On October 22-24, 2018, Angie Stansell attended the fall meeting for Advance CTE in Baltimore, Maryland. The Advance CTE fall meeting focused heavily on the impact of the new Perkins V legislation, and there were breakout meetings, roundtable discussions, and open forums on how states could best leverage the new legislation for their Career-Technical Education (CTE) programs and the impact that some aspects of the legislation could have on CTE programs as a whole.The keynote speaker for the fall meeting was Barbara Humpton, the CEO of Seimens USA. During her address she encouraged the state directors, as members of Advance CTE, to embrace bold leadership and take risks, strive for quality, and embrace the power and potential of the Perkins re-authorization and its impact on the states. Advance CTE: State Leaders Connecting Learning to Work is the longest-standing national non-profit that represents State Directors and state leaders responsible for secondary, post-secondary and adult Career Technical Education (CTE) across all 50 states and U.S. territories. Advance CTE was formerly known as the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium (NASDCTEc).

Other notable meetings:

Making the Case for CTE Through Storytelling

Presented by Nicole Howard of Advance CTE and Kati Graham, State Director of Nebraska Career Education, this breakout session discussed the use of stories to highlight the importance and impact of a career-technical education program on both students and educator. It highlighted videos and marketing tools used to tell a CTE story that helped Nebraska improve state funding, raise awareness, and increase enrollment in CTE programs. Graham specifically highlighted how Nebraska and its Career Education division used storytelling to change its marketing and communication strategy to promote awareness and improve advocacy of CTE.

Elevating Equity: State Approaches to Ensuring Equitable Access to and Success in Quality Programs

Presented by Emily Passias of the Ohio Department of Education and Steve Osborn of the Rhode Island Department of Education, this breakout session discussed how states, specifically Ohio and Rhode Island are working to elevate equity in their CTE programs. Ohio’s portion showed how data can be used to show equity gaps and then how that data can be used to close that gap. Both states discussed how resources can be used to close achievement gaps and attempt to redistribute appropriate programs to areas of the states that show a need for specific programs.

Contributor: Angie Stansell