February 13, 2014
In
celebration of Career and Technical Education (CTE) Month, let me begin by
thanking each and every one of you for your tireless efforts to improve CTE
across our nation. As President Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan
acknowledge, a strong, vibrant CTE system is vital to both our individual and
collective success. Your efforts—whether as an administrator, teacher, faculty
member, counselor, business and industry leader, parent, or student—are key
ingredients for helping CTE fulfill its promise.
Last
week, Secretary Duncan kicked off CTE month with a letter in OCTAE Connection that highlighted the
power of CTE in preparing all students to succeed in a competitive global
economy. I want to build on the secretary’s comments and reiterate the administration’s
vision for high-quality CTE programs as outlined in Investing in America’s Future: A Blueprint for
Transforming Career and Technical Education.
The
blueprint establishes four core principles that support and expand the
incredible work that has been done across the nation in developing high-quality
CTE programs.
The first
principle seeks to support effective alignment between CTE and labor
market needs to equip students with the skills they need for in-demand jobs
within high-growth industry sectors. The Department is committed to empowering
states to collaborate with their workforce and economic development agencies to
identify the occupations and sectors on which CTE programs should focus.
The second
principle emphasizes building and maintaining strong collaborations among
secondary and postsecondary institutions, employers, and industry partners to
improve the quality of CTE programs. The Department is committed to helping
states strengthen their participation of employers, and industry and labor
partners in CTE program design and implementation.
The third
principle focuses on meaningful accountability for improving
academic outcomes, and building technical and employability skills in CTE
programs based on common definitions and clear performance metrics. The
Department wants to help states ensure that all students, regardless of their
backgrounds, have access to and are able to participate in high-quality CTE
programs. And we want to help create high-quality data systems that provide
information on the educational and employment outcomes for students who
participate.
The
fourth principle places more emphasis
on innovation,
by promoting systemic reforms in state policies and practices that will support
the implementation of effective CTE practices at the local level.
In
my travels as assistant secretary, I have been heartened to have seen firsthand
many CTE programs that exemplify these principles. From our nation’s inner
cities to its most rural areas, CTE practitioners are pulling out all the stops
toward ensuring that students have access to programs and services that best
prepare them for their futures. During this CTE month, let’s celebrate the
successes and commit to redoubling efforts to ensure that every student has
this incredible opportunity for a first-class CTE education!
Brenda
Community College Section
OCTAE Connection’s series about developmental
education continues this week with another example of a community college working
in this field.
Tri-C
Innovates to Provide Effective Developmental Instruction
Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) in Cleveland,
Ohio, is an innovator in improving the effectiveness of developmental education
for its students.
The oldest public community college in the state, it
is one of over 100 institutions of higher education that have responded to the
call to action recently issued by President and Mrs. Obama to leaders in higher
education, asking them to promote college opportunity in one of four areas:
-
Connecting more low-income students to
the college that is right for them and that more of them graduate;
-
Increasing the pool of students
preparing for college through early interventions;
-
Leveling the playing field in college
advising and SAT/ACT test preparation; and
-
Strengthening remediation to help
academically underprepared students progress through and complete college.
College
president Alex Johnson joined a day-long summit at the White House on Jan. 16
highlighting the commitments made by Tri-C and other institutions in response
to the call to action. “I am truly honored to have been invited to participate
in this summit,” Johnson said. “Our inclusion recognizes the
contributions of Cuyahoga Community College to educating the residents of our
county, and particularly to providing educational access to all individuals
regardless of background.”
As
reported in the Commitments to Action on College Opportunity released by the
White House, Tri-C has pledged to require a “first
year experience” course for all new degree-seeking students beginning next fall.
The course will be designed to provide them with the academic and social skills
necessary to succeed by connecting them with the college’s community and
helping them to identify both a career path and the educational plan needed to
follow it. The course is intended to boost student persistence and completion,
particularly among the many incoming students who are placed in developmental
education.
Tri-C has made several other innovative reforms to
improve its developmental education program. Since 2012, the school has
required new students to complete a 90–120 minute test preparation “refresher”
course prior to taking the required COMPASS®
computer-adaptive placement exams, developed by ACT® in English and math. These
courses have resulted in a 38 percent increase in college-level placements in
English and reduced the percentage of incoming students who need three levels
of developmental mathematics from 52 to 29 percent. Tri-C’s new Fast Forward to
Success policy is designed to accelerate student completion of developmental
courses. Beginning this spring, students who place in developmental education
must be continuously enrolled in developmental courses during every semester
they register until all required developmental courses for their degree or
program are successfully completed.
The school also attracted national attention last
year when it produced one of the first Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) in
developmental math. The free,
competency-based pre-algebra course is structured as a
game to enhance student motivation. Tri-C has marketed the course to area high
schools as a tool to better prepare students to take the school’s placement
exams.
Presidential Memorandum Released on
Job-Driven Training for Workers
In his Jan.
30 memorandum on job-driven training for workers
to the secretaries of Commerce, Labor, and Education, President Obama wrote:
- Giving workers the opportunity to acquire the skills
that they need to pursue in-demand jobs and careers is critical to growing our
economy, ensuring that everyone who works hard is rewarded, and building a
strong middle class. Despite recent employment growth, far too many
hard-working individuals still have not been able to find a job or increase
their earnings, and many businesses report difficulty hiring workers with the
right skills for jobs that they want to fill.
- It is critical that the Federal Government ensure
that its policies and programs in the workforce and training system are
designed to equip the Nation's workers with skills matching the needs of
employers looking to hire. To achieve this goal, employers must identify the
skills and credentials required for in-demand jobs and help develop training
programs; workers and job seekers must have access to education and training
that meets their unique needs and the requirements for good jobs and careers;
and employers must have easy ways to find workers who have or can acquire those
skills. We must take steps to ensure that all relevant Federal programs follow
such a job-driven approach to training, and that these programs are accountable
for getting Americans into good jobs and careers as quickly as possible. That
is why I have asked the Vice President to lead a Government-wide review of
relevant Federal programs.
The memo directs the
agency secretaries, in consultation with public and private stakeholders, to
develop a specific action plan within 180 days. The plan must identify steps to
increase the utility of federal programs and policies in providing easily
accessible skills with value to the job market, and accountability for
employment and earnings outcomes. The main goals of the requested review of
federal programs are to support secondary and postsecondary school entities;
make best information available to all concerned entities, including
innovations based in science and technology; improve accountability; align
education and training programs across levels and agencies; and encourage
regional partnerships. Evidence bearing on which job training approaches are
likely to be most effective is to be gathered and assessed so that future
research and evaluation may be started in support of this effort.
U.S. Conference
of Mayors Examines Issues Around Low-Skilled Adults
The U.S. Conference of
Mayors recently held its 82nd Winter Meeting
in Washington, D.C., under the
leadership of its president, Scott Smith, mayor of Mesa, Ariz. According to news
coverage, more than 280 of the nation's mayors attended the meeting to discuss
the economy, jobs, innovation, and transportation. Members met with
congressional leadership and administration officials to urge continued
bipartisan efforts around job creation and economic growth in the nation’s
cities and metropolitan areas—many of which still suffer from high
unemployment. During the meeting, mayors addressed the vital collective role
they play in driving the country’s progress and prosperity.
Mayors heard from the cabinet secretaries of the departments
of Commerce, Energy, Education, Health and Human Services, and Labor, as well
as from CEOs from major U.S. companies. Staff from the departments
of Labor, Commerce, and Education spoke on critical issues for the Conference’s
Committee on Jobs, Education and the Workforce. They also presented updates
on their agencies’ initiatives aimed at fostering job growth, focusing on
improving workforce training and promoting public-private partnerships.
The meeting provided an
opportunity to discuss the connections among current adult skill level
deficits, youth unemployment, and the nation’s
ability to affect its global competitiveness. OCTAE representatives joined
colleagues from the departments of Labor and Commerce colleagues to speak to
the Committee on Jobs, Education and the Workforce on some of the critical
findings from the recent Program for the International Assessment of Adult
Competencies (PIAAC) Survey
of Adult Skills and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development(
OECD)
report, Time for the U.S. to Reskill?: What
the Survey of Adult Skills Says.
Representatives
from the three departments spoke about the inter-agency efforts underway to
address access to skills for adults, including a continued emphasis on
instituting career pathways for them. OCTAE also discussed ED’s national
engagement process and the forthcoming national action plan, coordinated as a
targeted response to the findings and feedback on the adult skills crisis. This
panel presentation underscored the juncture of adult skill needs and the
multi-leveraging roles that mayors across the country have—both unilaterally
and through key partnerships—in turning the tide on these skill deficit trends. Please access the C-SPAN video
library to view program events for the winter meeting, including the
presentation to the Committee on Jobs, Education and the
Workforce.
Small Business Innovation Research Program Competitions
Opens
Department
Seeking Innovative Educational Technologies
The
Department’s Institute for Education Sciences (IES) Small Business Innovation Research
(SBIR) Program
recently announced its only fiscal year 2014 competition, consisting of two
program solicitations aimed at sparking innovative educational technologies.
One solicitation requests Phase I proposals
for 6-month awards of up to $150,000 to develop prototypes of education
technology products for improving student or teacher outcomes in education and
special education settings. The second solicitation requests Fast-Track (Phase I & II) proposals, which expand on and develop Phase I results. These are
30-month-awards of up to $1,050,000 to complete development of educational
technology products for improving student or teacher outcomes in education and
special education settings.
Applicants who submit a Fast-Track
proposal must
submit both a full Phase I proposal and a Fast-Track proposal. In
cases where an applicant’s Phase I proposal has been eliminated from
consideration for an award or if a Phase I proposal has not been submitted, its
Fast-Track (Phase I & Phase II) proposal will not be reviewed.
The
program provides funding to for-profit small business firms with fewer than 500
employees for the research and development, and evaluation of commercially
viable educational technology products that support relevant student or teacher
outcomes in education or special education.
The submission deadline for either
or both proposals is March 24, 2014 at 2:00 p.m., EST. IES estimates that awards will be announced in late June
with projects starting in July.
Time to Reskill: A Practitioner Webinar Rescheduled Thursday, March 13
Please join the U.S. Department of
Education, the American Institutes for Research, and adult education advocates
for a practitioner webinar. The new date
is, Thursday, March 13, from 1 to 3 p.m.
EST. Please register for this two-hour webinar, and help spread the word about it
among practitioners.
This webinar will be an opportunity
to receive a briefing on the recently released Programme for the International
Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) data and on the OECD’s special report
on America’s low-skilled population, Time for the U.S. to Reskill? You will also be able to engage in a focused discussion about the issues facing adult
education. To prepare for the webinar, see the Consultation Paper, which provides background on the
skills issue and the framework for the national action plan. The discussion
will continue online in various groups within the LINCS Community of Practice.
| 
