As the primary federal support for CTE, the federal Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, last reauthorized in 2018 as the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act and known as Perkins V, provides a significant amount of funding for CTE programs in many states. Even in states that have robust state funding for CTE, it may be the only funding stream that is dedicated to CTE innovation and improvement – to developing new programs and improving existing programs, not to funding basic operational costs like everyday consumable supplies.

In addition to its importance as a source of funding, Perkins is significant because it requires accountability for student performance outcomes; incentivizes increased alignment across CTE and core academics, across education and the labor market, and across the secondary, postsecondary and workforce systems; and encourages expanded access to high-quality CTE programs. The policies that states adopt under Perkins often drive state and local funding investments in CTE.

Local CTE providers that receive Perkins funding are required to offer career exploration and planning. Specifically, the legislation calls for local recipients of grant funds, such as school districts and institutions, to “provide career exploration and career development activities through an organized, systematic framework designed to aid students, including in the middle grades, before enrolling and while participating in a career and technical education program, in making informed plans and decisions about future education and career opportunities and programs of study, which may include—

(A) introductory courses or activities focused on career exploration and career awareness, including non-traditional fields;

(B) readily available career and labor market information, including information on—
(i) occupational supply and demand;
(ii) educational requirements;
(iii) other information on careers aligned to State, local, or Tribal (as applicable) economic priorities; and
(iv) employment sectors;

(C) programs and activities related to the development of student graduation and career plans;

(D) career guidance and academic counselors that provide information on postsecondary education and career options;

(E) any other activity that advances knowledge of career opportunities and assists students in making informed decisions about future education and employment goals, including non-traditional fields; or

(F) providing students with strong experience in, and comprehensive understanding of, all aspects of an industry.”

In addition to the required career development and planning provisions, local Perkins funding recipients are permitted, but not required, to use funds to support learner groups defined as special populations in Perkins V.

LIST

These permissible uses of funding could align with your counseling practice:
● Providing introductory courses or activities focused on career exploration and career awareness, including non-traditional fields (fields in which individuals from one gender comprise less than 25% of those employed, such as men in nursing or women in welding).
● Training teachers, faculty, school leaders, administrators, specialized instructional support personnel, career guidance and academic counselors, and paraprofessionals to provide appropriate accommodations for individuals with disabilities and to use frameworks to effectively teach students, including a particular focus on students with disabilities and English learners
● Coordinating with other education and workforce development programs and initiatives, including career pathways and sector partnerships developed under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and other federal laws and initiatives that provide students with transition-related services, including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
● Supporting programs and activities that increase access, student engagement and success in STEM for students who are members of groups underrepresented in such subject fields
● Reducing or eliminating out-of-pocket expenses for special populations participating in CTE, including those participating in dual or concurrent enrollment programs or early college high school programs, and supporting the costs associated with fees, transportation, childcare or mobility challenges for those special populations

Resource Spotlight: For more information on supporting special populations in CTE, see this series of briefs from ACTE and Advance CTE as well as ACTE’s Special Populations Repository.

In order to obtain Perkins funding from their state, local recipients are required to conduct a comprehensive local needs assessment (CLNA) at least once every two years, depending on the timeline set by each state. Funding recipients must describe how they will use funds to “develop, coordinate, implement, or improve career and technical education programs to meet the needs identified in the comprehensive needs assessment.”

The CLNA requires local CTE providers to engage in a meaningful, data-driven program improvement process that considers CTE program quality, student performance and supports, and labor market alignment. The CLNA offers a powerful opportunity to engage stakeholders in a common understanding and vision for the future of CTE in a local community.

The CLNA must evaluate – in collaboration with a wide variety of stakeholders such as educators, business and industry partners, parents and students – the following components:
● Student performance on Perkins V accountability indicators, disaggregated by a number of learner groups
● Alignment of programs to labor market needs
● Whether programs are of sufficient size, scope and quality to meet all students’ needs
● Progress toward implementing programs and programs of study
● Efforts to improve recruitment, retention and training of faculty and staff
● Progress toward improving student access

Career guidance and advisement professionals are required stakeholders in this needs assessment process, so you may be called upon to provide information about career exploration and planning tools and resources; how learners could better access and succeed in CTE programs; and your perspective on the skills and readiness of CTE students and the student body in general.

In addition to the CLNA process, which is conducted once every two years in most states, CTE programs have advisory boards that meet more frequently – one to three times per year – to review CTE programs. These boards consist of employer and industry partners and may also incorporate community organization representatives, families and students. A small, rural school might have one unified advisory board for all its CTE programs, while larger schools and districts will likely have advisory boards for different CTE program areas.

Typical advisory activities include reviewing and updating the CTE program’s curriculum, facilities and equipment; coordinating and evaluating work-based learning, industry credentials, dual enrollment and other offerings; planning events like career fairs or job shadow days; and considering data like course enrollments and employer partner skill and workforce needs.

As with the CLNA, you may be called on to participate in these meetings to provide your expertise and learn more about partner needs and opportunities.