Data and Research Archives

CTE Among the Pathway Changes for Better Workforce Outcomes

The Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW) recently released a report on youth and young adult pathway changes. More specifically, the report sought to identify 10 pathway changes with “the greatest potential to improve employment outcomes” for this population, considering the impact that pathway changes could have on a person’s future during critical junctures of their lives.

The 10 pathway changes involve a variety of initiatives such as increasing educational attainment toward a certificate, associate degree or bachelor’s degree; specializing in CTE at the high school level; working in the skilled trades; and working in STEM fields. For this analysis, CEW researchers created the Pathways-to-Career policy simulation model that uses longitudinal data to identify the pathway changes that would best increase a student’s chances of working a “good job.” The report defines a “good job” as one that pays at least $38,000 for younger workers and at least $49,000 for workers 45 and older in 2020 dollars, with 30-year-old workers with good jobs earning a median salary of $57,000.

The overarching takeaway from the analysis is that layered pathway changes are almost twice as effective as any individual pathway change, therefore it is important to invest across all three domains: educational attainment, career training and work experience.

When it comes to specializing in CTE in high school, this pathway change was the most likely to lead to good jobs for youth who are expected to graduate from high school but do not plan to pursue a bachelor’s degree by age 22. CTE was also a particularly effective pathway change for white learners, male students and low socioeconomic status (SES) learners; somewhat effective for Black/African American learners; and not effective for Hispanic/Latino learners.

In addition, the analysis shows that pathway changes produce different effects based on students’ race/ethnicity, gender and SES:

The single most effective pathway change leading to “good jobs” is earning a bachelor’s degree by age 22.
Most pathway changes are more effective for men than for women, particularly for men without a high school diploma in low-wage jobs who transition to skilled trades occupations.
For Black students, earning a bachelor’s degree and working in a STEM or other high-paying occupation are the most effective pathway changes.
For Hispanic/Latino learners, the most effective pathway changes are earning a certificate, associate degree or bachelor’s degree.

Researchers noted the importance of prioritizing pathway changes considering both effectiveness and the total number of individuals who could be affected by a particular change as well as differential impacts across race/ethnicity, gender and class. The best approach is to make strategically targeted interventions for underserved groups over a one-size-fits-all solution. For instance, the findings above suggest value in promoting CTE pathways that incorporate postsecondary credentials and lead to high-paying jobs for all learners and particularly for Black/African American students and Hispanic/Latino students.

One important caveat to this analysis is that it is based on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, an ongoing study that tracks the outcomes of a nationally representative sample of individuals who were aged 12-16 in the late 1990s. Therefore, this data predates many innovations in CTE program offerings and delivery that have occurred in the past 25 years. The researchers acknowledge that their analysis may understate the current impact of CTE on increasing access to good jobs.

Nominations Open for Career Clusters Advisory Groups

Earlier this week, nominations were opened for a set of 15 national advisory groups that will help to provide input into potential changes to the National Career Clusters Framework. See the message below from Advance CTE for more information and instructions on how to apply:

When Advance CTE began the initiative to modernize the National Career Clusters Framework® (the Framework), the Advance CTE Boards of Directors approved the following purpose statement as a north star to guide changes to the Framework: “The National Career Clusters Framework® provides structural alignment and a common language to bridge education and work, empowering each learner to explore, decide and prepare for dynamic and evolving careers.”

To better stand up the Framework as a responsive bridge between education and work, the national project team is organizing 15 Industry Advisory Groups (IAGs) to serve as sector-specific representatives. The IAGs will consist of approximately 20-30 industry stakeholders representing a diverse range of attributes including company profile, geography, and racial diversity. The IAGs will meet virtually three times over the next year to help inform and validate potential changes to the Framework, provide key insights into additional stakeholder engagement and champion the future direction of the Framework. We anticipate the overall time commitment to not exceed a cumulative 10 hours.

To nominate yourself or someone you feel would be well-qualified for these groups and to view additional information about nomination qualifications, please visit this nomination form. Our national partners Indigo Education and WestEd will select the eventual participants for the IAGs; chosen nominees will be notified in late June, and not every nominee will be selected for participation.

This form is open to the public and shareable; you may make as many nominations in as many fields as you would like. The form will close on Friday, June 9.

This is one of several upcoming opportunities for all stakeholders to provide input to the National Career Clusters Framework modernization process. We hope you stay connected with our updates and this process to find additional ways to participate in the future.

For additional information, including methodology for determining the IAGs, please visit careertech.org/the-framework or email careerclusters@careertech.org.

Research Roundup: The Impact of Apprenticeships

What Three High Schoolers Have to Say on the Transformative Impact of Youth Apprenticeships: A recent article by the Brookings Institution described the impact of youth apprenticeships on the employment and postsecondary outcomes of high school students. Specifically, a panel of students shared their experiences and takeaways from the Indianapolis Modern Apprenticeship program. The first two cohorts of this youth apprenticeship included 78 students and 40 employers in diverse fields such as health care, advanced manufacturing, information technology and financial services. The youth apprentices shared that their experiences helped them make more informed postsecondary choices and even helped one young woman earn a scholarship. However, they faced challenges navigating between school, work and extracurricular activities, which can be helped by flexibility from teachers, supervisors and counselors; transportation supports; and preparation activities like mock interviews.

State Funding Models to Support Youth Apprenticeships: Advance CTE and the Partnership to Advance Youth Apprenticeship (PAYA) recently produced a report evaluating state-level youth apprenticeship funding models and systems across the nation and describing sustainable funding strategies to embed youth apprenticeship within states’ career preparation systems. A survey of state CTE directors found that youth apprenticeships are typically funded by block and competitive grants, formula distribution, performance-based funding and allocation to intermediaries, with competitive grants and formula distributions as the most common funding models. Additionally, only eight states reported having dedicated funding for secondary youth apprenticeship programs. The report includes case studies of youth apprenticeship funding in Wisconsin, Utah, Michigan and Georgia.

Decoding the CareerWise Youth Apprentice Journey: The Harvard Business School recently released a report analyzing the success of the Colorado CareerWise Youth Apprenticeship program, which launched its first cohort in 2017. This apprenticeship program was created in partnership with business leaders, education innovators, public officials and other leaders. So far, this program has seen more than 1,400 apprentices hired by over 120 employers. The researchers found that nearly two-thirds of CareerWise students progress to postsecondary education, the workforce or both, with 20% of program participants becoming retained apprentices with the same employer and 27% becoming dedicated postsecondary students. In addition, the researchers found the following:

Apprentices who are interested in remaining in the career field or industry in which they are apprenticing are much more likely to persist and complete the experience.
Registered Apprenticeships have higher retention rates than other apprenticeship programs.
Apprentices are more likely to complete financial services, IT and advanced manufacturing tracks, while business operations and health care tracks have lower retention rates.
Apprentices from high-poverty schools and Black apprentices are more likely to leave the program in the first year.

Teacher Apprenticeships Are Booming in The Wake of Shortages: Teacher apprenticeship and residency programs across the United States are gaining popularity and momentum as a promising solution to the teacher pipeline problem. Education Week recently released an article detailing the most important facts that leaders and advocates should be aware of as these programs continue to boom. There are currently 16 states with U.S. Department of Labor Registered Apprenticeship programs for teachers across the country, which opens the opportunity for federal funding to pay for tuition assistance, wages, textbooks and other supportive services. Teacher apprenticeship programs can serve as powerful tools for reducing barriers to entering the teaching field and are often designed for paraprofessionals or high school students with an interest in teaching, with the idea of recruiting individuals who are rooted in a community. Research indicates that teacher apprenticeship and residency models help teachers stay in the field longer and lead to positive student outcomes.

DC Digest: April 22-28

While both chambers of Congress were in session this week, only a few votes were held. The House did vote on the Republican debt limit package, the Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023 (H.R. 2811), and it passed on a party-line vote of 217-215. The package proposes significant cuts to non-defense discretionary spending and limits on future spending, which could impact education and workforce development programs. As this discussion continues, ACTE is continuing to communicate with congressional staff and stakeholders about the potential impact of these cuts and advocate for the highest possible levels of education spending. The House will be out of session next week, but the Senate is expected to continue discussions around this bill and the debt limit more broadly. In the meantime, here are some news and notes from the week:

College Scorecard Update: The Department of Education has announced enhancements to the College Scorecard, including data on the median earnings of former graduates four years after completion of their requisite field of study; new demographic data, including race/ethnicity data for full-time staff and student-to-faculty ratios; and greater information for prospective graduate students on fields of study, earnings and student debt trends. Visit the College Scorecard here.

House Small Business Committee Holds Hearing on Strengthening Small Business: On April 26, the House Committee on Small Business’s Subcommittee on Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Workforce Development held a hearing titled “Help Wanted: Exploring How Alternative Paths to Student Debt Can Help to Strengthen Small Business.” The hearing featured several workforce development advocates that discussed a variety of career opportunities for students, and how CTE can help provide these opportunities. Read more about the hearing here.

National Apprenticeship Act of 2023 Introduced: On April 25, House Education and the Workforce Committee Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) introduced the National Apprenticeship Act of 2023. Read more about the bill here.

Coalition Partner Sends Letter on FY 2024 Appropriations: This week, the Campaign to Invest in America’s Workforce (CIAW), one of ACTE’s coalition partners, sent a letter calling on Congress to support robust funding for education and workforce development programs in FY 2024. ACTE joined the letter in support.

National Apprenticeship System Enhancements Listening Session: On May 5, the Department of Labor will host a National Apprenticeship System Enhancements Listening Session at 3:00pm EST. You can register for the listening session here.

HELP Committee Approves Julie Su’s Nomination as Secretary of Labor: On April 26, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee votedto favorably report the nomination of U.S. Deputy Secretary of Labor Julie Su to serve as U.S. Secretary of Labor. It was a party-line 11-10 vote, and the future of her nomination is uncertain.

Members of Congress Re-introduce College Transparency Act: On April 27, the College Transparency Act (CTA) was reintroduced in the House and Senate by a large group of lawmakers. The bill would improve the information available about postsecondary programs and outcomes and ease information sharing. ACTE has endorsed the legislation again this Congress.

Apply Now: CTERN 2023 Research Training Institute

The Career and Technical Education Research Network (CTERN) is now accepting applications for the 2023 CTE Research Training Institute, which will be held virtually August 7-11.

The training institute takes place over the span of five days and supports researchers with an interest in CTE and quantitative experience. Early-career researchers and individuals from underrepresented backgrounds are encouraged to apply. Those who are selected to be a part of the training institute will
receive a $500 stipend and a Certificate of Training from the Institute of Education Sciences upon successful completion.

The deadline to apply is May 22, 2023. A doctoral degree or enrollment in a doctoral program is preferred but not required. Further requirements for eligibility include the following:

Possess some training in quantitative research methods (for example, linear regression)
Have experience using Stata and/or R for statistical analysis
Work in academia (faculty or graduate student) or at an organization that conducts education research (for example, an applied research organization or state agency)
Show a demonstrated interest in CTE evaluation research
Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident

The course will cover topics such as an introduction to CTE policies and theories, randomized control trials for CTE research, causal research design, regression discontinuity designs and many more. To learn more and apply, visit the CTERN Research Institute application page.

ACTE is one of the Network leads, supporting CTERN’s goal to increase the number and quality of CTE impact evaluations and strengthen the field’s research capacity.

DC Digest: April 15-21

Congress returned from recess on Monday, April 17, and most of their focus was on appropriations hearings, judicial nomination issues and congressional Republicans’ debt ceiling proposal, which you can read more about below. Both chambers will be back in session next week as well, where the House in particular is expected to continue discussions on the debt limit proposal and potentially hold a vote. As we wait to learn more, here are some news and notes:

FY 2024 Appropriations Update: Earlier his week, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) released House Republicans’ debt limit proposal. It would raise the national debt limit in exchange for significant cuts to non-discretionary defense spending and limiting future spending. Specifically, it would roll spending back to at least FY 22 levels and limit growth to 1% per year over the next 10 years. These cuts could have detrimental impact on education and workforce development programs, including Perkins. Speaker McCarthy plans to hold a House vote on the bill by the end of next week. You can read a copy of the debt limit proposal here.

Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Secretary of Education Cardona at Axios Summit: Earlier this week, House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona attended Axios’s Skills Summit, where they discussed their respective focuses on skills-based hiring. Both Secretary Cardona and Chairwoman Foxx shared that institutes of higher education, including two-year colleges, must evolve to meet workforce demands amid changing economic conditions. Both also emphasized the importance of industry partnerships. Read more from their comments at Axios here.

Federal Register Publishes Notice on National CTE Research Study: The Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences has released the second draft of two surveys that will be conducted in 2023 to collect information about CTE policy and program implementation under Perkins V: a survey of all state directors of CTE, and a nationally representative sample of district coordinators of CTE. Comments on the surveys must be submitted by May 22, 2023. Read more from the Federal Register notice here.

Introducing Senator Ted Budd, New Co-Chair of Senate CTE Caucus: On April 21, ACTE and Advance CTE announced that Sen. Ted Budd will become the new co-chair of the bipartisan Senate CTE Caucus! He will be taking the place of former Sen. Rob Portman, who retired at the end of last Congress. He had helped to lead the Senate CTE Caucus for 11 years. Read more about the announcement here.

Secretary of Education Cardona Testifies Before House Appropriations Subcommittee: Earlier this week, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies to discuss the Biden-Harris Administration’s fiscal year 2024 budget request for the U.S. Department of Education. Cardona was also asked about his support for extending Pell grants to short-term workforce programs. Read more about the hearing here.

National Science Foundation Director Emphasizes Workforce Development in Budget Hearing: During testimony before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science, National Science Foundation (NSF) Director Sethuraman Panchanathan emphasized the importance of rapid workforce development investments and scaling training programs to fill jobs created by investments in key industries, such as manufacturing, semiconductor research and development, and infrastructure. Read more about the hearing here.

OCTAE Blog Recognizing Community Colleges: Assistant Secretary Amy Loyd of the Department of Education’s Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education (OCTAE) published a blog post celebrating community college during National Community College Month. Read the blog here.

Department of Labor Announces Funding to Attract and Retain Women in Registered Apprenticeships and Nontraditional Occupations: The Department of Labor Women’s Bureau Director Wendy Chun-Hoon and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo announced a $5 million funding opportunity during the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America tour. Funding would be available to help increase gender equity in apprenticeships and nontraditional occupations for up to 14 grant recipients. Read more about the funding here.

Department of Labor Announces Job Training Grants and Services for Rural Communities: The Department of Labor has announced $44.2 million in funding in Workforce Opportunity for Rural Communities (WORC) initiative demonstration grants. The WORC initiative seeks to address persistent economic distress and create pathways to high-quality careers for people living or working in the Appalachian, Lower Mississippi Delta and Northern Border regions, helping them to remain and thrive in these communities. In concert with community partnerships, the initiative aligns with existing economic and workforce development plans to support local and regional workforces’ employment and training needs. Read more about the funding here.

Research Roundup: CTE Equity and Special Populations

NCES Digest of Education Statistics: The National Center for Education Statistics recently released an update to its Digest of Education Statistics showing that 85% of 2019 public and private high school graduates earned at least one Carnegie credit in CTE coursework. Additionally, the data shows that participation in CTE was higher for graduates from schools in rural areas (92%) and towns (91%) and lower for graduates from suburban areas (83%) and cities (80%). Participation was also higher for students in the southern United States (91%) than for any other region. White students, Black students, and Native American and Alaska Native students participated at about the same rate (86%, 86% and 87%, respectively), while 83% of Hispanic students and 77% of Asian American students earned at least one Carnegie credit. The most common CTE courses in which students earned credit were IT (29%), human services (28%) and business and marketing (21%).

Prior to the release of this dataset, earlier data showed that among 2013 public-only high school graduates, 81% had earned at least one credit in CTE subjects and 92% had earned any credits in CTE and related subjects like career exploration. Owing to differences in data sources and definitions, these datasets are difficult to compare; however, both demonstrate that a majority of high school students are taking part in CTE.

Rural Community College Excellence: A Guide to Delivering Strong Opportunities for Students and Communities: The Aspen Institute’s College Excellence program – an initiative aimed at advancing higher education practices and leadership that significantly impact and improve underserved and underrepresented student learning, completion and employment after college – recently published a guide covering the successes and opportunities of community colleges in rural areas. The guide is aimed at highlighting how community colleges are essential hubs to the communities and regions that they serve by generating opportunities for economic mobility and talent development and oftentimes providing health care support. This guide draws on data from analyses of student outcomes, interviews with college leaders, as well as virtual and in-person site visits to rural colleges to share examples of high-achieving rural colleges.

Unlocking Opportunities: Supporting English Learners’ Equitable Access to Career and Technical Education: A recently released report by the Migration Policy Institute looked at CTE participation and concentration for students categorized as English learners (EL). Researchers found that, on a state level, English learners participate and concentrate in CTE at rates that are relatively representative to their share of the high school population. However, they note that a lack of access to district-level data means that there may be more variation on the local level. Where local systems observe underrepresentation of English learners, the authors discuss strategies such as co-teaching between an EL specialist and content teacher; employing student and family advisors; and developing CTE programs in translation and interpretation, which could be a draw for bilingual and multilingual students.

Unpacking Financial Disincentives: Why and How They Stymie Degree-Applicable Credit Mobility and Equitable Transfer Outcomes: The Beyond Transfer Policy Advisory Board recently released a white paper on credit mobility policies and challenges as a part of its “No Easy Answers” series exploring postsecondary education outcomes for economically disadvantaged students. The advisory board chose this focus of research to raise awareness of the problematic default approach where institutions opt to reject credits until they are evaluated and approved for equivalency, which often results in classes having to be re-taken. Shifting this default, according to the paper, would be imperative to achieving equity since students who transfer and are more mobile tend to be from underrepresented learner groups by race, ethnicity, age and/or income. The report includes examples from Northern Virginia Community College and George Mason University as well as The Ohio State University and various Ohio community colleges. It also recommends strategies such as using funding formulas to incentivize policies that better serve transfer and mobile students and requiring institutions to have an evidence-based rationale for rejecting credits or risk financial consequences.

Research Roundup: Dual Enrollment, Credit Transfer and Stackable Pathways

2022 State Policies Promoting Early Postsecondary: The College in High School Alliance (CHSA) recently released its 2022 year-in-review report that summarizes key trends in state law related to college in high school programs such as dual enrollment, concurrent enrollment and early college high school. Researchers found that 263 bills across 37 states were introduced in 2022, an increase from 222 bills in 2021. Additionally, 2022 saw 54 new laws enacted across 24 states. The biggest areas of activity in enacted laws were finance as well as program integrity and credit transfer. Notably, the report mentions that perhaps due to a more favorable budgetary environment as a result of the American Rescue Plan, states put a major focus on dual-enrollment funding and looking for ways to eliminate student expenses. The past year also saw an increase in laws that impact navigational supports, with five new laws in 2022 in comparison to two new laws in 2021.

Some of the most notable laws include California AB 181, which invests $200 million into establishing a competitive grant program to support the expansion of high-quality dual-enrollment programs in the state. Additionally, Florida passed HB 5001, which appropriated $11 million to reimburse the cost of instructional materials for postsecondary institutions. For more information visit CHSA’s State Legislation Tracker.

Advancing Dual-enrollment Equity Through State Policy: A recent report by the Education Commission of the States tackles the challenges and barriers of making dual enrollment more accessible among underrepresented and economically disadvantaged students. The report notes that participation in dual enrollment is critical in creating positive postsecondary outcomes for learners but that participation is currently not representative across student groups. Researchers found that students face three main barriers to dual-enrollment participation starting with accessibility, or the lack of availability of programs in their school districts or areas; affordability, or the lack of predictable financial supports; and quality, or the lack of available high-quality programs with transferable credits and skills.

Eliminating Dead Ends: Learner-centered Approaches to Stackable Pathways: Education Strategy Group recently sought to analyze and tackle the current issues faced by stackable pathways and credentials. More specifically, researchers claim that most stackable pathways systems focus too much on the stackability of a credential rather than on the stackability of learner knowledge. The toolkit is designed for institutions throughout the nation that are aiming to improve their approach to stackable credits and includes specific strategies, further resources, guiding questions and an action planning template organized around four pillars for “forward-thinking, learner-centered” stackable pathways:

Data infrastructure and systems
Mapping and alignment of curriculum
Credential pathways communication
Student-centered supports

Do Stranded Academic Credits Lead To Stranded Students?: A recent article released by Forbes looked at the issue of academic credit policies and transfers among postsecondary institutions as well as the challenges faced by learners of all ages in completing a postsecondary degree or credential when credentials earned from one institution are not accepted at another. The article makes note of a study from StraighterLine and UPCEA, the University Professional and Continuing Education Association, which looked at how transfer policies are affecting students across the country who look to transfer between institutions. According to the study, 40% of students choose to transfer due to financial reasons and only 61% of those who transfer said their new institution accepted most or all their credits. Forbes author Alison Griffin emphasizes the importance of this issue in helping the almost 40 million Americans that have some college, but no degree and student debt finish their postsecondary education. Speaking with Gerardo de los Santos, Vice President for Community Relations of National University, the author mentioned the consensus among advocates on the need to break down transfer credit barriers that impede student access and completion of postsecondary education.

DC Digest: March 25-31

This week in Washington, lawmakers focused on pressing national security and domestic issues, debt limit negotiations, holding oversight hearings and conducting further appropriations hearings as part of the fiscal year 2024 appropriations process. The House and Senate are now out of session until after the two-week Easter and Passover recess. They will return during the week of April 17. As we await their return, here are some news and notes:

New Community College Enrollment Data Released: The National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) has released the most recent data highlighting community college enrollment in spring 2023. The data revealed that community college enrollment is up by 2.1%, fueled by strong growth among dual credit students and freshmen. You can examine the complete list of figures released by the NSC here.

Advance CTE President Testifies on Rural Issues: On March 29, South Dakota state CTE director and Advance CTE president Laura Scheibe testified before the House Appropriations Committee during a hearing titled “Addressing the Challenges of Rural America.” Scheibe fielded questions from committee members and detailed South Dakota’s efforts to support secondary and postsecondary CTE students through a variety of methods, including Student Support Counselors who assist first-generation students with transportation, affordable housing and navigating postsecondary education. In addition, she illuminated the importance of Perkins funding and flexible distribution of Perkins funds. Read more about the hearing here.

Summit Gathers in DC to Discuss Workforce Development for Young Adults: The U.S. Department of Labor recently hosted workforce development advocates and professionals from around the United States at the Youth Employment Works Summit to discuss its new youth and young adult employment initiative that prioritizes these workers in developing the workforce of the nation. Read more about the summit here.

Updated Resource: Sector Sheet on Energy

ACTE is launching a revamp of our popular Sector Sheet series that describes CTE’s role in growing the workforce for vital industry sectors. Today, we’ve published the first of these updates, CTE: Developing the Energy Workforce. The Sector Sheet series is published with support from ACTE’s long-time partner Pearson.

The revised Sector Sheets will include job opportunities in each sector and descriptions of how CTE prepares learners for the workforce in each sector, all in a new format featuring more streamlined text and additional graphics to make these advocacy tools even more effective.

The Energy Sector Sheet shares how CTE supports America’s energy needs by preparing learners to enter this critical workforce, which employs 7.8 million people and is growing faster than the total U.S. workforce. It describes key energy occupations and their related earnings as well as how CTE prepares learners for energy careers through courses, education and industry credentials, work-based learning, career and technical student organizations, and more.

As we move forward with this revision, both the newer and older Sector Sheets will remain available on the ACTE Sector Sheet webpage for download and use. We encourage you to share these tools with students, counselors, policymakers and others to spread the message about CTE and its benefits for students and the workforce.