Tag: CTE

Career Technical Education’s Vital Role in Economic Recovery

COVID-19 (coronavirus) has affected the most foundational aspects of our society, including our education systems and nation’s economy. With millions of Americans unemployed and some industry sectors shuttered or undergoing rapid transformation, Black and Latinx workers, workers with a high school education or less and female workers have been disproportionately impacted. Now, more than ever, Career Technical Education (CTE) is vital to our nation’s learners, employers and America’s economic recovery.

While there is great uncertainty about the pandemic’s ongoing and long-term impact on our country, there is certainty that CTE is vital to recovery because of its proven track record. The postsecondary completion rate is nearly doubled for learners in CTE programs (56.8%) compared to all two-year institutions (29%). And 86% of adult CTE learners continue their education or are employed within six months of completing a program. Additionally, about a third of CTE learners are enrolled in programs in leading fields such as health care, information technology and Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) – careers that are especially important during the coronavirus.

Through CTE, displaced workers can upskill and reskill and prepare for reentry into the workforce and employers can find a pipeline of well-qualified talent who can adapt to and thrive in the ever-changing world of work. This is especially important given that after the last recession, the majority of new or replacement jobs went to employees with more than a high school diploma, including 3.1 million jobs that went to those with an associate’s degree or postsecondary certificates.

As our nation simultaneously continues to fight the pandemic and also begins to respond to the economic downturn that has harmed so many businesses and families, ensuring that equitable access to CTE is part of the solution is a message every policymaker needs to hear. To that end, today, Advance CTE released new tools including a short video to help state CTE leaders make the case for CTE to policymakers and other key stakeholders.

Source: Advance CTE

Delivering CTE programs in remote, blended and social-distanced environments

This webinar will take a broader, administrator-level look at offering postsecondary CTE programs in remote, blended and socially-distanced learning environments, including how institutions are planning for upcoming courses and the overall repercussions of the pandemic on CTE programs. Topics will include working with other institution leaders to make decisions about blended and socially-distanced models, creative approaches to the delivery of CTE programs in the context of those decisions, evaluating CTE program offerings and related staffing decisions in light of current budget situations and safety concerns, recruiting students in the current environment and utilizing CARES Act funds.

Source: ACTE

Join the DEED CTE Listserv

The Career and Technical Education (CTE) Department at the State of Alaska Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) strives to provide Alaska’s CTE community important information in the most selective and efficient way possible, without overloading your in-boxes. The CTE Coordinator’s Listserv is a tool to communicate with the wider CTE community in Alaska. If you or someone within your organization could benefit from this listserv, please subscribe by visiting http://list.state.ak.us/mailman/listinfo/cte_coordinators.

Source: DEED CTE

Leading students down path to success, ANSEP celebrates 25 years

What started as a scholarship program for one undergraduate student at the University of Alaska Anchorage in 1995 now is guiding thousands of middle school students across the state down the path to bachelor’s degrees.

“We’ve got students from southeast, from Kenai area, from Galena, participating in our 12-day residential middle school academy experience, ” Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program regional director Michael Bourdukofsky said. “Today they are testing their balsa wood bridges which they spent the last two days designing and building.”

Friday marked the 25th year ANSEP has provided access to higher quality education for Alaska students. The bridge project, which took about two days for most students, is one of many that teaches students the importance of learning new skills.

Read the full article here.

Source: Leading students down path to success, ANSEP celebrates 25 years