Policymaker Perspectives: A Discussion with Dr. Michael Wooten
Policymaker Perspectives is a discussion series between ACTE and federal policymakers. It is intended to allow CTE professionals to hear directly from policymakers about their priorities and the work taking place in Washington to strengthen the CTE ecosystem.
Dr. Michael Wooten is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Colleges in the U.S. Department of Education. He also serves as the Acting Assistant Secretary for the Department's Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education (OCTAE). As Acting Assistant Secretary, Dr. Wooten oversees more than $2 billion in funding, including funding under the Perkins CTE Act.
Prior to his appointment at OCTAE, Dr. Wooten served as Deputy Chief Procurement Officer for the District of Columbia. He also served as the Chief Learning Officer for the District's Contracting and Procurement office. He has served on Northern Virginia Community College's Board of Directors, including as chairman, and served in an interim capacity on the Prince William County Public School Board. Dr. Wooten also taught at Defense Acquisition University and served for two decades in the U.S. Marine Corps, retiring at the rank of major.
Dr. Wooten has a diverse educational background of his own, first earning his associate's degree at Georgia Perimeter College and then a bachelor's degree at Chapman University. He has three master's degrees from Norwich University, the Naval Postgraduate School, and the George Washington University. Additionally, he earned a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania in higher education management.
In addition to his degrees, Dr. Wooten has completed career and technical education training in graphics and air traffic control. He received the certified tower operator qualification from the FAA in 1985.
ACTE recently spoke with Dr. Wooten as part of our Policymaker Perspectives discussion series.
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ACTE: You have experience at both the secondary and postsecondary education levels, having served on a local school board and on the board of a community college. One aspect of high-quality CTE programs are strong connections between secondary and postsecondary institutions. It is important to ensure that students' secondary CTE coursework transitions smoothly into a postsecondary program as students work toward earning a credential. What can secondary and postsecondary programs do to strengthen their connection with one another?
Dr. Wooten: A high priority of this Administration is providing options to students and their parents to pursue educational opportunities that meet their interests and needs. For too many years, high school graduates throughout the United States faced a fork in the road. One path led to a four-year college, the other to an entry-level job. Some students chose for themselves, while others were tracked based on aptitude and, all too often, on race and income. In today’s 21st century global economy, the choices are much more complex and interconnected, and the fork in the road has been replaced by numerous paths, all of which require a rigorous and rich high school experience that prepares all students—not just some—for college and a career.
Career pathways, and the multiple on ramps and off ramps they build, go a long way toward providing such options and ensuring that all students are able to develop the academic, employability, and technical skills they need for further education and employment. To support meaningful pathways, secondary and postsecondary education must plan and work together. They must align the curriculum at the secondary and postsecondary levels, offer students the opportunity for dual and concurrent enrollment, and ensure that credits earned at the secondary levels are accepted at the postsecondary level. Secondary and postsecondary programs should also seek to streamline and integrate their business and industry advisory boards. One advisory board should meet together to provide vision and leadership for CTE programs that meet labor market demand.
In addition, I encourage secondary and postsecondary institutions to consider using a stackable credentials approach to education, training, and workplace learning. Stackable credential programs allow working students to develop the skills they need to advance their careers while simultaneously earning credentials to further their studies. This helps them on their way to degree completion and/or job advancement. The recently-published Stackable Credentials Tool Kit, developed by the Mapping Upward project, has more information for those community and technical colleges interested in this approach.
ACTE: Career and technical education can be a valuable tool for veterans transitioning into the civilian workforce. It can help veterans, among other things, earn credentials that build on the skills they learned in the military. What is your office and the Department broadly doing to help ensure veterans are both aware of CTE programs and have access to them?
Dr. Wooten: The U.S. Department of Education is pleased to support veterans’ efforts to pursue further education and training after they exit the military. The Veterans Upward Bound program awards grants to institutions of higher education and public and private agencies to support projects designed to prepare, motivate, and assist military veterans in the development of academic and other skills necessary for acceptance into and success in a program of postsecondary education.
It is important to note that many veterans leave the armed forces with exceptional technical skills but encounter problems obtaining appropriate recognition of those skills in the labor market and at institutions of higher education. The Education Commission of the States recently reported that 29 states and the District of Columbia have a policy to award academic credit for military experience. That is encouraging news, but it is clear that we have more work to do. I encourage ACTE members to look into how they can facilitate the recognition of veterans’ skills in postsecondary CTE programs and other CTE programs that serve adults.
ACTE: The President has recently called for expanding Pell grant eligibility to shorter term programs to grow access to CTE for students seeking postsecondary certificates that can be earned quickly, instead of longer-term certificates or a two- or four-year degree. Why is this important, and what can be done to ensure that the programs where these short-term Pell grants would be used offer high-quality CTE that will put students in a position to succeed in the workforce?
Dr. Wooten: President Trump is proposing to expand Pell Grant eligibility to institutions that offer high-quality, short-term programs that provide students with a credential, certification, or license in a high-demand field. Students often face many obstacles in choosing the best education option available for them. Students who attend some short-term postsecondary programs are not eligible to receive federal student aid due to time and program length requirements. We think that Federal law and regulations should be updated to facilitate, not impede, students from acquiring the skills needed in today’s workforce. This proposal would help low-income or out-of-work individuals access training programs that provide them with the skills needed to secure well-paying jobs in high-demand fields more quickly than traditional 2-year or 4-year degree programs. We recognize that there are some concerns about quality assurance as we expand Pell eligibility to shorter-term programs and we will be working with Congress to put in place sufficient guardrails to balance students’ needs with protecting taxpayers’ interests.
ACTE: A critical piece of the workforce development system is the actual workforce—employers and industry. How can industry better connect with CTE programs and the learning taking place in secondary and postsecondary classrooms? In addition to offering apprenticeships, are there ways that industry can help support CTE programs and their students?
Dr. Wooten: There are so many ways that employers and educators work together now and can continue working together to improve student outcomes. First, as previously mentioned, business and industry must continue to advise secondary and postsecondary CTE programs on labor market demand. They must help to identify what skills and certifications are recognized and valued by employers and what programs are best suited for students to earn those credentials.
Employers must continue to provide a full range of work-based learning opportunities, from short-term job shadowing and career days to longer-term internships and apprenticeships. Each of these experiences help students gain the general workplace readiness skills and technical skills needed to enter the workplace and progress along a career pathway.
Employers can also play a key role in advocating for CTE programs and helping to eliminate the unfortunate stereotype that CTE programs prepare students only for low-skill, routine, and “dirty” jobs. Employers might even consider inviting parents and other community stakeholders to experience the modern, highly technological, and ever-changing workplace of the 21st century.
ACTE: Nationally, the CTE system is facing a teacher shortage. Some states have responded by streamlining or offering provisional licenses for educators who come straight from industry. What can the federal government and the Department of Education do to help grow the CTE teacher pipeline while ensuring these educators are fully prepared to deliver high-quality CTE instruction?
Dr. Wooten: The best solutions will always come, not from Washington, but from those closest to students. To that end, last year, the Department launched the Career and Technical Education Teacher Pathway Initiative to identify and fund innovative state and locally-driven strategies for addressing CTE teacher shortages.
Through this initiative, we awarded six grants to a diverse group of entities: two State departments of education (New Jersey and Tennessee), a community college (Portland Community College in Oregon), a school district (Broward County Public Schools in Florida), and an intermediate education agency (Southeast Kansas Education Service Center in Kansas). This spring we will award a contract to document and evaluate these projects and to identify some promising, field-initiated solutions to CTE teacher shortages. We invite you to stay tuned to our Perkins Collaborative Resource Center at https://cte.ed.gov for resources and tools that are developed through this initiative.
