Data and Research Archives

DC Digest: December 11-18

Last week in Washington, the focus was still on negotiating a funding package in order to avert a government shutdown as Congress heads out of town for the holidays. In addition to appropriations work, Congress passed the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), and President Biden later signed the bill into law. Other focuses last week included statehood for Puerto Rico, immigration and tax provisions.

The 118th Congress will begin right after the new year, on January 3. In the meantime, here are some updates from Washington:

FY23 Appropriations Update: On December 15, Congress passed a one-week extension of government funding until December 23, which is the new deadline for completing an omnibus funding package for FY23. The next steps for lawmakers and appropriations staff members will be to introduce legislative text of the omnibus agreement, which is expected on December 19, followed by formal Senate and House approval of the package by the December 23 deadline.

Introducing Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici, New Co-Chair of House CTE Caucus: On December 16, Reps. Jim Langevin (D-RI) and Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA) announced that Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) will become the new co-chair of the bipartisan House CTE Caucus! She will be taking the place of Rep. Langevin, who is retiring after 22 years in Congress, 11 of which he spent leading the caucus. Read press releases from ACTE and Rep. Langevin here. Learn more about the Congressional CTE Caucus here.

A Deep Dive into Perkins V Enrollment and Performance Data: In October, the U.S. Department of Education released data from states’ Consolidated Annual Report (CAR) submissions for program year 2020-21 – the first year that states reported performance data under Perkins V. The dataset includes CTE participant numbers, CTE concentrator numbers and CTE concentrator performance on Perkins accountability indicators, including the secondary program quality indicators new under Perkins V. Read more here.

Election Watch: Teacher Shortage Legislation in the 118th Congress: This year, amid growing concern over teacher shortages across the country, Congress increased its focus on the educator pipeline through hearings and legislation. However, with personnel changes in the House and Senate and new education committee leaders, the 118th Congress will offer a different political dynamic that will impact how the federal government may respond to national teacher shortages. Read more here.

OCTAE Releases Perkins Secondary Program Quality Guide: OCTAE has released a comprehensive resource guide titled “Collecting and Analyzing Data for the Secondary Program Quality Indicators in the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006” to support state secondary and postsecondary education agency administrators and data analysts in addressing the accountability provisions within Perkins V. ACTE Senior Director of Public Policy Alisha Hyslop contributed to the guide, and you can view it here.

A Deep Dive into Perkins V Enrollment and Performance Data

In October, the U.S. Department of Education released data from states’ Consolidated Annual Report (CAR) submissions for program year 2020-21 – the first year that states reported performance data under Perkins V. The dataset includes CTE participant numbers, CTE concentrator numbers and CTE concentrator performance on Perkins accountability indicators, including the secondary program quality indicators new under Perkins V.

In a previous blog post, ACTE shared high-level takeaways from the dataset. Here, we will offer a more in-depth look at the data, which can be accessed through the Perkins Collaborative Resource Network. This online data hub includes national- and state-level summaries, a new dashboard of national- and state-level performance data and the customizable Perkins Data Explorer.

CTE Participants: In 2020-21, there were almost 12 million participants in CTE nationwide, including 8.3 million secondary CTE participants and 3.5 million postsecondary participants. In total, the number of female and male CTE participants was roughly equal, with more male CTE participants on the secondary level and more female CTE participants on the postsecondary level. When disaggregated by race and ethnicity, the data shows that about:

5.5 million CTE participants identified as white
3.2 million identified as Hispanic/Latino
1.7 million identified as Black or African American
606,000 identified as Asian
417,000 identified as two or more races
170,000 identified as an unknown race
116,000 identified as American Indian or Alaskan Native

When disaggregated by special population status, the data demonstrates that about:

5.3 million CTE participants were from economically disadvantaged families
5 million were preparing for career fields nontraditional for their gender
1 million were learners with disabilities
683,800 were English learners
213,000 were single parents
168,000 were out-of-workforce individuals
138,00 were individuals experiencing homelessness
116,000 were youth with an active-duty military parent
5,000 were youth who were in or had aged out of foster care

CTE Concentrators: There were about 3 million secondary CTE concentrators and close to 1.9 million postsecondary CTE concentrators nationwide in 2020-21, for a total of about 4.9 million CTE concentrators. As with CTE participants, the number of female and male CTE concentrators was roughly equal, with more male CTE concentrators on the secondary level and more female CTE concentrators on the postsecondary level. When disaggregated by race and ethnicity, the data shows that about:

2.4 million CTE concentrators identified as white
1.1 million identified as Hispanic/Latino
677,000 identified as Black or African American
226,000 identified as Asian
146,000 identified as two or more races
77,000 identified as an unknown race
43,000 identified as American Indian or Alaskan Native

When disaggregated by special population status, the data demonstrates that about:

2 million CTE concentrators were from economically disadvantaged families
1 million were preparing for career fields nontraditional for their gender
384,000 were students with disabilities
205,000 were English learners
127,000 were single parents
105,000 were out-of-workforce individuals
42,000 were individuals experiencing homelessness
38,000 were youth with an active-duty military parent
14,000 were youth who were in or had aged out of foster care

Because states have different ways of operationalizing the legislative definition of concentrator in Perkins V, cross-state comparisons and data aggregated across states should be interpreted with caution.

Concentrator Performance: 2020-21 marked the first year that local recipients and states reported CTE concentrator performance on the Perkins V accountability indicators. For each indicator, states set measurable targets to meet, known as state-determined performance levels.

Secondary Performance

All states met their targets for secondary CTE concentrators’ four-year graduation rate, with an average graduation rate across the nation of 96%. In addition, all six states that chose to measure the extended-year adjusted cohort graduation rate met their targets.
34 states met their targets for reading and language arts proficiency, 32 states met targets for mathematics proficiency and 32 states met targets for science proficiency.
47 states met their targets for post-program placement, defined as concentrators who are in postsecondary education, advanced training, military service, national service, the Peace Corps or are employed after graduation.
46 states met their targets for nontraditional program concentration, which measures the percentage of concentrators from underrepresented gender groups studying for career fields in which individuals of that gender comprise less than 25% of the workforce.
Among the 22 states that chose to measure attainment of recognized postsecondary credentials, 17 states met their targets and 227,765 CTE concentrators attained recognized postsecondary credentials.
Among the 12 states that chose to measure attainment of postsecondary credits, 10 states met their targets and 98,877 CTE concentrators attained postsecondary credits.
Among the 29 states that measured participation in work-based learning experiences, 23 states met their targets and 128,019 CTE concentrators participated in work-based learning.

Postsecondary Performance

48 states met their targets for postsecondary placement, defined as concentrators who remain enrolled in postsecondary education or pursue advanced training, military service, national service, the Peace Corps or employment after graduation.
48 states met their targets for attainment of recognized postsecondary credentials.
47 states met their targets for nontraditional program concentration.

Owing to different definitions as well as different measurement approaches, cross-state comparisons and data aggregated across states should be interpreted with caution.

Data Collection Challenges: Locals and states faced numerous challenges in collecting and reporting 2020-21 Perkins data. These include:

New definitions for secondary CTE concentrators
New program quality indicators on the secondary level
COVID-19 impacts such as waivers for academic assessments, which affected academic proficiency indicators, and fewer opportunities for hands-on and work-based experiences
Ongoing challenges in collecting data that originates in other systems, such as post-program employment data

Reporting for measures like placement and work-based learning participation will likely improve over time as states continue to improve their data systems.

Research Roundup: Increasing Equity in Postsecondary Education

Basic Needs Challenges: In October, the Community College Survey of Student Engagement released a publication that describes the prevalence of housing and food insecurity faced by community and technical college students. Researchers surveyed over 82,000 students in 2021 to reveal the following key findings from the report:

About 29% of respondents are food insecure and 14% are housing insecure.
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students and students with dependent children were more likely to face food or housing insecurity compared to their peers.
Students who were food or housing insecure reported higher levels of academic engagement, which indicates that these students may be working harder despite having less resources.
Less than half of students receive food assistance from their college, and one-fifth of students receive utilities or housing assistance from their college.

The report also includes examples of how community and technical colleges from various states provide housing and food assistance. Some practices include creating a housing unit exclusively for students with dependent children, establishing partnerships with local food banks and providing one-stop education centers that offer wraparound support services.

The Landscape of Part-time Students: A brief published by Complete College America reviews new data from the National Center for Education Statistics’ Outcomes Survey to summarize the state of part-time postsecondary students. Researchers examined outcomes for both part-time and full-time students from the survey’s 2011-12 cohort and shared the following:

About 60% of students who enroll in two-year institutions are part time, compared to 11% at public four-year institutions.
At two-year institutions, Pell students were 27 percentage points less likely to be enrolled part-time than non-Pell students. Additionally, part-time students who receive Pell grants have a slightly higher completion rate than non-Pell part-time students.
Only 21% of students who start part time at community colleges complete their education in eight years, 14 percentage points lower than full-time students.

The Community College Experience for Black Students: Recently, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies released a report that discusses the characteristics and educational and economic outcomes of Black community college students. This report aims to highlight the barriers faced by Black students in community colleges. The authors pulled data from a variety of sources to summarize the following key findings:

From 2010 to 2020, Black students’ community college enrollment declined by 44%. During the COVID-19 pandemic, from fall 2019 to fall 2020, enrollment fell by 18% for all Black students.
Black students experience the lowest three-year graduation rate (28%) compared to their peers of other races.
On average, Black community college graduates earn $20,000 less per year than their peers and borrow money to pay for college at a higher rate than white, Hispanic and Asian students.

The report offers recommendations to policymakers and education leaders to make community college outcomes more equitable for Black students, including improving access to basic needs supports and child care, strengthening transfer pathways, disaggregating outcomes by race and ethnicity, and providing tuition-free options.

Adult Learner Mobility: This summer, LightCast released a report that examines the postsecondary outcomes of adult learners, specifically their upward mobility, which is defined by the authors as having a salary after returning to postsecondary education that is both higher than their baseline salary and above $35,000 per year. Researchers studied 270,000 adult learners who had not previously completed a bachelor’s degree to find the following:

Adults who return to postsecondary education are 22% more likely to achieve upward mobility and have a 140% larger increase in average annual salary than those who do not return.
Adult learners who enrolled in public institutions experience greater upward mobility than those in private or for-profit institutions.
Many of the majors that provided the most upward mobility were CTE and STEM related, including engineering, architecture, mathematics, and computer and information sciences.
Associate degrees in certain CTE fields, such as health care, granted more upward mobility than bachelor’s degrees in fields like business or psychology.

Postsecondary Education in Prisons: Recently, the Vera Institute of Justice released a guidebook that details considerations for peer reviewers and accreditors of postsecondary education programs in prisons. The FAFSA Simplification Act recently enabled postsecondary institutions to expand their programming further to incarcerated individuals. The guidebook discusses the impact of this change; how postsecondary institutions can ensure they meet standards of academic quality when serving incarcerated students; and how institutions should comply with federal regulations necessary to maintain Pell eligibility.

Research Roundup: Apprenticeships and Internships

Youth Apprenticeship Outcomes: A recent report by the Project on Workforce at Harvard University examines retention, completion and outcomes for youth apprentices in the Colorado CareerWise program, a three-year youth apprenticeship program in which students split their time between the classroom and the workplace with the goal of continuing onto postsecondary education and/or employment. Researchers analyzed the outcomes of over 200 apprentices from 2017 and 2018 cohorts as well as application data from 2019 to reveal the following:

About 39% of participants completed their apprenticeship or accepted a full-time employment offer with their apprenticeship host site prior to the three-year mark. Of program completers, 57% received an offer from their employer, 59% entered the same industry as their apprenticeship occupation and 57% pursued postsecondary education.
Interest in one’s apprenticeship field and registered apprenticeship status were drivers of program retention. Apprentices from high-poverty schools and Black apprentices faced more barriers to completion, which lowered their retention rates.
In the 2019 applicant pool, females were underrepresented while applicants’ race/ethnicity closely matched the population of Colorado’s public school system. Additionally, students from schools with high shares of low-income students were less likely to apply and to be accepted.

The Apprenticeship Landscape: This month, Work Shift released a guide providing an overview of the evolving landscape of apprenticeship programs in the United States. The report covers how employers, non-profit intermediaries and postsecondary institutions are modernizing apprenticeship programs and features a case study on how North Carolina’s community colleges have grown their apprenticeship programs through retention and inclusion efforts. Additionally, the report discusses the impact of apprenticeship scholarship programs, the role of labor unions and the heightened focus on technology apprenticeship programs.

Internships & Experiential Learning Experiences: In August, Inside Higher Ed and College Pulse surveyed more than 2,100 students enrolled in two- and four-year institutions about their experiences with internships and experiential learning, such as community service, undergraduate research or student teaching. The following are some key findings from the survey:

Overall, 39% of students have not participated in an internship or experiential learning activity, with students at two-year institutions more likely to report not participating in these experiences than those at four-year institutions.
Around 57% of students who participated in internships were paid, 14% earned credit and 11% received both.
When asked how their institution could help them find and secure internships, most students said they would like to see their institution partner with companies to offer internships and create pathways to hire interns and work with organizations that help students find internships.
Students said that financial assistance, guidance on networking and workshops on internship success are internship-related supports they would most like to see from their postsecondary institution.

Work-based Learning Data Collection Study: Recently, the CTE Research Network announced that it is conducting a new study over the next year that will compile and synthesize best practices that school districts are using to collect work-based learning (WBL) data. As a part of the study, the CTE Research Network is inviting nominations for districts or CTE programs with innovative or exemplary WBL data collection. The goal of the study is to help district administrators and data coordinators apply best practices to improve their WBL collection. If you would like to nominate a district or CTE program, contact project director Kelly Reese at kreese@air.org.

Debt Outcomes for Postsecondary CTE Programs

In October, the Urban Institute released a research report that examines the debt outcomes of postsecondary CTE programs, including associate degree and certificate programs. Researchers used a variety of sources such as the College Scorecard to explore debt, earnings and debt burden levels (debt as a share of earnings) of learners two years after graduation for six fields of study: health sciences, business and marketing, computer and information sciences, repair services, protective services and culinary services.

The data used in this analysis does not capture students who graduate without debt because they pay for their education out of pocket or have federal Pell Grants – a sizeable proportion of students in postsecondary CTE programs. For instance, about 42% of community college students in 2017-18 received Pell Grants.

Among students in postsecondary CTE programs who graduate with debt, the researchers found the following:

The median debt of postsecondary CTE programs is $16,077. However, this figure varies significantly by field of study: students in computer and information sciences graduated with the highest median debt while students in repair services graduated with the lowest median debt, in part because programs in repair fields tend to be shorter in length.
Two years after graduating, median annual earnings for graduates are about twice graduates’ median debt, $32,234, with the highest-earning programs being health sciences and computer and information sciences and the lowest earning being personal and culinary services.
Together, a student’s chosen field of study and credential level contribute the most to CTE program outcomes, particularly when it comes to earnings. Institutional characteristics also play a significant role, particularly for debt and debt burden outcomes.
While, in the aggregate, student demographics and labor market characteristics are not significant drivers of debt and earnings outcomes, significantly lower earnings for graduates of programs with large shares of women and people of color make it more difficult for these individuals to pay off debt.

The report concludes with policy, program and research strategies that can help students maximize the value of their postsecondary CTE credentials. Strategies mentioned include providing strong career guidance about institutions, fields of study and credential types; assisting adult learners and women with debt relief; removing barriers to high-value programs; examining debt and earnings outcomes beyond two years after graduation; and capturing outcomes for students who do not complete a CTE program of study.

To help more people access CTE programs without incurring debt, ACTE supports expanding Pell Grant access to short-term programs. Expanding Pell grants to support the costs of high-quality, short-term education programs will help more Americans earn credentials and enter the workforce – or begin new careers – in high-wage, high-demand industries like manufacturing, health care and transportation.

Research Roundup: STEM and Construction Education and their Workforces

Computer Science Education: In September, the Code.org Advocacy Coalition, Computer Science Teachers Association and the Expanding Computing Education Pathways Alliance released their 2022 “State of Computer Science Education” report, which summarizes the national and state landscape of K-12 computer science (CS) education policy, access and participation throughout the past year. The following are a few national-level trends pulled from the report:

About 53% of high schools offer at least one foundational CS course, representing a 35% increase from 2018, but only a 2% increase from the year prior.
Urban and rural high schools and schools with higher percentages of economically disadvantaged students were less likely to offer foundational CS coursework.
When looking at the 36 states with available CS enrollment data, only 5.6% of students are enrolled in a foundational CS course.
Approximately 23 states have adopted or updated 35 policies to make CS a foundational subject, including 18 states that allocated over $50 million to fund CS.

The report also includes a dedicated section for each state so that readers can explore recent CS education data specific to their state. To learn more about the connection between CTE and CS education, as well as STEM more broadly, check out ACTE’s newly released “STEM is CTE” fact sheet.

Diversity in the Tech Workforce: Recently, Wiley Edge published a report that discusses diversity in the technology workforce and what actions the industry is employing to improve equity in the field. Researchers surveyed 2,000 18- to 24-year-old individuals both working and not working in a tech-based role, as well as interviewed 200 senior business leaders about their technology teams to reveal the following key findings:

Although 57% of businesses stated that they work hard to foster an inclusive company culture, 43% said they are facing challenges retaining diverse employees.
Half of technology workers stated that they have felt uncomfortable in a job because of their gender, ethnicity, socio-economic background or neurodevelopmental condition.
About 39% of businesses struggle to recruit diverse entry-level tech employees. However, the same percentage says that they are more likely to hire, or exclusively hire, from top universities.

Keeping Pace with the Manufacturing Innovations: A study by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and Autodesk discusses how current manufacturing training must be modernized to prepare learners to enter a field that is expected to evolve rapidly over the next 5 to 10 years due to technology advancements. Based on multiple literature reviews as well as surveys with industry and education representatives, the study concluded that learners will need to be equipped with more technical, employability and interdisciplinary skills. Included in the report are also recommendations for education, industry and government stakeholders to consider in order to improve manufacturing training.

The Construction Labor Market: In October, the Home Builders Institute released their annual Construction Labor Market Report. The report compiles findings from a variety of sources, such as the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, to provide an overview of the current state of the construction industry labor market, including workforce shortages, job growth, wages and demographics, among other metrics. The following are some of the report’s key findings:

Currently, construction employment totals 7.7 million, and the average annual number of occupational openings in construction is 740,000.
The number of women working in the construction field is growing, with women comprising 11% of employees in the industry during 2021, a nearly 2 percentage point increase since 2017.
Average hourly earnings for construction workers increased by 5.5% over the past year, reaching $35.

DC Digest: October 24-30

The mid-term elections are rapidly approaching, and Congress remains in recess. If campaign events are happening in your area, you may have a chance to interact one-on-one with the candidates, or ask them questions to gauge their understanding and support of CTE. Visit ACTE’s guide to attending town hall events with your policymakers for more tips. If you attend an event and speak with a candidate, let ACTE’s Public Policy team know by emailing Jori Houck, Media Relations and Advocacy Associate, at jhouck@acteonline.org.

After the election, the “lame-duck” congressional session will be held before the formal swearing-in of the 118th Congress. Lawmakers have set a packed schedule for after the elections, including completing fiscal year (FY) 2023 appropriations packages, potential debt ceiling reform and more. In the coming weeks, ACTE will be providing you with the resources you need to effectively develop relationships with new Members of Congress and urge them to support policies that will help advance high-quality CTE for all learners. In the meantime, here are some updates from Washington:

OCTAE Releases First Year of Perkins V Performance Data: The Department of Education has released data from states’ Consolidated Annual Report (CAR) submissions for program year 2020-2021 – the first year that states reported performance data under Perkins V. The release includes CTE participant numbers, CTE concentrator numbers and CTE concentrator performance on the Perkins accountability indicators. Read more about the data here.

2022 ACTE Public Policy Award Nominations Now Open: ACTE’s Public Policy Department is pleased to announce that the 2022 Baird-English Advocate of the Year and ACTE Policymaker of the Year Awards are now open for submissions. Nominations for both awards can be submitted by any ACTE member, members of the ACTE Board of Directors or state associations. Read more about how to nominate a candidate here.

First Look at Fall 2022 Postsecondary Enrollment: Recently, the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) released a first look at postsecondary enrollment estimates for the fall 2022 semester. Compared to the fall prior, overall undergraduate enrollment declined by 1.1%, returning to pre-pandemic rates of decline, with community colleges overall and CTE certification programs experiencing improved enrollment trends. Read more about the data here.

Election Watch 2022: CTE Funding Preview: The Perkins Basic State Grant program, the only dedicated federal funding for CTE, has received modest yet consistent increases since fiscal year (FY) 2018. The most recent House and Senate proposals for FY 2023 have continued the trend of small but important increases for CTE state grants, and the outcome of this year’s midterm elections could have a tremendous impact on CTE funding outcomes in both FY 2023 and 2024. Read more about the next steps for CTE funding here.

Department of Education Announces Permanent Changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program: The Department of Education has announced several actions to support borrowers seeking student loan forgiveness, including permanent changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. Read more about the changes and view the fact sheet here.

Department of Education Released Final Rules Amending Some Postsecondary Student Aid Policies: On October 27, the Department released its final regulations to address changes to the federal financial aid “90/10” rule, as well to fully implement Pell Grants for incarcerated students.

First Look at Fall 2022 Postsecondary Enrollment

Recently, the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) released a first look at postsecondary enrollment estimates for the fall 2022 semester. Compared to the fall prior, overall undergraduate enrollment declined by 1.1%, returning to pre-pandemic rates of decline, with community colleges overall and CTE certification programs experiencing improved enrollment trends. These much smaller declines are a significant improvement over last fall’s enrollment numbers, which showed a 2.1% decline in undergraduate enrollment and a 5% decline for community colleges.

In fall 2022, enrollment losses at community colleges slowed significantly, with only a 0.4% drop since fall 2021, compared to four-year institutions that experienced much greater declines. According to NSC, improvements at community colleges can be largely attributed to an 11.5% enrollment increase among dually enrolled high school students. Additionally, overall freshman enrollment levels at community colleges increased by 0.9% since the fall prior, stabilizing freshman enrollment at community colleges for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

A closer look at the demographics shows that enrollment for all students of color at community colleges increased since fall 2021, especially for Latinx (2.9%) and Native American (1.9%) students and students who identified their race as “Other” (4.1%), with gains being even larger for freshman students of color. In contrast, white student enrollment declined by 4.7%. Additionally, the 18- to 20-year-old age group at community colleges grew by 1.4% since fall 2021 compared to a sharp decline among the 25- to 29-year-old age group (-9.2%).

When looking at enrollment by credential type, associate degree programs declined the most by 1.7% followed by bachelor’s degree programs that declined by 1.5% since fall 2021. In contrast, enrollment in undergraduate certificate programs increased by 2.5%.

NSC also included estimates for enrollment in the top five majors by credential type. For certificate programs, CTE programs such as precision production (7.2%), business management (6.9%) and mechanic and repair technologies (3.3%) increased significantly compared to the fall prior while health professions declined by 3.4%. For associate degree programs, enrollment in computer and information sciences grew by 10.1%, while business management (-0.5%), health professions (-5.0%) and security and protective services (-7.6%) declined.

Currently, NSC has not released their final report on 2022 postsecondary enrollment numbers. Once released, ACTE hopes to examine the full list of CTE programs that experienced enrollment growth or declines.

New Resource: “What is Work-based Learning” Fact Sheet

Today, ACTE released a new fact sheet titled “What is Work-based Learning?” describing the full range of work-based learning (WBL) experiences offered through CTE.

WBL enables students to learn about careers, build connections with industry professionals, and develop and practice technical, academic and employability skills needed for career success. It occurs on a continuum, ranging from short-term experiences like workplace tours and guest speakers to more sustained activities like internships and apprenticeships. This fact sheet describes and visualizes stages of the WBL continuum, including awareness, exploration, preparation and participation, and defines common WBL learning experiences.

We encourage ACTE members and CTE advocates to share this resource with students and families, education and workforce leaders, and policymakers to improve the public’s understanding of WBL and the many applied, real-world opportunities offered by CTE.

OCTAE Releases First Year of Perkins V Performance Data

Today, the U.S. Department of Education released data from states’ Consolidated Annual Report (CAR) submissions for program year 2020-2021 – the first year that states reported performance data under Perkins V.

Today’s release includes CTE participant numbers, CTE concentrator numbers and CTE concentrator performance on the Perkins accountability indicators, including the secondary program quality indicators new under Perkins V. The data can be accessed on the Perkins Collaborative Research Network in several formats:

National and state-level summaries showing funding distribution, CTE participant data, CTE concentrator enrollment by Career Cluster, and CTE concentrator performance data
A new dashboard of national- and state-level performance data, which can be filtered by gender, race/ethnicity, special populations and Career Clusters
The Perkins Data Explorer, which enables users to generate custom reports on CTE participation, concentration and performance

We’ve shared several takeaways from this dataset below. Please note that national-level average performance should be interpreted with caution, owing to differences in how states define each indicator, particularly for the placement, postsecondary credential attainment and secondary program quality indicators:

In 2020-21, there were almost 12 million participants in CTE nationwide, including 8.3 million secondary CTE participants and 3.5 million postsecondary CTE participants.
In 2020-21, there were about 3 million secondary CTE concentrators and close to 1.9 million postsecondary CTE concentrators nationwide.
The top four Career Clusters among secondary concentrators were Health Science; Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources; Business Management & Administration; and Arts, A/V Technology & Communications.
The top four Career Clusters among postsecondary concentrators were Health Science; Business Management & Administration; Law, Public Safety, Corrections & Security; and Information Technology.
The average four-year graduation rate for secondary concentrators across the nation was 96%.

In addition to exercising caution when interpreting national averages, please also remember that COVID-19 may have impacted data for the 2020-21 program year, particularly in regards to performance on academic assessments and secondary program quality indicators such as recognized postsecondary credential attainment and work-based learning participation.

We encourage CTE educators to explore their state’s disaggregated data, and ACTE will be digging into this data and will share additional findings and takeaways with the CTE community soon.