News

Report on the State Board of Education Meeting - November 2007

The State Board of Education met on November 14 and 15 in Harrisburg. There were several items of interest regarding career and technical education. The Board approved the submission of a document to the USDE related to the Accreditation process. The Vocational Education committee discussed the document in detail and discussed the advisability of establishing a fee structure for the BCTE accreditation visits. Lee Burket, Director of the Bureau of Career and Technical Education reported to the State Board of Vocational Education on a number of issues.

The Board also voted final approval on revisions to Chapter 14 Regulation which deal with Special Education Services and Programs. The Board also accepted the final Report on the Costing-Out Study which was conducted by Augenblick, Palaich and Associates. A summary of the report is below. Important Note: The authors were questioned regarding whether the cost of career and technical education was included. Their response was that the cost of career and technical programs in high schools is included. The cost of area career and technical schools is not. We need to reinforce this fact with policymakers as we work on the issue of increased funding for career and technical education.

State Board of Education


Summary of Costing-Out Study

In March 2006, the State Board began to explore with the Governors Office and the General Assembly the idea of conducting a costing-out study. In July of 2006, by votes of 185-13 and 43-6, the House of Representatives and Senate passed, and Governor Rendell signed, Act 114, which assigned to the State Board responsibility for conducting such a study. Act 114 requires the study to address two issues adequacy and equity. The study of adequacy grows out of a desire among state officials, educators, and others to understand what it costs for all of our students no matter where they live to attain state academic standards. The study of equity grows out of their concern about the growing gap between high- and low-spending districts and the implications (1) for the quality of education received by students in our lowest spending districts and (2) for local taxpayers.

Last fall, after consultation with the leadership of the General Assembly, the State Board issued a request for proposals to select a contractor to conduct the costing-out study. In December, after reviewing proposals, the Board selected the firm of Augenblick, Palaich and Associates (APA), and they began work in January, gathering and analyzing data, assembling and meeting with Pennsylvania educators and others, and working with a team of researchers from throughout the nation. They presented their final report to the State Board on November 14, 2007.

Adequacy Findings

The study was designed to determine the cost of meeting this standard: 100 percent of Pennsylvania students mastering the state standards in 12 academic areas and demonstrating proficiency on state reading and math tests by 2014. APA used three primary methodologies in the study and combined results from all three and several other statistical analyses to reach their conclusions. The primary methods were professional judgment (empaneling educators to determine the resources needed to achieve the standards in different sized schools and districts); successful schools (determining actual costs in districts on track to meet the standard); and evidence-based (determining the costs of implementing research-based reforms shown to improve student performance). Supporting analyses included a cost function analysis of district spending, geographic cost of living differences, wage and salary issues, enrollment changes, and student transportation. The report is based upon 2005-06 data (the last year for which all necessary data are available) and excludes food service, capital costs and debt service, transportation (studied separately), community services, and adult education. Act 114 did not request the design of a new funding formula.

The statewide cost of meeting the standard (in 2005-06) is $21.86 billion, compared with actual comparable spending of $17.25 billion. Achieving this adequacy level would require an additional $4.61 billion or 26.8 percent. On a per pupil basis, the adequacy level averages $12,057, (compared with current spending of $9,512), including:

  • A base cost of $8,003 for all students, assuming they have no special needs.
  • A modification of enrollment to recognize growth and decline over five years.
  • An additional weight for students with disabilities (1.30 or $10,404).
  • An additional weight for children in poverty (0.43 or $3,441).
  • An additional weight for English language learners (highest weights for the smallest districts, with a minimum of 1.48).
  • An additional weight for gifted students (highest weights for the smallest districts, with a minimum of 0.20).
  • A district size modification that recognizes higher per pupil costs in small districts.
  • A geographic cost of living adjustment.

The report calculates adequacy levels for each district, based upon its own student and community characteristics.

  • 474 districts (95 percent) are spending less than their adequacy levels.
  • 1.68 million students (93 percent) attend districts spending less than their adequacy levels.
  • The least wealthy districts are furthest from meeting their resource needs; they would need an additional 34.9 percent (compared to the average of 26.8 percent). The wealthiest districts would need only an additional 6.6 percent.
  • Current transportation spending appears to be reasonable.
Equity Findings

Act 114 also required the study to consider the equity of the current school finance system for students (variations in spending across districts) and for taxpayers (variations in tax effort across districts).

  • Wealth (personal income and property value) per pupil varies widely across the state from $155,806 per weighted pupil (using the weights from the adequacy analysis) to $2,835,521; the latter district has 84 times the wealth of the former.
  • State aid is distributed so that poorer districts receive more funding per pupil than wealthy districts.

However, the effect of this aid is overwhelmed by local wealth discrepancies, since local revenues account for about twice as much as state aid.

  • Districts with the greatest student need generate the least local revenue per pupil.
  • Districts with the lowest wealth make a greater tax effort than districts with more wealth.
  • Districts with higher wealth and lower needs spend more than lower wealth districts that are making a higher tax effort.
  • State and local taxes are comparable to those nationally but are considerably lower than the average of the six states that border us (Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and West Virginia), If Pennsylvanias state and local tax revenues matched the six-state average of revenues per capita, we would generate an additional $6.02 billion. If our tax revenues matched the six-state average of revenues per $1,000 of personal income, we would generate an additional $3.17 billion.
Next Steps

APA's report was received by the State Board on November 14, 2007 and has been posted on the web at www.pde.state.pa.us/stateboard_ed. It will be transmitted, as required by Act 114, to the Governor and members of the General Assembly. The statute also requires the House and Senate Education Committees to 'promptly review and consider the recommendations of the study and develop legislation as deemed appropriate'. The State Board and APA will conduct six public briefings in late November and early December in Luzerne, Delaware, Philadelphia, Lancaster, Clearfield, and Allegheny Counties. Details are available on the Board's website at www.pde.state.pa.us/stateboard_ed.

Oversight of the Study

The costing-out study was conducted under the direction of a special committee of the State Board, chaired by Dr. James E. Barker. Other members were Karl R. Girton, Mollie OConnell Phillips, and Larry A. Wittig. The committee was staffed by Jim Buckheit, State Board Executive Director, and Dr. Robert E. Feir, Project Manager.

Although the Board was directed to conduct the study and present its findings to the General Assembly and Governor, it has no direct role in addressing school funding or tax issues. These are matters for the consideration of the General Assembly and Governor.

Report of the State Director

Program Approval

The Program Approval process was reinitiated in 2005-06 and consists of annual peer team visits to approximately 80 Career and Technical Centers, comprehensive high schools, and sending schools to evaluate each PDE-approved career and technical education program. Program approval teams are led by Career and Technical Education Advisors from the Bureau. The Bureau developed a checklist and self-study consisting of 32 major areas of Chapter 339 that team members use to evaluate each schools overall compliance with Chapter 339 and to analyze each approved CTE program.

Upon review of each schools CTE programs, team leaders prepare Corrective Action reports, which identify areas of noncompliance with Chapter 339. Schools that receive Corrective Action reports are required to address each area of noncompliance within 60 days and indicate a plan of remedy and an anticipated date of compliance with Chapter 339. The existing vocational standards in Chapter 339 ensure that career and technical education programs are of a high standard. Students in academically rigorous and challenging CTE programs are well prepared for technical careers and postsecondary education.

Staff members have conducted in-service programs for Philadelphia and Pittsburgh school districts and 40 Erie County business education teachers. The in-service programs focused on the program approval process, new program of study model and the on-line program approval system. All program approval requests must be identified as preparing graduates for employment in a high priority occupation.. Another requirement for all program approval requests is the existence of an articulation with a postsecondary partner.

Philadelphia and Pittsburgh School Districts

Continued technical assistance specific to the needs of each of these districts is provided. Meetings are being scheduled with the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh school districts to help prepare them for their approved program evaluations to be conducted during the 2008-09 school years. In Philadelphia, BCTE staff met with all CTE teachers and Education to Career Coordinators this past September to discuss regulations, Chapters 339 and 4, and new Perkins IV requirements for upcoming program approval visits to the district next year. In addition, BCTE staff are scheduled to meet on November 14th with all school principals overseeing career and technical education approved programs. In Pittsburgh, the Perkins Coordinator is developing a committee of urban center districts and comprehensive career and technical education school staff to provide technical assistance in the Spring of 2008.

Integrated Learning: The School-to-Career Connection

The Integrated Learning conference will be held November 5-7, 2007 at the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel. There are 76 concurrent sessions scheduled. Each session highlights outstanding practices including instructional techniques that work, postsecondary transitions such as the 2 +2+2 initiative. Over 500 academic and technical secondary instructors and administrator and postsecondary faculty attended the 16th Annual Conference on Integrated Learning: The School-to-Career Connection. The conference provided over 70 concurrent sessions over the three-day period. The conference is designed to share successful strategies that encourage the implementation of educational initiatives to enhance learning opportunities for all students. These initiatives focus on interdisciplinary approaches that include the identification of effective practices, business linkages, partnerships, career pathways, assessment, workforce development and instructional strategies for lifelong learning.

The Health Careers Week

Health Career Week is held annually during the month of November focuses on high priority health care careers providing schools with fact sheets and lesson plans in a toolkit to be used with students at the middle and high school level. Finalized Lesson plans to be used in Virtual HCW toolkit. This annual event, which is organized by the Health Careers Week Planning Committee develops initiatives to attract Pennsylvania students to consider a career in health care. It seeks to raise the publics awareness to the demand and opportunities for health care professionals. This is an interagency collaborative effort. This years theme is Become a Health Care Hero and is targeted to middle and high school students.

In this capacity, staff sits on the planning committee and assist with creation of lesson plans which are included in virtual health careers toolkits to over 3,000 middle, high, catholic, and charter schools, along with intermediate units, career and technical centers and other school entities. Staff also assists with the Student Essay Contest and Health Careers Awareness Week Kick-Off event held the first day of Health Careers Week at the Zembo Shrine Center on North Third Street in Harrisburg.

Child Development Associate (CDA)

For the past two years, BCTE staff has been working with the Office of Child Development and Early Learning to ensure the approved Child Care Management programs are aligned to industry standards. The industry standards are associated with the [National] Child Development Associate Council. Because graduates of high school programs are not of the appropriate age and will not have the required amount of work experience, PDE/BCTE has developed a Child Development Associate Ready Certificate. This Certificate is awarded to those students who have completed the formal instructional program based on the Councils standards and competencies and the completion of 480 hours of experience in either pre-school center-based programs or infant/toddler center-based programs.

The end of program assessment is aligned to the [National] Child Development Associate Councils Assessment System and Competency Standards and was developed in collaboration with the PA Office of Child Development and Early Learning, a committee of Career and Technical Education instructors and individuals associated with Child Care Centers. Students with this certificate will receive recognition by employers in the child care area, an indication that they have the necessary skills to work in an approved day care center and are ready to sit for the actual CDA Council assessment and resulting certification when they have acquired a high school diploma and are 18 years of age.

MAVCC

Pennsylvania as a member state was able to send six individuals to the MAVCC Literacy Summit. These individuals were selected from Pittsburgh and Philadelphia School Districts and will serve as trainers within their districts. The purpose of the Summit was to help participants learn why content-literacy-based instruction works the way it does to engage students in deeper learning of content while simultaneously acquiring literacy skills. It was conducted in a train-the-trainer format. The Summit provided specific, but generic, classroom activities to be applied by teachers in any content area to improve student learning of subject matter through constructivist engagement in the processing of text with cooperative discussion and interactive writing behaviors.

The participants, now trainers, attending, have provided positive feedback and have initiated implementation of the literacy strategies they have learned. Follow up to the Summit will occur by the trainers in-servicing the teachers in their respective Pittsburgh and Philadelphia School Districts and modeling specific strategies to content area teachers who will then utilize them in their classrooms to increase student comprehension and achievement. The IUP CTE Professional Development Center also sent a representative to the Literacy Summit and is utilizing these strategies in a project being conducted with the entire staff at Parkway West CTC.

Career and Technical Education Month

This designated month is recognized nationally with each state coordinating activities that highlight the impact of career and technical education in state workforce development. Within the month, career and technical education week will be held. The purpose of career and technical education week is to make the citizens of the Commonwealth be more aware of the good things that the CTSOs are doing. We will be celebrating Career and Technology Education Week on Tuesday, February 12th and Wednesday, February 13th. The event will include demonstrations from career and technical institutions throughout the state. A display of school activities will be held in the Capitol Rotunda.

Congress-Bundestag

The Congress-Bundestag scholarship program is now accepting applications. The deadline is January 31, 2008. Pennsylvania was asked to participate in the German/American Vocational Education Scholarship Program for 2007-2008. This program encourages special and deserving vocational students in our schools to apply and to compete for a full scholarship to spend a year abroad in Germany with the "Congress-Bundestag" Program. The Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals is a scholarship program with a strong focus on cultural exchange. It is designed to give participants understanding for everyday life, education, and professional training in Germany and the United States. In the US the program is funded by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the Department of State under the authority of the Fulbright-Hays Act of 1961. In Germany the program is funded through the Administration of the Bundestag.

It is intended primarily for young adults in business, technical, vocational, and agricultural fields. 75 Americans and 100 Germans participate in the program each year. For American participants, the 12-month program begins in late July, and consists of 2 months intensive German, 4 months classroom instruction at a German University of Applied Sciences, 5 months internship in career field.

Nurse Aide

The Nurse Aide Department is conducting an investigation into the feasibility of developing a video that will depict a 'real test setting' at a nurse aide state competency evaluation. The goal is to create a video that introduces teachers and students to the nurse aide competency evaluation process in an innovative manner, provides clarification of the testing process and improve state testing outcome. Lists are being developed to include the contact persons at the Nurse Aide Training and Competency Evaluation Program (NATCEP) Office and their e-mail addresses. The Statement of Findings from on-site program visits will be sent electronically as well as any future communication. The program coordinator and a nurse aide staff member attended a Pennsylvania State Nurses Association Summit Conference on October 19, 2007. The Summit provided updates on Act 58 that affects all Pennsylvania licensed registered nurses.

There is evidence of a need to keep the nurse aide web site current, post additional documents such as how to facilitate student nurses in retrieving and submitting an application for eligibility to test and become a nurse aide.

Accreditation

The State Board for Vocational Education has asked that the Bureau examine establishing a fee schedule. Bureau staff have contacted other states and reviewed private accrediting enterprises to determine how their fee structure is established. A full report was presented to the State Board for Vocational Education and provided a recommended fee structure.

College and Career Counseling Activities

The Bureau has purchased and is planning three regional workshop sessions on a career planning system for the College and Career Counseling grant recipients and Project 720 schools. This K-12 career planning system is an advanced online career information delivery system that helps students build powerful plans as they compare, connect and choose from a vast network of work and education options. The Bureau has registered the education and career planning system for elementary, middle, and high schools buildings. Workshops have been established for these schools to be trained on the online system. This system is for students to get excited about their future and create a powerful career plan to realize their workforce goals. Parents can access the website to help their children discover career exploration and career planning. The system is also for educators to learn about activities, lessons plans, and resources to teach and coach students about careers. Many of the lessons plans have worksheets that relate to many different career and jobs. The three regional workshops are at the following sites:

  • Eastern Region Thursday, November 15 - Luzerne IU 18, Kingston
  • Central Region Tuesday, November 20 - Capital Area IU 15, Summerdale
  • Western Region Tuesday, November 27 - Westmoreland IU 7, Greensburg

The second year for the Career and Counseling grant recipients, are being processed for final approval. Plans are being made to meet with the 19 recipients for year two of the three year plan. The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2007, at State College, in the Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center. This meeting will review the grant activities and review best practices for the up coming year.

The Bureau has conducted a statewide survey to identify the marketing needs of the career and technical education community. The Bureau initiated marketing strategies. A toolkit has been developed that focuses on the career and technical education counselors. The packet will assist counselors with recruiting students and inform the community about the programs that are aligned to high priority occupations. The toolkit will flexible enough to be used in multiple sites for updating and customizing. The template will be piloted this fall with several schools and modified for release to all schools in December.

The Bureau and the Department of Labor and Industry have been working a new web site called PA CareerZone which is a web-based career exploration and planning system. It is a user-friendly, interactive tool to find information on 900 high priority occupations in Pennsylvania. The website went live October 29, 2007.

FCCLA Selected to the National Organization for Youth Safety (NOYS) Pilot

Pennsylvania has been chosen as one of two states to participate in the National Organization for Youth Safety (NOYS) pilot formation. Each state will establish a teams to collaboratively work on the state level as the national organizations do on the national level. The organizations that were selected from Pennsylvania are PA FCCLA (Family, Career and Community Leaders of America),Students Against Drunk Drivers (SADD), and SAVE (Students Against Violence Everywhere). The NOYS coalition is a collaboration of over 43 national, youth-serving organizations and government agencies.

The NOYS network promotes collaboration at the national, state, and local levels with emphasis on highway traffic safety, violence prevention, alcohol, tobacco, and other drug issues among youth ages 5-24. NOYS empowers youth to become leaders in their schools, organizations, and communities promoting safe and healthy life styles.

Perkins IV State Plan

BCTE has been conducting Perkins IV State Plan planning team meetings on a monthly basis. The committee is comprised of stakeholders. The five year state plan addresses each of the required elements. The key components will guide career and technical education efforts in Pennsylvania and include programs of study. The required elements of the programs of study include secondary to postsecondary academic and technical course sequencing; state led technical assistance by BCTE directing resources to underperforming schools in meeting negotiated performance measures and standards; improved data collection systems to capture valid and reliable disaggregated data for all and special populations of career and technical education students at the secondary and postsecondary levels; negotiating with the United States Department of Education two year performance targets based on required measures and standards. The draft five year plan is available for public comment. Three hearings have been scheduled.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Allegheny County Community College, Boyce Campus
595 Beatty Road
Monroeville, PA

Auditorium
1:00 pm - 4:00 pm


Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Central PA Institute of Science and Technology
540 North Harrison Road
Pleasant Gap, PA

Lab 2
1:00 pm - 4:00 pm


Thursday, December 6, 2007
Lehigh Career and Technical Institute
4500 Education Park Drive
Schnecksville, PA

JOC Boardroom
1:00 pm- 4:00 pm

Civil Rights

Staff continues to visit school entities to ensure all individuals are provided access to education. On-site reviews are conducted to ensure that sub-recipients are in full compliance with OCR guidelines. Recipients of federal financial assistance, including postsecondary institutions, must comply with the Title VI, Section 504 and Title IX implementing regulations. The Title IX implementing regulations at 34 C.F.R.106.8 (a) require that each recipient designate at least one employee to coordinator its efforts to comply with and carry out its responsibilities under each of these Titles. On-site reviews may consist of investigating complaints communicated to the recipient alleging noncompliance with Title IX. Section 106.8(a) also requires the recipient to notify all students and employees of the name, address, and telephone number of the designated coordinator. Section 106.8(b) requires that each recipient adopt and publish grievance procedures providing for prompt and equitable resolution of student and employee complaints under Title IX. Section 106.9 requires that the nondiscrimination notice be displayed prominently in each announcement, bulletin, catalog, or application form used in connection with recruitment of students or employees. During on-site reviews, PDE staff reviews all of these materials. Visits scheduled or will be scheduled the universe visited this year includes 10 schools and postsecondary institutions. The most common findings are related to access to the program and the materials used to advertise and admissions materials.

PSSA Coding of Career and Technical Education Students and Buildings

PDE is still finding that school districts are not properly coding the CTE students. For example, approximately 13,000 CTE students took the PSSA according to the assessment provider, DRC. According to CATS, there were 30,000 CTE 11th graders in the same year. The Bureaus of Career and Technical Education and Assessment and Accountability will notify schools of the discrepancies and ask for a report from each school that provides accurate and reliable data. Both bureaus will also stress the need for accurate coding in all technical assistance workshops. The PSSA data is now a required reporting element under Perkins IV. The improper coding is leading to an inaccurate picture of how CTE students perform on the PSSA.