The State of Career Pathways in Minnesota Programs of Study Technical Skill Attainment Daniel Smith, Center for Postsecondary Success Minnesota 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

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.

Minnesota’s New Direction – Programs of Study Career Pathways Career Field Career Cluster Foundation Knowledge and Skills Programs 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 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 Wasted 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 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. Accounting Health Therapeutics Information Technology - Networking Law Enforcement Plant Systems

Eight additional areas have been selected for the identification of core skills and technical skill assessments in : Animal Systems Child Development Engineering Health Diagnostics Marketing Transportation Visual Arts Work 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 , 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 As assessments are selected for additional programs of study, those assessments will be included in accountability reporting beginning with each effective year.

Resources: 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 JoAnn Simser Dan Smith

Questions?