Connecting CTE to the Future by Robert G. Sheets Business and Industry Services Northern Illinois University June 2005

The Challenges for CTE Responding to the skill requirements of the new economy Communicating results to key stakeholders

Responding to the New Economy Sources of Competitive Advantage Business agility Product and process innovation Transition to New Workplaces New Skill Requirements for Career Success---Balancing Depth and Breadth

Balancing Depth and Breadth Depth: Expert Occupational Performance Beyond routine job performance Strengthening academic/technical knowledge and skills Breadth: Career Entrepreneurs Business entrepreneurship Business process innovation Career and learning management includes occupations not usually found in in vocational or career tech education. Such as scientific research and government. In Arts Audio Visual and Communications we are looking at the Performing Arts. Our charge is to develop these clusters into an organizing tool to help schools and to help students and parents make better career choices and to better prepare students for postsecondary education and work and help students advance at a faster pace.

Solution: Career Clusters Depth: Career Specialties Connecting to degrees/certificates and industry certifications with market value Breadth: Foundations and Pathways Foundations—career management, business systems, new workplace basics, academic and technical knowledge and skills Pathways---managing business processes and more focused and integrated skill applications

Next Steps for Career Clusters Improve Curriculum Frameworks Improve clarity and consistency Establish coherent programs of study Establish assessment systems Identify and align credentials with market value Make Strategic Connections State/local economic and workforce development cluster/sector initiatives State/local career pathway(adult education) initiatives K-12 school improvement and P-20 initiatives Communicate Results Define key stakeholders—who should get what Develop reporting and communication strategies

Communicating Results to Key Stakeholders New Accountability Environment Invest limited resources in what is working Continuous improvement in results Consistent measurement and data quality Key Stakeholder Requirements Students/parents—guidance and investment information (consumer information) Employers—managing skilled worker pipelines Federal/state/local funders—reporting program and system results

Solution: Performance Management Systems Performance Measurement Perkins performance accountability system Perkins alignment with education and workforce development Managing Continuous Improvement Multi-year reporting Using data to manage improvement Reporting and Information Systems Federal reporting system State reporting systems Career information systems

Next Steps in Performance Management Define who we are accountable for—improving standardization of state concentrator definitions Improve standardization of state Perkins measures and approaches with strong data quality standards Develop new strategies for measuring career and technical skill attainment and identifying and aligning credentials with market value Improve consistency with education (e.g., NCLB) and workforce (e.g., WIA) performance measures Expand capacity to use data for managing continuous improvement Improve reporting systems to key stakeholders

Coordinating Next Steps Defining concentrators and programs of study for participation and completion Assessing career and technical skill attainment Defining degrees/certificates, industry certifications, and other types of credentials with market value Reporting and communicating information to key stakeholders