the state of career pathways in minnesota programs of study technical skill attainment daniel smith,...

The State of Career Pathways in Minnesota

Programs of StudyTechnical Skill Attainment

Daniel Smith, Center for Postsecondary SuccessMinnesota Department of Education

JoAnn Simser, State Director for Career & Technical Education

Minnesota State Colleges and Universities

Purpose:

The purpose of this Act is to develop more fully the academic(general education) and career and technical skills of secondary education students and postsecondary education students who elect to enroll in career and technical education programs

Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006, Section 2

Two important changes in the Perkins Act of 2006:

A requirement for the

establishment of

Programs of Study A new approach to assessing CTE skills

Academic/General Education skills Technical skills Workplace skills

Elements in a Minnesota Program of Study:

Career Fields

Career Clusters

Career Pathways

Foundation Knowledge and Skills

• http://www.cte.mnscu.edu• http://www.cte.mnscu.edu

• Minnesota’s New Direction – Programs of Study• Minnesota’s New Direction – Programs of Study

Career Pathways

Career Field

Career Cluster

Foundation Knowledge and Skills

Minnesota hopes to address the secondary-postsecondary alignment issues through the development and implementation of career and technical education Programs of Study.

• http://www.cte.mnscu.edu• http://www.cte.mnscu.edu

• Minnesota’s New Direction – Programs of Study• Minnesota’s New Direction – Programs of Study

Career Pathways

Career Field

Career Cluster

Foundation Knowledge and SkillsPrograms of

Study

For Minnesota, a Program of Study is defined as:

A nonduplicative sequence of academic and technical courses,

Beginning no later than grade 11 and extending for at least two years beyond high school,

Culminating in a degree, diploma or certificate.

Secondary CTE Program

Postsecondary CTE Program

Program of Study

• Broad-based

• Approved at the District level

• Approx. 50 unique CTE programs

• Occupational focus

• Approved for the college

• Approx. 1500 unique CTE programs

• Approved at the consortium level – migrating to approval at the state level

• Technical skill assessment for the purpose of accountability• Guidance function

• Work readiness component

• Articulation agreements

Grade 9 Grade 10

Grade 11

Grade 12

Fresh-man

Sopho-more

Prepara-tory

Courses

Upper level high

school courses

College Course-

work

CHASM

OF

HIGH

SCHOOL

TO

COLLEGE

TRANSITION

Was

ted

time?

But are they ready?

Remediation!

Yahoo!Yippee!

Parteeee!

OMG!

Now what?

Grade 9 Grade 10

Grade 11

Grade 12

Fresh-man

Sopho-more

Prepara-tory

Courses

Upper level high

school courses

College Course-

work

What is the value

added and how is it recog-nized?

Program of Study

CHASM

OF

HIGH

SCHOOL

TO

COLLEGE

TRANSITION

Technical Skill Assessment

The expectation under Perkins IV is that we develop an assessment system that will provide teachers, administrators and policymakers with accurate and useful information about student technical skill achievement.

The Act requires states to use assessments that are valid and reliable and aligned to industry-recognized standards where available and appropriate.

Validity generally refers to the degree to which a test or other measuring device is truly measuring what it intends to measure.

Reliability refers to the consistency of results for a test or measuring device.

Alignment to industry-recognized standards is often addressed by using examinations tied to industry or trade certifications, but may also be addressed through alignment with state or national industry or trade standards (such as those of the Minnesota Board of Peace Officer Standards & Training).

In five areas, core skills have been identified and an assessment blueprint prepared. An inventory of potential technical skill assessments has been assembled.

AccountingHealth TherapeuticsInformation Technology - NetworkingLaw EnforcementPlant Systems

Eight additional areas have been selected for the identification of core skills and technical skill assessments in 2010-2011:

Animal SystemsChild DevelopmentEngineeringHealth Diagnostics

MarketingTransportationVisual ArtsWork Readiness

It is critical that our work in Programs of Study and our efforts to measure progress using technical skill assessments is validated by our industry partners at both the state and local levels.

Under Minnesota’s consortium structure, the state is encouraging the establishment of joint secondary/ postsecondary advisory committees serving a program of study for the region.

Secondary/postsecondary advisory committees should be consulted about our work with POS and TSA.

Beginning in 2010-2011, Minnesota will modify its reporting of technical skill attainment for Perkins accountability to use in the numerator the count of CTE concentrators who passed one of the appropriate assessments in five programs of study (the five pilot POS), and in the denominator the count of CTE concentrators who took one of the appropriate assessments in the five programs of study listed above. This reporting will occur separately at the secondary and postsecondary levels.

For the purposes of Perkins Accountability:

These data will replace any process used by the state for reporting through 2009-2010. As assessments are selected for additional programs of study, those assessments will be included in accountability reporting beginning with each effective year.

Resources: www.cte.mnscu.edu

• Career fields, clusters, pathways wheel• Perkins consortia map• Background Report MN Technical Skill

Assessment Project• Career Pathway Core Competencies• Technical Skill Assessment Matrix

Contact Information:

• Ginny Karbowski ginny.karbowski@so.mnscu.edu

• JoAnn Simser joann.simser@so.mnscu.edu

• Dan Smith dan.smith@state.mn.us

Questions?