Perkins V Executive Summary
On July 31, 2018, the president signed the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) into law. Perkins V includes key changes that will impact the implementation of CTE programs, such as an added emphasis on programs of study, the addition of a Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment, and the introduction new program quality indicators. The Texas Perkins V four-year state plan, covering all the requirements of the Act, will be submitted to the US Department of Education upon approval by the Governor and State Board of Education in spring 2020.
Plan Development and Consultation
The Texas Education Agency (TEA), in collaboration with its system partners, embarked on a collaborative process to develop the Perkins V State Plan. Utilizing the framework and outcomes of the State’s Workforce Board Strategic Plan and Higher Education 60x30 plan, TEA developed a process to gather information on issues and opportunities that are of strategic significance to the state of Texas.
Key Areas of Focus include:
• Align CTE programs with high-wage, in-demand, and high skill occupations in Texas
• Provide funding and opportunities for students to earn credentials (industry-based certifications, level I and II certificates, associate and bachelor’s degrees)
• Reduce the burden of CTE reporting structures at the district level
• Provide opportunities for work-based learning in rural, suburban, and urban settings
• Construct, support and promote meaningful and effective CTE cross sector collaboration in Texas across secondary, postsecondary and the workforce.
• Ensure equitable access to postsecondary CTE programs and credentials through multiple on and off-ramps for all students, with particular attention to Perkins special populations.
Program Administration and Implementation
The vision of the Texas Education Agency’s division of College, Career and Military Preparation (CCMP) aligns with the goals of 60x30 ensuring educational goals address diverse industry needs and opportunities so that all Texas students have access to high-quality pathways to career and college and that 65% of Texas public high school students enroll directly into postsecondary by 2030.
The mission of the CCMP division at TEA is to collaborate with institutions of higher education and workforce partners to build pathways for student success; providing best practices to support students through pathways to college, career, and/or the military. Texas utilizes the Tri-Agency partnership to leverage Perkins and state funding across programs to support the goals of 60x30TX and the state’s strategic plan.
Implementing Career and Technical Education Programs and Programs of Study
The TEA conducted a process to identify high wage, high-skill and in-demand occupations in Texas to ensure alignment between industry and postsecondary education. The TEA engaged members of the workforce, secondary education, and higher education to advise on the development of programs of study, including coherent sequences of courses, industry-based certifications, and work-based learning to ensure students are prepared for high-wage, high-skill and in-demand careers in Texas.
The course sequencing methodology backwards-mapped occupations from job knowledge and skill demand, through postsecondary preparation (college, trade schools, certifications, etc.), to secondary education and triangulated data sources for the best results of labor projections alongside real-time labor data. Industry-based certifications have been aligned to programs of study. Texas established a work-based learning continuum of experiences across grade bands and encourages career awareness and exploration happen in earlier grades. A program of study should culminate in a capstone work-based learning experience.
Meeting the Needs of Special Populations
Local Education Agencies (LEAs) applying for Perkins funding must indicate the steps taken to ensure that all individuals from special populations are provided equal access to CTE programs and activities. Secondary and postsecondary recipients must identify any barriers that exist for special population groups within the Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment (CLNA). In the local application for secondary Perkins funds, LEAs must identify strategies to meet the needs of special populations, including strategies to ensure that students who are members of special populations are provided equal access to CTE programs.
TEA monitors special population subgroups to ensure that there is no form of exclusion or a disproportionate number of special population students in CTE programs. The Texas Education Results Driven Accountability (RDA) is a comprehensive evaluation system designed to improve student performance and program effectiveness to support Local Education Agencies (LEAs). The RDA framework is a data-driven system that utilizes performance indicators, data validation indicators, and other indicators of program compliance required by federal law. Specific program areas include: Bilingual Education or English as a Second Language (BE/ESL), Career and Technical Education (CTE), Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), and Special Education (SPED).
Preparing Teachers and Faculty
The TEA Career and Technical Education department provides supports at the state leadership level to assist LEAs with the recruitment of CTE teachers which is evident in the broad approach by which the agency assists with routes to hire qualified candidates. This process aligns with the overall agency philosophy as expressed in strategic priority one: recruit, support, and retain teachers and principals.
The development of CTE specific recruitment strategies of qualified candidates will be enhanced with the establishment of collaborative relationships with industry partners, professional industry organizations, and military organizations within the state. The TEA encourages LEAs to engage professional organizations by listing the opportunities available in secondary education through the organization’s communications mediums. Promoting the organizations involvement in the career pipeline in the K-12 environment as an opportunity to enhance professional standards through improved instruction by industry experts which leads to increased entry level skill attainment.
Fiscal Responsibilities
Texas allocates Perkins Basic Grant funds between secondary and postsecondary programs under a funding split that is based on the number of CTE students served at the secondary and postsecondary level. The funding split of seventy percent for secondary programs and thirty percent for postsecondary programs is consistent with the percentages used during Perkins IV. Each LEA will complete a Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment (CLNA) that will inform the local application for funding biannually.
Texas distributes funds supporting state programs and leadership projects through the request for application (RFA) process. Texas awards funds to the Texas Juvenile Justice Department and the Windham LEA, which operate CTE programs in correctional institutions. In 2019-2020, the Texas School for the Deaf and the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired were funded from the 1.5 percent set aside for institutions.
Accountability for Results
The TEA has developed an auto-coding process that will calculate student participation in CTE programs as participants, explorers, concentrators, or completers, based on course completion. The procedure for determining a baseline for the State determined levels of student performance began with a careful review of the most recent data available on the performance measures found in Perkins V requirements going back to the sixth grade year. In future years, growth in student achievement will be set measuring progress against the baseline data.
Updated Perkins V definitions for CTE Concentrators and CTE Completers have been applied to previous collections of CTE student course completion records to establish a baseline level of data. A CTE Concentrator is a student who completes at least two courses for two credits within a program of study. A CTE Completer is a student who completes three or more CTE courses for four or more credits, including one state-determined level 3 or 4 (advanced or upper level) CTE course within a program of study. The calculation for the completer measure is the number of completers in a program of study/number of CTE concentrators in that program of study’s career cluster x 100.