1. HSTW MMGW/TCTW Southern Regional Education Board From Two Systems to One World-Class System of Technical Centers Gene Bottoms Senior Vice President gene.bottoms@sreb.org 404-875-9211 1Kentucky 04-08-14

2. HSTW MMGW/TCTW Southern Regional Education Board 1.One System with Equitable and Adequate Funding (1-2) Authorize funding a study to address: Assessment and accountability Career pathway programs of study Facilities, equipment and supplies Industry certification exam Salaries and staffing Staff development Kentucky 04-08-142 Overarching Recommendations

3. HSTW MMGW/TCTW Southern Regional Education Board 2.One System of Accountability and Support for All Centers Implement a comprehensive set of best practices. Set 90 percent academic- and career-readiness targets. Rethink policies and procedures regarding industry certification exams. (Pages 3-4) Require comprehensive improvement plan for low-performing centers. Make employers full partners in improving tech centers. Kentucky 04-08-143 Overarching Recommendations

4. HSTW MMGW/TCTW Southern Regional Education Board 3.One System of World-Class Technical Centers Provide sufficient support for all centers to become world class. Hold all centers accountable to research- based best practices. Modernize offerings in line with regional and statewide opportunities. Kentucky 04-08-144 Overarching Recommendations

5. HSTW MMGW/TCTW Southern Regional Education Board One System of Technical Centers in Partnership With Postsecondary and Industry Create career pathway offerings with signature features at tech centers that are connected to continued studies at two-year colleges and on-the-job training. (Pages 19-20) Establish a state-level task force for each of the state’s five targeted industry sectors. (Page 6) Support a pilot regional advisory committee where major gaps exist between industry sector employment demands and qualified applicants. (Page 6) Require each technical center to establish a robust, industry-based general technical advisory committee. (Pages 6-7) Kentucky 04-08-145 Overarching Recommendations

6. HSTW MMGW/TCTW Southern Regional Education Board Difference between state and regional job projections State gaps: Finance and STEM Regional gaps: Manufacturing, Finance, Marketing, STEM Transportation Repair: No Logistics Program Kentucky 04-08-146 CT Offerings and Workforce Needs Funding and Recommendation: Section 1

7. HSTW MMGW/TCTW Southern Regional Education Board Page 20 – 23: Recommended new program and Appendix D: Recommended offerings by regions Weak connection between centers’ work- site learning and community-technical colleges (Page 13 — Example model pathway) Kentucky 04-08-147 CT Offerings and Workforce Needs Findings and Recommendations

8. HSTW MMGW/TCTW Southern Regional Education Board Establish State Task Force for First Targeted Industry Sectors (Page 18) Manufacturing Transportation, Distribution, Logistics Business services and research and development (R&D) Health care/Social assistance: Health Science Energy Creation/Transmission Kentucky 04-08-148 Findings and Recommendations

9. HSTW MMGW/TCTW Southern Regional Education Board State develops a set of signature features of high-quality career pathway programs of study. (See pages 18-20 for suggested list.) Kentucky 04-08-149 Findings and Recommendations

10. HSTW MMGW/TCTW Southern Regional Education Board Percentages of Students Meeting College- and Career-Readiness Standards College Ready — 41% Career-Ready Academic — 63% Career-Ready Technical — 49% Career-Ready Academic and Technical — 40% Kentucky 04-08-1410 Findings and Recommendations: Section 2

11. HSTW MMGW/TCTW Southern Regional Education Board Improving the Percentage of Students Meeting College- and Career-Readiness Standards Set 90 percent target for college- and career-readiness. (Page 37) Provide incentives for technical centers and individual pathway programs for significant improvement. (Page 37) Require CT centers with less than 50 percent of students meeting academic and technical career- readiness standards to develop and implement a comprehensive improvement plan. (Page 37) Provide a framework of proven best practices to guide the reform of low-performing centers and their partner academic schools. (Pages 38-40) Kentucky 04-08-1411 Findings and Recommendations: Section 2

12. HSTW MMGW/TCTW Southern Regional Education Board Industry Certification Exams Rethink how industry certification exams are approved and expand options regarding what constitutes an approved exam or alternative to an industry certification exams. (Page 41) Approve only industry certification exams or bundles of certification exams that: (Pages 42-43) lead to employment opportunities that exist within the state, as verified by the Kentucky labor cabinet; give students employment preference in a given job, as verified by at least two or more employers; provide long-term benefits both to the state economy and to the individual student; and meet the approval of the Kentucky Workforce Investment Board (KWIB). Kentucky 04-08-1412 Findings and Recommendations: Section 2

13. HSTW MMGW/TCTW Southern Regional Education Board Other Industry Certification Exams Have CT teachers of programs leading to industry certification exams take and pass the exams. (Page 42) Work with community colleges to determine the amount of transcripted community college credit to be awarded based on students successfully passing state approved industry certification exams. (Page 43) Eliminate the use of KOSSA in CT areas in which robust, state approved industry certification exams exist. (Page 43) Have teachers of record in career fields in which KOSSA remains the industry certification exams. Have teachers in those fields to take and pass the teacher version. (Page 43) Kentucky 04-08-1413 Findings and Recommendations: Section 2

14. HSTW MMGW/TCTW Southern Regional Education Board Academic Support Provided by Home High School to Technical Center Students Too few students at home high schools: Completing college-ready academic course. (Table 9, Page 45) Reading texts and related documents in all courses. (Table 10, Page 46) Having math assignments that emphasize reasoning, understanding and application. (Table 10) Engaging in intellectual and relevant assignments in all classes. (Table 10, Page 46) At tech centers, only one-third of teachers reported assistance to embed literacy and math into assignments. (Table 11, Page 47) Kentucky 04-08-1414 Findings and Recommendations: Section 3

15. HSTW MMGW/TCTW Southern Regional Education Board Recommended Academic Support for Low- Performing Centers Offer intensive staff development to: Enroll more CT students into college-preparatory English. (Page 48) Offer intensive staff development for ninth- and 10th- grade teachers to use new college- and career- readiness literacy and math tools. (Page 48) Train CT teachers to embed literacy and math into assignments. (Page 48) Offer senior readiness literacy and math courses. (Page 49) Kentucky 04-08-1415 Findings and Recommendations

16. HSTW MMGW/TCTW Southern Regional Education Board Articulation, Dual Credit and Alignment of Tech Center Programs With Community College Good policy structure, weak evidence of local ownership. (Page 50) 44 percent versus 17 percent of students report earning credits for three more courses at high-performing versus low-performing centers. (Table 13, Page 51) 75 seniors report postsecondary plans — 89 percent of females versus 61 percent of males. (Table 16, Page 54) Fewer than 20 percent plan to attend community college versus 45 percent for four-year colleges. (Table 16, Page 55) 83 percent versus 67 percent of faculty at high-performing versus low-performing centers believe it is very important to prepare students for further study and work. (Table 17) Kentucky 04-08-1416 Findings and Recommendations

17. HSTW MMGW/TCTW Southern Regional Education Board Actions for Establishing Postsecondary-Going Culture KDE and KCTCS work together to develop action steps for making new dual credit policies work. Prepare promotional materials. Home school, tech center and community college leaders proactively set goals to raise the percentage of males pursuing postsecondary study. Promote career pathways with a workplace option — learn and earn. Kentucky 04-08-1417 Findings and Recommendations

18. HSTW MMGW/TCTW Southern Regional Education Board Strengthen Counseling for Careers About one-third of center students experienced important career and education planning experiences. (Page 57) Eleven percent completed an exploratory class, range of work-site experiences and a planning session with a counselor or teacher and their parents. (Page 57) Some students were enrolled in career pathways that did not match their career goals. Kentucky 04-08-1418 Findings and Recommendations: Section 4

19. HSTW MMGW/TCTW Southern Regional Education Board Strengthen Educational and Career Exploratory Experiences for Students Promote optional career pathway programs of study. Tech center leaders need to do more to make program offerings attractive to students and parents. Provide individual counseling to students and their parents. Provide students with a comprehensive set of experiences in grades eight, nine and 10. This would include participating in exploratory classes, job shadowing at worksites, and visiting technical centers, community colleges and other postsecondary institutions. Kentucky 04-08-1419 Findings and Recommendations

20. HSTW MMGW/TCTW Southern Regional Education Board Rigorous Assignments at Tech Centers Too few center students are experiencing rigorous assignments. (Page 62-63) CT instruction lacks balance. (Page 64) Academic instruction is disconnected from application. (Page 65) More teachers at high-performing versus low- performing centers reported giving higher-level assignments. (Table 22, Page 65) Kentucky 04-08-1420 Findings and Recommendations: Section 6

21. HSTW MMGW/TCTW Southern Regional Education Board Improving Assignments Given to Center Students Provide CT teachers with intensive training to develop real-world assignments for students spanning several days that would challenge students to research, plan and problem solve. (Page 63) Provide technical center leaders and teachers with external assistance and staff development to shift centers’ culture away from a 20th-century instructional mode to one that better meets the requirements of the 21st century workplace. Kentucky 04-08-1421 Findings and Recommendations

22. HSTW MMGW/TCTW Southern Regional Education Board Professional Development for Tech Center Staff Reported having 40-plus hours in last three years on: Project-based assignments — 10% Embedding math into CT assignments — 5% Designing assignments requiring students to use literacy, math, problem-solving, technology, software and 21st-century skills — 6% Constructing assignments requiring research — 4% Raising expectations — 7% Kentucky 04-08-1422 Findings and Recommendations: Section 7

23. HSTW MMGW/TCTW Southern Regional Education Board Professional Development for Tech Center Staff New alternative certified CT teachers complete a fast-track preparation within 15 months of employment. Provide intensive training for CT teachers formulating complex, real-world assignments with several critical features. (Page 66) Prepare center and teacher leaders to create an instructional culture aligned to the work requirements of the 21st-century. (Page 67) Kentucky 04-08-1423 Findings and Recommendations:

24. HSTW MMGW/TCTW Southern Regional Education Board Creating a Continuous Improvement Climate Fifty-seven percent versus 43 percent of faculty at high-performing and low-performing centers perceived the center leadership focused on continuous improvement. (Page 71-72) Kentucky 04-08-1424 Findings and Recommendations:

25. HSTW MMGW/TCTW Southern Regional Education Board Preparing Technical Center Directors to give stronger instructional leadership Provide center directors with professional development on: a.how to work with teachers on a series of action oriented projects focused on improving curriculum and instruction b.doing classroom observations and providing feedback to teachers c.seeking outside funding to support a culture of continuous improvement d.becoming proactive in training teachers to integrate academic standards Kentucky 04-08-1425 Findings and Recommendations:

26. HSTW MMGW/TCTW Southern Regional Education Board Establishing Effective Advisory Committees at Tech Centers Teachers strongly agree that: Community supports center’s instructional goals — 40%. (Page 74) Local and regional business and industries support improving quality of programs — 44%. (Page 74) Kentucky 04-08-1426 Findings and Recommendations: Section 9

27. HSTW MMGW/TCTW Southern Regional Education Board Establish Robust Advisory Committee for Technical Centers Establish general advisory committees charged with transforming the centers into high-performing centers. (Page 75) Select advisory committee members with a personal need to improve the center with two thirds of members representing local and regional business and industry who employ graduates, and other members representing postsecondary education and training, economic development and local school districts and high schools (See page 75 for membership.) Charge advisory committees to take action that will make each center world-class. (See page 76 for sub-items.) Charge advisory committees with addressing at least two major issues annually. (Page 75) Pilot a sector advisory committee in a high- demand field, like manufacturing, in one economic region of the state. Kentucky 04-08-1427 Findings and Recommendations