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The detailed guide's purpose is to assist educators and community leaders in designing and implementing educational programs to serve student and community needs, and to identify the goals and elements of cooperative vocational education. One chapter describes the necessary characteristics of the teacher-coordinator in such programs, and the advantages of cooperative vocational education to the community and to the students. Two other chapters suggest methods for determining employers' and students' needs for cooperative vocational education and suggest plans for meeting these needs. Three chapters deal with implementing plans for: public relations (including a suggested eight point plan and the use of media); instruction in the school (including five teaching methods and the use of youth organizations); and community laboratories (including criteria for selecting, establishing, and evaluating training stations, and guidelines for complying with appropriate laws). Another chapter analyzes essential elements of the cooperative program including staffing; facilities, equipment, and materials; and program development. A final chapter suggests ways of improving cooperative vocational education in its administrative structure, professional development of teacher-coordinators, instructional materials, and program evaluation. A 70-page appendix displays forms appropriate to the planning, implementation, and evaluation of programs. (JR)

The five-year initiative New Skills for Youth (NSFY) aimed to transform career readiness education and bridge the skills gap by supporting innovative strategies in 10 states across the United States. NSFY was one of the earliest and most impactful philanthropic investments in career pathways and career readiness in recent history and helped spark future investments and energy in the career pathways space. Shortly after the NSFY grant ended, the world experienced the coronavirus pandemic which hindered the momentum participating states had gained throughout the initiative. However, states were able to sustain and continue to make progress on many key initiatives started during NSFY that are still present today. "Moving Career Pathways Forward: Learning From the New Skills for Youth Initiative," supported by JPMorgan Chase, shares the successes and challenges of sustaining the work beyond the conclusion of the NSFY initiative, and through a global pandemic, in Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin. From the experiences of these states, the report presents specific recommendations and action steps for state and local leaders on how to sustain career pathways work for long-term success.

Over the year, Advance CTE and the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) tracked state activity, cataloged final state policy actions, and categorized trends based on the policy areas of focus. "State Policies Impacting CTE: 2023 Year in Review" provides an analysis that spans 47 states that enacted 115 policies, which marks the second-highest number of states in the past decade, surpassed only by the landmark year of 2017 when all 50 states implemented CTE-related policies. The policy areas that states focused on in 2023 were similar to previous years with industry partnerships and work-based learning as the top policy area for the second consecutive year.

The 2023 Illinois Career and Technical Education Report is submitted in compliance with Illinois School Code 105 ILCS 435/2e, which requires a written career and technical education (CTE) report to be issued to the governor annually. This report describes the establishment of and delivery of CTE in Illinois, the existing condition of Illinois CTE based on school year 2022-23 data (FY 2023), and the future developments and recommendations for CTE in our state as required by Illinois School Code 105 ILCS 435/2e. Further, this report provides an update on the police academy program in Illinois as required 105 ILCS/5/22-83. The work of the Gender Equity Advisory Committee and other ISBE initiatives also are referenced within the report.

Career Technical Education (CTE) policies and programs have increasingly focused on supporting the needs of historically marginalized learners and closing access and performance gaps among learner groups. Perkins V, the latest iteration of federal CTE legislation known as the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, is part of this trend. The law defines nine learner groups as special populations and includes a number of provisions that address expanding access to and supporting success within CTE programs for special populations. This brief provides an overview of definitions, strategies, reflection questions and resources to support foster youth in CTE.

Career Technical Education (CTE) policies and programs have increasingly focused on supporting the needs of historically marginalized learners and closing access and performance gaps among learner groups. Perkins V, the latest iteration of federal CTE legislation known as the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, is part of this trend. The law defines nine learner groups as special populations and includes a number of provisions that address expanding access to and supporting success within CTE programs for special populations. This brief will describe strategies for supporting one of these special populations: non-traditional learners.

Providing high-quality Career Technical Education (CTE) requires robust, sustained funding designed to be responsive to both the rapidly evolving needs of industry and the diverse needs of learners. Advance CTE embarked on an analysis of states' secondary CTE funding models. In 2014, RTI International, with the support of Advance CTE, conducted research on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education, which established how states allocated categorical funds for CTE during the academic year 2011-12 and the amounts of those allocations. By returning to this topic 10 years later, Advance CTE seeks to understand how CTE is funded today and position the field to adopt and implement more equitable funding models. This research report provides an introduction to the distinct features, advantages and limitations of secondary CTE funding models across all states and the District of Columbia. The report shares information based on a research scan conducted in 2022, a national survey of State CTE Directors in 2022, and in-depth interviews with state and local CTE leaders in 2023 (learn more about the methodology). Advance CTE offers recommendations and suggestions for how state leaders can work together to support high-quality CTE by positioning the field to revise and implement more equitable funding models.

Career Technical Education (CTE) calls upon states to lead with an equity lens, which requires vigilance to quality expectations while also ensuring that CTE programs and interventions intentionally meet the needs of learners with the greatest need, including justice-involved learners--the human-centered term that refers to a person who has interacted with the justice system. As of 2015, approximately 75 percent of incarcerated youth were age 16 and older. These learners are often seeking to enter the workforce and transition to independence as efficiently as possible. For these learners, CTE can and should serve a critical role in their successful re-entry into the workforce. This brief will examine how justice-involved learners are supported by education and workforce systems and highlight ways states can strengthen policy to ensure high-quality programming and equitable access and outcomes for this learner population.

Engagement in Phase 2 focused on refining the Phase 1 foundational elements such as the mission, vision, values, priorities and enablers, as well as identifying emerging goals and metrics. In addition to the engagement methods outlined in first phase, this phase involved discussions centered around data focused on specific regions in Maryland connected to the priorities and enablers outlined in the Strategic Plan. This report is a companion piece to the Strategic Plan guidebooks, and the documents should be read together for an in-depth understanding of the plan's content and how it originated. [For the Phase 1 report, see ED627592. For "Maryland State Board & Department of Education Strategic Plan. Phase 2," see ED627583.]

Over the year, Advance CTE and the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) tracked state activity, cataloged final state policy actions and categorized trends based on the policy areas of focus and today, published State Policies Impacting CTE: 2022 Year in Review. This year's report provides an analysis that spans 37 states who enacted 123 policies. All policies that were passed in 2022 affected the secondary education, postsecondary education, adult education and/or workforce systems. The policy areas that states focused on in 2022 were similar to previous years with industry-recognized credentials now one of the top five key policy areas. Top Five Policy Trends in 2022: (1) Industry partnerships and work-based learning; (2) Funding; (3) Access and equity; (4) Data, reporting and/or accountability; and (5) Industry-recognized credentials.

This report describes the establishment of and delivery of Illinois Career and Technical Education (CTE), the existing condition of Illinois CTE based on fiscal year 2022 data, and the future developments and recommendations for CTE in our state as required by Illinois School Code 105 ILCS 435/2e. Further, this report provides an update on police academy program in Illinois as required 105 ILCS/5/22-83. The work of the Gender Equity Advisory Committee and other ISBE initiatives are also referenced within the report. [For the 2021 report, see ED618581.]

Exploring Summer Youth Employment Programs: Increasing Access Through Career Pathways builds the case and provides actionable recommendations for state-led support in the intentional alignment of summer youth employment programs (SYEP) with career pathways and the work-based learning continuum, including through Career Technical Education (CTE). This tool was produced through JPMorgan Chase's "New Skills ready network," a five year, $35 million initiative aimed at developing equitable career pathways and policy recommendations that give underserved students access to higher education and real-world work experiences that lead to high-wage, in-demand jobs.

Today's learners are looking to explore career options that allow them to change their communities and often the language used to communicate careers and skill-building falls short of connecting a career path with a learner's passion. Similarly, while employers are searching for ways to increase dedication and retention among employees while also building a robust talent pipeline, employers are challenged to connect the skills and knowledge gained in Career Technical Education (CTE) programs to their employment needs. "Contribution to Society: Exploring Purpose-Driven Framing for Career Pathways" builds the case for purpose-driven framing for career advising, shares the results from preliminary research into this type of framing and lays out both implications for different populations and future work needed to validate and implement this framing. To better understand "contribution to society" as a frame for CTE, Advance CTE commissioned focus groups of both CTE and non-CTE learners at different levels and conducted in-depth interviews with business professionals responsible for hiring across six industries. Advance CTE's preliminary research shows that: (1) Titles and descriptions of programs of study or industry sectors alone are insufficient for effective advising; (2) Employers often misunderstand titles and descriptions of CTE programs or pathways and that these descriptions of programs do not consistently align with descriptions of their work; and that (3) The most effective framing of a program of study--for both learners and employers--links a learner's contribution to society to their career goals. This resource was made possible through the generous support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Additional appreciation goes to Edge Research for participant recruitment and focus groups and interview facilitation.

Nokomis Regional High School, which draws nearly 600 students from eight different towns in rural Maine, has spent 10 years transforming its instructional model to immerse students in meaningful learning experiences that relate to their interests and passions. Project-based learning, interdisciplinary courses, and career exploration units are designed to help students explore various options and feel secure about their postsecondary choices. As students near graduation in this rural community, some plan to enroll in college, while others envision entering the trades or starting a job. Staff at Nokomis want students to achieve success on their own terms, which means challenging the predominantly college-oriented attitude that persists in high school practice and policy. But many teachers and administrators are still grappling with how to ensure that students choosing different pathways--some involving college, some not (or not yet)--will have an equal shot at long-term success and stability relative to their peers. Some staff think the school should more assertively push students toward college and career options beyond the local rural community. This case wrestles with how high schools can expand students' postsecondary horizons while remaining responsive to their values and interests--especially if those values differ significantly from those of the adults who support them. [For the corresponding Case Studies in High School Redesign, see ED626304 and ED626305.]

The primary aim of engagement in this phase was to gain input from a wide range of stakeholders that represented the diversity of the state. A multi-pronged approach was developed to structure engagement for the strategic planning process to ensure flexible, responsive and iterative communication with stakeholders. A combination of virtual and in-person engagement methods such as surveys, roundtables, listening sessions, community conversations, and events were implemented to ensure engagement of stakeholders across Maryland's diverse landscape. This report is a companion piece to the Strategic Plan guidebooks, and the documents should be read together for an in-depth understanding of the plan's content and how it originated. [For "Maryland State Board & Department of Education Strategic Plan. Phase 1," see ED627582.]

This brief, the second in the series, advances a theory of change that centers the learner experience in strategies to improve institutional data collection and use and strengthen college information management systems. It is the second in the Advance CTE's Advancing Postsecondary CTE Data Quality Initiative (PDI) series highlighting five states participating in a postsecondary data quality improvement cohort. This work is supported by ECMC Foundation. [For "Championing High-Quality Data. Advancing Postsecondary CTE Data Quality Initiative. Brief 1," see ED625799.]

This brief addresses the importance of a unifying vision for education and workforce that draws upon and regularly uses postsecondary CTE data to measure progress and guide state policy and practice. It is the first in Advance CTE's Advancing Postsecondary CTE Data Quality Initiative (PDI) series highlighting five states participating in a postsecondary data quality improvement cohort. This work is supported by ECMC Foundation.

Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) refers to the various processes for recognizing and awarding credit for college-level learning gained outside the classroom. In December 2021, Advance CTE and Education Strategy Group convened the Credit for Prior Learning Shared Solutions Workgroup, whose members represented state postsecondary education agencies and governance boards, two- and four-year systems and institutions and national partner organizations. The workgroup was tasked with: (1) Identifying the main barriers or challenges to building a robust and fully equitable system of CPL policies and practices; (2) Exploring best practices related to statewide and local guidance on the implementation of CPL to advance more accessible and equitable postsecondary programming, career pathway completion and credential attainment; (3) Identifying existing resources or models to engage learners in utilizing CPL policy within their career pathway; and (4) Informing and contributing to tools and resources to support state and local leaders in the development and implementation of policies and practices that lead to effective, scaled use of CPL. The workgroup engaged with the existing body of research and tools on credit for prior learning to guide their approach to designing this Policy Benchmark Tool. This policy benchmark tool serves as a comprehensive resource to empower state, system and institutional leaders to assess current CPL policy and practice to accelerate learners' completion of career pathways that lead to high-quality credentials.

In fall 2018, there were more than 5 million English Learners (ELs) in the United States, with about 1.9 million enrolled in grades 6-12.3 Although the federal definition applies only to elementary and secondary ELs, and postsecondary institutions are not required to report data on students' language proficiency, many ELs are enrolled in higher education programs as well. In the 2018-2019 academic year, 520,417 secondary CTE participants were ELs. Despite the considerable benefits of CTE for ELs, there remain significant barriers for these learners to fully access and succeed in CTE programs. State CTE leaders have considerable federal and state resources available to center curriculum, wraparound supports and data infrastructure to better understand and meet EL needs. In doing so, they make good on the promise to meet our shared vision for each learner to feel welcome in and have the means to succeed in CTE. "Improving Equity and Access to Quality CTE Programs for English Learners" serves to enhance member knowledge of and support for learners who do not speak English as their first language. This brief outlines the key barriers for English learners to access and succeed in high-quality CTE programs, and provides five recommendations to leverage federal and state resources to lower and remove these barriers. The recommendations include: (1) Leverage federal legislation to ensure that secondary and postsecondary English Learners have access to high-quality CTE instruction; (2) Embrace best practices and technological innovation to meet learners' needs in curriculum and instruction; (3) Invest in wraparound services and targeted support to remove barriers for English Learners and other special populations; (4) Leverage data and center learner voice to identify and close equity gaps; and (5) Provide professional development and technical assistance to educators, counselors and staff.

The Newark Opportunity Youth Network (NOYN) contracted with the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the youth workforce development system within the state. The study documents how the youth workforce system developed in New Jersey since the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) took effect, how it currently functions, and the financial and systemic realities that historically have been an impediment to a more collaborative approach. An unfortunate truth is that sometimes state legislatures design policies that, perhaps unintentionally, inhibit a community's ability to achieve collective impact through leveraging multiple resources. Compliance-driven funding models that limit a program's ability to connect with other programs to expand the impact, or disconnected public agencies that allocate funds and operate programs, to name a few, create obstacles to achieving collective impact. This research aims to provide stakeholders, including direct service providers and policymakers, with the tools to navigate these obstacles to better serve young people in New Jersey. The literature available around youth workforce development specifically in New Jersey is sparse, so to complement the literature review, researchers conducted in-depth interviews with local and national experts in youth workforce development. For those who advocate on behalf of the population of opportunity or alternative youth, the question demanding an answer is what can and should be done to improve the system of youth workforce development to better serve disconnected youth? This study begins to respond to that question. [This report was produced with the Newark Opportunity Youth Network (NOYN), with funding from the Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions.]

Early postsecondary opportunities (EPSOs) provide more than 5.5 million secondary learners annually an intentionally designed authentic postsecondary experience (such as dual or concurrent enrollment) leading to college credit that counts toward a recognized postsecondary degree or credential. Career Technical Education (CTE) courses make up approximately one-third of all EPSO enrollments and are a critical component of a high-quality CTE program of study, bridging secondary and postsecondary learning. Advance CTE's vision, Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of CTE, calls on states to ensure that each learner's skills are counted, valued and portable. At the state level, systems are needed to translate competencies and credentials into portable credit. One key way to accomplish this goal is to expand, simplify and standardize early postsecondary credit, articulation and transfer policies to better facilitate high-quality EPSOs for every learner. To this end, Advance CTE, in partnership with the College in High School Alliance, surveyed State CTE Directors to better understand state policies that support EPSOs in CTE. This report reveals key findings from the survey data and highlights examples of promising practices and opportunities to improve the quality of CTE EPSO programs and expand equitable access to and success in EPSO programs for historically marginalized learner populations. [This report was prepared with the support of the College in High School Alliance.]

Now that we have seen the end of 2020 temporary emergency actions, states have returned to passing legislation that affect Career Technical Education (CTE) and career readiness at pre-pandemic numbers with a new emphasis on systemic solutions that deliver equitable access for each learner to participate in opportunities that lead to career success. Over the year, Advance CTE and the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) tracked state activity, cataloged final state policy actions and categorized trends based on the policy areas of focus and today, published State Policies Impacting CTE: 2021 Year in Review. This year's report provides an analysis that spans across 41 states who enacted 138 policies. All policies that were passed in 2021 affected the secondary education, postsecondary education, adult education and/or workforce systems. The policy areas that states focused on in 2021 were similar to previous years with industry-recognized credentials now one of the top five key policy areas. Top Five Policy Trends in 2021: (1) Funding; (2) Access and equity; (3) Data, reporting and/or accountability; (4) Industry partnerships and work-based learning; and (5) Industry-recognized credentials. A Methodology section at the end of the report describes how policies were included and categorized. [For "State Policies Impacting CTE: 2020 Year in Review," see ED613608.]

This report describes the establishment and delivery of Illinois career and technical education (CTE), the existing condition of Illinois CTE based on fiscal year 2021 data, and the future developments and recommendations for CTE in the state as required by Illinois School Code 105 ILCS 435/2e. Illinois CTE focuses on providing equitable educational opportunities to prepare students for high-skill, high-wage, and in-demand occupations. The work of the Gender Equity Advisory Committee and other ISBE initiatives are referenced within the report.

This report contains three parts: the "Graduation Pathway Options Report" with Foreword by the State Board, "Washington Graduation Pathway Options: Stakeholder Feedback Project Year 3, Volume I," and "Washington Graduation Pathway Options: Stakeholder Feedback Project Year 3, Volume II." The graduation pathway is one of three required components for earning a high school diploma. Graduation pathway options include tests and advanced courses in English language arts and math, Career and Technical Education course sequences, and the military vocational aptitude test (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery). In anticipation of potential barriers, the Legislature charged the State Board of Education with researching the first three years of pathways implementation to identify barriers and provide recommendations for changes to the existing pathways and additional pathways options. While implementation was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the research identified other challenges. Strobel Consulting collected District Survey, focus group and interview data during the third year of this three-year project to address: (1) Whether changes to the existing eight pathways should be made and what those changes should be; (2) The barriers schools and districts have to offering all of the graduation pathways and recommendations to eliminate or reduce those barriers for school districts; (3) Whether all students have equitable access to all of the graduation pathways and, if not, recommendations for reducing the barriers students may have to accessing all of the graduation pathways; and (4) Whether additional graduation pathways should be included and recommendations for what those pathways should be. In addition to what the statute required the report address, the year 3 scope of work was expanded to include the following : (1) How the High School and Beyond Plan is/was implemented in their school or district; (2) What improvements could be made to the High School and Beyond Plan to make it a better tool for students to plan their future after high school; (3) What improvements could be made to the High School and Beyond Plan to make it a better tool for students to make decisions about courses, graduation pathway options, other academic and career learning activities; (4) Relevancy of pathways, and how to make them more relevant; and (5) Alignment of pathways to Profile of a Graduate.

The Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment (CLNA) was an exciting and innovative change under the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V). The CLNA was identified to support data-driven decision-making and more closely align planning, spending and accountability activities under Perkins V. After the reauthorization of Perkins V, Advance CTE released a guide to help states identify the major decision points that will impact the design, development and implementation of their CLNA and related local needs application. As states near the end of the first and ramp up their second CLNA process, Advance CTE and The Association of Career and Technical Education (ACTE) interviewed state and local Career Technical Education (CTE) leaders to identify what worked and what can be improved. "Lessons in Collaboration and Innovation: The Impact and Promise of the Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment" shares findings on: (1) State approaches to the CLNA process; (2) State perspectives on CLNA successes; and (3) State perspectives on areas for improvement. The new resource also provides a set of six recommendations for state leaders to consider as they support the CLNA going forward to ensure they continue to build on early CLNA success and drive quality and equity within their CTE systems and programs of study.

In a dedicated effort to build high-quality, equitable career pathways Advance CTE, in partnership with Education Strategy Group through JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s "New Skills ready network," released "Braiding Funding To Support Equitable Career Pathways." This policy brief is the fourth in a series designed to help build better career pathways. This brief explains the sources and benefits of braiding funding, highlights promising practices for braiding funding in Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Montana and Oklahoma and provides recommendations to enhance high-quality funding alignment and sustainability practice: (1) Align stakeholders and systems around a common goal; (2) Conduct an analysis of career pathways-aligned funding sources and streams; and (3) Have a sustainability plan to mitigate shifts in funding. [For the third brief in this series, "Strengthening Career Pathways through the Power of State and Local Partnerships," see ED613576.]

To ensure that students are prepared for the workforce, part of Maryland State Department of Education's (MSDE) vision for career and technical education (CTE) is for all students to have access and opportunities to engage in CTE programs of study that align to occupations that are high-wage, high-skill, and/or in-demand (MSDE, 2020). MSDE's Division of Career and College Readiness has been reviewing the state's CTE program offerings to ensure their alignment with this vision. To support this effort, the Region 4 Comprehensive Center evaluated the alignment between Maryland's high school CTE program offerings and the labor market by examining the following research questions: (1) In each workforce region of Maryland, do occupations that are high-wage, high-skill, and in-demand have an aligned CTE program of study offered?; (2) In each workforce region of Maryland, do CTE programs of study offered align with occupations that are high-wage, high-skill, and/or in-demand?; and (3) For the unaligned CTE programs of study, do any of them align to high-wage, high-skill, and in-demand occupations in other workforce regions in Maryland?

When employers and learners achieve a shared understanding of what skills are needed for the jobs of the future and how those skills are counted and valued in the hiring process, learners make more informed decisions about a path to success in the career of their choice, and Career Technical Education (CTE) programs are more responsive to industry needs. To aid CTE leaders in expanding employer support for and participation in CTE programs and advocacy, Advance CTE conducted a national survey of 315 employers from predominantly in-demand industries to determine the top skills desired by employers, their attitudes toward CTE, and their current involvement in CTE partnerships. Conducted in November 2020, the survey provides a valuable snapshot of the challenges and needs of businesses facing a long recovery from the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic and directly affected by the 'skills gap.' Sixty-nine percent of businesses surveyed, the majority of which are connected to high-growth industries, reported experiencing a moderate or large negative impact from the pandemic. The research findings shared in this report empower CTE leaders and policymakers to better understand employer needs and capacity and make data-driven decisions to improve both program quality and employer engagement. When CTE systems are designed to consider the perspective and capacity of employers, learners will have greater access to experiences to explore and pursue the career of their choice without limits. The following four findings are detailed: (1) Employers view CTE very positively and see CTE as a value-add; (2) Employers value skills over degrees and believe CTE will help meet their skill-based hiring needs; (3) Employers overwhelmingly want to expand their partnerships with CTE programs; and (4) Businesses strongly favor increased public funding for CTE. Recommendations for State CTE Leaders are included.

Fostering strong relationships that break silos between learning and work and align skill-building opportunities across secondary, postsecondary, adult and professional levels is critical to building high-quality career pathways and learner-centered career preparation ecosystems. In this work, trust, common purpose and resources for sustainability are all necessary for effective state and local partnerships. This resource from Advance CTE, in partnership with Education Strategy Group through JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s "New Skills ready network," is the third and final in a series of policy briefs centered on strengthening career pathways. It offers promising practices for leveraging the strengths of both state and local leaders and maximizing the capacity of state resources to cultivate sustainable, scalable partnerships and advance high-quality career pathways. This brief provides five components to achieve this goal and highlights promising practices and programs in Colorado, Hawaii, Nebraska and Tennessee. [For the second brief in this series, "Intentional Acts of Dual Enrollment: State Strategies for Scaling Early Postsecondary Opportunities in Career Pathways," see ED613574.]

Ensuring that young people have access to high-quality Career Technical Education (CTE) programs is vital to preparing them for future employment. Yet, youth and young adults in the justice system historically have been left behind in states' and localities' efforts to improve workforce development and employment outcomes. In an economy that is now being reshaped by COVID-19 (Coronavirus), it is more critical than ever that young people in the justice system are fully equipped to succeed in the rapidly changing labor market and meet workforce needs. Advance CTE's latest resource, developed in collaboration with the Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center, outlines five key actions that state CTE leaders can take in partnership with juvenile and adult criminal justice agencies and other entities to ensure that youths and young adults in these systems have access to high-quality CTE programs and the opportunity to secure and maintain viable employment: (1) Ensure that CTE programs for youth and young adults in the justice system are held to the same rigorous standards as other CTE programs in the state; (2) Help justice and education agencies and program providers adopt and implement promising practices; (3) Leverage federal funding to support CTE programs in correctional facilities; (4) Appoint a state-level designee to oversee the development and delivery of CTE programming for youths and young adults in the justice system; and (5) Collaborate with justice agencies to collect and share student-level data and program outcome data to enhance accountability of CTE programs for youths and young adults in the justice system. This resource is part of the "Making Good on the Promise" series, which confronts the negative aspects of CTE's legacy and defines the key challenges learners face today. The series provides promising solutions to help state leaders close equity gaps in CTE to ensure that each learner is able to attain the promise of CTE -- a high-skill, high-wage, in-demand career.

While about three-fourths of all public school districts offer dual credit opportunities in Career Technical Education (CTE) courses, many programs face gaps in alignment between secondary and postsecondary CTE programs that lead to quality and equity inconsistencies in early postsecondary opportunities (EPSOs) across career pathways, ultimately keeping learners from fully leveraging these valuable opportunities. This policy brief by Advance CTE, in partnership with Education Strategy Group through JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s "New Skills ready network" is the second of a series of policy briefs centered on building better pathways, and offers best practices for designing strong statewide policies for removing barriers for participation in EPSOs in postsecondary credential and degree programs that lead to high-skill, high-wage and in-demand careers. When states build more cohesive systems where early postsecondary opportunities (EPSOs) such as dual enrollment are fully counted, valued and portable, learners have more equitable paths to college and career success. This brief provides four key strategies to achieve this goal and highlights effective programs in Ohio, Tennessee and Utah: (1) Advancing buy-in and systems alignment through institutional partnerships; (2) Building robust and streamlined state policy that builds EPSOs into career pathways; (3) Funding EPSOs on the margins through state incentive to remove financial barriers for learners; and (4) Prioritizing equity and removing burdensome admission and administrative barriers to participation. [For the first brief in this series, "Practical Guidance for Aligning Career Pathways to Labor Market Data in the Time of COVID-19," see ED613575.]

Effective recruitment into Career Technical Education (CTE) programs requires framing CTE to meet the needs and aspirations of each learner and their parent/guardian. This Advance CTE report provides insights on what families value in their education; elevates what aspects and messages about CTE that most resonate as well as the go-to messengers for information about these programs; and identifies equity gaps and corresponding message tailoring to reach each learner. The report provides tested messages about the value and benefits of CTE that resonate with families based on ten focus groups and an online national survey of over 2,100 families in middle and high school both considering and participating in CTE. This report is an update to similar research conducted in 2017, with an additional emphasis on messaging for Black and Latinx families and families experiencing low income. Despite major transformations to learning and work, many of the messages and themes from 2017 still resonate today while providing a refresh through message tailoring to address equity gaps. [For the related 2017 research, "The Value and Promise of Career Technical Education: Results from a National Survey of Parents and Students," see ED616488.]

The Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) encourages states to promote equity in Career Technical Education (CTE) through data analysis, funding, technical assistance, professional development, and regular engagement of stakeholders representing learners with special population status. While Perkins V has specific stakeholder engagement requirements, states should expand upon these requirements to ensure that meaningful, responsive engagement with representatives of learners with special population status becomes the new way of doing business. This resource is designed to help states establish processes and routines for systematically engaging representatives of learners with special population status at the state level. The report draws on Advance CTE's review of state Perkins V plans as well as key informant interviews in select states to document four steps for meaningful stakeholder engagement beyond Perkins V: (1) Engage and build trust with influencers, advocacy groups and state agencies representing learners with special population status; (2) Build internal knowledge and capacity at the state level by designating liaisons for targeted special population groups and deepening knowledge about the needs and interests of their communities; (3) Operationalize engagement by formalizing structures and routines for engaging representatives of learners with special population status and for coordinating services across state agencies; and (4) Act on stakeholder input and establish feedback loops to ensure that resources and services are addressing stakeholders' most urgent needs.