A recent journal article examining accident occurrences reported by instructors in secondary construction programs revealed that among construction teachers participating in the Technology and Engineering Education (TEE)—Facilities and Safety Survey, 92% reported a minor accident occurrence in their construction courses in the past five years and 34% reported a major accident occurrence.

Researchers Tyler S. Love from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and Kenneth R. Roy from Glastonbury Public Schools in Connecticut identified seven risk factors and 13 protective factors associated with an increase or decrease in accidents. The following list details some of the most significant factors highlighted by the researchers:

• Facilities and Equipment: Having a laboratory in the instructional area was significantly associated with an increase in accident occurrences, as was having a separate finishing room. Lockable storage cabinets, sinks in the instructional space and fume extractors for soldering activities were all linked to decreased accident occurrences.

• Class Size: Average enrollments exceeding 20 students were linked to increases in major accident occurrences and 52% of construction teachers in the study reported class sizes greater than 20 students.

• Safety Training: School district training was associated with reduced minor and major accident occurrences, but few construction and TEE teachers reported receiving safety training from their school district. More construction and TEE teachers reported receiving safety training from their undergraduate or graduate coursework.

• Teachers’ Background: Holding a teacher certification through an alternative pathway was a risk factor for accidents, while holding a bachelor’s degree in engineering was a protective factor.

The researchers note that “as students matriculate into postsecondary education programs and into the workforce, they will carry with them the safety knowledge and practices they developed during their secondary education experience” and recommend the following:

• Partnerships among school districts, industry, state departments of education and safety officers to share best practices and provide professional development and supports for increased safety in the classroom for instructors and learners.
• Ensuring access to CTE-specific coursework and safety training for alternatively certified instructors.
• Placing no more than 20 students in a construction course with one certified and safety-trained educator.

Read more from Love and Roy about specific safety considerations for CTE classrooms and labs in Techniques.

This week in Washington was a quiet one for CTE-related policy items. Congress is in recess until next month, but the FY24 appropriations process will continue once lawmakers return during the first two weeks of September. There will be much appropriations work to be done when they return in order to avert a government shutdown before October 1. Lawmakers will either need to complete and pass all 12 appropriations bills before then, or pass a continuing resolution to extend government funding as they work to complete their funding bills. This will be a critical time for your advocacy as we work to share our message of support for the Senate’s FY24 Labor-HHS-Education funding bill and its higher funding levels for Perkins and education and workforce development programs! We will continue to share updates throughout August, and in the meantime, here are some news and notes:

• ACTION ALERT: Ask Your Members of Congress to Support the Senate’s FY 2024 Education Funding Bill: On July 27, the Senate Appropriations Committee considered and approved its Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill on a bi-partisan basis, which contains a $40 million increase to the Perkins Basic State Grant program, and provides significantly more resources to education and workforce development programs than the House version of the bill CLICK HERE to urge your Members of Congress to support the Senate’s $40 million increase for Perkins and overall higher funding levels! 

• Senate FY24 Funding Thank-You: On August 4, ACTE and Advance CTE sent a letter to the leadership of the Senate Appropriations Committee and Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee thanking the committee for their proposed FY24 Labor-HHS-Education funding bill.

• Perkins V Turns Five: The Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act was signed into law five years ago on July 31, amending the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act and creating what we know as “Perkins V.” To celebrate the anniversary, we posted resources throughout the week on data sharing and analysis, middle grades and career development, stakeholder engagement, and the CLNA.

• Secretary Cardona Statement on New Chief of Staff for Department of Education (ED): Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona issued a statement on the new chief of staff for ED, Lexi Barrett, whose background includes time at Jobs for the Future.

• Secretary of Education and Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-MD) Visit Maryland CTE Programs: On August 2, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-MD) visited Crossland High School in Temple Hills, Maryland. The Secretary and Rep. Ivey toured the school’s career pathways programs, spoke with students enrolled in apprenticeship programs and learned more about employer partnerships that connect students with good-paying jobs in their communities.

• White House Releases National Cyber Workforce and Education Strategy: On July 31, the Administration released a new strategy to increase cyber education and skills training and place Americans into cyber-related jobs. The strategy seeks to equip every American with foundational cyber skills, transform cyber education, expand and enhance the national cyber workforce, and strengthen the federal cyber workforce.

State and local CTE leaders need accurate data to identify problems, iterate solutions and make informed decisions about programs and funding. Perkins V allows states to invest additional resources in building their data and reporting systems and requires more data-informed decision making through the comprehensive local needs assessment.

As we close this week celebrating Perkins V’s fifth birthday, we’re sharing tools and resources that ACTE has developed or co-developed to support data reporting, analysis and sharing:

• Beyond the Numbers: Design Principles for CTE Data Reporting: This Advance CTE and ACTE report describes principles for reporting, sharing and communicating data. A related toolkit includes a data communications planning tool and numerous templates for CTE data tools.

• Achieving Inclusive CTE Goal-setting Tool: This Advance CTE and ACTE tool can help state and local CTE leaders assess learner group data to recruit, engage and support underrepresented learner groups.

• High-quality CTE Library: Data and Program Improvement: ACTE’s online library of resources contains publications and tools for CTE data reporting, analysis and sharing and how to use data to close gaps and support continuous improvement.

State and local leaders can use these resources to enhance their data reporting systems and maximize their understanding of how data leads to better CTE implementation. ACTE and Advance CTE have also collaborated to provide targeted technical assistance to states and local CTE programs focused on effectively using and sharing CTE data.

On July 27, the Senate Appropriations Committee considered and approved its Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill on a bi-partisan basis, which contains a $40 million increase to the Perkins Basic State Grant program, and provides significantly more resources to education and workforce development programs than the House version of the bill does.

The appropriations process will continue once Congress returns in September, and we want to let Members of Congress know that we support the Senate bill and its higher funding levels! Your advocacy will be critical throughout August to share this message!

ACTION NEEDED: CLICK HERE to urge your Members of Congress to support the Senate’s $40 million increase for Perkins and overall higher funding levels! 

You can send a message directly using the ACTE Action Center. You can also call or email directly any personal contacts that you have in your Members’ offices, such as from a meeting at NPS, or call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121, and an operator will connect you to your Member of Congress.

Perkins V recognizes the importance of beginning career exploration as early as possible by enabling Perkins funds to be spent starting in grade 5. The legislation also includes new definitions and provisions that focus on expanding and improving work-based learning and career development.

As we continue our celebration of five years of Perkins V, take a look at these resources from ACTE and its partners with tips for and examples of effective strategies for career development and middle grades CTE:

• Broadening the Path: Design Principles for Middle Grades CTE: This Advance CTE and ACTE resource lays out a theory of action for CTE in the middle grades, defines outcomes for student learning, and introduces 10 design principles that should be part of any middle grade CTE program.

• Student Career Development series: This ACTE series of briefs and webinars dives into topics such as social emotional learning, work-based learning and equitable career development through technology.

• High-quality CTE Library: Student Career Development: ACTE’s online library of resources includes publications and more on how to empower and prepare learners for the workforce through career development.

CTE educators and career development professionals can use these resources to support career advisement, exploration and more, including programming in the middle grades.

Today we’re continuing our celebration of Perkins V by recognizing the strides that CTE programs have made over the past five years in engaging stakeholders such as employers, community leaders, parents and students. Effective stakeholder engagement enables CTE programs to respond to labor market, community and learner needs.

To support CTE educators in engaging stakeholders, ACTE has developed or co-developed the following tools and resources. These resources feature examples of effective engagement strategies from states and local CTE programs:

• Engaging Families and Communities to Support Special and Underserved Populations in CTE: This report from ACTE recommends ways that CTE educators can communicate and collaborate with learners’ families and communities to support students, specifically individuals from historically underserved communities.

• With Learners, Not for Learners: A Toolkit for Elevating Learner Voice in CTE: This resource from Advance CTE and ACTE provides strategies, guidance and tools to help CTE leaders engage learners for the improvement of CTE policies and practices.

• Taking Business to School: A Resource Guide for Building an Employer Partner Engagement Plan: This ACTE toolkit supports CTE programs looking to expand the scope and quality of their work-based learning programs through improved employer engagement.

• High-quality CTE Library: Business and Community Partnerships: ACTE’s online library of resources contains publications and toolkits based on grounded research and best practices, including a section on how to support the formation of industry and community-based partnerships.

State and local leaders can use these tools to maximize their understanding of collaboration between key players to shape the future of CTE in their areas. ACTE and Advance CTE have also collaborated to provide more targeted technical assistance to states and local CTE programs focused on effectively connecting stakeholders.

As part of our celebration of the fifth birthday of Perkins V, this week we will be sharing ACTE resources that support CTE programs with implementation of the law.

The Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act, informally known as Perkins V, mandates local recipients to conduct a comprehensive local needs assessment (CLNA) to be eligible to receive federal funding. The CLNA is a significant change in Perkins V that supports data-driven decision making and provides the opportunity for better alignment across planning, spending and accountability activities at the local level.

To help CTE programs with this new requirement, ACTE has developed or co-developed the following CLNA related tools and resources:

• Maximizing Perkins V’s Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment & Local Application to Drive CTE Program Quality and Equity: This ACTE tool assists readers in translating the language of the law into concrete actionable steps for conducting the CLNA whilst providing tips for program improvement founded on meaningful, data-driven consultation with stakeholders.

• ACTE’s Quality CTE Program of Study Framework Self-evaluation: A Tool for the Perkins V Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment: The ACTE Quality CTE Program of Study Framework™ and its companion self-evaluation can help local CTE leaders comprehensively evaluate program quality, scope, delivery, implementation and more for the CLNA.

• Lessons in Collaboration and Innovation: The Impact and Promise of the Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment: This report from Advance CTE and ACTE elevates lessons learned from state and local CTE leaders regarding the first round of CLNAs and offers recommendations and enhancements to ensure that future CLNAs meet the promise of ensuring equitable access to CTE.

• High-quality CTE Library: Data and Program Improvement: ACTE’s online library of resources contains publications and toolkits focused on leveraging data and engaging in program improvement processes, such as the CLNA, to support CTE. 

These resources can help state and local leaders maximize their CLNA process. ACTE and Advance CTE have also collaborated on technical assistance to provide more targeted assistance to states and local CTE programs focused on effectively conducting the CLNA.