CTE Future Directions Initiative Update for February, 2010

E-Forum comment review

On November 5, 2009, an electronic forum (e-forum) was held to begin a large-scale discussion within the Career and Technical Education community on issues and challenges confronting CTE in New York State. Approximately a year prior to the e-forum, the State Education Department began meeting, researching, and gathering specific feedback pertaining to barriers to expanding CTE opportunities for students in the state. These activities resulted in a discussion framework that was reviewed and commented on by selected national researchers and state stakeholders to gauge scope and set direction. After conducting reactor panels and focused surveys, a CTE Future Directions Framework document was developed to be used during the e-forum to guide discussion. This document identified four student-centered priorities and two system-focused priorities with 25 action steps intended to bring CTE in New York State into the school reform discussion and lay the groundwork for improving student outcomes for students through increased exposure to CTE learning experiences.

The e-forum brought together over 270 teachers, administrators and representatives of organizations for feedback on the action steps. The e-forum and comments were archived on a Moodle site (see  http://cte-forum.nyit.edu/ ) and a period of time was devoted to obtaining additional comment from the field. Since then, various groups and organizations have been engaged in the conversation and have submitted comment.

CTE staff then analyzed the comments around each of the six priority areas and the 25 action steps. With few exceptions, comments were favorable on the individual action steps and many suggestions for implementation were made. The internal capacities needed to fully implement actions were also considered.

The analysis identified three categories of action steps: those requiring policy changes, those requiring the creation of a product, and those requiring the provision of a service. Some product- or service-focused action steps were already underway or ready for immediate implementation.

Categorizing the twenty-five action steps

• 15 were policy-related
• 8 were product-related
• 2 were service-related

The chart below identifies three types of measures that may be required for implementation of the action steps: policy, product or service.  It also displays likely participants in the action step.  Finally, it gives the general consensus on the comments registered in terms of: for, against, or neutral. Please refer to the CTE Future Directions document for the unabridged version of the priority and action step statements http://www.p12.nysed.gov/cte/home.html .

*Center refers to a vendor that is awarded the contract for the CTE Center. IHE stands for Institution of Higher Education. Title II is a reference to Perkins Title II consortiums. Field means all other CTE stakeholders (e.g. other state agencies, teachers, administrators, business/industry, parents and students). SED could mean any office in the State Education Department.

Next Steps

CTE staff has begun to identify the resources needed to develop specific action steps. As more detailed plans are developed, individuals and organizations will be solicited for participation. Timelines for implementation of action steps that have been started or can be started will be developed.

Activities in February 2010

• Compile policy-related action steps with rationale for SED senior management consideration.

• Determine which action steps could be started with available staff and resources.

• Begin engagement with selected individuals and organizations to develop and implement action steps where feasible.