparing students with career pathway technical skills to help them meet local workforce needs. The stronger alignment your courses have to these Frameworks, the stronger the case to be made regarding the rigor of your courses and the preparation for students continuing with postsecondary education or moving into the workforce after graduation.
Each career cluster Frameworks document is comprised of several elements:
- Each "strand" or "competency" is comprised of performance indicators and benchmarks (numbered for ease of use in student information systems) and sample learning targets in student language. Indicators and benchmarks have been developed to align to national standards, technical skill assessment competencies, and/or national standards.
- Strands 1-8 comprise indicators and benchmarks related to academic integration and employability skills...aspects of high importance to employers and in the Perkins V legislation. These employability skills are typically taught in combination with the technical skills that make up the course objectives for career pathway development – rather than being taught in isolation. These employability skills are typically evaluated with formative assessments rather than the type of summative assessments that would be recorded in a grade book.
- Strand 10 is the specific indicators and benchmarks for each course (i.e., Computer Applications, Marketing, Graphic Design, etc.). The Performance Indicators identify the key technical skills recommended for development within each course. The Benchmarks identify a "menu" of options in which student mastery of the Performance Indicators could be assessed.
Minnesota Frameworks for Business, Marketing, and Information Technology are found at the bottom of the MDE website for Business, Marketing, and Information Technology programs.
Maintaining and renewing Program Approval status for your Business and Marketing program includes maintaining program eligibility to request federal Perkins funds to support your program. Here are some reminders for making successful requests:
- Use the current version of the request form found on the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) website for "Perkins V Legislation." Make sure this July 1, 2022, version is the one that you and your Perkins consortium leader are completing and submitting to MDE. (Requests submitted on older versions of the form will be returned.)
- Follow your consortium process for submitting requests. Your consortium may have an internal form for making requests to your consortium leader or leadership team, especially for requests under $1,000. The new MDE form mentioned above should be verified or completed and then submitted to MDE by the consortium leader – not teachers – for requests of $1,000 or more.
- Recognize the purpose of using Perkins funds vs. local district funds to support your program. Perkins funds are intended to be like "research and development" funding, to support "innovations" in program delivery and student career pathway preparation. Resources that are needed to "maintain and sustain" your program (that are likely also needed by teachers in other curriculum areas) are the responsibility for your school district to fund and would likely not be approved for Perkins funding. This includes items such as supplies, textbooks, and teacher instructional resources like SmartBoards and LCD projectors. For more information and examples, review the "General Guidance for Perkins V Local Uses of Funds" document on the MDE website.
- Equipment and curriculum requests are made to support delivery of specific courses. The syllabi that MDE have on file for those courses should demonstrate curriculum alignment to Minnesota Business Frameworks (or national standards where appropriate). Performance indicators and course outcomes should prepare students for high-need Business career pathways identified in your consortium Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment (CLNA). Make sure you are aware of the CLNA developed by your consortium, align your program to identified career needs, and update curriculum and syllabi to reflect those changes. Submit those updated syllabi to MDE Specialist Dean Breuer as additions to your Program Approval files.
Below are program and resource updates from two of our Business program partners:
BestPrep
Registration for The Stock Market Game (SMG) is open. Students work in teams to invest $100,000 in stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, managing their portfolios in an online portal. SMG is available at no cost thanks to funding from generous sponsors. Dozens of lesson plans, videos, and other resources are available, and updates to the system include an improved digital trading portfolio for students and an improved Teacher Support Center platform. Award ceremonies take place in December and May.
2023-24 SMG Session Dates
Fall: September 5 – December 1, 2023
Year Long: September 5, 2023 – April 19, 2024
Spring: January 22 – May 3, 2024
Late Spring: March 4 – May 24, 2024
BestPrep's Financial Matters program equips students with the tools necessary to develop sound money management skills. Through interactive presentations, industry professionals help students become financially literate. Available to teachers of grades 6-12, the program brings volunteers into the classroom to educate students on a variety of real-life financial topics from credit and budgeting to buying a car and investing. Request a Financial Matters speaker for your classroom.
EVERFI
Digital Tools for Engaging Students in CTE Classrooms
EVERFI offers a variety of supplemental resources around career exploration, financial literacy, entrepreneurship, STEM and more. Learn how to bring these concepts alive for your students with the no-cost, standards-aligned digital resources available to all Minnesota CTE educators.
Contact EVERFI with any questions or for help getting started.
The information below describes resources available from two MDE partners that can assist with data-driven decision-making regarding the projected future career pathways that should be the focus of your Business and Marketing program efforts. These resources are also often used in the development of Perkins Consortia Comprehensive Local Needs Assessments (CLNA):
RealTime Talent
RealTime Talent is an employer-led, public-private collaborative focused on aligning Minnesota education programs and Minnesota workforce needs. They have developed a series of six regional reports and presentations, providing workforce sector analysis that can be used by educators to evaluate the alignment of their current career and technical education (CTE) programs to projected future workforce needs in their region.
The six regional workforce trend reports and presentations can be downloaded from the RealTime Talent website. You may find these to be very helpful resources for working with advisory committees, local school administration, and your professional learning communities (PLC) to examine current and future needs to be addressed by your CTE programs.
Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED)
DEED's Career Pathways tool connects occupational data from DEED's Labor Market Information office with educational programming from the Minnesota Department of Education and the Minnesota State Career Wheel, displaying career fields, clusters, and pathways. The primary goal of this dashboard is to help students understand how their educational path matches employment opportunities, and to inform education curriculum, initiatives, and programming to labor market realities. The tool is designed to help start career exploration with students, parents, and counselors.
2023-24 marks the twelfth season of the Aspirations in Computing Award Program that
recognizes technology learning aspirations of high school students who identify as women, genderqueer, or nonbinary. Award options range from Rising Star award status to state and national honorable mention and winner levels. All honorees are afforded access to an extensive network of IT practitioners and business providers to help guide their exploration of a potential technology education and career path.
The first step for students is to apply for award distinction and support. All levels of technology experience are welcome to apply. Last academic year nearly 80% of applicants were recognized and received prizes such as cash awards, college scholarships, mentors, job shadows, and/or paid internship experiences.
Students can visit the award website to learn more and begin their application. The application closing date is November 6.
MN MBITE: Minnesota Marketing, Business, and Information Technology Educators (MN MBITE) is the professional teacher organization for Business teachers in Minnesota. Legislative advocacy and best practice resource sharing are two of the benefits to joining MN MBITE. Membership includes access to a lesson and instructional resource repository.
Legislative Updates: The MDE website includes a set of documents compiled to summarize the education-related legislation that was passed during the legislative session ending May 2023.
Reminder that you can share with administrators, advisory committee members, and other partners working with you and your program: CTE Frameworks for each career field area (AFNR, Business and Marketing, FCS, Health Science, Trade and Industry, Work-Based Learning) can be found on the bottom of each of those program website pages!
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