In April, the U.S. Department of Education released Investing in America’s Future, A Blueprint for Transforming  Career and Technical Education, a document that lays out the educational goals of the Administration to help strengthen the economy, with emphasis on greater investment in and improvement of our nation’s career and technical education (CTE) system.

The demands of the new knowledge-based, global economy require a workforce with postsecondary education and training. Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Labor, notes, “If America is to once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by the end of the decade, every American should have access to at least one year of higher education or postsecondary training at an affordable cost.” The Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act or the Perkins Act which was passed in 2002 and reauthorized in 2006 is a key source of funding for developing America’s workforce. The Act provided federal funds to support vocational and technical education programs and service to young people and adults.

But, according to the report, the existing system is failing. Postsecondary enrollment and credential attainment in the United States are lagging behind other developed countries such as Japan, Canada, and others. 

The Perkins Act is coming up for reauthorization in 2013. In order to strengthen America’s competitiveness, the administration is proposing improvements in four key areas of career and technical education:

1. Effective alignment between high-quality CTE programs and labor market need to equip student with 21st-century skilsl and prepare them for in-demand occupations in high-growth industry sectors; 
2. Strong collaborations among secondary and postsecondary institutions, employers, and industry partners to improve the quality of CTE programs;
3. Meaningful accountability for improving academic outcomes and building technical and employability skills in CTE programs for all students, based upon common definitions and clear metrics for performance; and
4. Increased emphasis on innovation supported by system reform of state policies and practices to support CTE implementation of effective practices at the local level. 

The complete document is posted on the Department of Education’s website at this link: Investing in America’s Future, A Blueprint for Transforming  Career and Technical Education

 

The American Educational Research Association (AERA) held its 93rd Annual Meeting in Vancouver, Cananda on 13-17 April. According to the AERA website, the “AERA Annual Meeting is the largest gathering of education experts in the world” and features the latest development in education research. In attendance were over 13,000 education researchers from over 60 countries. Ray Marshall Center researcher Greg Cumpton presented findings from the Student Futures Project for one of the meetings research panels. The presentation – Adjusted Predicted Marginal Effects on College Enrollment for Central Texas High School Graduates – is available for viewing and download on the Student Futures Project website. 

The annual meeting contained more than 2,400 sessions, invited lectures, and other events. The American Educational Research Association (AERA), founded in 1916, is concerned with improving the educational process by encouraging scholarly inquiry related to education and evaluation and by promoting the dissemination and practical application of research results.

The Foundation for Child Development (FCD) published a paper in April 2012 by Ariel Kalil of the Harris School for Public Policies Studies at the University of Chicago. The paper, A Dual-Generation Strategy: Using Technology to Support Learning for Children and for Families, finds that technological advances provide new opportunities for improved literacy and educational development of low-income parents. Taking lessons from a study of learning and income disparities in Los Angeles, Kalil notes that “maternal literacy skills are the single most important factor in closing the achievement gap between children in affluent and low-income neighborhoods.” Improving the literacy and educational skills of the parents is linked to improved quality of the home environment which can help children to succeed in school. 

The technology-based learning approach provides parents with access, flexibility, and greater cost efficiencies. The new technologies the report highlights include: 

• Programs on smart phones, portable game consoles, ebook readers, and interactive toys
• Advances in speech recognition and text-to-speech technology
• Intelligent tutoring systems that provide personalized instruction, model the interventions of an expert tutor, and improve over time
• Cloud computing, which can expand the computational resources that a low-cost device can access
• Digital libraries of engaging, age-appropriate materialA Dual-Generation Strategy: Using Technology to Support Learning for Children and for Families.
• Elements of game design that increase attentive time on task

  The FCD paper and the related presentation are available at the links below:

• Paper: A Dual-Generation Strategy: Using Technology to Support Learning for Children and for Families
• Presentation: The Digital Promise: Harnessing Technology and Innovation in Two-Generation Education Investment Strategies

In early May, researchers and Community Action Project of Tulsa County (CAPTC) staff hosted a visit and meeting with representatives of the Aspen Institute’s Ascend Family Economic Security Program and the George Kaiser Family Foundation to increase awareness and understanding among stakeholders of the two-generation pilot program CareerAdvance®. The two-day visit held on May 3 – 4 included a briefing of the two-generation approach, and lessons learned from both the program and family’s perspective. Meeting participants also conducted a site visit of CareerAdvance® ‘s training centers and met with participants of the program.

The Aspen Institute also posted a follow-up and meeting summary on their website, accessible at this link: Ascend visits Tulsa, an innovation space for Ascend Fellows

Click on the link to view the presentation: CareerAdvance ®: A Model Two-Generation Program Lessons Learned

Garry Davis and Greg Cumpton have released the new report “Findings from the 2011 Senior Surveys.” The report discusses findings from the senior surveys conducted in the spring of 2011.  Some notable student responses for the class of 2011 include when students first started thinking about college, how often during each week they studied for high school subjects, how well they felt their high school coursework prepared them for college coursework, and the types of colleges they applied to.  This report also finds differences between 2009, 2010 and 2011 seniors’ responses on topics such as the amount of time spent working in paid employment outside of high school, their plans for postsecondary education, and their perceptions about the ease of applying for financial aid.

To view the report, click on the link: Findings from the 2011 Senior Surveys