The International Technology and Engineering Educators Association published a free, downloadable book that provides research findings on teacher and student safety training, school district safety policies, facility safety and accidents in CTE and STEM programs with the purpose of helping educators advocate for better safety practices. The authors studied educator responses from the 2020 Technology and Engineering Education – Facilities and Safety Survey to learn the following:

• About one-third of respondents did not receive any form of safety training in their undergraduate teacher education coursework.
• Only 32% of educators received safety training from their school district upon being hired.
• Over half of respondents were unsure about or stated their school district did not have an annual safety audit.
• While 57% of educators indicated their largest class had 25 or more students enrolled, only 26% said they had a facility large enough to hold this number of students.
• More than half of the teachers in this study reported that lab stations or workbenches were not wheelchair accessible.
• Around 80% of educators experienced one or more minor safety-related accidents in the 2019-2020 academic year, and 12% experienced one or more major accidents.
• Respondents reported student behavioral issues as one of the top causes of accidents.
• 24% of teachers reported not requiring student safety testing before conducting a hazardous activity or using a hazardous item.

The above is just a sampling of the wealth of findings included in this book, which also touches on findings about safe use of specific equipment such as table saws, soldering and welding tools, and 3D printers as well as data on specific injuries and the activities most associated with injuries.

The report concludes with recommendations to provide a safer teaching and learning experience when facilitating CTE and STEM activities including developing a school district lab safety policy, providing mandatory teacher and student safety trainings, conducting annual safety inspections, sanitizing personal protective equipment, creating accessible workspaces for students with disabilities and ensuring proper air ventilation.

On June 8, the U.S. Senate voted 57-42 to confirm Dr. Amy Loyd as Assistant Secretary for Career, Technical, and Adult Education in the U.S. Department of Education. Dr. Loyd was nominated to this position in August of 2021 by President Biden, after serving as Deputy Assistant Secretary within the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE). With the confirmation vote, Dr. Loyd can now officially assume leadership of OCTAE, which oversees the Perkins Act and other federal CTE-related initiatives.

Secretary of Education Cardona applauded the nomination, “I am thrilled by the Senate’s confirmation of Amy Loyd, whose expertise in the intersection between education and workforce development will make her an excellent assistant secretary for the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education.”

ACTE and Advance CTE jointly issued a statement of support as well:

“As key legislation and funding negotiations with implications for Career Technical Education (CTE) and workforce development persist in Congress, it is crucial for leaders at the intersection of education and work to have a seat at the table. Dr. Loyd’s confirmation as OCTAE Assistant Secretary provides the field with an exceptional advocate for equitable access to high-quality CTE and an experienced leader with a deep understanding of not only the needs of local, regional and state CTE leaders, but also historically marginalized communities through her work at JFF and the Cook Inlet Tribal Council in Alaska. Her leadership at OCTAE will be instrumental in preparing our nation’s workforce to obtain and advance in high-skill, high-wage and in-demand careers. We congratulate Assistant Secretary Loyd on her confirmation, and look forward to working with her to ensure federal policy fully leverages CTE programs and career pathways as high-quality, equitable avenues for each learner to achieve success in the jobs of the future.”

On June 7, Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona gave testimony to Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education regarding the fiscal year (FY) 2023 education budget request. In the hearing, Sen. Braun (R-IN) and Sen. Baldwin (D-WI) both inquired about the Department’s plans for CTE, including the need for more emphasis on high school CTE and the historic federal underinvestment in CTE programs. Specifically, Sen. Baldwin highlighted that the Department of Education’s $200 million Career-Connected High Schools grant program proposal would only be awarded to 32 programs, leaving many states out entirely while existing programs, such as Perkins state grants, would be left level-funded.  

Secretary Cardona, who is a graduate of a technical high school, responded by agreeing that additional funding and support are needed to supplement this competitive grant initiative. He also spoke of his vision for career-connected learning: “[high school students] can go to a good, high-paying, high-skilled job because there's a good connection with our workforce partners. They can go to a two-year school to level-up on their skills, or they could go to a four-year school, but then those skills that they get should be transferable into high-paying jobs in the community that they live.”  

Additionally, the Department of Education hosted a virtual event on June 1 to discuss a new initiative, called “Pathways to Success”. Featured in the event were speeches from Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo regarding the need to more deeply embed career-connected learning in the fabric of the country’s educational system. Other than the already-proposed Career-Connected High Schools grant program, however, they did not give any specifics of how this strategy will be implemented from a federal policy perspective.  

ACTE’s Public Policy Department will continue providing updates as they come and will be working with Congress and agency staff to ensure that ACTE’s members’ needs are heard throughout the process. For more questions, you may reach out to ACTE’s Government Relations Manager, Zach Curtis (zcurtis@acteonline.org). 

After House passage of the America COMPETES Act in February, House and Senate leadership began the formal process of resolving differences between America COMPETES and the Senate’s version of the legislation, known as the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA). The America COMPETES Act contains several provisions with implications for CTE, most notably the expansion of Pell Grants to short-term programs through language similar to the JOBS Act.  

• However, the JOBS Act language is not currently included in the Senate version of the bill, making it a critical issue for the conference negotiations. There are several other CTE-related issues that we hope the conference committee considers as well. 

If you reside in Arizona, New York, Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Washington or California, your Members of Congress are in a key position to impact the conference negotiations, making it crucial that CTE advocates in these states weigh in now with these Members of Congress as the negotiations move to the final stages. 

ACTION NEEDED: Contact your policymakers in the House and Senate to ask them to support the extension of Pell Grant eligibility to high-quality, short-term CTE programs and additional workforce development priorities during the conference negotiations for the America COMPETES Act/USICA. 

If you have a direct contact in your representative's or senator’s office, such as from a meeting with a staff member during NPS or at another time, we urge you to call or email directly. You can also call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121, and an operator will connect you to your requested congressional office. Please contact your senators and representatives today!

Last week in Washington was another quiet week, as Congress wrapped up its Memorial Day recess. The Senate will return on June 6, with the House following on June 7. Conference committee negotiators are continuing to resolve differences between the House-passed America COMPETES Act and the Senate version of the legislation, known as the USICA, and work is continuing on legislation in response to gun violence and other economic issues. As we await more details on next steps, here are some news and notes:

• Department of Health and Human Services Holds Early Childhood Workforce Development Webinar: On May 25, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Early Childhood Development, within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), hosted a webinar with the Department of Labor and the Department of Education to highlight approaches to utilizing registered apprenticeships to support the child care and early childhood education workforce. You can watch the full webinar here.

• CTE Program Enrollment Data Released: Recently, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center released its postsecondary enrollment estimates for the spring 2022 semester. While overall enrollment dropped compared to the spring prior, with community colleges representing more than half of enrollment declines, freshman and CTE program enrollment at two-year institutions increased significantly. Read more about the data here.

• Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grants Funding Deadline Extended: The Department of Labor has announced a new deadline for $50 million in funding to help marginalized and underrepresented populations access CTE programs they need to be connected to good-paying jobs. The department will award grants of up to $1.6 million for single institutions and up to $5 million for consortiums, with up to $5 million designated to fund at least one affinity consortium grant. You can apply for the funding here. Applications are now due Oct. 14, 2022.

Supporting Learners with Disabilities: Although CTE coursework can improve employment opportunities for learners with disabilities, many face barriers to access and success in CTE programs. A recent Advance CTE brief examines survey responses from state CTE directors to determine how states are leveraging Perkins V to support learners with disabilities. The following summarizes some of the survey’s key findings:

• About 84% of state CTE directors plan to leverage Perkins V to improve access and success for learners with disabilities. The top-reported strategies include partnering with state special education offices, providing training on learner recruitment and reviewing disaggregated data.
• While most state CTE directors reported state and local collaboration with special education offices, they were less likely to take such actions as braiding funding or conducting cross-agency training.
• Barriers to enrolling students with disabilities in CTE programs include lack of coordination with special education, lack of educator training, hesitancy related to behavioral plans and safety, and admissions requirements.
• Only 13% of state CTE leaders share data by disability type with local recipients.
• Less than half of state CTE directors reported providing accommodations to learners with disabilities for credential examinations.

Although the findings uncovered challenges, they also revealed CTE leaders’ desire to improve outcomes for learners with disabilities. To act on this, the brief recommends fostering relationships with special education offices through Perkins V, providing decision-makers with CTE data disaggregated by disability type, creating cross-training opportunities with special education agencies, and utilizing accommodations to help learners succeed.

Barriers to Skilled Trades Careers: According to a survey by Stanley Black & Decker, 85% of young people value a skilled trades career, but only 16% are very likely to consider such a career. The survey interviewed high school sophomores, juniors and seniors; parents of students in these grades; and skilled trades professionals to gain a better understanding of misconceptions and factors that prevent youth from entering skilled trades careers. The following highlight the survey’s key findings:

• Only 42% of young people believe skilled trades workers earn at least $50,000. In reality, half of skilled trades workers with less than 10 years of experience earn at least $50,000 upon starting.
• Many young people don’t have an accurate idea of the required skills. For example, 23% said that skilled trades jobs don’t use cutting-edge technology when most workers stated they do.
• Underrepresentation of women in the industry plays a role. Young women were 15 percentage points less likely to report considering a skilled trades career.
• About 37% of young people reported never having a conversation with anyone about careers in the skilled trades, signifying a lack of exposure to these career options.

Keeping Pace with Workplace Innovations: The Community College Research Center and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology interviewed over 200 administrators, faculty and staff at eight community colleges with strong workforce programs to determine how community colleges are adapting their programs in response to workplace innovation, including changing skill demands and equity-related concerns. The report uncovered that workforce programs are making greater use of digital technologies, partnering with industry professionals, aligning short-term and long-term programs, and providing scholarships for short-term certificate programs in high-demand fields.

Recently, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center released its postsecondary enrollment estimates for the spring 2022 semester. While overall enrollment dropped compared to the spring prior, with community colleges representing more than half of enrollment declines, freshman and CTE program enrollment at two-year institutions increased significantly.

This spring, community college enrollment declined by 7.8% or 351,000 students, from the prior spring. Enrollment dropped the most among adults (-10.8%), full-time students (-10.7%) and women (-9.2%). Additionally, enrollment in community college certificate programs decreased by 3.7% this spring, which is notable compared to certificate programs’ 4.3% increase during the fall 2021 semester.

On a more positive note, freshman enrollees at community colleges increased by 3.1% this spring, demonstrating great improvement from the spring prior. In fact, nearly 60% of spring freshman began at a community college.

Most interesting to CTE advocates, enrollment in CTE programs at two-year institutions also significantly increased this spring. Agriculture programs experienced the largest enrollment growth, with a 47.8% increase. Enrollment in skilled trades programs also grew, including transportation and materials moving (28.9%); precision production (16.7%); and mechanic and repair technologies (11.5%). Construction programs grew 19.3%, returning to pre-pandemic enrollment levels.

Additionally, other CTE programs that saw significant enrollment increases include personal and culinary services (12.7%); computer and information sciences and support services (8.5%); and visual and performing arts (8.4%).

Possible reasons for the increases in CTE program enrollment include pent-up student demand from the pandemic, when some learners opted out of CTE programs that had moved online, as well as labor market needs in these industries and occupations.