News
Report on the State Board of Education Meeting - January 2008
The State Board of Education met this week in Harrisburg and took action on two significant issues oo concern to career and technical administrators.
Chapter 339 Standards
On January 16, the Vocational Education Committee of the Board met to consider the final form version of Chapter 339 Vocational Education Standards. PACTA has supported the revision throughout the regulatory review process. Unfortunately, a substantive change was made to the standards and presented for the first time at the Committee meeting. The change deleted the following language: 339.41 (5) Vocational supervision. A vocational supervisory certificate or vocational director certificate is mandated when 50% or more of an assignment is related to supervising vocational education programs. During the public period, I spoke at length against the deletion of this language pointing out the overwhelming negative impact this change would have on career and technical education. I also pointed out that the regulatory review process does not allow for a substantive change at the this step in the process. The committee members acknowledged the validity of comments, but decided to move the standards forward to the full Board.
The next morning the Chapter 339 Vocational Standards were presented to the State Board for Vocational Education for final passage. The Standards presented to the Board were revised so that 339.41 (5) was reinserted, but revised. It now reads: Vocational supervision. A Superintendents Letter of Eligibility, vocational supervisory certificate or vocational director certificate is mandated when 50% or more of an assignment is related to supervising vocational education programs. I was again spoke during the public comment period opposing the change to this section. I pointed out that this language conflicts with School Code, Chapter 49, and the Departments own standards for approving programs for vocational director and superintendent preparation. One of the reasons given for changing the standard was that PDE has allowed several individuals with superintendents letters to serve as vocational directors and that this would allow those individuals to consider to serve. I pointed that PDE had already solved that problem in a letter to the field several months ago. I once again raised the issues of impact on students and the substantive nature of the change. Several Board members raised concerns with the timing and nature of this change.
Because these are Department of Education Standards, the Board can not make changes to them. The Board can only approve or disapprove. The Board did approve the Standards. The Standards now go to the Independent Regulatory Review Commission, the Senate Education Committee and the House Education Committee. Each of those can approve or disapprove the standards, but may not change them. We will be contacting all three bodies to express our opposition to this change in the Standards.
Chapter 4-High School Graduation Requirements
The State Board consider the revisions to Chapter 4 which would change high school graduation requirements at a Chapter 4 Committee meeting of January 16, a Council of Basic Education meeting on January 16, and the Board meeting on January 17. Public comment during each of those sessions was overwhelmingly in opposition to the proposed changes. Senator Rhoades, Chair of the Senate Education Committee, testified during the Council meeting in opposition to the changes. The Board voted to approve the changes. The revisions now will start through the regulatory review process. (Testimony by Jackie Cullen)
Report of the State Director
Below is the report of Dr. Lee Burket, Director of the Bureau of Career and Technical Education, to the State Board for Vocational Education.
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. Career and Technical Education Advisors lead program approval teams 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 school's overall compliance with Chapter 339 and to analyze each approved CTE program.
Staff has completed 8 approved program evaluations. There are 23 approved program reviews scheduled for January through May 2008. The visits are coordinated with bureau staff and over 120 volunteers. The volunteers are administrators and instructors from the school districts and career and technical centers and from higher education institutions. This process is educational for the schools being visited as well as for the volunteers. All participants learn the expectations of what quality career and technical education programs look like.
Technical assistance for the Philadelphia School District has been scheduled for January 24th. Staff will meet with principals from each of the district high schools that offer approved career and technical education programs. Chapters 4 and 339 will be reviewed and discussion held as to meeting the regulations.
A number of schools, 113 school districts and career and technical centers have requested that approved program status be removed for a total of 378 career and technical education programs. The programs were not meeting compliance items identified within the regulations governing approved career and technical education programs.
Staff continue to review requests for approval status on career and technical education program submissions. School districts and career and technical centers enter data that evidences an occupational analysis was conducted. The occupational analysis includes evidencing labor market need, occupational titles and competencies. There were 92 requests for program approval. Many of the requests are revisions of programs to Tech Prep programs of study. Tech Prep programs have secondary and postsecondary course alignment and operate under an articulation agreement.
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
Pennsylvania was asked to participate in the German/American Career and Technical Education Scholarship Program for 2007-2008. This program encourages special and deserving career and technical education students in our schools to apply and to compete for a full scholarship. The scholarship supports students spending 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 students enrolled in business, career and technical, and agricultural fields. Seventy-five 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, and 5 months internship in the chosen career field.
Perkins IV State Plan
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 under performing 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 five-year plan will be presented to the State Board for review and comment in February. The final state plan will be submitted during the March Board meeting for approval.
New Choices/New Options (NC/NO)
New Choices/New Options is an adult career development program that provides services to single parents, displaced homemakers, single pregnant women and individuals interested in nontraditional careers. The 24 statewide projects offer services to assist individuals in preparing for high-skill/high-wage jobs or occupational training programs that will enable them to support themselves and their families.
The participants enroll in a 100-hour workshop to receive assistance in determining their job interests and talents, develop a career plan, prepare for the job market by identifying their skills, and learn the soft skills needed to address barriers to employment. Economic self-sufficiency is stressed. To date, the program has served over 33,000 participants. Since 2000, the program has saved the government over $12 million dollars in Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and other government aid.
Presently the 24 projects are working to strengthen advisory boards, pursue innovative ways to offer the 100-hour curriculum and seek nontraditional job opportunities in the Commonwealth. The NC/NO directors are connecting with corporate sponsors. Optimally, the sponsors will provide job opportunities for participants once they complete the program. For more information on New Choices/New Options, see the bureau's website at: www.pde.state.pa.us/career_edu
Technology Centers That Work
BCTE is working with the Southern Regional Education Board to provide sustained professional development to career and technical centers. The goals are to provide ongoing technical assistance to career and technical centers as they adopt literacy strategies into the career and technical education classroom and establish high expectations for student performance.
There are eight schools participating in this program:
- Schuylkill Technology Centers - South Campus
- A.W. Beattie
- Reading Muhlenberg CTC
- Middle Bucks Institute of Technology
- Lancaster County CTC Brownstown Campus
- Monroe Career and Technical Institute
- Bethlehem AVTS
- Central Westmoreland CTC
The professional development covers two different activities. The first activity was how to implement literacy strategies into the career and technical education classroom. Staff will follow up on this workshop two more times during the year. The second activity demonstrated to the career and technical center staff how to create a culture of high expectations. Staff will follow up on this professional development one more time during the current school year.
In addition, during this year, staff are coordinating four technical assistance visits to career and technical centers involved in the SREB reform model. The technical assistance visits will provide an in-depth examination of the career and technical center to determine what type of assistance they need to address high expectations, increased academic achievement and increased technical skill attainment. BCTE will provide technical assistance to help the schools implement the strategies necessary to overcome identified areas.
Best of the Best
The 'Best of the Best' is a student recognition program sponsored by the Bureau of Career and Technical Education. This is a continuing effort to acknowledge educational excellence on the part of career and technical education students throughout the Commonwealth. Students selected are individuals who have achieved beyond normal expectations and have developed a knowledge base in both academic and career and technical education. School administrators, career and technical education directors or guidance counselors generally nominate the students selected for this recognition. The students who are recognized are found on the PDE website.
High Performing Career and Technical Centers
The Bureau has initiated aggressive actions to increase career and technical student academic and occupational achievement. Working with the Department of Labor and Industry, a high performing career and technical center recognition program has been designed. This program will recognize and provide a monetary award to those career and technical centers that meet standards of quality and performance. Those centers that evidence sustained academic and technical progress and are a viable contributor to workforce and economic development will be recognized.
The centers that are interested in applying will submit a self-assessment by April 18, 2008. A panel of experts will review the self-assessments. Visits by the panel will occur at the career and technical centers that evidenced a high performing education system. Announcements of the high performing career and technical centers will be made June 2008.
Establishing a Fee Structure for The CTC Postsecondary Accreditation Process
At the November State Board for Vocational Education meeting a request was made to explore establishing a fee structure for the CTC postsecondary accreditation process. BCTE researched other accrediting agencies and the following is a summary of their fees:
| Application Fee | Visitation Fee | Annual Dues | |
|---|---|---|---|
| COE | $1000 | $500 | $2240 |
| MSACS | $1000 | $500 | $2000 |
| NLN | $2500 | $1670 | $2410 |
| PDE | $1500 | $500 | n/a |
| Private School | |||
| NIMS | $1500 | n/a | n/a |
The Vocational Board requested that a prorated fee allowing CTC's with smaller programs to be charged a lower fee. After discussion with the Chief Counsel's Office, it was found that because the cost of the accreditation (travel, time, etc) is the same no matter how many programs or students, there is no basis to prorate the fee unless it is linked to change of cost to accredit.
Taking this new information into consideration, we are proposing the following fee schedule to begin July 1, 2008:
| Application Fee | $1500 |
| Visitation Fee | $500 |
| Annual Fee | $500 |
| TOTAL | $2500 |
Because this is a policy change, BCTE will present the fee schedule to the Institutional Accreditation Advisory Group (IAAG) for comment. Policy changes are also presented for public comment. After the public comment period, the IAAG will vote on the change and the final document would be brought to the Pennsylvania State Board for Vocational Education for final approval.